How To Earn and Use Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

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I love Southwest Airlines! It’s the only airline I have any sort of loyalty to — if Southwest is flying to my destination, chances are good, I’ll choose Southwest.

Why is Southwest so awesome, you ask? On top of great customer service, it’s so easy and straightforward to earn and use Rapid Rewards points. There are no blackout dates, and award availability isn’t limited (if there’s a seat available on the plane, you can buy it with points). Plus you can change your flight without a fee, and there are no baggage fees! What’s not to love?

In this post, I’ll show you the basics of how to earn and use Southwest Rapid Rewards points. Don’t worry — it’s easy peasy!

How to earn and use Southwest Rapid Rewards points | How to get free flights on Southwest Airlines using points.

How To Earn Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

1. Fly On Southwest Airlines

Pretty obvious, right? You will earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points every time you fly on Southwest (except on award flights). The amount of points you earn on your flight is determined by what type of fare you purchased as well as your status level.

If you don’t have any elite status here’s how many points you’ll earn:

  • Wanna Get Away: 6 points per dollar
  • Anytime: 10 points per dollar
  • Business Select: 12 points per dollar

If you’ve got A-List status, you’ll earn even more points:

  • Wanna Get Away: 7.5 points per dollar
  • Anytime: 12.5 points per dollar
  • Business Select: 15 points per dollar

If you’ve got A-List Preferred status, you’ll earn the most points:

  • Wanna Get Away: 12 points per dollar
  • Anytime: 20 points per dollar
  • Business Select: 24 points per dollar

 

2. Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Cards

There are lots of credit cards that earn Southwest points, and credit cards are the best way to earn points fast. Southwest offers 5 co-branded credit cards through Chase bank — 3 personal and 2 business cards.

Southwest Credit Cards
Image Credit: Chase

 

All 3 of the personal Southwest credit cards are currently offering a 50,000 point sign-on bonus after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months and an additional 30,000 points after spending $10,000 in the first 9 months.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card

  • 5x points on Southwest purchases up to $2,000 per month through March 31, 2021 (new applicants only)
  • 2x points on Southwest purchases and partner hotel and car rental purchases (current cardholders)
  • 3,000 bonus points on cardmember anniversary (~ $45 value)
  • Annual fee: $69

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card

  • 5x points on Southwest purchases up to $2,000 per month through March 31, 2021 (new applicants only)
  • 2x points on Southwest purchases and partner hotel and car rental purchases (current cardholders)
  • 6,000 bonus points on cardmember anniversary (~ $90 value)
  • Annual fee: $99

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card – Best Value

  • 5x points on Southwest purchases up to $2,000 per month through March 31, 2021 (new applicants only)
  • 2x points on Southwest purchases and partner hotel and car rental purchases (current cardholders)
  • 7,500 bonus points on cardmember anniversary (~ $112 value)
  • $75 annual Southwest travel credit
  • 4 upgraded boardings per year
  • 20% back on inflight drinks and Wi-Fi
  • Annual Fee: $149

Best Value Southwest Credit Card: While the Southwest Priority card has the highest annual fee, it offers the best value out of the 3 personal credit card options. The $75 annual travel credit essentially makes the annual fee $74. Then you’ll get 7,500 bonus points on your anniversary which have about $112 in value. That more than makes up for the annual fee without taking into consideration the value of the upgraded boarding passes and inflight food and WiFi discount.


Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card 

Current Sign-On Bonus: 60,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months

  • 5x points on Southwest purchases up to $2,000 per month through March 31, 2021 (new applicants only)
  • 2x points on Southwest purchases and partner hotel and car rental purchases
  • 6,000 bonus points on cardmember anniversary (~ $90 value)
  • Annual fee: $99

Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card 

Current Sign-On Bonus: 70,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months and an additional 30,000 points after spending $25,000 in the first 6 months

  • 5x points on Southwest purchases up to $2,000 per month through March 31, 2021 (new applicants only)
  • 3x points on Southwest purchases and partner hotel and car rental purchases
  • 9,000 bonus points on cardmember anniversary (~ $135 value)
  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit (up to $100 value)
  • Inflight WiFi credits
  • 4 upgraded boardings per year
  • Annual fee: $199

Refer Your Friends To Your Southwest Credit Card

Once you have a Southwest credit card, you’ll earn points each time you refer someone to any of the Southwest credit cards. You can easily get a referral link in your Chase account. Here’s how:

First, click on the 3 lines in the upper left-hand corner then click Just For You.

