Southwest Airlines has just announced its new fare products and benefits for Rapid Rewards credit card holders and elite members.
Southwest Airlines New Fare Products
The airline is replacing its well known Business Select, Anytime, and Wanna Get Away Plus fares with new fare products., These will be known as Choice Extra, Choice Preferred, and Choice. As previously announced, Wanna Get Away fares will become Basic fares as of May 28, 2025.
I can’t help but think that the airline just took three distinct fares and made them much more confusing. Having “Choice” in the name for three of the four fair buckets seems like an odd decision and further erodes the branding that the airline has worked years to build.
Tony Roach, Executive Vice President Customer & Brand and Southwest, said this about the changes:
“With new choices like seat selection and Extra Legroom, our enhanced fare bundles let Customers customize their trip while still enjoying our industry-leading reliability and hospitality.”
Southwest Reveals Rapid Rewards Cardholders and Elite Member Benefits
Southwest has also announced changes for its Rapid Rewards credit cardholders, A-List and A-List Preferred members. Cardmembers will have the ability to select a seat, regardless of fare type purchased, receive earlier boarding and get their first checked bag free. This also applies for up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation.
This is great news for me as I never fly Southwest enough to gain any sort of status but, being Austin based, they operate multiple routes nonstop from Central Texas that aren’t served by other airlines. Thankfully, I’ve found that the benefits are enough to offset the annual fee.
In addition to the new benefits outlined above, Cardmembers will continue to enjoy their current benefits including discounts on inflight purchases, bonus points on their Cardmember anniversary, and a one-time boost of 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each calendar year.
A-List and A-List Preferred members will receive access to preferred seating, checked bags (for up to eight additional passengers), earlier boarding, and other inflight experience enhancements to be named at a later date.
Checked bag benefits will go into effect on May 28, 2025 and seating and boarding benefits will roll out when the airline begins operating flights with assigned seating.
Honestly, while I’m not a fan of all of the changes made at the airline over the last year, as a Rapid Rewards cardholder I’ll be happy to get free assigned seating (my biggest gripe about Southwest has been the lack of assigned seating) and a free checked bag.
Summary
Southwest Airlines has unveiled new details regarding its reimagined fare products and new benefits. While I think the carrier is losing some easily identifiable branding in the fare department, I’m happy with the changes for Rapid Rewards cardholders, A-List, and A-List Preferred passengers.