Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards Program Wins Three Freddie's at 20th Annual
Frequent Flyer Awards Ceremony
Airline Takes First Place For Best Award Redemption, Best Award, and Best
Member Communications
DALLAS, April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines' frequent
flyer program, Rapid Rewards, won first place in three categories and placed
in the top five in four others at Inside Flyer magazine's 20th annual Freddie
Awards ceremony on Thursday, April 24, in Phoenix, AZ. The airline took home
first place honors for Best Award Redemption, Best Award, and Best Member
Communications. This is the 10th consecutive year for Southwest Airlines to
win Best Award Redemption (every year since the award was created in 1998) and
the first year to win Best Member Communications. Southwest Airlines also
placed in the top five in four other categories, including: Program of the
Year, Best Web Site for southwest.com, Best Customer Service, and Best Elite
Level.
"We are very proud of our Rapid Rewards program, and we are honored to be
recognized by our Members at the prestigious Freddie Awards," said Ryan Green,
Southwest Airlines' Director of Customer Loyalty. "Our Rapid Rewards program
is designed to bring value to our most frequent and loyal Customers, and we
feel like the changes we made to the Program last year -- adding the Rapid
Rewards' A-List and a second redemption option, Freedom Awards -- only add to
that value. This recognition further validates those changes, and we will
continue to look for ways to improve our award-winning program."
Each year, InsideFlyer magazine invites members of all frequent traveler
programs to vote for the programs they feel deliver the best combination of
benefits, awards, and returns on loyalty from the traveler's point of view.
Winners are determined not only by how many votes a program receives, but by
the overall merits of each program as reflected in "value voting," where
voters rate their favorite programs on a scale of one to ten. More than
625,000 frequent flyers submitted ballots to Freddie Awards organizers,
casting votes for programs worldwide.
It is fast and easy to earn free travel through Rapid Rewards. Rapid
Rewards Members earn credits by flying or using the program's Preferred
Partners. It takes just 8 roundtrips to qualify for an Award, but Members can
accelerate their earnings by using the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa
Signature Card, doing business with any of the airline's other Preferred
Partners, or by purchasing Southwest's Business Select fares when flying.
Plus, once it's earned, Southwest Airlines allows the Member to transfer the
Award to anyone. The Award is free but subject to the U.S. government
September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 roundtrip.
After almost 37 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to
differentiate itself from other low fare carriers -- offering a reliable
product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the most
productive airline in the sky and offers Customers a comfortable traveling
experience. Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its
boarding procedure to make flying Southwest convenient and simple. Southwest
Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic
passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in
Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has
more than 34,000 Employees systemwide.
www.southwest.com
SOURCE Southwest Airlines
Public Relations of Southwest Airlines, +1-214-792-4847
