The Complete Guide to Southwest Rapid Rewards

Southwest Airlines has become synonymous with low fares and low fees. The airline’s frequent flyer program, Southwest Rapid Rewards, is just as consumer friendly. It’s free to join – and you should, since it’s necessary if you want to earn Southwest points to use for future flights.

There are multiple ways to earn Southwest points, including flying on Southwest; spending on a Southwest credit card; transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards® or Diners Club Rewards points to Southwest; and making purchases with non-airline partners. That means you’ll have lots of ways to earn a coveted Southwest Companion Pass, which allows a guest to fly with you for free (just pay taxes and fees) for at least a calendar year, even on award tickets.

Southwest points never expire, and as the largest budget airline in the world, the airline can take you to over 100 destinations to visit when you redeem Rapid Rewards for free flights, including Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.

Here’s what you need to know about Southwest Rapid Rewards.

You’ll need to sign-up for a Southwest Rapid Rewards account to earn Southwest points. It’s free to join and only takes a few minutes. You can register here.

Current Southwest rewards value

Based on our most recent analysis of actual award flight redemptions, NerdWallet values Southwest Rapid Rewards points at 1.5 cents apiece. Read more about how we arrived at these figures.

The value of Southwest points is consistent across all flights and fare types – there are no “sweet spots.” If the cost of a plane ticket goes up, so does the number of points needed to book the flight. When you use Rapid Rewards to book flights, you’ll generally get the same value every time.

To determine the value of your miles for specific flights, divide the cash value of the ticket (less any applicable taxes/fees if you redeem miles) by the number of points required for the flight. So if the ticket would cost either $510, or 33,000 points + $11 in taxes/fees, the math would be:

($510 – $11) / 33,000 = 0.015, or 1.5 cents per point.

» Learn more: See how Southwest's loyalty program compares with its competitors

Historical Southwest rewards value

The value of Southwest rewards has remained unchanged since 2022.

» Learn more: What is the value of Southwest Rapid Rewards points?

There are multiple ways to earn Southwest Rapid Rewards, including:

• Flying on Southwest.

• Spending on a Southwest credit card.

• Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards® or Diners Club Rewards to Southwest.

• Making purchases with non-airline partners.

Having multiple ways to earn Southwest rewards make it relatively easy to grow your rewards account for future redemptions.

» Learn more: Ways to earn Southwest points

Earning Southwest Rapid Rewards points when you fly

The number of points you earn for a flight depends on the price of the ticket, the fare class of your Southwest ticket and your status level within the Rapid Rewards program. All fares include two free checked bags up to 50 pounds each, no change fees and either reusable travel credits for canceling a flight or fully refundable flights depending on the type of fare booked.

» Learn more: The guide to Southwest Elite Status: A-List and A-List Preferred

Earning Rapid Rewards points with a Southwest credit card

The fastest way to stack Southwest Rapid Rewards points is by earning the welcome offer on a Southwest credit card. You’ll also earn bonus rewards on purchases with Southwest and in other bonus categories depending on the card you have.

Points earned from the welcome bonus on a Southwest credit card can help you qualify for a Companion Pass, which requires earning 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year (sign-up bonuses and points earned from credit card spend count). Once those requirements are met, you’ll earn a free Companion Pass (plus taxes and fees) for the rest of that year and the entire following calendar year.

Chase issues three consumer credit cards and two small-business Southwest credit cards, including:

If you own a business, you may qualify for a Southwest business credit card, which can sometimes be even more rewarding than a consumer credit card.

Note that all Southwest credit cards are issued by Chase and are subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule, where you won’t be approved for a new Chase credit card if you’ve been approved for five or more cards in the past twenty-four months.

Before you jump in, here are the things to know before getting a Southwest card.

» Learn more: What is the best Southwest credit card offer?

Transferring credit card points to Southwest Airlines points

Points from two credit card rewards programs can transfer to Southwest Airlines points: Chase Ultimate Rewards® and Diners Club Rewards. That partnership allows you to transfer rewards earned in those programs to Southwest Airlines pointsRapid Rewards at the following ratio:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer to Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio (1,000 Chase UR = 1,000 Rapid Rewards). You must transfer a minimum of 1,000 points.

• Diners Club Rewards transfer at a 1.5:1.2 ratio (1,000 Diner Club Rewards = 800 Rapid Rewards).  

