At the core of Southwest Airlines is its philosophy of Transfarency® — treating customers fairly and keeping fares low. This customer-first approach has landed Southwest consistently among the United States’ most popular airlines. Southwest offers its rewarding Rapid Rewards loyalty program that encourages passengers to fly with the airline.
The Southwest frequent flyer program includes a strong co-branded credit card lineup and the opportunity to earn the coveted Southwest Companion Pass.
Additionally, you’ll earn valuable points that are very flexible and easy to redeem (you can even cancel an award flight and get a full refund), making Southwest Rapid Rewards a great program to get on board with.
Southwest Rapid Rewards is the frequent flyer program for Southwest Airlines that rewards loyal members who fly with the quirky carrier. Rapid Rewards is a fully revenue-based program, where the number of points earned or needed for an award is reflective of the cash fare. Rapid Rewards has some unique features:
| Where does Southwest fly? | Lower 48 U.S. States, Hawaii, and limited destinations in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean |
| Hub airports | Southwest does not operate traditional hub airports like other airlines. However, they have a number of airports where they have a concentrated number of flights, including Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore (BWI), Chicago–Midway (MDW), Dallas–Love Field (DAL), Denver (DEN), Houston–Hobby (HOU), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Oakland (OAK), Phoenix (PHX) and St. Louis (STL). |
| Airline alliance | Doesn't belong to an alliance |
| Airline lounges | No lounge network |
| Number of miles needed for a free flight | Varies based on the cash ticket price |
| Southwest miles value | ~1.4 cents |
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A good average estimation for Rapid Rewards points is 1.4 cents each.
The value of Southwest Rapid Rewards points varies depending on the route and dates booked. The value of Southwest miles is higher than average when compared to the value of award miles for some of its U.S. competitors.
As a general rule, shorter, cheaper cash tickets offer better value per point than longer or pricier fares, although this doesn’t hold true 100% of the time. For example:
| Trip | Price | Points required | Point value* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas to Los Angeles (in early April 2024) | $64 | 3,790 | $0.015 |
| Chicago to Dallas (in early March 2024) | $89 | 5,720 | $0.015 |
| San Jose, Costa Rica to Baltimore (in early December 2023) | $264 | 13,612 | $0.019 |
| Oakland to Denver (in early February 2024) | $114 | 7,651 | $0.014 |
| Boston to Los Angeles (in early December 2023) | $119 | 7,319 | $0.016 |
| Seattle to Boston (at the end of November 2023) | $149 | 9,634 | $0.015 |
*We subtracted the $5.60 TSA fee from the fare to get the point value.
How do you know if using Rapid Rewards points is worth it?
We value Rapid Rewards points at around 1.4 cents per point — if a fare is worth around 1.4 cents per point, then it’s likely worth it to use points. To calculate the value of points, use this simple equation:
Rapid Rewards, Southwest’s frequent flyer program, has long been a favorite for its simplicity. Between Southwest making every seat available as a reward seat and the airline’s lack of change and cancellation fees, it’s no surprise that many frequent flyers are incredibly loyal to Southwest. Rapid Rewards has been named “Program of the Year” for five consecutive years by travelers voting for the Freddie Awards, which honors companies and programs in the business of travel loyalty.
There are plenty of ways to earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points, from flying on Southwest Airlines to earning through Southwest’s shopping and hotel partners. Here are some of the top ways of earning Rapid Rewards points:
Southwest Airlines has an expansive partner network that includes car rental agencies, hotels and even energy companies. When spending with these partner services, you could both earn Rapid Rewards points and enjoy a discount on the service itself. Partners include:
Hotels
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Car rentals
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Shopping and dining
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Home and lifestyle
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Details on earning Rapid Rewards through these various travel and other partners can be found on the Rapid Rewards Partners page.
