The massive reduction to earn rates on its cheapest fares is just the latest negative change coming from the company.

Go figure, I decide to post an article about Southwest redemptions and they go and blow up the earning rate…

Southwest changes how quickly you earn points

Up until recently, you used to earn a relatively flat number of points between each of Southwest’s four fare types. However, the company quietly updated the earn rate on its website.

Remember that elite bonuses will apply on top of that earn structure, so A-List and A-List Preferred members will also see a massive drop in earning potential on the cheapest fares. If you’re looking to earn elite status or a Companion Pass, that’s going to be prohibitively more expensive for some. A Companion Pass takes 135,000 qualifying points (or 100 flights). Under the old structure, it would have taken $22,500 in spend on base fares if you only booked Wanna Get Away fares because of the 6 points/dollar earn rate.

Now it will take you $67,500 in Wanna Get Away base fares to reach that status. That’s insane.

To make any dent into the requirement, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll need to spend on your Southwest credit cards or buy more expensive fares.

Does it make sense to buy up?

Pretty clearly, Southwest wants customers to buy up to more expensive fares. But does it actually make sense to do it?

Let’s take a look at the example of ATL to SEA on May 21, 2025. The website says the difference between Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Plus is $20.

But of course, the devil is in the details because you only earn points on the base fare. So click through on both fares to see what the base fare (subtotal) is.

How much is the value of Southwest points? In my linked article, I pegged the value somewhere between 1.4 and 1.6 cents each. Thus, let’s call it 1.5 cents/point for simplicity. The math then becomes simple enough:

• The Wanna Get Away fare of $282.03 would earn 564 points.
• The Wanna Get Away Plus fare of $300.63 would earn 1,803 points (rounded down).
• I would value the 564 points at $8.46 and the 1,803 points at $28.06.

If we take the difference in the points earned, we get $18.60 in extra points, but we spent $20 to upgrade the fare. If we didn’t have any use for anything else that comes with the Wanna Get Away Plus fare, we just threw away $1.40.

Of course, fares will vary and if you’re looking at an expensive fare, maybe it makes sense to spend more to get more. But remember that unlike other miles, Southwest points don’t offer really any opportunity for outsized value. So it never makes sense to overpay to the miles just to get them.

Southwest has been a mess lately

Elliott Investment Management has effectively taken over the airline, and this change is just the latest drop in the bucket. This is all in the name of producing profits (we’ll see how effective all these changes will be). Other changes seen at the airline include:

• A massive change to how it handles seating (preparing to earn money off seat fees)
• The airline announced layoffs for the first time in its history

There are also talks about removing the two free bags benefit on all fares. Now that the earning rate has been gutted on Wanna Get Away fares, don’t be surprised to lose at least one free checked bag on those fares (and then the upcharge to the Plus fares go up as well).

Southwest for the longest time had that underdog mentality and I enjoyed flying on their planes. But now it just feels like a soulless company, a shell of its former self, by passing along this unannounced change. An honest company would send out communications to members for something as massive as they did to the earn rates. Is there just no positive way to spin it and so they didn’t try?