How much are Southwest points worth?
Southwest points are usually worth about $0.014 to $0.016 per point for flight bookings. The exact value depends on the flight and type of ticket you book.
Unlike the travel rewards offered by most frequent flyer programs, Southwest Rapid Rewards points have a relatively stable value. Regardless of where you're going, you'll likely get a value in or near that range.
Some award tickets fall outside this range a bit. In our research, we found bookings offering values of below $0.013 per point, and others offering more than $0.017 per point. But there aren't any major outliers.
There are other ways to use Southwest Rapid Rewards points, including hotels, car rentals, merchandise, and gift cards. These redemptions offer a much lower value per point, with some of them getting you less than half as much value as you would on a flight redemption. For that reason, it's recommended that you only use Southwest points to book flights with the airline.
Calculating the value of Southwest points
To calculate how much a large amount of Southwest points are worth, multiply the number of points by $0.014. That gives you a good baseline for their value.
Alternatively, a simple rule of thumb is that 10,000 Southwest points are generally worth at least $140 in airfare. With this information, you can easily calculate the value of 20,000 Southwest points, 50,000, 100,000, and so on.
How to redeem Southwest points
Here's how to redeem Southwest points for free flights:
- Go to the Southwest website.
- Enter your trip details in the flight booking tool.
- Change the type of currency from "Dollars" to "Points."
- Search for flights and choose the ones you want.
- Complete the checkout process.
If you're not logged in to your account with the Southwest Rapid Rewards program, the site will prompt you to log in before you check out.
Booking a Southwest flight with points is very similar to booking one with cash. The only difference is that you need to switch the search from "Dollars" to "Points." You can do this with the flight search tool or when viewing your search results.
There are no blackout dates for booking award travel on Southwest. If you can book it with cash, then you can book it with points.
You also have all the same search options available. For example, if you want to use Southwest's Low Fare Calendar and see prices in points, you can.
How do Southwest points compare to other airline miles?
Southwest points are some of the most valuable airline points on average. Rewards with other major airlines are typically worth an average of about $0.01 to $0.015 per point/mile.
There's a key difference between Southwest Rapid Rewards and most other frequent flyer programs. With other airlines, the value you get per mile depends heavily on the airfare you choose. You can often get a much higher value per point when you use it for more expensive airfare.
For example, if you use your airline miles to book a no-frills economy ticket, you may get $0.01 per mile or less. If you use miles to book international airfare in business or first class, you could get $0.03 per mile or more.
That's the tradeoff for the stable value of Southwest points. You're not going to get a low value from them, but you also won't find any of those high-value award ticket deals like you could with other types of airline miles and travel credit cards.
It's also worth noting that Southwest focuses more on domestic flights compared to other major U.S. carriers. If you primarily travel within the United States, then Southwest points will serve you well. Travelers who book lots of international flights may need miles with an airline that flies to more destinations.
Maximizing your Southwest points
You can earn Southwest points by registering for a Rapid Rewards account, which is free of charge. While this is a good starting point, finding ways to maximize your rewards will help you save a significant amount of money. Fortunately, there are several ways to collect more Southwest points.
Get a Southwest credit card
Southwest offers several airline credit cards with Chase, including consumer credit cards and business credit cards:
Each of these credit cards earns Southwest Rapid Rewards points on purchases, which gives your frequent flyer account a big boost. If you spend $2,000 per month on your Southwest credit card, that's at least 2,000 points.
In addition, Southwest credit cards all offer sign-up bonuses. If you hit the spending requirement for a bonus, you'll earn a large chunk of Southwest points. Not only are these bonus points valuable, they also get you closer to Southwest's Companion Pass. The Companion Pass allows you to choose someone to fly with you free of charge, except for taxes and fees of $5.60 each way.
Fact Checked
Eric McWhinnie
