Southwest Airlines shared data with the SEC that should raise flags about how things are going for its loyalty program. Its fiscal 2025 10-K filing just released shows that over the past 3 years, Southwest has seen a significant trend in customers redeeming fewer awards. A smaller percentage of their seats are taken up by passengers using their points.
The table below shows the number of flight awards redeemed for each of the past three years.
Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 2023 Flight awards redeemed (millions) 9.1 10.1 10.9
And now, with those points worth less overall (as part of the broader set of changes made by the airline) we may see even fewer redemptions still.
Meanwhile, Southwest reported liability for total Rapid Rewards points outstanding of $4.3 billion:
As of December 31, 2025, the loyalty liabilities were approximately $4.3 billion, including $3.1 billion classified within Air traffic liability and $1.2 billion classified as Air traffic liability – noncurrent.
Even with fewer awards redemeed, the outstanding points liability went down. Southwest’s FY2024 Form 10-K reported that as of December 31, 2024, loyalty liabilities were approximately $4.8 billion.
Some of this is the result of accounting changes that are goosing current revenue at the expense of future revenue, because their amended credit card deal with Chase lets them book more of the money up front, allocating less towards future travel.
Since they added seat fees and bag fees, and the credit card provides benefits waiving some of those fees, they get to count some of the money towards those things. But that’s not all of what’s going on here. People appear to be earning and redeeming less. That’s concerning!
Since SW cut service from my home airport, I’ve not been able to use either points or travel funds to the same level as in years past. Not a surprise that others have the same issue.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as thousands of long time loyal customers fly less often and decide to fly with other carriers because of the removal of past perks and increasingly higher prices for flights. The airline is now known as Southworst – or – Greedwest, names they have earned.
Maybe less “rewards” are being used because they have become almost worthless. Before Southwest got into the banking business, you could get a free flight after 10 flights, and each flight segment counted as a flight. Or maybe its because people are unhappy with Southwest’s decision to become “average” and used their rewards before the new policies took effect and no longer care to fly Southwest.
“Southwest. Striving to be average”.
@ David — While you were busy with your KKK meetings, people have been calling this horrible airline Southworst for decades.
The value proposition aside, WN needs to come out and definitively say whether they are going to add a premium cabin or not . Premium class travel is surging and WN has no offering for the premium class traveler. They keep saying they are contemplating new enhancements yet they are sparse with details .F class ? Lounges ? True high end credit card ?
Until they lay out a plan and commit to it , they are a hard pass for me . They won’t be getting my spend via credit cards or travel purchases .
Southwest nerfed the value of points most flights it makes zero sense to redeem. Their points are now near worthless like delta sky pesos
Only a couple data points but I’ve also noticed good redemptions seem harder to come by. I meant to liquidate my Southwest points last year but I ended up with more. I flew them only once but the redemption rate for the route was awful, like 0.6¢/point so I just paid cash. Did have one reward flight of decent value but ended up flying Delta since I wanted to go to a Skyclub for dinner during a connection. Definitely a time and a place to fly Southwest for me, but that window has narrowed a lot.
The flights I have checked, thinking I would use points, have been a game changer. If it costs almost half of the points in my RR account which was around 100,000, why would I do that. They have taken the worst possible ideas and implemented them, mainly to satisfy Predators and Whiners. After flying WN for over 30 years, the changes that Elliot demanded are causing me to back away. I can fly with Self Important Whiners on any airline.
@L737 — “I meant to liquidate my (all) points last year but I ended up with more.” Happens to a lot of us.
As for SW, I feel like 2018 was the beginning of the end… flight 1380, RIP, then, later that same year, they stopped serving those delicious honey-roasted peanuts. *sigh*
@David R. Miller I’ve called them Southworst for years glad to see it catching on.
I am not loyal to any one brand so I always shop when I fly, so I stopped flying Southwest when they became most expensive fare in almost everywhere I went last few years. Still sitting on 130K+ points.. every trip, I check but SW is just too expensive now.. I do like assigned seating change but it’s just not worth it.
