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canyonwalkerI've been tracking my progress toward elite status with Southwest Airlines this year. I've actually been tracking it every year for the past several years. And when I say track I mean I keep a spreadsheet of my progress, both to see how close I am and to plan ahead for changes I need to make to my bookings and credit card spend to ensure I reach my goals.
I re-qualified for Southwest's Companion Pass a month ago. It's one of two different types of elite status they offer. CP is different from anything offered by any other airline I've seen (and here I'm talking literally dozens of airlines) in that it permit my designated companion to fly with me on any flight I fly, virtually for free, for the remainder of the year and all of the next. Hawk has been my bird-panion for several years, and we've taken advantage of it dozens of times.
You might wonder, "Which flight were you on when you crossed the CP threshold?" Actually it wasn't a flight but a fringe benefit of my Southwest credit card that put me over the threshold of 135,000 CPQPs (Companion Pass Qualifying Points).
A big boost in getting to those 135k CPQPs also came earlier in the year from the credit card. In all more than 100k of my CPQPs have come from the credit card, driven by spending on the card plus the lucrative signup bonus.
I mentioned above there are two types of elite status with Southwest. The other elite track is their A-List/A-List Preferred status. That's a more typical elite program, where the benefits are things like early boarding, free inflight wifi, and a multiplier on redeemable points earned.
I've been A-List Preferred (or A+ as we call it for short) the past several years and it's been a big deal for me. The 2x points multiplier is nice, though right now I have way over 600,000 redeemable points and no plan for how to burn them down. More important than those points is an automatic boarding number early in the boarding order. Folks who fly Southwest more than once every 5 years will know what I mean when I say I get a number like A17 on pretty much every flight... for free.
The meaning of A+ will change early next year when Southwest replaces its no-assigned-seats seating policy with assigned seats for everyone. Then boarding order won't be critical for getting a primo seat. Instead, being able to pick a primo seat at booking time will be where it's at. And that will be a benefit of A+ status! While I'm not happy with the assigned-seating changes— the current system works well for me— I figure having A+ for next year will be crucial to making the new system work for me as well.
So far I'm still short of renewing A+. I've got a bit shy of 53,000 TQPs out of the 70,000 TQPs required. Yes, these TQPs (Tier Qualifying Points) are different from the CPQPs that qualify for Companion Pass! I've got a plan for how to hit the 70k mark this year.... Actually I've got two plans. But both of them take some work. The thing is my forecast— remember I said above that's one of the main reasons I track all this on a spreadsheet?—has me coming in at 67,500 TQPs for the year based on my remaining anticipated flying and credit card spend in 2025. I need to figure out an additional 2,500 TQPs of activity to hit the mark. I hope a quick business trip or two will fill the gap, but business travel has turned sluggish with customers preferring to meet remotely, rather than face-to-face in the office, most of the time.
I re-qualified for Southwest's Companion Pass a month ago. It's one of two different types of elite status they offer. CP is different from anything offered by any other airline I've seen (and here I'm talking literally dozens of airlines) in that it permit my designated companion to fly with me on any flight I fly, virtually for free, for the remainder of the year and all of the next. Hawk has been my bird-panion for several years, and we've taken advantage of it dozens of times.You might wonder, "Which flight were you on when you crossed the CP threshold?" Actually it wasn't a flight but a fringe benefit of my Southwest credit card that put me over the threshold of 135,000 CPQPs (Companion Pass Qualifying Points).
A big boost in getting to those 135k CPQPs also came earlier in the year from the credit card. In all more than 100k of my CPQPs have come from the credit card, driven by spending on the card plus the lucrative signup bonus.I mentioned above there are two types of elite status with Southwest. The other elite track is their A-List/A-List Preferred status. That's a more typical elite program, where the benefits are things like early boarding, free inflight wifi, and a multiplier on redeemable points earned.
I've been A-List Preferred (or A+ as we call it for short) the past several years and it's been a big deal for me. The 2x points multiplier is nice, though right now I have way over 600,000 redeemable points and no plan for how to burn them down. More important than those points is an automatic boarding number early in the boarding order. Folks who fly Southwest more than once every 5 years will know what I mean when I say I get a number like A17 on pretty much every flight... for free.
The meaning of A+ will change early next year when Southwest replaces its no-assigned-seats seating policy with assigned seats for everyone. Then boarding order won't be critical for getting a primo seat. Instead, being able to pick a primo seat at booking time will be where it's at. And that will be a benefit of A+ status! While I'm not happy with the assigned-seating changes— the current system works well for me— I figure having A+ for next year will be crucial to making the new system work for me as well.
So far I'm still short of renewing A+. I've got a bit shy of 53,000 TQPs out of the 70,000 TQPs required. Yes, these TQPs (Tier Qualifying Points) are different from the CPQPs that qualify for Companion Pass! I've got a plan for how to hit the 70k mark this year.... Actually I've got two plans. But both of them take some work. The thing is my forecast— remember I said above that's one of the main reasons I track all this on a spreadsheet?—has me coming in at 67,500 TQPs for the year based on my remaining anticipated flying and credit card spend in 2025. I need to figure out an additional 2,500 TQPs of activity to hit the mark. I hope a quick business trip or two will fill the gap, but business travel has turned sluggish with customers preferring to meet remotely, rather than face-to-face in the office, most of the time.
