Southwest A+ for 2023
Well, I did it. I earned enough qualifying points to renew my Southwest A-List Preferred status (which many frequent flyers abbreviate as A+) through 2023.
Getting to this point was a bit of a challenge, as you might surmise from the fact that I cinched it with only 2 weeks left to go in the year. OTOH getting it so late in the year argues for elegance.... By taking nearly the whole year to get it I did exactly the right amount of effort, no extra, right? 🤣 Seriously, it was a close game.
A+ on Southwest requires 70,000 tier qualifying points (TQPs). These are harder to earn than redeemable points (RDPs), the kind you spend for award tickets. With a bonus from my credit card this week I notched just over 70k TQPs. I've earned more than triple that in RDPs this year.
How did I do it? Well, two things. First, I had a plan. I even wrote out that plan in early January. Then I changed the plan. 😂 TBF, Step 5 of the plan was "Change this as necessary during the year." I shifted a lot of choices in buying Southwest flights from spending points to spending cash- and thus earning points. I also jammed a lot of charges through my credit card to earn a few thousand of TQP bonuses. It's the last of these bonuses that pushed me over the top.
Second, I kept a spreadsheet. In that spreadsheet I tracked all of my activity with Southwest: my TQP, my RDP, my CPQP- which, no, I haven't defined in this article 🤣 - and my redemptions. Through this careful tracking I was able to adjust my earn/burn choices effectively to come in right on time at the deadline.
What's A+ worth? There are a handful frequent flyer benefits. The three I care about are: 1) I earn 2x on redeemable miles for flying. 2) I get early boarding when I fly- so I don't have to worry about the "check in at exactly 24 hours before the flight" cattle call many less-frequent flyers malign Southwest for. And 3) I get free inflight wifi.
Getting to this point was a bit of a challenge, as you might surmise from the fact that I cinched it with only 2 weeks left to go in the year. OTOH getting it so late in the year argues for elegance.... By taking nearly the whole year to get it I did exactly the right amount of effort, no extra, right? 🤣 Seriously, it was a close game.
A+ on Southwest requires 70,000 tier qualifying points (TQPs). These are harder to earn than redeemable points (RDPs), the kind you spend for award tickets. With a bonus from my credit card this week I notched just over 70k TQPs. I've earned more than triple that in RDPs this year.
How did I do it? Well, two things. First, I had a plan. I even wrote out that plan in early January. Then I changed the plan. 😂 TBF, Step 5 of the plan was "Change this as necessary during the year." I shifted a lot of choices in buying Southwest flights from spending points to spending cash- and thus earning points. I also jammed a lot of charges through my credit card to earn a few thousand of TQP bonuses. It's the last of these bonuses that pushed me over the top.
Second, I kept a spreadsheet. In that spreadsheet I tracked all of my activity with Southwest: my TQP, my RDP, my CPQP- which, no, I haven't defined in this article 🤣 - and my redemptions. Through this careful tracking I was able to adjust my earn/burn choices effectively to come in right on time at the deadline.
What's A+ worth? There are a handful frequent flyer benefits. The three I care about are: 1) I earn 2x on redeemable miles for flying. 2) I get early boarding when I fly- so I don't have to worry about the "check in at exactly 24 hours before the flight" cattle call many less-frequent flyers malign Southwest for. And 3) I get free inflight wifi.