Southwest Retires A-List and Turns the Companion Pass Into a Platinum Perk

Southwest Retires A-List and Turns the Companion Pass Into a Platinum Perk

Two Tiers Retire, Three Take Over in 2027

Southwest Airlines said on Oct. 15 that it will rebuild Rapid Rewards, effective Jan. 1, 2027. A-List and A-List Preferred, the two tiers the Dallas-based carrier has used for years, give way to Silver, Gold and a brand-new Platinum level. CNBC framed it as the latest step in Southwest's move toward the structure run by Delta, United and American.

The New Bar: 35,000, 65,000 and 140,000 Points

Silver will require 35,000 Tier Qualifying Points or 25 qualifying flights; Gold, 65,000 TQPs or 50 flights; Platinum, 140,000 TQPs or 100 flights. Under the old rules, A-List needed 35,000 points or 20 flights and A-List Preferred 70,000 points or 40 flights. Point thresholds move in both directions, but the flight-count bars rise across the board: a gift to card spenders, a problem for short-haul mileage runners.

The Companion Pass Moves Behind a 140,000-Point Wall

The headline change is the Companion Pass. Today a member earns unlimited companion travel — a second person flies for taxes and fees — with 135,000 qualifying points or 100 one-way flights in a calendar year. From 2027 the unlimited pass becomes a Platinum benefit at 140,000 TQPs or 100 flights. The number barely moved; what counts toward it moved a lot.

Card Welcome Bonuses Stop Counting

NerdWallet reported, with confirmation from Chase, that Southwest credit card welcome bonuses will no longer count toward status or the Companion Pass starting Jan. 1, 2027. In exchange, every Southwest card — including the $99-a-year Plus card — earns 1 TQP per dollar of eligible purchases, uncapped. Frequent Miler's verdict: Southwest didn't kill the Companion Pass, it killed the best way to earn one.

Two Milestones Pay Out Along the Way

New milestone rewards sit below the top tier. At 20,000 TQPs or 15 qualifying flights, members pick 2,000 Rapid Rewards points or two Preferred Seat certificates. At 95,000 TQPs or 75 qualifying flights, they get three Companion Pass trips, each usable one-way or round-trip. Each milestone can be earned once per calendar year, and 2026 activity does not count. Cardholders who reach 130,000 TQPs during 2027 also receive a one-time 10,000-TQP boost — exactly enough to cross into Platinum.

Partner Airlines, Rental Cars and Seat Selection

In spring 2027 members will earn and redeem points on Icelandair, China Airlines and Etihad Airways, opening routes such as Reykjavik to Paris, Taipei to Tokyo and Abu Dhabi to Johannesburg. Points become usable for rental cars in November and for seat selection, including Extra Legroom and Preferred seats, later in 2027.

Gold Loses a Third of Its Earning Bonus

Earning bonuses shift too: Silver rises from 25% to 40%, Gold drops from 100% to 60%, and Platinum pays 120%. View from the Wing also flagged a quieter cut — Southwest trimmed point earning on its two most expensive fares, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra, a detail the Fresno Bee found buried in the program's FAQ rather than the press release.

Executives Say the A/B/C Era Is Over

"Our members told us they want Rapid Rewards to reward them in more meaningful ways," Nandika Suri, who leads the program, said in the announcement. Chief customer and brand officer Tony Roach told CNBC the old names no longer fit: "We don't even have boarding groups A, B and C anymore." Travel writers read the overhaul as Southwest becoming more like a legacy carrier, tilted toward its biggest spenders.

Who Feels It Most

Two groups take the hit. Current A-List Preferred members see their flight bonus fall from 100% to 60% when they become Gold, and points enthusiasts who used a single sign-up bonus to secure a Companion Pass lose that shortcut. Heavy card spenders get the opposite: an explicit, uncapped route to status without boarding a plane.

Delta's Coldest Sweet Spot: Africa to Australia

The same week produced a Delta story. Frequent Miler highlighted what it called the greatest Delta sweet spot: awards linking Europe or Africa with Australia or New Zealand that never touch North America, including a one-way lie-flat business class award from Johannesburg to Sydney for 90,000 SkyMiles with 12 hours in Air France's business suite. SkyMiles are valued at roughly 1.1 to 1.2 cents each, so awards like this are the exception, not the baseline.

Premium Cards: Downgrade Instead of Cancel

On the card side the arithmetic keeps worsening. Amex Platinum now costs $895 a year, Chase Sapphire Reserve $795 and Capital One Venture X $395. Frequent Miler's Oct. 14 "downgrade spree" post captures the mood: the author moved several premium cards to lower-fee versions, plans to downgrade a Citi AAdvantage Globe card and is considering dropping Amex Gold entirely. Your Mileage May Vary noted on Oct. 15 that the legacy Marriott Bonvoy Amex remains a standard landing spot for holders of the pricier Brilliant and Bevy cards.

What to Watch Next

Southwest's follow-through arrives later. The Southwest Icon Lounge network, built with Chase, opens starting in late 2027 in Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville, with access through a new premium co-brand card launching that year, plus Starlink Wi-Fi fleetwide by fall 2027. Add the end of free checked bags (now starting at $45), the end of open seating and the rename of "Wanna Get Away" to Basic, and 2027 looks less like a program refresh than a new identity.