Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Loyalty Program Review

Branded and Partnered Credit Cards

You can use several credit cards to earn Rapid Rewards points directly or through points transfers.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Cards

You can earn Rapid Rewards directly with any of the 5 Southwest co-branded Chase cards. First, let’s take a look at the 3 consumer cards available.

Additionally, there are 2 Southwest business cards:

Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Southwest Airlines at a 1:1 ratio. That means you can take advantage of the numerous bonus categories on Chase Ultimate Rewards cards to earn lots of points, which can be instantly transferred to Southwest.

Business Owner? Check out our article on the best Chase business cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points.

Southwest Airlines Overview

While Southwest started as a budget airline, today it’s one of the largest U.S. airlines. Southwest has continued to expand its offerings with flights to Hawaii and several popular international destinations, including Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Despite difficulties at the end of 2022 that resulted in an operational meltdown, Southwest remains a favorite airline for many travelers due to its customer-friendly policies, such as free checked bags and no change fees.

Rapid Rewards is the airline’s loyalty program that allows passengers to earn and use points for flights.

How To Join Southwest Rapid Rewards

Visit the Southwest website and click Create account to join for free.

How To Sign In to Your Rapid Rewards Account

You can sign in to your Rapid Rewards account on the Southwest.com homepage. You’ll need your account number or username and password.

Viewing Your Account Activity

After logging in, click on My Account to see a summary of your trips, points, promotions, and progress toward elite status.

Points Expiration

Rapid Rewards points don’t expire if your account is open and in good standing.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Elite Status and Companion Pass

There are 2 levels of Southwest Airlines elite status — A-List and A-List Preferred. The Southwest Companion Pass isn’t technically an elite status, as having the pass doesn’t come with any elite benefits, but it offers huge perks when flying on Southwest Airlines.

Southwest A-List Status

Southwest A-List status is earned after flying 25 qualifying one-way flights or earning 35,000 tier-qualifying points in a calendar year.

Tier qualifying points are only earned in 2 ways — through paid Southwest flights or credit card spending. You can earn 1,500 TQP per $10,000 spent on select Southwest credit cards

A-List status comes with the following benefits:

• 25% point bonus
• Dedicated A-List member phone line
• Free same-day standby
• Priority boarding
• Priority check-in and security
• Same-day confirmed changes with no difference in base fare

Southwest A-List Preferred Status

Southwest A-List Preferred status is earned after flying 50 qualifying one-way flights or earning 70,000 tier-qualifying points in a calendar year. It comes with all of the benefits of A-List status plus these additional perks:

• 100% point bonus
• Dedicated A-List Preferred member phone line
• Free inflight Wi-Fi

Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Companion Pass is considered one of the best deals in travel. It essentially lets you fly 2-for-1 for up to 2 years.

To earn the Companion Pass, you’ll need to fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year or earn 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year.

Companion Pass qualifying points include credit card welcome bonuses plus points earned from revenue flights, Southwest credit card spending, partner hotel and car rentals, Rapid Rewards dining, and Rapid Rewards shopping.

After earning the Companion Pass, you can add a companion to any Southwest ticket for the rest of the calendar year in which you earn the pass plus the entire following calendar year. All you need to do is pay the taxes and fees for the companion, which are $5.60 for a domestic one-way flight (taxes and fees are higher on international flights).

Value of Rapid Rewards Elite Status

One of the most significant benefits of A-List and A-List Preferred status is priority boarding. Southwest’s boarding process differs from other airlines because there are no assigned seats. Instead, you’re assigned a boarding position based on a few factors, including when you check in and your status level.

Having Southwest elite status removes the need to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of time and more or less guarantees you’ll be able to get seats with your traveling companions — and won’t get stuck in a middle seat.

If you generally pay for EarlyBird Check-In or value not having to worry about your boarding position, Southwest’s elite status can be very valuable.

How To Earn Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

There are many ways to earn Rapid Rewards points.

Flying on Southwest Airlines

You earn Rapid Rewards points for Southwest flights based on your fare type and price, excluding taxes and fees:

• Business Select: 12 points per dollar
• Anytime: 10 points per dollar
• Wanna Get Away Plus: 8 points per dollar
• Wanna Get Away: 6 points per dollar

Travelers with A-List status earn additional bonus points.

• A-List: 25% bonus Rapid Rewards points
• A-List Preferred: 100% bonus Rapid Rewards points

Earn Points With Travel Partners

You can earn Rapid Rewards points by booking travel through select travel partners.

• Car rental partners: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, Payless, Thrifty
• Hotel partners: SouthwestHotels.com, Best Western, Radisson Rewards Americas, Choice Hotels, Hyatt, Marriott, MGM Rewards, Rocketmiles

Earn Points With Shopping, Dining, and Specialty Partners

Southwest has a variety of ways to earn Rapid Rewards points without flying, including shopping, dining, home, and specialty partners that can help you earn more Rapid Rewards points.

Earn Points With Credit Cards

Southwest offers 5 co-branded credit cards:

You can also earn Rapid Rewards points through Ultimate Rewards credit cards since Chase and Southwest are 1:1 transfer partners.

You need at least 1 premium travel rewards card (marked **) to transfer to Southwest. As long as you have 1 eligible transfer card, you can consolidate all your Ultimate Rewards points to that card to then transfer them to Southwest (or any of Chase’s other partners).

How To Redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

Southwest awards are only available on Southwest flights and are revenue-based, so the price in points will be based on the cash cost. Finding awards is straightforward. Search on Southwest.com, and if a flight is available to book in cash, it will also be available to book using points.

You can easily toggle back and forth between the points and cash costs of any flight. The dollar amount shown under the points price is the taxes and fees.

The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Unlimited^® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.