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Southwest Airways as soon as prided itself on its “transfarency” philosophy — low fares and no change charges, hidden charges or sudden bag charges. Subsequently, it was no shock that some TPG staffers regarded Southwest as certainly one of their prime airline selections.
Nonetheless, following a number of (principally unfavorable) current bulletins, from new checked-bag charges to decrease points-earning charges, the airline is “quickly” altering and not the beloved quirky standout it as soon as was.
Associated: What we all know in regards to the surprising modifications from Southwest — and what you need to do now
Even with the latest program modifications, Speedy Rewards factors are a few of the most simply redeemable loyalty rewards. Maintain studying to discover ways to earn, redeem and maximize Southwest Speedy Rewards factors.
Southwest Speedy Rewards program overview
Like Southwest Airways itself, the Speedy Rewards frequent flyer program has amassed a loyal following. Regardless of not having an ordinary award chart or being a part of an airline alliance, its promise of no blackout dates and the power to earn Southwest’s well-known Companion Move make Speedy Rewards a wonderful alternative for {couples}, households and people with not-so-flexible schedules.
As with JetBlue’s TrueBlue program, all Southwest award tickets are priced primarily based on the ticket’s money worth. This implies the dearer the ticket you need to e book, the extra factors you’ll want. TPG values Speedy Rewards factors at 1.35 cents per level in our March 2025 valuations, that means 10,000 factors ought to provide you with round $135 in worth.
Nonetheless, relying in your ticket, you could get kind of.
Southwest lately introduced plans to regulate award costs to make them extra “variable.” Whereas Southwest didn’t reply to TPG’s request for additional particulars in time for publication, this will imply that you can acquire greater than 1.35 cents per level on low-demand flights; this worth could drop sharply on high-demand flights the place award costs could enhance.
Southwest elite standing
Southwest provides two elite standing tiers: A-Record and A-Record Most popular.
Southwest A-Record elite standing
To qualify for A-Record standing, you need to fly 20 qualifying one-way Southwest flights or earn 35,000 tier qualifying factors in a calendar yr.
Tier qualifying factors embrace these earned from paid flights booked with Southwest or via qualifying purchases made with Speedy Rewards companions. As of Jan. 1, members earn tier qualifying factors on the money portion of flights booked utilizing Southwest’s Money + Factors. You may also earn 1,500 tier qualifying factors for each $5,000 spent on the Southwest Speedy Rewards® Precedence Credit score Card, the Southwest Speedy Rewards® Premier Credit score Card, the Southwest® Speedy Rewards® Premier Enterprise Credit score Card or the Southwest® Speedy Rewards® Efficiency Enterprise Credit score Card. Bought factors, tier bonus factors, flight bonus factors, accomplice factors, and factors earned from Speedy Rewards program enrollment and bank card bonuses don’t rely towards A-Record or A-Record Most popular standing.
The data for the Speedy Rewards Premier has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
With Southwest A-Record standing, you’ll get the next:
- Two free checked luggage (for bookings created from Might 28)
- Precedence boarding
- 25% bonus on factors earned from paid flights
- Free same-day standby/modifications (taxes and charges could apply)
- Precedence check-in and safety lane entry
- Devoted A-Record member telephone line
Southwest A-Record Most popular elite standing
A-Record Most popular standing requires you to fly 40 qualifying one-way Southwest flights or earn 70,000 tier qualifying factors in a calendar yr. You’ll obtain all the advantages of A-Record standing, in addition to:
- 100% bonus on factors earned from paid flights
- Free inflight Wi-Fi
- Two free premium drinks on choose flights over 250 miles
Associated: Southwest A-Record standing: What it’s and the right way to earn it
The best way to earn Southwest Speedy Rewards factors
There are just a few methods to earn Southwest Speedy Rewards factors — and a few don’t require flying.
Earn Speedy Rewards factors by flying
As you would possibly count on, you may earn Speedy Rewards factors each time you fly on a paid Southwest Airways flight. The variety of factors you’ll earn relies on the price of your flight, your elite standing, the kind of ticket and your cost technique.
Southwest has 4 ticket lessons. Every contains completely different advantages, with the best fare — Enterprise Choose — together with precedence boarding and a free alcoholic drink on board. Right here’s what number of factors every fare class earns:
- Wanna Get Away: 2 factors per greenback (a brand new Fundamental fare shall be launched beginning Might 28)
- Wanna Get Away Plus: 6 factors per greenback
- Anytime: 10 factors per greenback
- Enterprise Choose: 14 factors per greenback
You’ll earn factors in your ticket’s base fare, excluding any related taxes and charges. Moreover, when you e book a flight utilizing Southwest’s Money + Factors, you’ll earn Speedy Rewards factors on the money fare of your ticket.
While you buy a Southwest ticket, you may view your flight’s base fare on the airline’s web site. So, when you bought a Wanna Get Away fare with a $100 base value, you’d earn 200 Southwest Speedy Rewards factors after you are taking your flight. Alternatively, a Wanna Get Away Plus ticket would earn 600 factors, an Anytime ticket would earn 1,000 factors and a Enterprise Choose ticket would earn 1,400 factors.