@Gary, et. al. —> I’m confused…
First of all, if fewer people are redeeming points with Airline X, the airline is “giving away” fewer seats for no [additional] revenue. Unless this is accompanied by fewer pax overall, why isn’t this in fact a good thing for the airline? Secondly, the long-time “mantra” for using points & miles has been, “earn & burn,” rather than “earn and hoard.” If one sees continual devaluation, wouldn’t the inclination be to “burn” the points before they become worth even less? (Oh, wait. People are still using SkyMiles*, aren’t they?)
OK, specifically as far as WN is concerned…I don’t think anyone would disagree that “they are poor little sheep who have lost their way.” Everything about Southwest that made them unique and wonderful, a “go to” for millions of passengers a year, has now vanished. (At least Delta is still profitable and continues to perform well in the air, despite their aging fleet.)
I started flying Southwest back in the 1980s. However, I all-but-stopped flying them years ago when Virgin America began flight ops. Still, out of some 700 flights I’ve taken in my life, WN accounts for 102 flight segments, or 14.6% (according to flightmemory.com). But the totals for Virgin America and Alaska come to 131 (18.2%) and 176 (25.2%), respectively — and those flights have all taken place since 2007. The *only* reason I fly WN anymore is if my wife insists because they have the only nonstop…
@1990 —> I feel your pain. Of course the honey-roasted peanuts went away due to people’s allergies, but they are still missed.
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* I don’t want to insult México be calling them “Sky Pesos.”
Massively devalued points, and zero differentiation from the rest of the legacies (in fact, they’re WORSE than most due to the [mostly] lack of charging ports and crappy internet). They could’ve still offered one free checked bag to be a differentiator, but nope…they lowered their own bar in the hopes that it would generate additional revenue. Instead, it (almost certainly) drove business (like mine) away to other carriers.
I know I’m not the only one, but they’re now my LAST choice on airline options (completely excluding ULCCs).Steveawacs
Can we finally admit that “rewards” programs are for all intents and purposes a scam? And industries that depend on them need to rethink their operating models?
The earning rate on Southwest’s lowest fares was slashed without notice 11 months ago. More recently, the redemption value was decreased from 1/83rd of a dollar of pretax fare to roughly 1/100th of a dollar. Both these changes are consistent with your data.
Why oh why did fix what was not broken??? I was so loyal to you SW……..now you have lost our entire family to only fly with you……greed, greed,
Southwest is just another airline now. I previously was A List Preferred. Now, I would pick any of the other legacy airlines before Southwest. Because the other airlines on longer flights, offer food. I’m not flying a 2 or 3 hour flight now on Southwest, paying the same or even more than on the other airlines now, just to get a bag of pretzels. No way. Keep your junk food snacks.
@1990 @Jason — Can’t believe it’s been that long since they stopped those, feels like just yesterday I was enjoying some. Not that I would pay the exorbitant prices but they used to sell them on their online store after the discontinuation which was cool.
I have have flown Southwest for 3 decades. I was at Love Field the day Herb Kellerher died. Little did we know that as his legacy was being celebrated the death of a good airline began. I’m stuck with 600,000 rapid rewards points, and can’t wait to be rid of them.
@L737 @Jason — Yeah, neither the fares nor the peanuts cost ‘peanuts’ anymore.
WN has poor leadership at the top of their loyalty and cobrand department. Far too many lifers who directly caused Rapid Rewards to become afterthought and the cobrand cards to become irrelevant. WN thinks these same tenured seat warmers are going to turn things around? Not a chance. They don’t know any better.
@Jason I was coming here to say the same. Gary, could you please explain better/differently why this indicates a “growing crisis?”
Very sad.
Last year I flew 60 segments with them.
This year I am at 1. All the rest has gone to AK and AA.
