Flying Southwest with Points: The Ultimate Guide for 2024

Who’s to say you can’t enjoy exceptional customer service and some of the lowest fares each and every time you fly? With a reputation for delivering low-cost flights and a mission dedicated to providing “the highest quality of Customer Service,” that’s what you get when you fly with Southwest Airlines.

As of 2019, Southwest has ranked highest in customer satisfaction among low-cost carriers for the third year in a row, and it’s easy to see why. Aside from its famous Southwest hospitality, this Texas-based airline offers low fares, two free checked bags, and no change fees to its 130 million passengers each year.

There’s no reason to settle for a sub-par airline, especially when you’re paying a hefty penny to fly. This couldn’t be truer for reward travel — you know, the trip you’re deciding to cash all those points in on. You want that trip to be worth those points and miles, and to meet your expectations for what makes travel enjoyable. Flying Southwest with points checks all those boxes. You can rest easy knowing your reward travel with Southwest will likely be a pleasant experience.

Now, you just need to know how to go about doing it. And what do you know? You’re currently reading the complete guide to just that — flying Southwest with points.

About Southwest Airlines

From a quick sketch on a cocktail napkin to 46 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest Airlines was born out of a San Antonio hotel bar and has since evolved into one of the world’s largest airlines. Founded in 1966 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King and incorporated in 1967 under the name Air Southwest Co., the original concept for Southwest Airlines was simple: Get passengers to their destination on time, at the lowest possible fares, and focus heavily on making sure they enjoy themselves along the way.

This vision didn’t go unchallenged, though. In an attempt to prevent further competition within Texas, where Air Southwest planned to operate, three other airlines took legal action against the company right out of the gate. The lawsuits were resolved in 1970, and in 1971 Air Southwest Co. officially changed its name to Southwest Airlines Co.

Southwest’s business plan to deliver a no-frills, customer-focused experience worked, but the company’s operations were originally confined to Texas. That’s because, prior to 1979, the federal government had a tight grip on interstate air travel. Federal regulations determined which airlines flew where and at what price. It wasn’t until 1979 that Southwest’s services expanded beyond Texas, following the signing of the Airline Deregulation Act the prior year by then-President Jimmy Carter.

Today, Southwest is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and employs more than 59,000 people. In terms of passengers carried, Southwest is the nation’s largest domestic air carrier based on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s most recent reporting of traffic data for U.S. airlines. Southwest operates more than 4,000 flights a day during peak travel seasons throughout a network of 101 destinations across the United States and a number of international destinations, including Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Why people love Southwest Airlines

Ask a frequenter of Southwest Airlines why it’s one of their top choices when it comes to traveling and you’ll probably get an answer that ranges somewhere between exceptional customer service and some of the best airfare deals you can find.

Here are some things people love about Southwest:

• Two free checked bags
• Southwest’s famous hospitality
• Entertaining flight attendants and a general sense of humor
• Valuable frequent flyer program
• Growing network of destinations

The airline’s unique boarding and open-seating policy, which some refer to as a “cattle call,” is a distinguishing factor that sets it apart from other airlines, though you’ll either love it or hate it. Passengers aren’t assigned seats but rather a boarding group (A, B, or C) and a boarding position (1-60). When your boarding group is called, you head over to the specific line that includes your boarding position and you hang out there until it’s your turn to board. Once on board, you’re free to choose any open seat.

A byproduct of Southwest’s open seating policy, however, is seat saving. The airline doesn’t have a policy for or against the gesture, and it’s often a cause for passenger discontent. This is especially true for those who pay extra for an earlier boarding group, only to find their preferred seat is being saved for someone who’s due to board later in the process.

Rapid Rewards: the Southwest Airlines loyalty program

Rapid Rewards is Southwest Airlines’ loyalty program. This program allows you to earn points that can be used toward travel, gift cards, merchandise, hotel stays, and more. Anyone can join the Southwest rewards program, your points don’t expire (as long as you have activity on your account at least once every 24 months), and there are numerous ways to rack up points.

If you’re not already enrolled, signing up is easy and takes just a few steps:

• Step 1: Head over to Southwest.com where you’ll see “Enroll” at the very top of the page. Click here, and you’ll be brought to an account creation page.

• Step 2: To create an account, provide all the necessary information, such as name, date of birth, contact information, username, and password.

• Step 3: When you’re done filling out your personal information, click “Create account” in the yellow box at the bottom, and you’re all set!

Once you join the rewards program, all you have to do is make sure to log in to your account before you buy a ticket so you can earn Rapid Rewards points for each flight.

How to earn Rapid Rewards points

There are a number of ways to earn Rapid Reward points, though some ways tend to make more sense than others.

Good, old-fashioned flying

The most obvious way to earn points is by booking your travel with Southwest. The number of points you’ll earn from booking airfare will depend on the amount and type of fare you choose.

Partner up, and earn even more

You can also earn points through Southwest Airlines partner opportunities. Southwest has partnered with a variety of travel, shopping, and dining partners so you can continue earning points even when you’re not flying. This includes everything from hotels and rental car companies to restaurants and a number of different experiences that you can book directly through Southwest, including tours and a variety of activities.

