Southwest Airlines Lets You Jump To Front Of the Line

Normally, members of Southwest Airline's frequent flyer program must fly 16 round-trip flights in 12 months to qualify as an "A-List" member.   A-Listers are automatically checked in for flights, usually receive priority boarding (no small thing since Southwest doesn't assign seats), and, where available, my use priority security lanes. 

But a special promotion announced moments ago allows anyone to become an elite member of Southwest's program if they fly five round trips before June 15, 2009.

Is it worth it? 

That depends.  If you fly Southwest frequently,  this is a great opportunity to join the A List, so to speak.  But you must first register for this promotion to take part in it.

Footnote: It was only a couple of weeks ago, when Southwest began its first service in Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Chicago's Midway, that I predicted Southwest would grow its service from MSP.  But the announcement yesterday that Southwest will begin flying to Denver as of May 26th from MSP surprised even me.  Can Vegas, BWI, LAX, SFO and maybe even Philadelphia be far behind?  One likely city pair: MSP and Kansas City, a route with few non-stop flights and ridiculously high fares, exactly the kind of market Southwest likes to take over.