I have two cc with Southwest but I stopped using both mostly because I want to redeem more points asap because I no longer view the airlines as the same. Praying another discount carry rises up because now you nickle and dime us I will be damned if I am loyal!!!
I have two cc and I want to spend down my miles because this airlines charging for window and aisle seats is beyond. I am no longer loyal!!
Greedwest – swirling the bowl…..
As a long term flyer with Southwest for Business travel, I have A-list status because of how much I travel. After the most recent changes removing the open seating policy, I have no reason whatsoever to keep flying Southwest. I often times need to book last-minute for a flight. This means that I will be relegated to a middle seat. On a Boeing 737, that is NOT comfortable for a normal human male. I used to be able to board between the A and B groups and still have either a window or aisle available somewhere on the plane. When we who were in my position asked Southwest leading up to this change about what will happen with us, there were absolutely no answers. They simply didn’t care.
The only change needed to make the new Southwest competitive is 30% lower prices. Choice gives you less that WannaGetAway did, so it should cost about the same as WGA was. Basic gives you so much less than before that it should cost substantially less. Southwest is driving its customers away by trying to sell Basic at or above WGA prices. When you sell a 14-ounce bag of coffee at the 16-ounce price, people will buy fewer bags, not more.
Southwest’s policy changes are defensible. Its current pricing is not.
@Michael Liddick: It’s not that Southwest didn’t care. It’s that they were willing to lose your business in the hope of attracting new customers who had avoided open seating. They traded you in on a new model.
After having a Southwest credit card for years, I cancelled it before the new annual fee hit. With all the changes to the airline and increased annual fee, I am no longer loyal to Southwest, so having a priority card with them no longer made sense.
So they take away free checked bags, but you get a free checked bag if you have a credit card. But then they increase the fee for the credit card. What are you really getting? Overall decreased value to me.
Cancelled my personal and business card. Count me as part of that stat line.
nsx – what you state has a modicum of truth, but doing so has angered their long time core of customers to the point that Greedwest will end up in bankrupcy. Stupid is as stupid does – a lesson that Greedwest will soon understand the meaning of.
People might redeem more points if you could use cash and points. Multiple times I had enough points for one person round trip or 2 people one way, but only way to book would have been 2 itineraries, which would have made it difficult to deal with tickets. So we drove instead.
As a former member of Southwest Rewards program I have some points that I will never use. I have been a southwest customer and fan for a few years but I am no longer interested in them. So I suppose they will just eventually expire. Maybe that’s to their advantage and they don’t care. It’s just another airline now and there are other alternatives to consider, which are more appealing.
I made a mistake when booking a flight date. I was able to cancel immediately and rebook for a other date for $500 more. So I canceled and booked with AA I did get a 6 month flight credit, it used to be 1 year. Cannot afford to fly again in 6 months, as other costs are involved also. I have flowen exclusively with SW since 1978.
NO MORE!!!
Why is it a crisis?
@Jason I’m no expert on running airlines, but I think the point is that, for all airlines these days, they make their money on their frequent flier programs rather than flying passengers. Assuming that, if Southwest is redeeming fewer rewards, that means their credit card business would be ailing too.
Spouse is A-List Preferred, I’m the Companion. Spouse’s employer allows purchase of Choice Preferred on WN or Premium Econ on UA (where they have it, otherwise Econ +). Recently we had to change up an itinerary from LHR to LAX (all on UA). We have to now stop in DC for some meetings. In looking at UA vs. WN from all DC area airports to ALL LAX vicinity airports, it came out that the only non-stops on WN are still from BWI, for >$600 1 way. Our meetings are near IAD, so UA for the win with a Non-stop that was only $259 for Econ+/Extra Legroom. Our transition away from WN has begun. If we don’t use up the >200k points spouse has accumulated oiurselves, we’ll start offering to use them for bookings for friends and family.
They cut service, raised prices, and dropped flights. No surprise that people are flying them less. I sure am.