Cash for points

While you can purchase points, this is only rarely a good idea, and usually only makes sense if you have “orphan” points. In other words, if you’re only short a small amount of points needed to book award travel. Even then, buying points doesn’t deliver the best value.

For instance, it costs $60 to buy 2,000 points. That puts the price per point at 3 cents, double the 1.5 cents at which Southwest points are typically valued by experts in the points-and-miles community. The more points you purchase, however, the more affordable they become. Purchasing 60,000 points costs $1,650, putting the price per point at 2.75 cents. Either way, there are better options for amassing points.

Credit card welcome offers and everyday spending

If you're a frequent Southwest flyer, this carrier has come of the best airline credit cards that offer extra perks. 

The easiest way to earn points is by applying and getting approved for a Southwest credit card or spending on an existing one, whether it’s the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card, or the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card. Take the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card as an example. As a new cardmember, you can earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. For Southwest purchases, you earn 3X points.

If you have a business, you can apply for one of Southwest’s business credit cards. The Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card offers the chance to earn earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Or, you can apply for the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card. If you're approved, you can earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

Alternatively, if you have one of Chase’s premier cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, or the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest. Points transfer at a rate of 1:1, so you won’t lose any value in the process.

These credit cards also typically come with lucrative welcome offers after you meet the minimum spend requirements, which can translate to a lot of Rapid Rewards points right off the bat. The Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, for instance, offers new cardmembers the chance to earn 100k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Read our Ink Business Preferred Credit Card review.

How to earn more Rapid Rewards with Southwest Status

Avid Southwest flyers have an additional way to earn points that also allows them to be recognized for their continued loyalty. Depending on the number of flights you take, you can earn one of three status designations: A-List, A-List Preferred, and Companion Pass. First we’ll go through the details of A-List and A-List Preferred, then we’ll dive into Companion Pass as it’s pretty different.

When you fly 20 qualifying one-way flights or earn 35,000 tier qualifying points in a calendar year, you’ll earn A-List status, which gives you a slew of benefits — from priority boarding to a 25% earning bonus on every flight. That means if you purchase a “Wanna Get Away” fare, which normally earns 6 points per dollar, you would earn 7.5 points per dollar because of your A-List status.

Once you hit 40 qualifying one-way flights or earn 70,000 tier qualifying points in one calendar year, you’ll jump up to A-List Preferred status. With A-List Preferred, you’ll receive all the benefits of A-List status, plus free inflight WiFi and an earning bonus of 100%. That means all of the points you earn will be doubled.

What you need to know about Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Companion Pass sets itself apart from the other two status levels because it allows you to choose one person to fly with you, for free, on every flight you purchase or redeem points for. While you’ll have to pay taxes and fees for the passenger, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the costs you save using the pass.

When you earn Companion Pass, you get to use it for the remainder of the year you earned it, plus the entire next year. So the earlier in the year you earn it, the more benefit you’ll get from it. Starting January 1, 2023, the number of qualifying points you’ll need to earn the pass will be 135,000.

The easiest way to earn your Companion Pass is through credit card welcome offers. Take the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card, for instance. You can earn earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. While this doesn’t get you exactly the number of points needed for the Companion Pass, it makes a lot of progress. 

Read our Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card review.

You could also apply for a card like the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card. If you're approved, you can get this card's welcome bonus: Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening — so you could get another chunk of qualifying points, as long as you meet the spending requirements.

Before you open a new tab in your browser and apply for both cards, there’s an important piece of information you need to be aware of. To get the most out of your pass, it’s crucial you time it properly. If you recall, when you earn the Companion Pass, you earn it for the remainder of the year in which you earned it and the entire following year. This means you ideally want to earn the pass in January, so you essentially get two full years out of it.

To do this, you’ll want to open your cards around October or November and wait to finish the minimum spend requirements until January. When finish the minimum spend requirements in January to get the welcome bonus, you’ll get the Companion Pass for two full years.

Southwest co-branded credit cards

Southwest partnered with Chase to deliver a handful of credit card options for Southwest flyers. With five co-branded credit cards in total — three consumer cards and two business cards — you shouldn’t have any issue finding the best card that fits your lifestyle.

Southwest Airlines transfer partners

If you don't have a Southwest card, you can still fly Southwest with miles if you have one of the best travel credit cards through Chase. If your Chase credit card earns Ultimate Rewards, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards to your Rapid Rewards account. Points transfer at a rate of 1:1, which means you won’t lose any value in your points during the process.

You can also convert Diners Club Club Rewards points into Rapid Rewards. For every 1,500 Club Rewards points you can get 1,200 Rapid Rewards points. You’ll notice this puts more value on Rapid Rewards points versus Club Rewards points, which may make it seem like you’re losing value in the transfer. However, if you feel reward travel on Southwest is more valuable than what you can get with Diners Club Rewards, then it shouldn’t matter too much. In other words, even if your Club Rewards lose a little value when transferring to Rapid Rewards, it may still be worth more to you personally than redeeming for something else, such as a gift certificate to a restaurant.

