Lyn writes about flying nearly free on Southwest on her GotoTravelGal.com blog and has written a free guide that walks you step-by-step through how to earn the amazing Southwest Companion Pass. The Southwest Companion Pass is THE best deal in travel and lets you bring 1 person along to fly nearly free with you for up to 2 years.
I’ve asked Lyn to tell us about an exclusive new program offered by Southwest.
Lyn: Do you love all things Southwest like my family? Here’s your chance to be a Southwest insider!
Southwest recently introduced a new program called Southwest Community Champions, which is tied to their online community where Southwest travelers can ask and answer questions.
I’ll tell you how you can become a Southwest Champion and get insider access to Southwest – along with some LUV swag. 🙂
The Southwest Airlines Community
First, let me explain the Southwest Airlines Community if you’re not familiar with it. It’s essentially a discussion forum owned by Southwest.
Within the Southwest Community, the airline often shares topical news and announcements in the “Stories“ section. For example, they recently shared that they were opening applications for flight attendants for a limited time, which received a huge response. There’s also a new “Outreach“ section where they discuss Southwest’s community outreach and involvement in local communities.
Otherwise, the community is largely divided into various discussion boards that include topics like:
- Boarding
- Check-In
- Family Travel
- In the Air
- Rapid Rewards
- Travel Inspiration
Southwest Community Champions
Southwest grants you various ranks and badges based on your participation in the community. You can do things like answer other users’ questions, write blog posts or “stories” (here are the story submission guidelines), post comments, and “love” other people’s posts.
To acknowledge those who are outstanding community members, Southwest has added the Champions program. Members who are selected as Southwest Community Champions get the following benefits:
- A unique avatar / badge, identifying them as Champions
- Perks, including exclusive swag and invitations to visit Southwest headquarters in Dallas (I’m hoping they might pass out a few Southwest points here and there, too ;))
- The opportunity to connect regularly with the Southwest Community Team to get information and answers more easily
How to Become a Southwest Community Champion
To be considered to become a Southwest Community Champion, you’ll need someone to nominate you, or you can nominate yourself by clicking the “Nominate“ button on this page.
You’ll also need to be at least 18, and you can NOT be a current Southwest employee. You’ll be asked to indicate your areas of expertise, choosing from:
- Family Travel
- Rapid Rewards
- International Travel
- Southwest Travel Policies
- Traveling with Disabilities
- General Travel
You’ll also need to establish consistent positive activity in the community to have a better chance of Southwest selecting you. Here’s how Southwest describes a Champion:
Community Champions keep the Community thriving. We seek to identify outstanding Community Members who have contributed to the Community by providing accurate information to others, curating great content, and contributing a positive attitude to the Discussion Boards.
On the Champions FAQs page, Southwest says that candidates will be chosen based on their “contributions to the community, knowledge of the Southwest flying experience, and overall positive attitude.”
The Southwest Community Champions program is a 12-month membership, after which you’ll need to be re-invited or re-nominated, though it says you can participate for several years.
Bottom Line
The new Southwest Community Champions program could be a great for fans of the discount airline to get some cool perks and insider access to the company. Get active in the community and then get nominated!
What do you think? Would you like to be a Southwest Champion?