Southwest Airlines And AirTran Airways® Enable Rewards Conversion Across Rapid Rewards® And A+ Rewards® Programs

DALLAS, April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) today announced that Members of its Rapid Rewards (Southwest Airlines) and A+ Rewards (AirTran Airways) frequent flyer programs are now able to transfer their loyalty rewards between the two programs to redeem for reward travel to 97 destinations*, including Mexico and the Caribbean. While the two loyalty programs remain separate for now, the ability to redeem rewards for more destinations represents an enhancement to both programs. 

"We are thrilled to share this news today with Members of both Rapid Rewards and A+ Rewards," said Kevin Krone, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Distribution. "Members of both programs have been asking for this ability, and we know they will enjoy using their loyalty rewards to travel to even more destinations."

The ability to convert loyalty rewards requires an active account in each program. Members then use their Rapid Rewards Member account number to access the loyalty rewards conversion capability on southwest.com®. Southwest's Rapid Rewards Members can convert their Rapid Rewards Points, active credits, and active Awards/Certificates into A+ Rewards Credits for flights on AirTran. AirTran's A+ Rewards Members can convert their active A+ Rewards Credits into Rapid Rewards Credits for flights on Southwest Airlines.

Members can make the following conversions:

Transferring Southwest's Rapid Rewards* to AirTran's A+ Rewards

• 1,200 Rapid Rewards Points —> 1 A+ Rewards Credit.(1)
• 1 Rapid Rewards Credit —> 1 A+ Rewards Credit.(2)
• 1 Rapid Rewards Standard Award —> 16 A+ Rewards Credits.(3)
• 1 Rapid Rewards Freedom Award —> 32 A+ Rewards Credits.(4)

Note: 16 A+ Credits = one roundtrip Coach ticket on AirTran

Transferring AirTran's A+ Rewards to Southwest's Rapid Rewards

• 1 A+ Rewards Credit —> 1 Rapid Rewards Credit.(5)

Note: 16 Rapid Rewards Credits = 1 Standard Award 

To learn more about Rewards Conversion, and view step-by-step instructions and videos, visit http://www.rewardsfarther.com.  For more information about Rapid Rewards, visit http://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards.  For more information about A+ Rewards, visit http://www.aplusrewards.com.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers--offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded and has acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 73 cities in 38 states and remains one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/citizenship to read the Southwest Airlines One Report™. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has more than 39,000 Employees systemwide.

About AirTran Airways

AirTran Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co., was named the top airline in the 2012 Airline Quality Rating study and has achieved that ranking three times in the past five years. AirTran offers coast-to-coast service on North America's newest all-Boeing fleet. The airline's low-cost, high-quality product also includes assigned seating and Business Class.

*Reflects 2012 schedule changes announced through November 2, 2012.

www.southwest.com

(1)Rapid Rewards Points can be converted in increments of 300. Expiration date of newly created A+ Rewards Credits will be one year from the date of creation. Please note that Rapid Rewards Points that are transferred into A+ Rewards Credits cannot be transferred back into Rapid Rewards as Points.

(2)Rapid Rewards Credits can be converted in increments of .25 Credits. Expiration date of newly created A+ Rewards Credits will be the same as the original expiration date of the Rapid Rewards Credits transferred.

(3)Active one-way Certificates can be transferred for 8 A+ Rewards Credits. Expiration date of newly created A+ Rewards Credits will remain the same as the original expiration date on the Award/Certificate.

(4)Active one-way Certificates can be transferred for 16 A+ Rewards Credits. Expiration date of newly created A+ Rewards Credits will remain the same as the original expiration date on the Award/Certificate.

(5)Credits can be converted in increments of .25 Credits. Expiration date of newly created Rapid Rewards Credits will be the same as the original expiration date of the A+ Rewards Credits converted. Once you reach 16 total combined Credits in your Rapid Rewards account, a Standard Award will automatically generate, carrying an expiration date of one year from the date the Award was created.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines