Southwest Will Now Match Your Elite Status From Any Other Airline

Becoming an elite member for air travel can be a painstaking, long process. It often takes tens of thousands of miles and dozens of roundtrip flights to earn elite status. Once you’ve earned it, switching airlines wouldn’t make a lot of sense because it’s a ton of effort to regain the same elite status on a new airline.

So when Southwest announced that they will now match your elite status from any other airline, that news was welcomed. The reason why this deal is so sweet is because of the elite status match. This means you can still keep your American Airlines, Delta, or United Airlines (as examples) elite status plus you’d also get one from Southwest Airlines. 

If you fly domestically and love Southwest, now is your chance to switch.

Through Southwest Status Match, Southwest is now making it ridiculously easy to earn immediate elite status until the end of the calendar year.

Southwest's New Deal

Here’s how to earn elite status on Southwest’s promotion:

• You must have elite status on any other American-based airline
• You need to register with the proper information on Southwest Airlines
• Southwest will review and upon approval, you can get elite status

Because it’s immediate and not a “challenge” (which means airlines require you to fulfill a certain number of flights in order to qualify), you can earn elite status right away.

Upon approval, you’ll be granted A-list level status, but it’s only valid for 90 days. If you want to extend it, you must then fulfill their challenge status requirement (see step three below).

Benefits Of Switching To Southwest Airlines

This promotion is awesome because they are offering many perks right away. Here are some travel-friendly benefits:

• Priority boarding
• Fly By Priority check-in (get direct access to the front of the ticket counter and security checkpoints at select airports)
• Dedicated member phone line
• Free same-day standby
• Earning a 25% bonus
• As always, first and second bags checked for free

If you want to maintain elite status on Southwest beyond the 90 days, you simply have to fly the equivalent of six one-way flights within the first 90 days of signing up. That will give you an additional 12 months as an elite member on Southwest.

Remember, you must sign up by Dec. 31, 2019, to receive this promotion.

3 Simple Steps To Sign Up For Southwest Status Match

Of course, Southwest made the process as easy as possible. They break it down into three simple steps.

Step 1: Sign Up For Rapid Rewards

If you aren’t already a Rapid Rewards member for Southwest, you’ll need to sign up.

Rapid Rewards is Southwest’s loyalty program. As an added perk, Rapid Rewards has the best reward seating availability of any U.S. based airline rewards program since 2010. That means you’re more likely to get the exact seat you want.

Enroll on their website to sign up.

Step 2: Email Your Elite Status Information

Southwest needs to confirm your elite status on another U.S. based airline. The process is simple, you just fill out a form.

Alternatively, you can email them with a screenshot of your elite status along with your name and Rapid Rewards number. Screenshots that are altered in any way may jeopardize the promotion and your Rapid Rewards account in general.

Step 3: You’re Done (Unless You Want To Extend It)

Once they verify your elite status on another airline, you’re good to go. You are now an elite member of Southwest, but if you’re interested in extending it, you need to meet any of the following requirements:

• 3 round-trip flights OR
• 6 one-way flights
• Booked and flown within 90 days of enrollment

Common Questions

How Long Will It Take?

According to Southwest, verification and processing typically takes less than 12 business days. If you’re worried that it’s taking too long or they misplaced your application, contact Southwest directly.

Can I Rebook Flights And Still Earn The Extension?

According to their terms and conditions, you must both book and complete the flights within the 90-day window. This means existing bookings won’t count, and delaying flights beyond the 90-day window won’t count either.

Note: If you’re not familiar with Southwest, rebooking a flight is really easy. You can cancel and rebook flights without a penalty. As long as the fare hasn’t increased since you booked the original flight, you won’t have to pay for an increase in the ticket price. Also, as long as your changes aren’t later than 10 minutes before departure, there’s no fee.

Learn more about this promotion at Southwest Status Match.