Southwest has completely nuked all of the perks that make them more attractive than other budget airlines. Open seating, 2 free checked bag, and CoS reimbursement policies all represented HUGE quality of travel improvements. Now that private equity is nickel-and-diming the customers just like every other airline, I have no incentive to use Southwest when other options might be cheaper, and the loss of goodwill actually makes me want to avoid them completely, regardless of price.
I have 1.8 mm points on SW . Will wait to use when they intergtate Turkish airlines so i can buy business class seats with those points.
I have been a loyal customer on SW Airlines for the past 15 years. I always got a seat I wanted simply by checking in on time. I appreciated having a free checked bag, as I never traveled with two. I loved that SW Airlines promoted themselves as different, and now I am severely disappointed that they are leaving all that made them special to follow along with the crowd. I took my last flight on Southwest last week, as I am canceling my rapid rewards credit card and getting one with no annual fee that accrues points for other airlines. I’m not happy that my yearly fee is increasing on Southwest this year by 50%. I can qualify for many cards with no yearly fee. So I can see why many people are leaving Southwest, and I’m certain that the ones who made these decisions will be made to suffer for them. It’s too bad. They couldn’t just leave well enough alone. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
The carnage has just begun
Seat assignments on a one hour flight 53 dollars each higher if you book lowest fare bucket
22,000 points for the cheapest fare plus baggage fees
Booked first class on AMERICAN for 9000 points instead
Southwest isn’t greedy they are extortionate and in La La land
Hate to say it the worst is yet to come for them.Decisions weren’t poor but more of a slow death knell
Thankfully I’m down to 30,000 points from 200k
I’ll blow them out and then I’m done
I used to be a Southwest loyalist, up to six round trips a month for business. Then the benefits started disappearing and the service started sliding.
The final straw was being stranded due to crew issues, not weather and not a broken plane. After four hours of being stuck with no meaningful plan, I contacted their rewards team while I was still sitting there. They refused to do anything. No refund. No credit. Not even a token point. Basically, “too bad.”
That told me everything I needed to know. Southwest does not value loyalty, and they do not value customers. I have not flown them since, and I will not again. Watching this unfold brings me so much joy. This could not be happening to a more deserving airline.
Southwest kicked this customer to the curb. First they stopped service at IAH, so off to Hobby which is 30 to 60 minutes further from my home. Then raised prices by adding extra nickel and dime stuff like every other airline. Now they have neither convenient flights nor cost savings, so the extra driving makes no sense. I am currently forced to use Alaska Air from IAH. Bet in 2 to 3 years SW is in Bankruptcy.
I haven’t redeemed any of my points because I haven’t had the need nor the “convenience” to fly. I last flew 8 years ago, and now, I’m pretty much grounded. Other than being grounded, the biggest factor against my flying is putting up with TSA arrogance and incompetence. They once confiscated my Dell tablet and didn’t bother to tell about this (in essence, this was outright theft). Fortunately, I discovered the tablet was missing while at the gate; I went back to the security checkpoint and was able to retrieve my property.
When you take away the things that set the airline apart from others, what did you think was going to happen? Now, there’s no advantage to flying SWA, so I might as well book with whoever.
I remember all of my years of loyalty to Southwest. I regret them. I haven’t cashed in on points in years. The point value vs ticket price no longer jive.
Southwest has become the deplorable airline in my opinion. I will ONLY fly as a last resort. Their flight attendants are atrocious, wicked, and cruel – what happened to the nice and happy flight attendants – it is NOT the flight attendants but the way the airline treats their people. PEOPLE first. WHO wants to pay for extra room when you can get a first class seat on another airline! I flew Breeze recently – WOW – I was impressed – will be flying Breeze first class for a BETTER seat, Better Experience, and MUCH less for the price of a crappy middle seat on Southwest. Southwest CEO – this is for you – IMPROVE or you will loose more customers like me! AA has already lost me. Delta, United and Breeze and Alaska are my go to airlines now
Similar. I’ve flown almost exclusively SW, but I am not happy with the changes. I willl fly with the cheapest airline including all fees. I can’t handle the middle seat and I need to be over or near the wings so I don’t get airsick.
