Frequent Flyer Status Extended. I ❤️ LUV!

[canyonwalker]

Over the past few weeks I've been getting lots of emails from airlines, hotels, clinics, insurance companies, charities, car repair shops- basically anyone I've done business with in, like, the past 5 years- letting me know what they're doing to look after me, their customer, during the Coronavirus pandemic. Most of these updates I don't care about, except for the airlines and hotels when they communicate changes in their elite traveler programs. And even there, a lot of the changes don't really affect me. As I laid out in January, a lot of my statuses have either reached the lifetime level or are things I maintain through credit card subscriptions. The only program I really chase status with anymore is Southwest Airlines. Well, today Southwest came through with a great loyalty offer.


Southwest's update includes multiple provisions that make it a lot easier on us frequent flyers wondering how to maintain our status during this time when travel has come to a virtual standstill for the past 7 weeks and will remain halted for who-knows-how-much longer.

• A-List and A-List Preferred status is extended 'til the end of 2021.
• Companion Pass is extended through 30 June 2021.
• All members will get a boost in qualifying points toward earning these statuses for next year.

These changes are significant for me because I have both A-List Preferred and Companion Pass. As my flying has been zero for 2 months and may stick at zero for at least another 2 months I've been wondering: 1. When I'll be able to start getting value from these again (I made various monetary tradeoffs to achieve them last year) and 2. How I'll requalify for status for next year, by which point things will hopefully be back to normal- or at least close enough to normal. This program update removes the concern on both counts.

Yes, I've already begun strategizing how to optimize my flying later this year (assuming the lockdowns even lift this year!) to qualify early next year to have status through 2022!