Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points never expire if your account is open and in good standing.
Previously, Southwest points would expire after 24 months of inactivity, so this is a nice improvement over the old policy. However, you should regularly redeem your Southwest points just in case they are devalued.
Comparison of U.S. Airlines' Policies
Below are the mileage expiration policies for every major U.S. airline.
Earning Southwest Points
If you need to earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points, here are all the ways you can earn Southwest points:
Flying on Southwest Airlines Flights
You earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points based on the base fare of a flight, which excludes taxes and fees, usually 15% to 20% of the advertised flight price.
You will earn points at a rate of 6 points per dollar for Wanna Get Away Fares, 8x points for Wanna Get Away Plus, 10x points for Anytime, and 12x for Business Select fares. Additionally, Southwest elite members get a 25% bonus for A-List and 100% bonus for A-List Preferred.
Below is an estimate of how many points you will earn for your next Southwest flight, which may vary slightly depending on your starting, connecting, and ending airports.
Southwest Credit Cards
A great way to earn Southwest points and potentially earn the valuable Southwest Companion Pass is to hold Southwest credit cards. You are limited to one personal and one business card at a time.
Here are the current welcome bonuses on Southwest credit cards:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card: bonus_miles_full
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card: Earn Companion Pass® plus 30,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card: bonus_miles_full
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card: bonus_miles_full
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card: bonus_miles_full
Transferring Points to Southwest
If you need Southwest points quickly, one option is to transfer points to Southwest from Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1-to-1 ratio.
Cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can transfer to Southwest include:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: bonus_miles_full
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: bonus_miles_full
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: bonus_miles_full
You can also transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy at a ratio of 3 Marriott to 1 Southwest, with a 5,000 Southwest point bonus if you transfer points in increments of 60,000 Marriott Points. For example, you could transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and net 25,000 Southwest points with the bonus.
Cards that earn Marriott Bonvoy points that you could transfer to Southwest include the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, and the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
The last two transfer options are from World of Hyatt and Choice Hotels, but I don’t think they are a good value.
You can transfer Hyatt points to Southwest at a rate of 5,000 Hyatt Points to 2,400 Southwest Points, but if you transfer 50,000 Hyatt Points, there is a bonus netting you 30,000 Southwest points in total.
Lastly, you to redeem 6,000 Choice Privileges points for 1,800 Southwest points.
Hotels
Southwest offers several options to earn Southwest Points instead of hotel points.
You can earn the most points via Southwest Hotels and RocketMiles, but you will forgo any elite benefits you may entitled to, such as room upgrades, free breakfast, and Wi-Fi. The amount of points varies by hotel. Most larger cities offer 3,ooo to 6,000 points, and smaller cities usually have hotels that offer 1,000 to 3,000 points.
Other options where you can still get elite benefits but forgo hotel points are:
- Marriott– You can earn 600 Rapid Rewards points for every stay at Marriott.
- World of Hyatt– You can earn 600 Rapid Rewards points for every stay at Hyatt.
- MGM Grand– You can earn 600 Rapid Rewards points for every stay at MGM Resorts.
- Best Western– You can earn Rapid Rewards points instead of Best Western points when you stay at Best Western hotels. Just set your Best Western earning preference to Partner Rewards -> Southwest Airlines.
Rental Cars
Southwest partners with several rental car companies where you can earn 600 Southwest Rapid Rewards points per rental at Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, Payless, and Thrifty.
Rapid Rewards Online Shopping Portal
You can earn Southwest points by clicking through the Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal before visiting a store’s website. Some stores have really high earning rates, like 4,500 points for switching to AT&T Internet or 2,700 points on your first cooking box from Sun Basket.
You can see the stores offering the most points by clicking here and then “Stores by earn rate.” You can also add the Google Chrome Rapid Rewards Shopping button to get reminders to easily activate points directly at over 850 stores.
Rapid Rewards Dining
You can link any credit card to the Rapid Rewards Dining program to automatically earn points every time you pay using that card at participating restaurants.
You earn 3 points per dollar if you opt-in for dining emails and one point per two dollars if you opt-out of their emails. Plus, you earn 10 points for every review you complete. You can also check our bonuses section to earn extra points when you sign up.
Other Ways
Home Chef: Earn 1,200 points on your first five Home Chef meal boxes.
Wine: You can earn 2,000 points on your first Laithwaites wine case order and 1,000 points for each order thereafter.
Gift Baskets: Earn 1,000 Southwest points on purchases of $29.99 or more at Harry & David when you use promo code SW44.
Surveys: Earn extra points by taking surveys with E-Rewards and Rewards for Opinions
Electricity: NRG and Reliant Energy customers can earn points when they sign up for new services.
Emergency Insurance: Earn 1,400 points annually with a yearly Emergency Assistance Plus membership that offers 24-hour emergency medical assistance to its subscribers when they travel.
Redeeming Southwest Points
Southwest Rapid Rewards offers a flexible and straightforward way to redeem points for flights. The program’s simplicity is one of its key strengths, and its value is fairly onsistent across different fare types and destinations. Our data study found that the value of Southwest Rapid Rewards points is 1.37 cents per point, making it easy for members to gauge the worth of their rewards. Redemptions are seamless on Southwest’s website, where you can book any available seat without blackout dates. One of the program’s standout features is its generous change and cancellation policy. You can modify or cancel award bookings without fees, with points returned to your account and taxes refunded to your original form of payment. While Southwest primarily serves domestic routes, it also flies to select international destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. The airline’s extensive U.S. network makes it a popular choice for domestic travelers, despite not belonging to a major alliance. For maximum value, focus on redeeming points for Wanna Get Away fares, which often provide the best return. Avoid using points for gift cards, hotels, or rental cars, as these options typically offer significantly lower value than the 1.37 cents per point average for flights. The Southwest Companion Pass is a potential game-changer for frequent travelers. This benefit allows a designated companion to fly with you for just the cost of taxes and fees on both paid and award tickets, effectively doubling the value of your points when traveling together.
