Southwest Airlines does not offer some of the perks that other airlines offer.
The airline does not offer business- or first-class seating, so it can't reward its most loyal passengers by bumping them up to better seats.
In fact, the airline has built its entire system around a fairly democratic seating policy, where everyone gets treated mostly the same. Nobody gets an assigned seat and most passengers get their places in the three-tiered regular boarding system when they check in 24 hours before their flights.
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Top-tier members of Rapid Rewards, the airline's loyalty program, do get checked in earlier than other passengers. And if an A-List or higher member does not get an A group boarding position, they can board after the As and before the B group.
That's a subtle perk, and many would argue that it's the biggest benefit of reaching a top tier within Rapid Rewards, but compared with most airlines' programs, the Southwest rewards are fairly limited.
Southwest's (LUV) core perk, however, is that it awards passengers points for miles flown. The points you earn go up based on your loyalty tier and the types of tickets you fly on, and when you earn enough points, you can redeem them for free travel.
But a problem arose. If a Rapid Rewards member had one less point than a flight required, the member could not redeem points toward the flight.
The airline has now changed its point redemption system to fix that problem.
Image source: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Southwest Airlines makes a Rapid Rewards change
Southwest now offers Cash + Points, a flexible payment option for Rapid Rewards members. Members now can use a combination of points — as few as 1,000 points — and other eligible forms of payment to purchase Southwest flights, the company said in a news release.
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What seems like a small change makes Rapid Rewards points more valuable as they can now be used to discount a fare, not just to purchase a full ticket.
"Twenty-twenty-four has been a big year for Rapid Rewards," Southwest's loyalty program managing director, Corbitt Burns, said on LinkedIn.
"We started the year by adding tier benefits and making it easier to earn A-List and A-List Preferred. Results? Our Members loved it! Yesterday, we announced the new Cash + Points capability. Its purpose is to increase the value and flexibility of Rapid Rewards points. Results? Our Members love it, too."
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The airline has also added a hotel benefit.
"Southwest Airlines is going the extra mile and is now offering its Rapid Rewards Members the ability to use their Rapid Rewards points for hotel stays on hotels.redeemrapidrewards.com powered by Rocket Travel by Agoda," the carrier said.
"Additionally, Members booking travel with points can choose to pay for hotel bookings using only points, or a combination of cash and points, and can benefit from competitive rates for redeeming points for flights and hotel bookings at more than 400,000 properties worldwide."
Southwest cuts multiple cities
Southwest has pulled out of four cities: Syracuse, N.Y., Houston, Intercontinental Cozumel, and Bellingham, Wash.
"That is never an easy decision," Chief Executive Bob Jordan said during the airline's first-quarter-earnings call. "We form bonds with the airports and the communities that we serve. These are wonderful communities, and we are very grateful for their support over the past several years."
The airline has also cut service in other markets.
"In addition, we are also restructuring several other stations. Most notably, we are reducing flights in Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare," he added.
Jordan said the decisions are largely about the company's overall health.
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"While it's never our desire to exit a city or shrink service to a market, we are committed to our financial-performance goals, and network and capacity actions will continue as a lever to improve overall financial performance," the CEO said.
