Southwest Airlines Status Match Now Available Year After Year for Rival Airline Elites

Southwest is actively matching elite members from competing US airlines (American, Delta, United, Alaska, JetBlue) to its top-tier A-List Preferred status — and this is the first time Southwest's status match has included the top tier. Registration is open through December 30, 2026.

The match gives you 120 days of promotional A-List or A-List Preferred status for free. To extend to a full 12 months, you still need to fly during the 120-day window:

• A-List extension: 3 round trips, 6 one-ways, or 11,500 tier qualifying points
• A-List Preferred extension: 6 round trips, 12 one-ways, or 23,000 tier qualifying points

Both are dramatically lower bars than standard A-List Preferred qualification (which normally requires 23,000 TQPs over a full year), but it's not status-without-flying.

The annual repeat is real but capped: you can match once per 12-month cycle, as long as you haven't received promotional A-List status from any Southwest promo in the past 12 months. Current Southwest A-List or A-List Preferred members are NOT eligible to participate (no double-dipping).

For frequent fliers loyal to another carrier, this is a meaningfully better deal than Southwest has historically offered — and a way to bank top-tier perks on a second airline without giving up your primary status.