Refer a friend to a Chase credit card
Image Credit: Chase

 

Then click on Refer friends now. You’ll see which cards are eligible for referral bonuses. Then all you need to do is enter your last name, zip code, and last 4 digits of your card number and you’ll get a personalized referral link to share with friends and family.

How to find Chase Refer A Friend
Image Credit: Chase

Transfer Points From Chase Ultimate Rewards

You can also earn Southwest points by using credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Points transfer to Southwest at a 1:1 ratio. That means that every 1 Chase point can turn into 1 Southwest Rapid Rewards point through an instant transfer.

Southwest points do not transfer back to Chase, so if you have Chase points you would like to use on Southwest, keep them parked in your Chase account until you are ready to redeem.

The 3 premium Ultimate Rewards credit cards that earn transferrable points are:

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
  • Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

The cool thing is that once you have one of the premium Chase cards, you can turn the cash-back from the cards that don’t have an annual fee into points, which makes them much more valuable.

The Freedom cards are no-annual-fee cards that earn cash-back. However, if you also hold a premium card, you can turn your cash-back into points, which can be transferred to Southwest Airlines. The current sign-on bonus for these cards is $200 (equal to 20,000 points) after spending $500 in the first 3 months.

Freedom Flex Card

  • 5% cash-back (or 5x points) on quarterly rotating categories (up to $1,500)
  • 5% cash-back (or 5x points) on grocery store purchases (up to $12,000) in the first year
  • 5% cash-back (or 5x points) on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • 3% cash-back (or 5x points) on dining and drugstore purchases
  • 1% cash-back (or 1x point) on all other purchases

Chase Freedom Unlimited Card

  • 5% cash-back (or 5x points) on grocery store purchases (up to $12,000) in the first year (new applicants only)
  • 5% cash-back (or 5x points) on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • 3% cash-back (or 5x points) on dining and drugstore purchases
  • 1.5% cash-back (or 1.5x points) on ALL purchases

You’ll need to have a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards earning credit card (one that has an annual fee) to have the ability to transfer your points to Southwest. Here are my favorites:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

  • 2x points on travel and dining purchases
  • 2x points on grocery store purchases (up to $1,000 per month) through April 30, 2021
  • Access to Chase hotel and airline transfer partners
  • Travel insurance and protections
  • Annual fee: $95

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

  • 3x points on travel and dining purchases
  • 3x points on grocery store purchases (up to $1,000 per month) through April 30, 2021
  • $300 annual travel credit
  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application bonus (up to $100 value)
  • Priority Pass membership for airport lounge access
  • Access to Chase hotel and airline transfer partners
  • 50% more value when you redeem points in the Ultimate Rewards portal
  • Travel insurance and protections
  • Annual fee: $550

Marriott Airline Transfers

You can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Southwest at a 3:1 ratio. Plus for every 60,000 points you transfer, you will get a 5,000 point bonus.

That means you’ll get 25,000 Rapid Rewards points for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer.

Purchase a Marriott Hotel + Air Package

A Marriott Hotel + Air Package consists of 7 nights at a Marriott property plus a stash of airline miles. When you purchase one of these packages, you’ll get either 50,000 or 100,000 Southwest points.

This is a good option if you’re flush with Marriott points, however, these packages are only a good deal if you use them at a Marriott category 4 or 5 hotel. Otherwise, you won’t get great value from your Marriott points.

Marriott Hotel + Air package - Southwest Airlines
Image Credit: Marriott

 

7 nights in a category 1-4 Marriott hotel plus 50,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points costs 255,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and 7 nights in a category 5 hotel plus 50,000 Southwest points costs 315,000 Marriott points. For more information on how to purchase one of these packages, check out How To Purchase a Marriott Hotel + Air Package.