As talked about, Southwest A-Record and A-Record Most popular members earn much more factors on paid flights. Every standing tier earns the next bonus on paid flights:
- A-Record: 25% bonus
- A-Record Most popular: 100% bonus
Utilizing the above $100 base fare instance, an A-Record member would earn 750 Speedy Rewards factors on a Wanna Get Away Plus fare, whereas an A-Record Most popular member would earn 1,200 Speedy Rewards factors. The factors bonus is arguably probably the most helpful perk of Southwest elite standing and will help you rack up tons of additional factors all through your travels.
Earn Speedy Rewards factors with Southwest bank cards
Southwest Airways has a number of cobranded bank cards issued by Chase. Presently, the airline provides three private and two enterprise bank cards with various advantages, welcome bonuses and annual charges.
Right now, you may earn 30,000 bonus factors and a Southwest Companion Move (good via Feb. 28, 2026) after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening on these playing cards:
- Southwest Speedy Rewards® Plus Credit score Card
- Southwest Speedy Rewards Premier Credit score Card
- Southwest Speedy Rewards Precedence Credit score Card
Southwest additionally provides the next enterprise playing cards:
- Southwest Speedy Rewards Premier Enterprise Credit score Card: Earn 60,000 bonus factors after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Southwest Speedy Rewards Efficiency Enterprise Credit score Card: Earn 80,000 bonus factors after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
Along with a lovely welcome bonus, every card has distinctive advantages. For instance, the Southwest Precedence card contains an annual $75 journey credit score and seven,500 bonus factors (value $101.25 per TPG’s March 2025 valuations) in your cardmember anniversary. Collectively, these might offset the cardboard’s $149 annual price and assist you earn extra factors all year long.
Moreover, you may switch factors from Chase Final Rewards to Southwest Speedy Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. Should you don’t thoughts lacking out on the Southwest-specific perks, you could contemplate making use of for the Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card because it earns 2 factors per greenback spent on journey and three factors per greenback spent on eating purchases.
Earn Speedy Rewards factors with Speedy Rewards Eating
Like many airways, Southwest provides a eating rewards program the place you may earn factors. Create a Speedy Rewards Eating account and hyperlink your bank cards to earn Speedy Rewards factors each time you dine at a taking part restaurant. That is along with the rewards you’d earn with a bank card, so hyperlink a card that earns bonus factors on eating to maximise your points-earning.
While you enroll in Speedy Rewards Eating, be certain that to enroll in electronic mail notifications. This lets you earn 3 factors per greenback spent at taking part eating places. Opting out of electronic mail notifications will drastically minimize your earnings to 1 level per $2 spent.
The Speedy Rewards Eating program provides a lovely set of welcome bonuses. You’ll earn 500 bonus factors after you spend $25 and overview a taking part restaurant within the first 30 days, and you’ll earn extra factors by leaving evaluations and performing different duties. You may seek for taking part eating places on the Speedy Rewards Eating web site.
Earn Speedy Rewards factors via Speedy Rewards Buying
You may earn bonus factors if you store on-line with Speedy Rewards Buying. As with Speedy Rewards Eating, the factors you’ll earn with this purchasing portal are along with the factors you earn with a bank card.
Utilizing Speedy Rewards Buying is straightforward: Join an account, discover your service provider on Speedy Rewards and click on via its hyperlink earlier than making a purchase order. Factors are normally credited to your Speedy Rewards account inside every week of constructing a purchase order, however some retailers could take longer to course of.
The variety of factors you’ll earn per greenback spent varies by service provider and modifications steadily. The portal typically has promotions that provide bonus factors if you spend a set amount of cash, so regulate the Speedy Rewards Buying web site to see when these promos are occurring.
Earn Speedy Rewards factors by reserving inns
Southwest has partnerships with a few of the main lodge corporations, permitting you to earn Speedy Rewards factors as a substitute of lodge factors on stays. However we usually don’t suggest this selection as a result of the incomes charges are low.
Reserving lodge rooms with Southwest Accommodations or Rocketmiles can earn you as much as 10,000 factors per evening. At all times verify charges with each, in addition to different choices like bank card journey portals, earlier than deciding which platform most accurately fits your wants.
With Southwest Accommodations, the variety of factors you’ll earn typically correlates to the value of your lodge room, and also you’ll earn extra factors if you e book Factors Plus properties. Keep in mind that you can’t earn lodge factors or use lodge elite standing advantages on these bookings; you’ll usually must e book instantly with the lodge to make use of these advantages.
Many boutique inns can be found via Southwest Accommodations, so reserving these via Southwest could also be value it in the event that they in any other case wouldn’t earn factors. Evaluate pricing with the lodge’s web site to make sure you get a comparable charge via Southwest Accommodations or Rocketmiles.