The most straightforward way to earn Rapid Rewards points is to fly with Southwest Airlines. The number of points you earn depends on the type of ticket booked and your Southwest status level. The cheapest Southwest fares are branded as Wanna Get Away, though these flights are completely non-refundable. The other fares, Anytime and Business Select, are more expensive but also offer more flexible fare rules.
Points earned from Southwest flights post within 72 hours. Note that you only earn points on revenue fares; Rapid Rewards points are not awarded on reward tickets.
| Flight option | Basic | A-List (25% bonus) | A-List Preferred (100% bonus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanna Get Away® | 6 points | 7.5 points | 12 points |
| Wanna Get Away Plus® | 8 points | 10 points | 16 points |
| Anytime | 10 points | 12.5 points | 20 points |
| Business Select | 12 points | 15 points | 24 points |
Southwest partners with Chase to offer five different co-branded credit cards — three personal credit cards and two small business products. Using a co-branded credit card is one of the fastest ways to earn Rapid Rewards points quickly, since the cards often have generous welcome offers.
| Card | Sign-up bonus | Benefits | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card | Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
| $69 |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card | Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
| $99 |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card | Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
| $149 |
| Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card | Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. |
| $99 |
| Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card | Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
| $199 |
The perks offered by some of the Southwest co-branded credit cards are excellent. In particular, the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card offers a whopping 365 Wi-Fi credits, letting you enjoy Southwest’s in-flight Wi-Fi even if you fly every day.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is the only one that does not offer tier-qualifying points toward A-List status, and this is also the only card that levies foreign transaction fees. The combination of these two factors makes it the least appealing choice, despite offering the lowest annual fee.
What is the Southwest credit card login?
Since all of Southwest’s credit cards are issued by Chase, you can access your Southwest credit card login at chase.com.
Southwest Airlines has a strong partnership with Chase Bank. Besides offering co-branded Rapid Rewards credit cards, Chase also allows points transfers from its Ultimate Rewards program to Southwest Rapid Rewards. If you want to know how to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to Southwest, you can do that by logging on to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account. You can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points.
Savvy traveler tip: For earning points for Southwest airfare, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card may be better options. They offer more points on a wider variety of categories, you can transfer points into Rapid Rewards and use them just like points earned with the Southwest cards. Plus you can transfer points to other airline loyalty programs, including United.Note that these cards are great for earning points toward airfare, but not for airline perks. Transferred points cannot help you qualify for A-List status or the Southwest Companion Pass.
You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Southwest Rapid Rewards. Marriott offers transfers in increments of 3,000 Bonvoy points to every 1,000 miles or points with its partner programs. However, if you transfer in increments of 60,000 points, you’ll enjoy 5,000 bonus miles/points, yielding a total of 25,000 Rapid Rewards points for every 60,000 Bonvoy points.
Southwest Airlines features a Rapid Rewards dining program where individuals can earn Rapid Rewards points by dining at restaurants within the network:
The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards shopping portal lets you earn points by shopping with 850-plus online retailers. This is a great way to earn extra rewards for shopping you’re already doing. Popular retailers include Apple, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Macy’s and Staples, among many others. The number of Rapid Rewards earned can vary from 0.5 points per $1 spent to 20 points per $1 spent, depending on the retailer. Points can take up to 15 days to post to your Rapid Rewards account.
Southwest Vacations is a great way to bundle your flights and either hotel or rental car together into a cheaper package. You can both save money and earn bonus Rapid Rewards points, depending on the package you book — though you’ll always earn base Rapid Rewards points on the flight portion of the package you book. However, you may also earn additional points if Southwest is running a vacation package promotion.
Southwest partners with Research Now Group to offer Rewards for Opinions, a site where you can earn Rapid Rewards points by completing online surveys. The surveys are consumer market research, asking questions about various services, products and advertising. Each survey opportunity will show the approximate time to finish it and the number of Rapid Rewards points awarded upon completion.