Additionally, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio. So for every three Marriott Bonvoy points, you can get one Rapid Rewards point. As a bonus, Marriott will add 5,000 miles for every 60,000 points you transfer to airline miles. Not a bad deal at all.

So, as you can see, when it comes to racking up Rapid Rewards, you aren’t limited to earning just through Southwest. With this knowledge, you can now consider the different ways you can earn, create an effective strategy that works best for you, and maximize your point-earning potential.

How to fly Southwest with points

You now know how to earn Rapid Rewards, but how do you put all those points into action? Flying Southwest with points is just as simple as paying with cash and is basically the same process:

• Step 1: Log in to your Rapid Rewards account on the Southwest.com homepage. If you don’t already have an account, create one now.

• Step 2: Once you’re logged in, head back to the homepage. In the travel booking search box, enter your flight information as you normally would, only this time you’ll want to view fares in points. If you search in dollars, don’t worry. You can view the fares in points from the next screen as well.

• Step 3: Select your departing and returning flight, and then click continue at the bottom.

• Step 4: From here, review all the details of your flight. If everything looks good, click continue.

• Step 5: When you’re ready to check out, input the request passenger information and then purchase the flight!

While you can book your entire airfare using points, you will always have to pay for the taxes with a credit card, travel fund, or Southwest gift card, which is $5.60 for each leg of the trip.

How to find the best Southwest flights

Southwest has always taken a “come to us directly” approach to booking travel, so you typically won’t find the airline on any of the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), such as Kayak, Expedia, or Priceline. That said, Southwest flight information does populate on Skyscanner, a travel search engine, though you’ll only find route information and not prices.

For pricing and to actually book a flight, you’ll have to navigate to Southwest’s website. There, the airline offers a “Low Fare Calendar” you can use to find the best prices. Take a look:

• Step 1: Once at the Southwest homepage, click Low Fare Calendar.

• Step 2: Enter your departure and arrival airport of choice and the month you want to travel.

• Step 3: From here, you’ll be presented a calendar showing all of the flights and their prices, allowing you to choose the best fare possible.

• Step 4: Once you choose your flights, you move through the same steps laid out above for purchasing with points.

If you have flexibility in when you can travel, this is the best way to get the best deal on Southwest airfare.

How much is each Rapid Rewards point worth?

Rapid Rewards points are directly tied to the cash price of the flight, so the value of each point depends on your flight and the fare you choose.

For instance, a one-way flight from Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) to Philadelphia (PHL) in the middle of January costs $119 or 7,256 points for a “Wanna Get Away” fare (as of Oct. 2019). This puts each point at roughly 1.64 cents.

$119 divided by 7,256 points = .0164

Flying “Business Select” for the same flight costs $532 or 37,199 points. This puts each point at roughly 1.43 cents.

$532 divided by 37,199 points = .0143

Southwest Rapid Rewards points are typically considered to be valued at around 1.5 cents per point, but this value can vary slightly as seen above. Knowing how to calculate the value of your points, as we just outlined, can help you make sure you’re always getting the most out of your rewards.

Examples of how you can fly Southwest with points

How much is 20,000 Southwest points worth?

Seeking a solo trip to paradise? Fly from San Diego(SAN) to Honolulu (OAHU) for a little over 20,000 points.

How much is 40,000 Southwest points worth?

Do something that warrants a one-way trip to Mexico? Fly from Denver (DEN) to Cancun (CUN) for roughly 43,000 points.

How much is 60,000 Southwest points worth?

Need a break from The Big Apple? Try your luck in Sin City. Fly from Laguardia (LGA) to Las Vegas (LAS) for roughly 51,000 points.

How much is 80,000 Southwest points worth?

How about a last minute cross-country flight for you and your spouse to spend Christmas in sunny California? Fly from Philadelphia (PHL) to Los Angeles (LAX) for roughly 80,000 points.

How much is 100,000 Southwest points worth?

Escape the Chicago winter for a ten-day trip to sunny South Florida. Fly from Chicago Midway (MDW) to Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) for roughly 101,000 points.

Commonly asked questions about flying Southwest on points

The bottom line on flying Southwest with points

Traveling with points is a rewarding experience. When you use points to fly on Southwest, you not only get the experience of traveling with the points you worked hard to earn but also with the famous Southwest hospitality.

There are plenty of ways to maximize your point-earning potential, which makes flying Southwest with points a great way to travel. You can start by signing up for a free Rapid Rewards account and then earning points for each flight. Or, if you’re ready to dive in and book reward travel, consider how a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card can help you get there.

Generous Welcome Bonus

Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card

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Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card

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Current Offer

Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee

$69

Rewards Rate

2X points on Southwest purchases and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners; on local transit and commuting, including rideshare; and on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming; plus 1X points on all other purchases

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

• Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
• Earn 2X points on Southwest purchases and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners; on local transit and commuting, including rideshare; and on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming
• Redeem points for flights, gift cards, and more
• 3,000 bonus points after cardmember anniversary
• Plus, 2 EarlyBird Check-Ins per year

Drawbacks

• Has annual fee
• Has foreign transaction fee

Card Details

• Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• 3,000 anniversary points each year.
• Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases.
• Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
• Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming.
• 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
• Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• Member FDIC