Is tthe Marriott the Best Hotel In San Jose Costa Rica? | Marriott Hotel San Jose Costa Rica | San Jose Costa Rica Hotels
We got a week-long stay at the Marriott Costa Rica in San Jose plus 100K Southwest Rapid Rewards points thanks to a Marriott Hotel + Air package.

Southwest Vacation Packages

You can earn bonus Southwest Rapid Rewards points when you book a package deal including flights, hotel, car rental, and/or activities through SouthwestVacations.com.

Dining and Shopping Portals

Shopping portals and dining programs are another great way to earn Southwest points. Shopping portals work just like popular cash-back sites like Rakuten. Just click through the Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping portal to earn extra points on every online purchase you make.

The dining program is a little different. You need to register your credit card (any card, not just Southwest cards) on Southwest’s dining program website then you will earn bonus points at any participating restaurant when you use your registered card.

  • Earn 3 points per dollar if you sign up for emails; earn 1 point per dollar if you opt-out
  • Earn bonus points for things like being a new member or reviewing the restaurants you try

Earn Points through Hotel Partners

You can earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points through hotel stays too.

You’ll earn bonus points when you book through southwesthotels.com. This is an OTA (online travel agency) that partners with Booking.com. In addition to hotels, you can book apartments, B&B’s, motels, homestays, campgrounds, and even hostels on this site.

Southwest also partners with hotels outside of southwesthotels.com.

In your online account (for the hotel program, not Southwest), you’ll need to switch your hotel earning preference to Southwest Airlines and provide your Rapid Rewards number at check-in.

You can earn Rapid Rewards points when you stay at the following hotel brands:

  • Best Western
  • Radisson
  • Choice Hotels
  • Hyatt
  • La Quinta
  • Marriott (select brands)
  • MGM Resorts

Rocketmiles is another OTA that offers bonus Rapid Rewards points when you book a hotel. Expect to earn 1,000-10,000 bonus points per night!


Pro Tip: When you book a hotel through an online travel agency, you usually won’t earn hotel loyalty points.


Car Rental Partners

If you have to rent a car anyways you might as well earn Rapid Rewards points at the same time. To find Southwest’s car renal partners, click on Car in the main menu then click Rapid Rewards Partners. You can expect to earn 600-2,400 Rapid Rewards points per rental.

Car rental partners include well-known brands like:

  • Alamo
  • Avis
  • Budget
  • Dollar
  • Hertz
  • National Car Rental
  • Payless
  • Thrifty

Other Partners

From the main menu click on Rapid Rewards then click Earning Points>Earn With Our Partners. Here you’ll find offers from lots of different shopping and specialty partners including the following:

  • Laithwaite’s Wine
  • 1-800-Flowers
  • Harry & David
  • NRG
  • eRewards

Buy Southwest Points

As with most airlines, you can also buy Southwest points. As a general rule, this is a terrible idea. You’ll pay between 1.9 cents – 3 cents per point for points that are only worth about 1.6 cents per points so it’s a terrible value.

Only consider buying points if you just need to top off your account for a specific redemption and you don’t have any Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

How To Use Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

Now let’s look at how to use all those beautiful Rapid Rewards points you have earned. Using Southwest points for free flights is easy and straightforward.

All you need to do is search for a flight as you normally would. Then you can toggle back and forth to see the price in either dollars or Rapid Rewards Points.

Rapid Rewards Points are worth about 1.5-1.7 cents each, so the price in points will vary based on the actual cost of the flight.

How to use Southwest points
Image Credit: Southwest

 

Select the flights as you normally would, and when it’s time to checkout you’ll see the price in points rather than dollars. Keep in mind that even on award flights you will still have to pay the security fee of $5.60 one way (with a higher fee on international flights).

Final Thoughts

Southwest Rapid Rewards is probably the easiest frequent flyer program to use. There are tons of ways to earn Southwest points and when it comes time to use them there are no blackout dates. In addition to that, you can change your flight without a fee and you won’t pay for baggage. That’s why I agree that #southwestisbest!

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(Occasional updates, miles/points tips, and travel inspo)

Featured Image Credit: Canva

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