Utilities
If your power provider is NRG, you can earn points just for paying your utility bill, though you’ll have to be a resident of Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey or Pennsylvania.
If you already have a Southwest Airlines credit card, you can earn bonus Rapid Rewards points for referring friends for the card. You can currently earn 20,000 Rapid Rewards points per successful referral, up to 100,000 points per year. A successful referral is one where the recipient applies for Southwest Airlines credit card through your referral link and is approved for the card. The Chase Refer-A-Friend program for Southwest credit cards allows the referral recipient to choose their favorite among the three personal cards, so they are not locked into the exact card you hold.
Rocketmiles is a booking service that lets you earn a variety of rewards points for hotel stays. The number of points or miles earned varies by property and by loyalty program. To earn Southwest Rapid Rewards through Rocketmiles, you’ll need to make sure that you perform your search with Rapid Rewards selected.
After you’ve entered your search information, Rocketmiles will provide a list and map of hotel options with the nightly rate and the total number of Rapid Rewards points earned. You can earn up to 10,000 points for a single-night stay, making it a potentially very worthwhile option, depending on the price of the hotel.
However, the site can be confusing for multi-night stays. While a user might assume the number of points displayed is per night, it’s actually a flat number of points for the full stay.
Southwest lets you buy Rapid Rewards points for either yourself or for any other program member. You can also use this option to gift points to another member. Points are offered in increments of 1,000 during promotional periods and 500 at other times. You can purchase a minimum of 2,000 points at a time and a daily maximum of 60,000 points for personal and gift purchases.
Given the typical value of Southwest points is only 1.4 cents, this is not a good way to add to your Rapid Rewards balance. Southwest sometimes offers sales of Rapid Rewards points, but even then, it rarely makes sense to purchase.
If you want to know how to use Southwest points, redeeming your Southwest Rapid Rewards points for Southwest flights is generally the best way to go. Southwest makes it simple and straightforward to redeem Southwest points for flights.
Here’s a rundown on how to spend Rapid Rewards points:
To book a flight using your Rapid Rewards points, you’ll need to either head to Southwest.com or use the Southwest mobile app — you won’t have to log in to your Rapid Rewards account to search for flights.
1. From the main page, you just need to enter your origin, destination, travel date(s), number of passengers and whether you want to search in dollars or points. (Note, you can easily toggle between dollars and points in the search results.)
2. Once you submit your search, you’ll be presented with flight options. You can use the button in the upper right corner to toggle between dollars and points, to determine the value you’re getting for your Rapid Rewards points.
3. You can also check out the Low Fare Calendar to find the cheapest day to fly.
4. You can choose among four fare types: Wanna Get Away, Wanna Get Away Plus, Anytime and Business Select.
Wanna Get Away fares are the cheapest and generally, best option, since the other fares don’t offer enough benefit to justify the additional points.
Business Select and Anytime fares are fully refundable as revenue fares, which is the main benefit of booking these fares with cash. However, all award tickets are fully refundable, so booking with points negates this benefit.
| Business Select | Anytime | Wanna Get Away Plus | Wanna Get Away |
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5. Once you’ve selected a fare, you’ll be taken to the booking screen where you’ll confirm your choice, pay the taxes and fees and then confirm your booking. You must have sufficient Rapid Rewards points in your account to complete the booking.
While booking Southwest flights is the primary use of Rapid Rewards points, Southwest offers other options for using your points through More Rewards. You can redeem your Southwest Rapid Rewards for:
If you want to know how to use Rapid Rewards points for car rental, you can do that through the Southwest More Rewards program. To be eligible to use your points for More Rewards, you must be a Rapid Rewards credit cardholder.
