@terepler wrote: I have been an A list rewards member for the past 5 years. During 2019 due to illness, my travel for work was a little more limited and I was short of A list status requirements by 5 flights. I have contacted customer service to request a one time grant of A list status for 2020 as my travel will be increasing in the upcoming year and I have been a loyal southwest customer. I was declined due to the need to "maintain the integrity" of the rewards program. I would have graciously accepted this explanation had I not found out through a google news link that southwest was surprising people with elite status: https://thepointsguy.com/news/southwest-elite-status-surprise/ Does anyone know how I might escalate this issue? I had a similar situation last year and was eventually offered a promotional offer to fly six flights for remainder of the year A-list, during which I flew plenty and earned A-list the regular way for the rest of 2019 to 2020. I think the promotion came sometime at the end of January or in February, i forget all of the details unfortunately. If they do end up offering you one, the best approach is to keep flying and pay for the earlier boarding options if that's important to you.
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