Southwest Airlines now lets travelers book award flights with cash and points, starting with 1,000 Rapid Rewards. This redemption option makes it easier to utilize small point balances, enjoy more flexibility with booking flights, and minimize out-of-pocket costs. Leisure and business travelers can benefit from this new perk.
CHICAGO - APRIL 3: A Southwest Airlines jet takes off at Midway Airport April 3, 2008 in Chicago, ... [+]
How Southwest Cash + Points Works
Effective April 22, 2024, personal and business Southwest Rapid Rewards® members can start combining points and cash to pay for Southwest-operated flights. Members can compare five redemption options and redeem as few as 1,000 Rapid Rewards plus a remaining cash portion.
To view these hybrid redemption options and potential cash savings, search for fares with “Dollars” as the redemption currency instead of points.
You can pay for the remaining balance with the following payment methods:
- Credit card
- Debit card
- Southwest gift cards
- Flight credits
- Transferable flight credits
The redemption value for each Southwest point is variable, depending on the destination, flight time, travel demand, and other underlying factors.
This booking method is only available for the initial reservation. Any costs stemming from future itinerary changes require a cash-based payment method. If you need to cancel a flight, the points are refunded to your loyalty account and the cash portion can return to the original payment method or be a flight credit.
Further, adding a Southwest Companion Pass benefit to these fares is also possible. This perk allows one travel companion’s ticket cost to only be fees and taxes from $5.60 or higher.
Southwest Cash + Points Restrictions
This new booking feature has several advantages, but it’s not ideal in a few situations for travelers trying to maximize their Rapid Rewards loyalty perks.
Some of the downsides to know about include:
- Cash + Points bookings won’t earn Rapid Rewards points, tier qualifying points for A-List or A-List Preferred, or Companion Pass qualifying points.
- Rapid Rewards credit card members only earn points and tier qualifying points on the dollar portion of bookings.
- Rapid Rewards credit card members only earn Companion Pass qualifying points on the dollar portion of bookings.
- Cannot combine Rapid Rewards balances between multiple accounts to book Cash + Points fares. All point transfers between Rapid Rewards accounts incur a fee.
- Points + Cash bookings currently only apply to airfare purchases through Southwest.com, swabiz.com, and Southwest mobile channels. Unfortunately, Southwest vacation packages and ancillary services are ineligible at this time.
Despite these point-earning limitations, Cash + Points flights count towards the annual one-way flight requirements for A-List, A-List Preferred, and Companion Pass when flown.
Summary
All Rapid Rewards members now have access to Southwest Cash + Points bookings. This feature makes business and leisure travel more affordable and makes it easier to redeem small amounts of airline points, which is helpful for periodic passengers.