Transfers from Chase and Diners Club are usually instantaneous, though Chase says they can take up to one week to process.

Earning Rapid Rewards through non-airline partners

Southwest doesn’t have airline partners, so you can’t earn Rapid Rewards by flying with another brand like United or Delta. However, you can earn Rapid Rewards points by making purchases at partner stores, restaurants, hotels and car rental agencies.

• Hotels: You can earn Rapid Rewards points by staying at partner hotel chains, including Hyatt and Marriott. Terms and conditions and earnings rates vary based on brand. See partner hotels here.

• Car rentals: Southwest partners with a handful of car rental companies. Terms and conditions and earnings rates vary based on brand.  See partner car rental agencies here.

• Shopping and dining: Earn points at more than 800 retailers when you shop through the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping portal. Meanwhile, the  Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining program allows you to earn up to 3 points per $1 spent at participating restaurants, plus bonus points for submitting restaurant reviews. 

• Switching electricity providers: Members in some states can also earn a sign-up bonus and ongoing bonuses when they switch their power service to NRG Home or Reliant. Check the Rapid Rewards website to see if your home is eligible.

• Taking surveys: Participate in market research and earn points when you share your opinion via the e-Rewards and Rewards For Opinions platforms.

You can also transfer points from partner rental car and hotel loyalty programs to Rapid Rewards. The exchange rate is generally pretty bad, so we don't often recommend this. However, it could be a way to top off your account balance for an upcoming redemption.

Buying Southwest Rapid Rewards points

Generally, you can buy Rapid Rewards points at a rate of 2.75 to 3 cents each, but is buying Southwest points worth it? Since we value Rapid Rewards points at an average of 1.5 cents each, buying points at these prices is usually a bad deal.

Southwest points have a fairly fixed value when redeemed for flights. Because of this, it's hard to find a redemption of outsized value that justifies the cost of buying Rapid Rewards points.

That being said, buying Southwest points can still make sense in a few scenarios, like:

• When you're traveling with the Southwest Companion Pass. When you hold the Companion Pass, your designated companion can travel for free whenever you fly. This effectively doubles the value of your points, which makes it more attractive to buy Southwest points when you can buy them at a good price.

• During a bonus points promotion. Southwest holds regular bonus promotions where you will receive extra points on your purchase. These promotions can substantially increase the number of points you receive, which reduces the overall cost per point.

• When you don’t have Chase Ultimate Rewards® or Marriott points. Southwest is a transfer partner of both of these programs (more on this below).

» Learn more: When it makes sense to buy airline miles

Transferring Southwest points with another person

You can transfer Rapid Rewards points from your account to another member’s account. But we don’t recommend this, as Southwest charges a hefty fee that amounts to $5 for every 500 points transferred. Because we estimate the value of each Southwest point at 1.5 cents each, 500 Southwest points is worth at just about $7, so you’re losing a huge amount of value due to that transfer fee.

A better option would be to book a reservation for someone else using your account and having them reimburse you.

The Southwest Companion Pass is effectively a buy-one-get-one deal on your Southwest flight. Every time you buy a ticket or redeem points for a free flight, you can choose a companion to fly with you for free (plus the cost of taxes and fees). There is no limit to the number of flights you can bring a companion, making it among the most valuable benefits of its kind.

To qualify for a Southwest Companion Pass, you'll need to do one of the following:

• Fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year.

• Earn 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year. Qualifying points include those that you earn through revenue flights booked via Southwest; those that you earn on Southwest credit cards; and base points you earn from Rapid Rewards partners.

If you meet either of those criteria, you'll earn the Companion Pass for the rest of the year in which you qualified and the following calendar year. So if you earn the Companion Pass in, say, July 2025, it will be valid through the end of December 2026. You'll need to re-qualify every year to hold on to your status.

The quickest way to amass a pile of points is by earning the sign-up bonus on at least one of the three Southwest consumer credit cards and two Southwest business credit cards:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card.

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card.

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card.

• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card.

• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.

» Learn more: Things to know before flying Southwest

No, Southwest Rapid Rewards points don’t expire, which is especially helpful for travelers that don’t fly Southwest often. However, if you close your Southwest account, you will lose your points.

Not only do Southwest points not expire, but Travel Funds that you receive for canceling a ticket in the Wanna Get Away or Wanna Get Away Plus fare classes also do not expire.

