Southwest Airlines wants to ruin its loyalty program, too

Southwest Airlines has spent the past few months cutting everything longtime customers like about the airline.

The company, which used to be all about having clear pricing with no hidden fees, has decided to drop all of that in favor of lots of fees. Southwest Airlines made its reputation by not charging for checked bags.

That simple act made it different than every other airline.

Not every customer liked open seating, Southwest’s longstanding policy of not selling assignments. Instead, people could select whatever seat they wanted when they boarded the plane.

That did cause some confusion, simply because it was very different than what any other airline offered. Still, Southwest passengers were not exactly clamoring to be charged extra for assignments.

Basically, Southwest has decided to sacrifice the things that made it different — and that consumers actually really loved — for the bottom line. Yes, businesses need to make money, but there are many different ways to do that.

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In theory, Southwest could have simply increased prices and kept the free bags. And, yes, when something is baked into the cost it’s not really free, but at least the airline would have maintained price transparency.

Now, it appears that the airline may soon be getting ready to make major changes to what many would argue is its most popular perk.

Southwest Airlines has made a lot of changes recently.

Image source: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Southwest Airlines hints at more changes

One of the most popular perks in the Southwest Rapid Rewards loyalty program is the Companion Pass. The airline explains how it works on its website.

“To qualify, simply fly 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. You’ll earn a Companion Pass for the following full calendar year, plus the remainder of the year in which you earned it. For even more flexibility, Companion Pass Members can change their designated Companion up to three times each calendar year,” the airline posted.

Once you have a Companion Pass, it's a pretty big benefit.

More travel:

“Companion Pass is the benefit that allows you to choose one person to fly with you, free of airline charges (does not include taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way) unlimited times whenever you purchase or redeem points for a flight,” it added.

Southwest has also occasionally offered promotions allowing customers to earn Companion Passes in different ways.

Southwest Companion Pass faces changes

View From the Wing's Gary Leff recently tried to explain the importance of Southwest's Companion Pass.

“It’s the only thing that sets Southwest apart. Their frequent flyer program was recently devalued, and doesn’t offer the reach of other programs – it can’t yet take you to Europe and doesn’t offer premium cabin redemptions or upgrades. Indeed, Southwest itself lacks first class, seat-back entertainment screens, standard outlets for seat power, airport lounges, and has the industry’s worst inflight WiFi,” he said of Companion Pass.

Southwest, he noted, is exploring adding tiers to its loyalty program and making Companion Pass even harder to earn.

His info comes from a survey that leaked on Facebook.

“So I took a survey, husband A-List Preferred. Our 6th year with Companion Pass, and it seems they want to change up the tiers of rewards to 5 levels and only give the highest level the ability to have Companion seat picked at booking. They are so going to start making us pay for every little thing,” wrote Southwest Companion Pass to the Max.

Currently, you can earn Companion Pass just by spending on Southwest's credit card. You don't actually need loyalty status with the airline.