Associated: Straightforward methods to earn extra Southwest Speedy Rewards factors
The best way to redeem Southwest Speedy Rewards factors
There are a number of methods to redeem your factors, however you’ll nearly at all times get probably the most worth when you use them for journey on Southwest flights. Different redemption choices, like present playing cards and merchandise, yield a lot much less worth.
The method for redeeming Speedy Rewards factors for flights is essentially the identical as reserving a paid flight. Head to the Southwest homepage, enter your search standards and choose the “Factors” possibility. Click on the yellow search button to see your flight choices.
You’ll see award pricing to the correct of every accessible flight. You may filter flights by the variety of layovers and departure occasions utilizing the buttons on the prime of the web page. Then, click on on the ticket value of your required flight and comply with the on-screen prompts to e book.
Which fare sort ought to I select?
You may redeem factors for flights in any of the 4 Southwest fare sorts. The least costly possibility, Wanna Get Away, is finest for many vacationers. As with all fare sorts, for flights departing earlier than Might 28, Wanna Get Away fares embrace two free checked luggage and no change or cancellation charges. Though these tickets are nonrefundable, you’ll get a flight credit score when you cancel — or, when you booked with factors, you’ll get your factors and charges refunded.
Wanna Get Away Plus is barely extra versatile, with free confirmed and standby same-day flight modifications. Moreover, these fares allow you to switch flight credit to a different particular person when you cancel your flight.
Anytime fares have the identical advantages as Wanna Get Away Plus, in addition to precedence safety and EarlyBird Test-In. Anytime money fares are totally refundable, however do not forget that all fare sorts are refundable when booked with factors.
Lastly, the advantages of Enterprise Choose fares are hardly definitely worth the extra value. These tickets embrace A1-A15 boarding, expedited safety at choose airports, two free checked luggage for bookings from Might 28 onward, and a free alcoholic drink on board. Often, this fare prices greater than triple the factors of a Wanna Get Away fare, so we suggest avoiding this redemption normally.
Starting Might 28, flight credit will expire primarily based in your fare class. Fundamental fare credit will expire inside six months whereas Wanna Get Away Plus, Anytime and Enterprise Choose fare credit will expire inside 12 months.
Can I modify Southwest award tickets at no cost?
You may change or cancel Southwest award tickets at no cost. Should you decide to alter a ticket, you’re solely answerable for paying the brand new ticket’s fare distinction if it’s dearer. Alternatively, when you change to a less expensive flight, Southwest will refund the distinction in factors. With this in thoughts, we extremely suggest keeping track of award pricing after you e book a flight — if the fare decreases, you’ll be refunded the factors distinction.
Canceling a Southwest award ticket is simply as easy. While you cancel your ticket, the factors you used to e book shall be refunded to your Speedy Rewards account with no cancellation charges.
Do I’ve to pay taxes and charges on award tickets?
You should pay sure taxes and charges when reserving Southwest award tickets, beginning at $5.60 one-way. Should you cancel your award flight, the price shall be refunded to your cost technique.
Maximize your factors with the Southwest Companion Move
The Southwest Companion Move is undoubtedly probably the most helpful perks of the Speedy Rewards program. After incomes the go, you may select a companion to journey with you for simply the price of taxes and charges on any Southwest flight you e book, whether or not with money or factors. You need to use the Companion Move on as many flights as you’d like, successfully doubling the worth of your Speedy Rewards factors.
You may earn a Companion Move by flying 100 Southwest one-way flight segments or — extra virtually for many — incomes 135,000 qualifying factors. Qualifying factors embrace Speedy Rewards factors earned by flying, spending on bank cards and making purchases by way of Speedy Rewards Eating and/or Speedy Rewards Buying.
Sadly, transfers from Chase Final Rewards don’t rely towards the Companion Move.
Your Companion Move shall be legitimate for the rest of the yr during which it’s earned and the whole lot of the next yr. Should you plan on incomes your Companion Move via a bank card welcome bonus, attempt to time your spending to earn the required factors at first of the yr. This offers you probably the most time to get pleasure from your hard-earned Companion Move.
You may solely designate one companion at a time, however you may change your companion 3 times per yr. You may change your companion via your Southwest account; based on the airline, enable as much as 48 hours for the change to course of. Keep in mind that your companion is not going to earn Speedy Rewards factors on their flight however you’ll nonetheless earn factors when you fly on a paid ticket.
Associated: 15 classes from 15 years of getting the Southwest Companion Move
Backside line
Southwest Speedy Rewards factors are straightforward to earn and redeem, and the extremely helpful Companion Move units Southwest aside from different airways. Don’t miss your quick monitor to a Companion Move with the correct cobranded bank card.
Nonetheless, the airline is quickly altering, and plenty of bulletins have been met with confusion, frustration and dismay by its most loyal prospects. Given the velocity at which these modifications have been introduced, extra will seemingly come. Nonetheless, this system stays in style with every kind of vacationers, particularly households.
Now you know the way to make an knowledgeable resolution about Southwest’s Speedy Rewards program so you may determine if it’s best for you.
