Originally Posted by
shadrach
At my current level of travel I would have no problem attaining A-List status over the course of 12 months, but since I just started traveling I won't make it on flights alone in the remainder of the 2012 calendar year.
You might as well wait until 2013. Southwest does not yet offer elite status challenges, and non-flight points don't count toward A-list, except for a small amount of credit card points.
Most of those other points count toward Companion Pass even though they do not count toward A-List. Confusing, I know. Again the count resets at the end of the year, so 2012 points will be wasted.
Get the RR credit card late this year but don't use it until January. Then your 50k points will post in 2013 and you will have a shot at getting CP for the rest of 2013 and all of 2014. You won't earn A-list until late in the year unless Southwest initiates a status challenge offer. That's the best you can do.