Now through May 15, members of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards can purchase loyalty points at discounts of up to 40% on purchases 3,000 or more Rapid Rewards points within a single purchase. This is a nice offer to top off your account to meet those travel reward levels for no-cost travel.
The “Spring into big savings” promotion offers Rapid Rewards points for 1.5 cents each with the discount. Buy points in increments of 1,000 (max limit is 60,000 points per day). The fine print makes no mention of an annual limit, so it seems possible that one could buy an unlimited amount of points during the sale.
Purchased points are valid for flight redemptions only. They cannot be returned and cannot be counted as elite qualification miles toward status or the Southwest Companion Pass. Transactions are nonrefundable and nonreversible.
Is this a good deal? That depends. Points needed for a particular Southwest flight will vary depending on destination, time, day of travel, demand, fare type, point redemption rate, and other factors. The Southwest app and website let’s you toggle between ‘points’ and ‘dollars’ during your flight search. Here’s a quick way to make a decision. Divide the required number of points by the base cash airfare. In the case of a one-way ticket costing $205 by the 11,958 points required to ‘buy’ that fare to get a per point value of 1.67. In this case, the 1.5 cents per point deal comes out on top.
On the promotion page, you’ll see the drop down menu with points and sale prices. Here are some examples:
- 3k points: $54 / reg $90
- 5k $90 / reg $150
- 10k $180 / reg $300
- 15k $270 / reg $450
- 20k $360 / reg $600
- 50k $900 / reg $1,500
- 60k $1,080 / reg $1,800
Remember that you can cancel a booking at no cost within 24 hours. Note: The 24-hour refund/reservation requirement for airlines does not apply to tickets booked through online travel agencies, travel agents, or other third-party agents. Learn more about this option here.
Additionally, Southwest Airlines now offers a Cash + Points offer that will allow Rapid Rewards Members to combine points with other eligible forms of payment to purchase flights. This will come in handy for travelers who can never seem to bank enough points for a free ticket but still can shave some dollars off.
Finally, Southwest Airlines is offering the “Wanna Go Wednesdays” deal, separate from Rapid Rewards points. The airline offers last-minute deals as low as $60 each way just to make Wednesdays “a little more fun”.
See Clark’s Travel Planning and Booking Guide for the best tips on stress-free travel, and check out InsureMyTrip.com for travel insurance.
