Your Southwest Airlines Miles No Longer Expire
If you’ve ever tried to save your airline miles before they expire, you know how hard it is to see those hard-earned rewards go away. To stand out from the competition, Southwest Airlines announced today that Rapid Rewards points are effective immediately and indefinitely.
Previously, your points could expire after two years of inactivity in your Rapid Rewards account. For your points to remain valid, you either had to book a ticket and go on a flight or make a purchase from one of the airline’s partners .
If you are reading this news like “Ha, I had no idea how many points expire,” then you are far from the only one. Just a few days ago, I shared a survey on credit card rewards that showed that about a third of people had their points expired , probably because they signed up for several reward programs, all of which have different rules.
Delta, JetBlue, United, and now Southwest are missing their awards altogether. Most other airlines have expiration periods of 12 to 36 months, with varying flexibility to retain your rewards over new account activities.
Companion Pass is getting harder to get
If you don’t travel to the Southwest often, you may not be too happy with the change. Nice to have, but if you weren’t planning to fly this airline anytime soon, were you going to use those points anyway? (Plus, there are other ways to redeem your points if you’re on the verge of losing them.) The One Mile at A Time Points blog isn’t entirely impressed with this change because it won’t affect truly frequent flyers. airline. There has to be a compromise, right?
The obvious downside is that Southwest is increasing the requirements for its coveted Companion Pass status. Previously, you earned Pass status, earning 110,000 points a year, which gave you the opportunity to take another traveler with you for free. Beginning January 1, 2020, you need to collect 125,000 points per year.