You'll Pay More Points to Fly on Southwest Airlines

Update: The credit card offer in this post is no longer available. Check our credit card page for the latest offers.

Beginning April 17, 2015, you'll pay more points to fly on Southwest Airlines.

You'll Pay More Points to Fly on Southwest Airlines Traveling Well For Less — Big changes to how you use Southwest points coming

Table of Contents

Say Goodbye to Fixed Rate Point Tickets

It will cost you more points to fly on Southwest Airlines after April 17, 2015.

Because Southwest is making changes to their Rapid Rewards program. Namely, award tickets on Southwest Airlines will no longer be a fixed rate.

You used to get a fixed rate on award tickets booked using points:

70 points per $1 for Wanna Get Away fares
100 points per $1 for Anytime fares
120 points per $1 for Business Select fares

But starting April 17, 2015, award tickets booked on Southwest will be based on the following factors:

Destination
Time
Day of travel
Demand
Fare Class (i.e. Wanna Get Away, Anytime, or Business Select)
Anything else Southwest decides

Beautiful coast in Jamaica Traveling Well For Less — You'll pay more for flights to Jamaica than for flights to Detroit

What This Means For You

1. Flights Will Cost More

Award tickets on Southwest will cost more points especially to popular destinations like San Diego, Fort Lauderdale, and New York.

And the amount of Southwest points needed for award tickets on weekend travel and over the holidays will also increase.

Christmas Traveling Well For Less — Your flight home for Christmas will cost more Southwest points

2. Look for Sales

Sales will become more important.

Because when ticket prices cost less, the amount of points for award tickets are also less.

Southwest sales Traveling Well For Less — Your points go farther during Southwest sales

How to Get More Southwest Points

1. Southwest Credit Cards

You can earn 50,000 Southwest points from the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card> or Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening.

When you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, you can earn 60,000 points. Plus another 60,000 points when you spend a total of $15,000 in the first 9 months.

And because a personal card is considered a different card product than a business card, you can apply for both a personal and a business card on the same day.

If you've already had a Southwest card, you can apply for a second card if it's been 24 months since you received the sign-up bonus.

So if you got the sign-up bonus on the Southwest Premier Credit Card on February 20, 2013, then you can get the sign-up bonus again.

Southwest credit card Traveling Well For Less — You can earn 50,000 Southwest points from 1 credit card

2. Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Southwest.

For every Chase Ultimate Reward point, you transfer you get 1 Southwest point.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be earned from:

3. Transfer Choice Hotel Points

You can transfer Choice hotels points transfer to Southwest.

When you transfer 6,000 Choice hotels points you get 1,800 Southwest points.

What are your thoughts about having to pay more points for Southwest flights.
Comment, tweet, or share this post.

Get the best credit card bonuses.

Follow us on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | YouTube

Got a question? Or want help, suggestions, travel tips, learn how to travel for free, find out about travel deals, and maximize your miles and points? Use the subscription box below to sign-up and get post updates by email.

Miles and Points Strategy Consultations

Need help with your miles and points? You can book a miles and points consultation. Whether you're learning how to use travel rewards or have been in the game, this consultation is personalized for your needs. We can discuss credit cards, loyalty programs, anything and everything miles and points related.

Includes a summary and a written plan with recommendations on how to achieve your miles and points goals sent within 24 hours after consultation.

Note: This is a consultation not an award booking service.

Schedule your miles and points consultation now.