They lost my loyalty.
I have been a loyal customer (and card holder ) for years! Now to get to West Palm Beach, they route me through St. Louis! Doesn’t that cost the more fuel? To get back to Atlanta, I have to go to Nashville and change planes. They also did not allow enough connection time, causing me to fall in my haste! Reinjured my knee replacement. $99.00 annual fee from $69.00! Lost too any perks. No more Southwest for me!
Yeah, because they suck now, and there’s reason to believe that more suckage will be coming in the future.
We have 250k+ RR points and would rather look at other airlines due to airport terminal location, onboard amenities/legroom, and better overall experience.
Southwest no longer has value proposition…
I’m not sure we can afford to fly SW now with the new seating. Our adult daughter is in an electric wheelchair with developmental delays so either her dad or I have to be with her in Premium seating. From what I understand she can purchase her ticket for a cheaper price, but if we have to sit with her we have to pay Premium price. We may need to look at other airlines.
After all the changes, especially the baggage fees, we stopped using SWA altogether. They are now just like everyone else and point redemption mostly more than their competitors…
Yea, I’m leaving enough travel credit and points to take one last trip on Southwest, to one of the tropical destinations in fact. NO THANK YOU
After flying on Day 2 of the new, awful Southwest I am confident that letting those points and credits rot is the best travel bargain I can find
I redeemed the remaining points for Lone Star Steakhouse gift cards still only with 0.6 cents per point, but at least I get an enjoy a nice steak dinner.
Passengers not redeeming points at the same rate as past years is a decent sign that they are also not earning points at the same rate as years past. That means less partner revenue flowing on to Southwest’s balance sheet. I redirected partner earnings elsewhere when the switch from 72 to 78 points per dollar happened and switched to Costco gift cards for the use cases where Southwest made sense – primarily Long Beach and Midway for me. When the change was announced I had about $700 in credit and gift card value remaining, I have that down to half now.
Just another airline now….. sad that the fake preboarders ruined it
I was a-list or a-list preferred since they created the status – post-pandemic, all I saw way higher fares than AA or UA out of my airports and took my WN flying down to ZERO. This was 20-40 segments a year as my west coast/regional backup previously
It isn’t just the redemptions and status, it’s now that WN is as mediocre as every other airline. With having TSA Pre/Clear cross airlines, I generally now pick one carrier for Intl flights, AA (+ with their alliance partners) and domestic for me is AA if I see it works or I pick WHATEVER airline and pay up to a better seat or do a buy up to First. Just don’t care to hold status with WN and show them regular business anymore
Southnickle and dime isn’t worth flying. They have become the news Spirt Airlines. Would you like a seat cushion? That’s 35.00.
The truth is they are trying to be something that they are not. Let’s start with the luggage. People are not paying then they are checking it for free at the gate.The flight related and connections are missed. Then there is the wifi that doesn’t work most of the time. The broken down worn out 737 700 are uncomfortable. The bottom line is there out date fleet wasn’t designed for an upgraded experience. I fly every week and I know hate Southnickle and dime.
Herb Keller rolling over in his grave cause he would not ever allowed a private equity firm destroy his company like they are doing now.
Guess I am different, I took 20 flights last year using rewards points. Those were all with my wife and she has the companion pass which seems like such a good deal to me (that makes every fare half off in my opinion, does any other airline have something like the companion pass)? I am alist preferred, so we can both check two free bags, and so far we have taken four flights since the assigned seating started, and we have been able to get better seats each time (extra leg room in row two or three). Don’t have to fight to get on the plane first now, since the seat is assigned.
I do feel they need to up the perks for a list preferred, now that wifi is free.