Date Settings: Early next year, travelers will be able to board Southwest Airlines planes, fly to a city, and then take a connected flight to Asia. Soon, they will be able to book these trips with Southwest Quick Rewards points.
At a ceremony in Texas on Wednesday, China Airlines in Southwest and Taiwan became a brand new partnership.
As of this week, passengers can now book itineraries featuring seamless connections between Southwest Airlines and China Airlines. Executives revealed that the flights will be launched on January 19, with the five major airports in the western United States being the main gateways: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Phoenix Skyport International Airport (PHX), Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Ontario International Airport (ONTARIO International Airport) (ONT)
Although the cooperation between the two airlines has been somewhat restricted from the outset, Southwest Quick Rewards members will earn a lot from it: In the not too distant future, members should be able to earn and redeem points on flights to Asia.
Southwest told TPG on Wednesday that it is accelerating plans to enable partners to reward bookings (and earnings) may be earlier than expected.
“It’s coming soon, and more and more partners are coming soon,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a speech at the company’s Dallas headquarters on Wednesday.
Southwest’s new China Airlines Partnership
In January, the United Southwest Airlines trip will be launched in January after it began its first ever international airline partnership with Iceland Airlines in February.
Like Iceland Airlines, this latest collaboration will start to be smaller.
From the start, you can visit the Chinese airline’s website and book flights from both airlines.
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Here is an example trip I plugged in: You will start with a Southwest flight from Dallas Love Field (DAL) and board the Chinese airline Airbus A350 for Pacific flights from Taiwan Taiwan International Airport (TPE) to Taiwan.
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Sample booking from Dallas to Taipei via Los Angeles. Chinese Airlines
In the next few weeks, you will be able to book similar itineraries through certain third-party booking sites, which may include sites like Expedia.
Then, when Southwest completes technical work to make its reservation system fully ready for partnerships, it will start offering these reservations through its website and mobile apps (and reward redemption soon after).
Related: Southwest Airlines’ “Variable” Quick Reward Redemption Rate Takes Effective
Global expectations continue to increase – and quickly
Executives said Wednesday that once the foundation is achieved, the airline expects its list of international airline partners to grow at a faster rate. This should result in you being able to fly to more places in the world at the Southwest Point.
“Our goal is to quickly build a very viable network of partners,” Jordan said. “We intend to build a network of partners that can reach most parts of the world in a manageable time – of course, the destination our customers want to go to.”
All of this is a major turn for Southwest, an airline known for its domestic footprint. Remember that just 11 years ago, the airline launched its first short-distance international service in Mexico and the Caribbean, and just six years ago, Southwest started its flights to Hawaii.
But in recent years, long-distance international flights have proven to be a boon for airlines that drive them – a reason customers prioritize spending on credit cards of lucrative common brands of airlines in the hope of winning these points to reach remote destinations in Europe, Asia or elsewhere.
Southwest hopes its new (and future) partner network will help it get into the wave, making its fast rewards program and improved credit card lineup more attractive to big spending customers.
Booking a seat in the Southwest: Here’s what to know
What about long-distance flights operated in the Southwest?
However, the airline seems to be becoming more and more open, one day it will sail its own long-distance route. Jordan first raised the topic in a public speech in May, noting that longer flights “may require you to consider a different aircraft” compared to Southwest Airlines’ 737 fleet.
He also felt co-relative about the topic on Wednesday, citing the need to meet customer needs.
“If we can’t bring you there, they’ll drive someone else,” he said. “It’s important that we have to develop a network of partners while driving other geographical locations in the Southwest with our own capabilities.”
Meanwhile, when high-end seats and airport lounges at the time proved to be the gospel of top competitors, Jordan also made his latest suggestion that Southwest could eventually offer seats longer than a line and plan to debut with designated seats in January.
“I’m very open to it,” he said. “When we look at things like ‘Does the clients want more advanced things? Do they want a lounge network?’ – just an example – we have to explore these things.
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