Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards – Benefitting budget-minded travelers immensely

Southwest Airlines is the biggest low-cost carrier in the USA with a major presence in cities such as Dallas, Denver, Baltimore, Las Vegas and Chicago. The Dallas-based carrier is best known for low fares, free checked bags and no cancellation fees.

Those who are fond of flying with low-cost carriers surely know its advantages. Do you know what it takes to book flights with Southwest Airlines? You stand to benefit immensely. Here’s how you will be making your travel even cheaper when making Southwest Airlines reservations. This is possible through the Southwest Airlines rewards program.

What are the Rapid Rewards?

After all, what are the Rapid Rewards of Southwest Airlines? Let’s know about Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program and how you are going to be benefitted from this.

Rapid Rewards Southwest is essentially designed for budget-minded travelers who are based in the USA. It is most beneficial for those who fly frequently to major cities in the United States, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Southwest Airlines is currently offering more than 4,000 daily flights to over 100 destinations. By becoming a member of Rapid Rewards you not only stand to gain through the airline’s extensive network, but also earn Southwest points for every dollar spent on booking the airline’s flights and also with its hotel car rental and retail partners.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards is currently ranked No. 6 in the Best Airline Rewards Programs. The evaluation was made taking into consideration 9 frequent flyer programs by different airlines based in the USA across several indicators of excellence.

How to become Rapid Rewards Member

Southwest Airlines grants the Rapid Rewards program membership to individual travelers only. A separate enrollment is a must for individuals and the points are not to be pooled or combined with other members. The membership is however not for corporations and other entities. Each member is entitled to hold only one Rapid Rewards account after proper registration and due approval by the airline. Southwest Points don’t expire, but can always be terminated if the member decides to close the account. Southwest Airlines reserves the right to review and adjust all transactions and accounts related to the Rapid Rewards program at any time and without any prior notice to members for necessary compliance with the applicable rules.

How to earn Rapid Rewards Points

The members can earn Rapid Rewards points in several ways. This can be done by booking flights and flying with Southwest Airlines, or through qualifying purchases with the airline’s Rapid Rewards partners. The member holding the Rapid Rewards account is only eligible to earn points and who actually travels. However, the member holding an account will not be able to earn points for travel by another customer or Rapid Rewards member even if the account holder had paid for another person’s travel.

Southwest Airlines will calculate the actual number of points for each individual flight only after the completion of the entire ticket and will be based on the final amount paid by the member for the base fare and fare product purchased for that flight. The member will however be eligible to earn points for non revenue travel, which includes Companion Pass and Reward travel. The points will also not be earned on other travel too, such as charter flights, extra seat, trade out, reduce-rate, and service-charged.

How to redeem Rapid Rewards Points

You can redeem points for any available seat on any flight booked through Southwest Airlines. The points can also be redeemed for other services or products duly approved by the Southwest Airlines. When redeeming reward flights the number of points required may vary based on fare class, demand, day of travel, time, destination, point redemption rate, and many other factors. The points can be used by the member for purchasing own seats or for other customers on the airline, and will be solely responsible to make any itinerary changes after booking. However, making changes to the itinerary is not allowed to a passenger flying on a ticket using points from another member’s account. It may be noted that the number of points required for purchasing a reward flight can be changed at any time until the confirmation of the booking. There will be a change to the number of points required for purchasing the reward flight if any itinerary changes are made after the initial booking.

The points cannot be used to make purchases of special fares, including military, child, infant and government fares. Moreover, the points can’t also be used to make purchases for other travel such as charter flights, trade out, reduced-rate, service-charged, vacation packages, group travel, and flights and services purchased through a travel agent.

How to purchase, gift, transfer and donate Rapid Rewards Points

Rapid Rewards points can be purchased by a member as a gift or for personal use. The purchase can be done online on Southwest Airlines website with a credit card. The airline will be offering points in blocks of 1,000 during promotional periods and 500 when off promotion on purchasing a minimum of 2,000 points and a daily maximum of 60,000 points combined for gift and personal purchases. When purchased as a gift the points can be given to a non-Rapid Rewards member or to an existing Rapid Rewards member, and is eligible to be claimed within 12 months or purchase. Refunds will not be made for unclaimed points.

The points can be transferred by a member to another member or donated to a preselected charity selected by Southwest Airlines with an active Rapid Rewards account. Transfers will have to be made only through the airline’s website and costs of transferring points to another member will have to be paid with a credit card.

Rules and Regulations

The members must follow these rules and regulations regarding Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program.

• Reward travel by a member and a companion, if applicable, will be subject to fees, taxes, and other government or airport-imposed charges starting from $5.60 per one-way trip
• The applicable fees, taxes, and other government or airport-imposed charges may vary significantly based on the member’s arrival and departure destination
• The member or passenger will be responsible to pay any fees, taxes, and other government or airport-imposed charges, and is required to be paid at the time of reward travel booking itself

The government may choose to collect the fees directly from the member or passenger in some instances

The Rapid Rewards program of Southwest Airlines has become one of the favorite loyalty programs for families due to its customer-friendly policies. The airline keeps its customers happy by offering two free checked bags up to 50 pounds each on every flight and benefits of group boarding. Apart from families, the airline also benefits travelers with its tiered rewards prompting them to fly frequently through the Companion Pass and priority boarding. In fact, the Rapid Rewards program has lots of value for everyone flying frequently with the airline.

For more information regarding Southwest Airline rapid rewards, you can contact FlyOFinder at +1-571-378-7016.

Also, read our blog Grab Southwest Airlines Three-Day Winter Sale Offer Until Oct 22.