Getting Southwest status just got EASIER

Gooooood mornin’ and welcome back to Daily Drop. I’m not sure if travel newsletters have an it girl, but if they did… we’d be her 💁🏻‍♀️

Here’s what we’re rocking with today:  

• ✈️ Getting Southwest status just got EASIER

• 🌖 See the total solar eclipse with Southwest in 2024

• 💰 Earn up to 10x United miles per $1 with a donation

✈️ Getting Southwest status just got EASIER

The general trend for many airlines has been to make earning status and getting other elite benefits much harder (*cough* Delta).

But Southwest is swinging in the opposite direction… they’re revamping their Rapid Rewards program to make earning status EASIER for their frequent flyers.

Southwest will be lowering their requirements to reach the A-List and A-List Preferred elite tiers starting next year (for the 2025 qualifying year) 🎉

Plus, they’re throwing in a couple other perks and positive changes to their Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program:

1. Fewer qualifying flights needed to reach status

Passengers will now only need 20 one-way flights (or 10 round-trip) to qualify for A-List, compared to the current 25 flights required.

Passengers can still reach A-List status by earning 35,000 tier qualifying points.

For A-List Preferred, that requirement drops from 50 one-way flights down to 40. Alternatively, earning 70,000 qualifying tier points will also unlock that status.

2. Spending on Southwest co-branded credit cards will now get you status 2x faster

Southwest is literally slashing their spend requirements for tier qualifying points (TQPs) in half 🤯

You’ll now earn 1,500 TQPs towards A-List and A-List Preferred with every $5,000 you spend (dropped from $10,000 previously!).

Plus, there’s no cap or limit.

Qualifying Rapid Rewards cards include the Premier, Premier Business, Priority, and Performance Business.

3. New Cash + Points redemptions

Just as it sounds, you’ll soon be able to pay for your flights with a combo of cash and Rapid Reward points starting sometime in the spring of 2024—whoo!

You can use as few as 1,000 points, and… that’s all we know so far 🤷🏻‍♀️

Southwest teased that more details will be revealed soon, so stay tuned for that.

4. A-List Preferred flyers will get two free premium drinks per flight

This perk is maybe the least lucrative, but is a nice little bonus nonetheless. Plus, this one starts earlier than the others… on November 6th, 2023 😎🍸

It’s honestly so nice to see some changes reflected in a popular frequent flyer program that actually benefits the flyer.

Slow clap for you, Southwest. Good job.

🌖 See the total solar eclipse with Southwest in 2024

I’m on a kick with Southwest in today’s newsletter… but for good reason!

Did any of you see the annular solar eclipse over the weekend? In true, cloudy Seattle fashion… I did not 🙃

But in lieu of this unique celestial event, Southwest is looking ahead to next year’s rare total solar eclipse that is happening on April 8th, 2024.

Apparently, Southwest has a YouTube channel, and they’ve created a video that highlights all of their scheduled flights that will pass through the solar eclipse’s path of totality (where the moon completely covers the sun).

Several states including Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, and Ohio will have prime viewing.

And Southwest has identified the best opportunities for viewing by offering hundreds of front-row seats in the sky 👇

This type of celestial event only happens once every few decades, so to see it above the clouds would be incredible, don’t ya think?!

💰 Earn up to 10x United miles per $1 with a donation

Yesterday, October 16th, was World Food Day—a day that many organizations recognize in an attempt to combat world hunger and food insecurity.

One of those organizations happens to be United Airlines 🙌

Between now and November 30th, United would like to reward its eligible cardmembers with some bonus points for donating to nonprofit organizations that provide hunger relief.

Some of the eligible cards include the Explorer and the Infinite, but you can see a full list of all eligible cards here.

Here’s the deal:

• Get 5x miles per dollar for the first $500 in donations

• Get 10x miles per dollar for the next $1,000 in donations

Now this obviously isn’t a “get miles rich quick” scheme because if you maxed out your donation at the $1,500 cap, you’d have 12,500 United miles sitting in your account.

But these earning rates are astronomically higher than you’d normally see on any of United’s co-branded cards for something like this.

So even a donation far below the capped amount will earn you a nice chunk of bonus miles.

Right now, United miles are worth around 1.4 cents apiece, so I’d say you’d get a return of around $175 in value with those miles (12,500 x .014).

If you look at it strictly from a monetary standpoint, then yes, of course you’re losing money. You’re donating it after all!

But with those 12,500 miles, you could fly from Orlando to Boston, or from Seattle to San Francisco, for example 👇

If you genuinely want to donate, and maybe would have anyway, you might as well rack up some bonus points for your good deed.

Did you know that Daily Drop has a Youtube channel?

If you’re looking for a premium travel credit card, there are three top-tier options to consider—but you DON’T want to make the WRONG choice.

We’ll help you figure out which one is right for you in our latest video 👇

Thanks for letting me pop up in your inbox the last couple of days. Before I pass the torch back to Mike, tell me this…

Ciao 🙃