What happened
Southwest will replace A-List and A-List Preferred with Silver and Gold plus a new Platinum tier on January 1, 2027, and attach unlimited Companion Pass to Platinum. 2026 A-List members receive Silver. A-List Preferred members receive Gold. Platinum must be earned under the new rules, so nobody holds it at the start of 2027.
Status and Companion Pass tracking merge into Tier Qualifying Points from purchased flights and 1 TQP per dollar of Southwest card spend. Silver is 35,000 TQPs or 25 flights. Gold is 65,000 TQPs or 50 flights, while Platinum is 140,000 TQPs or 100 flights. Members who reach 95,000 TQPs or 75 flights earn three one-time companion certificates. For 2027 only, cardmembers receive 10,000 extra TQPs after 130,000 TQPs. Gold's bonus on flight purchases falls from 100% to 60%, though 2026 A-List Preferred members keep 100% through December 31, 2027.
Introductory bonuses on cards opened by December 2, 2026 can still count toward a Companion Pass through 2027, but not toward 2028. Open a Southwest card by that date to have a signup bonus count toward a 2027 Companion Pass.
- Announced
- Oct 15, 2026
- Starts
- Jan 1, 2027
- Numbers
- 35,000 PQPs: Silver status requirement
- 65,000 PQPs: Gold status requirement
- 140,000 PQPs: Platinum status requirement
- 95,000 tier qualifying points: milestone for three one-time companion certificates
- 10,000 TQPs: 2027-only cardmember bonus after 130,000 TQPs
- 1 TQP per dollar: credit card spend toward status
- 8x points: Choice Preferred earning rate, down from 10x
- 10x points: Choice Extra earning rate, down from 14x
- 40%: Silver bonus on qualifying flight purchases, up from 25%
- 60%: Gold bonus on flight purchases, down from 100%
- Who qualifies
- Rapid Rewards members; 2026 A-List and A-List Preferred members receive Silver and Gold in 2027; new Southwest cardmembers who open a card by December 2, 2026 can still use intro bonuses toward a 2027 Companion Pass
- Links
- Offer page Rapid Rewards 2027 program changes southwest.com
- Offer page Companion Pass changes southwest.com
- Takeaway
- Open a Southwest card by December 2, 2026 if you still want a signup bonus to count toward a 2027 Companion Pass; otherwise plan around the new TQP thresholds.