Also the greatly increased time I spend upping my game to minimize the extra cost. Everything was so much easier a year ago. I was comfortable paying more sometimes because I didn't constantly check fares. With the new Southwest I'm making the extra effort to limit the extent to which they rip me off. Pulling the rug out from my ability to roll over gift card funds without expiration was bad enough. As is their exploitation by charging double or more for OAK-LAX vs SFO-LAX. But their bait and switch on my WGA purchases that became Basic the moment I used a longstanding feature like SDC was infuriating.

I have ALP through 2026. After that I probably won't bother requalifying unless conditions improve. I don't need the little that status now offers, and the parts of Southwest I valued will soon no longer exist.