Southwest celebrates 1 million Facebook fans with rewards promotion

When Southwest Airlines reached 1 million Facebook fans on December 1 it celebrated with what else but a Facebook-only promotion. The airline, which just narrowly bested JetBlue Airways in our December issue's Battle of the Brands, offered its Rapid Rewards loyalty members triple the points for any flights it booked on December 1 for travel through the end of the year.

Seems these are fairly narrow terms but maybe that's because I'm someone who picks my flights months, not hours, in advance.

Linda Rutherford, Southwest's VP of communications and strategic outreach, praised the airline's social media efforts, saying in a statement that "We've built a massive online following for one simple reason - we care about our customers. Through this effort, we've identified what our Customers want, what we're doing well, and how we can improve. If a million fans is any indication, it's working."

Southwest already possesses more than 1 million Twitter followers.