Savvy traveler tip: The value you’ll get for your points through More Rewards is poor compared to using your points for booking flights: Gift cards typically only yield 0.67 cents per point, and the value when used for merchandise can be even worse. None of the options provide value in excess of 1 cent per point, which means that you are giving up over half the value if you redeem them this way.The famed Southwest Companion Pass is one of the most sought-after benefits of any airline loyalty program. Southwest’s pass allows you to choose one person to fly with you for free (you will only be responsible for taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way) each time you purchase or redeem points for a flight. The pass is valid for the remainder of the year in which you earned it, as well as the following full calendar year.
Some restrictions to keep in mind when earning the Southwest Companion Pass:
Southwest offers two status tiers within the Rapid Rewards loyalty program that you can achieve by earning tier qualifying points or by the number of flights taken. Tier qualifying points are those earned directly by flying. The two status levels are A-List and A-List Preferred.
To earn Southwest A-List status, you’ll need to fly 25 qualifying one-way flights or earn 35,000 tier qualifying points in a calendar year.
To earn Southwest A-List Preferred status, you’ll need to fly 50 qualifying one-way flights or earn 70,000 tier qualifying points in a calendar year.
Compared to upgrades and other perks with more traditional airlines, Southwest Airlines A-List status doesn’t offer all that much — for example, everyone already enjoys free bags and no change fees. The biggest benefit is being able to board the aircraft early and get a better seat. A-List Preferred is where Southwest really adds value with a serious bonus on Rapid Rewards points and free Wi-Fi.
Southwest does offer a status match if you’re interested in switching to the carrier from another airline. Southwest will honor your status with any other U.S. carrier. To be eligible for a Southwest status match, you’ll need to sign up for Rapid Rewards and then submit the following:
You will receive promotional A-List status for 90 days. If you fly three round-trips (six one-way flights) during the promotional period, Southwest will extend your A-List status for another 12 months. This offer is available as long as you haven’t received promotional A-List status within the previous 12 months.
Southwest Rapid Rewards could be an excellent loyalty program for both road warriors and infrequent leisure travelers – your points never expire, which means that even if you fly only once a year, you could eventually earn enough for a free flight.
Plus, you have the opportunity to earn plenty of Rapid Rewards points through Southwest’s large co-branded credit card lineup, as well as the opportunity to earn the Companion Pass. Whether you fly weekly or rarely, joining the Southwest Rapid Rewards is worth the consideration — it offers opportunities for savings and is free to join.
Rapid Rewards points do not expire as long as you keep your account open. If you close your Southwest Rapid Rewards account, your points will be forfeited.
If you want to know how many Southwest points you need for a free flight, the answer is that it depends on the cash cost of your flight. The lower the cash cost, the fewer points will be required and conversely, the higher the cash cost of the flight, the more Southwest points you’ll need.
Yes, it is free to join and participate in Southwest Rapid Rewards.
You can find your Southwest Rapid Rewards number in the initial email communication from Southwest, as well as on the monthly Rapid Rewards statements. You can also retrieve your Rapid Rewards number.
If you are wondering how to add points to a Southwest Rapid Rewards flight, you can add your Rapid Rewards number to an existing reservation at Southwest.com by clicking on “Flight/Hotel/Car” at the top of the screen. Use Manage Reservations to add it to a flight. Alternatively, you can have a Southwest Airlines customer service agent add it when you arrive at the airport.
Southwest Points from flights post within 72 hours. Southwest Points from credit cards typically post within one to two business days after your billing cycle closes. Points from Southwest shopping take up to 15 days to post.
Yes, you can redeem Rapid Rewards points for hotels through the Southwest More Rewards program.
While you cannot combine points with another member, you may redeem your Rapid Rewards points for a ticket for anyone. You may need to delete your own Rapid Rewards number from the reservation to be able to do so.
Yes, you can request points for past flights for up to 12 months after your flight. You can make a request at Southwest.com through My Account > Manage > Request Past Points.
Yes, when you buy Southwest Rapid Rewards points, you can choose to deposit them into any Rapid Rewards account, allowing you to gift them to another member. If you want to know how to share points on Southwest, this can be an option for you.
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