» Learn more: Which airline miles and hotel points expire?

All Rapid Rewards members can redeem points by logging on to the Southwest desktop site or the mobile app. Go to the booking tool, enter your travel information and select “points” as your currency. If any fare classes are sold out for a given flight, that will be indicated in the results. While all fare options are available, prices in points are directly tied to their cash price at a value of 1.5 cents each.

Good redemption options

Here are some of the highest value ways to redeem Southwest points.

• Southwest Wanna Get Away flights: The best way to use Rapid Rewards points is toward Wanna Get Away fares aboard Southwest, which is the lowest of the Southwest fare classes.

• International flights: Southwest is primarily known for its flights within the contiguous U.S. and Hawaii. But don't overlook its international flights to destinations in Central America and the Caribbean.

» Learn more: How to redeem Southwest points for maximum value

Bad redemption options

Southwest credit card holders can access the More Rewards portal to purchase non-Southwest operated international flights, hotels, rental cars, merchandise and gift cards. However, these tend to be a terrible deal. When we searched for gift card rewards, values were as low as 0.6 cent per point — less than half of the value of using points for a flight. This makes getting gift cards and other items from a merchandise store a bad use of points.

The number of Rapid Rewards points required for a flight depends on the price of the flight and the Southwest fare class you’re booking. Wanna Get Away tickets will be the most inexpensive and Business Select will be the most expensive. The price of tickets is tied to the cash cost – the cheaper the flight in cash, the cheaper the flight will be in points.

» Learn more: Don't just redeem points — redeem them wisely. Here's how

Southwest deals and when to pay cash

Southwest often runs fare sales and allows you to search flight deals by specific destination. In addition, the airline also sends out emails advertising flight deals for as low as $59 each way. And sometimes, those prices can be even lower as seen in the example above.

If you have Southwest points and you see that there’s a fare sale going on, it’s a good opportunity to redeem your points.

Since the value of Southwest points remains constant and there is no award chart, using points for a flight will never result in an outstanding redemption. That’s why it’s smart to keep your eyes out for these flash sales (typically found in your inbox).<br><br>If you don’t have enough points to book the award ticket, paying cash — especially if you’re getting a flight deal — could still be a good value since you’ll also earn points on that flight.

Booking with cash and points

Southwest allows you to use cash and points when booking a flight. This can be a good option if you have some Rapid Rewards points you'd like to use but don't have enough to cover the full flight. Note that if you pay for your fare through Cash + Points you will not earn further Rapid Rewards points, Companion Pass qualifying points or tier qualifying points for elite status.

» Learn more: When flying Southwest can save you money and time

Earning Southwest Rapid Rewards allows you to qualify Southwest elite status — otherwise known as A-List. At the A-List and A-List Preferred tiers, you earn more points and enjoy some additional perks.

Southwest A-List benefits

Having A-List status on Southwest can sweeten the deal for your next flight. Benefits include:

How to earn A-List on Southwest

To attain A-List or A-List Preferred status, you must fly a certain number of qualifying one-way flights or earn a certain number of tier-qualifying points in a calendar year. Status earned in the current year is good through the following calendar year.

• A-List: requires 25 one-way flights or 35,000 tier qualifying points.

• A-List Preferred: requires 40 one-way flights or 70,000 tier qualifying points.

A qualifying one-way flight is defined as a trip from origin to destination, including any connections. So if you’re flying from Los Angeles to Chicago, it counts as a single one-way flight regardless if it's a nonstop flight or if you have to change planes.

Tier qualifying points are different from Rapid Rewards points. Although you can obtain Rapid Rewards points in all sorts of ways (as described above), there are only two ways to earn tier qualifying points:

• Purchasing tickets for Southwest flights.

• Spending on qualifying Southwest credit cards will earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points for each $5,000 spent.

You may also be able to earn A-List through a Southwest status match.

How much is A-List status worth?

NerdWallet did a comprehensive analysis of airline elite status programs to determine the dollar value of each tier per year, including Southwest’s A-List and A-List Preferred status. NerdWallet estimates that the perks of Southwest A-List status are worth $271, and A-List Preferred status perks are worth $1,352. To arrive at these dollar figures, we made many assumptions about how each status was used. Check the methodology in the link above for a more detailed breakdown.

» Learn more: How to Refer-a-Friend and get more Southwest points