You Earned Southwest Points, Now How Do You Spend Them For FREE Travel

 

In the past week, I have met two different people who told me they have earned lots of Southwest points, but don't know how to spend them. When we checked their accounts, they had hundreds of thousands of points, but they were still buying flights on Southwest! 

What? 

You Earned Southwest Points, Now How Do You Spend Them For FREE Travel 

So I want to walk you through how to use the points for FREE flights. Sometimes it's a natural instinct to want to hoard our points and not spend them. I get it. But the points devalue, it's just the way it works. And with inflation running high and most Americans having to spend $5,000 more this year on gas and groceries, it's time to get something for FREE. 

So let's go. 

• First, you will need to log into your Southwest Airlines account. 
• Two, click on my account at the top of the screen. 

You should see your points available, how close you are to A list and whether or not you have earned the companion pass, which is the best travel perk out there.  

To actually book a flight, click on Book A Flight. 

Be sure to click from $ to points! 

Now the price of all the flights will be displayed in points instead of dollars. When you select your flight and enter all your traveler information, the points will be deducted from your account. 

You will still need to pay $5.60 per ticket for fees and that will be charged to the credit card you enter or the one you have on file in your account. 

Now the best part about booking Southwest flights with points is that if you have to cancel your flight, the points are returned to your account. 

No LUV vouchers! No travel credits! 

Best part, Southwest points never expire! 

You Earned Southwest Points, Now How Do You Spend Them For FREE Travel 

If you want to change your flight, you can do that too. Just click on the flight, click change and you will see the options available and how many more or less points you will need. 

When you click confirm, the points will be returned or deducted from your account for the difference. 

Amazing! 

If you don't have any Southwest points yet, try applying for a Southwest credit card to earn a bonus. Chase just increased all the personal cards to a whopping 75,000 bonus offer with a $5,000 minimum spend. If you want to fly BOGO, ask me about how to earn the Southwest Companion Pass. 

If you want your entire trip to be FREE and/or you want to earn the companion pass, let us help you. We have teamed up with my friend and national travel blogger Lyn at Families Fly FREE. She has created a simple system to help families fly free forever. 

If you would like to check it out, click here and let Lyn know I sent you. :) I'll be sharing testimonials from some happy members and I'll let you know when I'll be offering webinars. 

Great News! Bilt Adds Southwest As A Transfer Partner

 

If you are renting, you should have a Bilt credit card! You can read all about the Bilt card here. For renters, it is a no brainer way to rack up flexible points every month. Those points can be transferred just like Chase Ultimate Reward points, Citi points, Amex points and Capital One points to dozens of airlines and hotels.

Great News! Bilt Adds Southwest As A Transfer Partner

 

And now Bilt has added Southwest Airlines as one of its transfer partners. 

The only other flexible points you can transfer to Southwest Airlines are Chase Ultimate Reward points. 

The points transfer 1:1 meaning 1 Bilt point = 1 Southwest point same as Chase Ultimate Reward points to Southwest points. 

The points do not count towards the Southwest Companion Pass. 

Let's say you spend $2,500 per month on rent. If you pay your rent through the Bilt app with your Bilt credit card, you will earn $2,500 Bilt points or 2,500 Southwest points per month. You need to make at least 5 transactions per month on your Bilt credit card to qualify.  

So after three months, you would have 7,500 Bilt points which you could transfer to Southwest and use them for flights like three one way flights from San Diego to San Francisco. Now that Southwest Travel Credits expire, you should always use points to buy flights. If you use points on Southwest and cancel a flight, the points are returned to your account. Southwest points never expire. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

How To Earn Bonus Southwest Points Fast At Hotels

As you head off on your summer travels, you might want to be very intentional about where you stay and how you book those stays so you can max out on Southwest points. And ultimately collect enough points to earn the companion pass! 

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best travel perks out there. It's a BOGO pass for any flight on Southwest Airlines for two years! That's right. Depending on when you earn it, you could fly a companion FREE for up to two years. 

To earn the pass, you have to collect 125,000 points in a single calendar year. 

Now if you fly, that's a lot of flights. But there are some easier and faster ways to collect those points. 

How To Earn Bonus Southwest Points At Hotels

The easiest way is to open a personal Southwest credit card and a Southwest business card. You are allowed to hold one of each at the same time. Right now, all the personal cards are offering a 75,000 point bonus when you spend $5,000 on the card. We break down the different cards and our recommendation here. 

This is a spectacular offer and one of the highest we have ever seen! If you don't have this card yet, now is the time! 

And if you have a business even a very small business like selling things on Ebay or Etsy or a vacation rental, you can qualify for a business credit card. There are two business cards offered:

• Performance - 80,000 bonus offer right now with a $5,000 minimum spend
• Premier - 60,000 bonus offer with a $3,000 minimum spend 

The quickest way to earn the companion pass is to open a personal credit card and a business credit card and bam, you are done. But if you have earned a bonus in the past 24 months or you don't have a business, one of my favorite ways to earn extra Southwest points is by using Rocketmiles.com and Southwesthotels.com for hotels stays.

Both give you Southwest bonus points for booking through their platform and sometimes those bonuses can be huge! 

How To Earn Bonus Southwest Points At Hotels

I just stayed overnight near the Baltimore Washington International Airport, that's a whole different story I will share with you in another post. So I decided to check Southwesthotels.com and bam, bonus 2,000 points for staying at the Microtel near the airport. 

Within days of my stay, the 2,000 bonus points posted to my Southwest account. Nice! I just checked Rocketmiles.com and the bonus is just 1,000 points for the same hotel. So it's worth checking both sites! By the way, Rocketmiles.com works with lots of different loyalty programs so if you are trying to collect American, Alaska, United or more, check it out!  

Be sure to designate which loyalty program you want to collect points on BEFORE you make any reservations! 

To get the bonus, you must book your reservation through the Rocketmiles.com app or website or Southwesthotels.com app or website. It is considered a third party booking so keep that in mind. 

If you decide to open a personal or business Southwest credit card, please use my referral link to apply for your card so I can earn the companion pass and bring you amazing travel tips! 

And If you want your entire trip to be FREE and/or you want to earn the companion pass, let us help you. We have teamed up with my friend and national travel blogger Lyn at Families Fly FREE. She has created a simple system to help families fly free forever. 

If you would like to check it out, click here and let Lyn know I sent you. :) 

 

More Ways To Earn Southwest Points Without Flying

Hotels at Kaanapali, Maui 

Now that Southwest Airlines flies to Hawaii, let's talk about some other ways you can boost your Southwest points balance. 

Here are some awesome ways to earn points without flying:

1. Shopping Portal - Never buy anything online without going through a shopping portal! It's FREE money if you use a cashback site and its FREE points (FREE travel) if you use an airline shopping portal. 

Find the store you want to shop at and get rewarded 1x, 2x, 3x or 4x bonus points per dollar. Charge the purchase to your Southwest credit card and earn 1x points for your purchase. So let's say you spend $100 at 1-800 Pet Meds, you would be rewarded 400 bonus points for using the portal and another 100 points from using your Southwest credit card for a total of 500 bonus points for something you were going to buy anyway. Wow! 

2. Rocketmiles.com  - Same idea, but with hotels. We had a layover in Houston, TX on our way back from Panama. I looked on Rocketmiles.com and found a hotel near the airport that offered free breakfast and 2,000 Southwest bonus points per room. I booked two rooms and got 4,000 bonus points. I used my Southwest credit card and got another 200 points. 

3. Dining Program - You can join Southwest dining program, link your credit or debit card and then when you dine you will earn bonus points. This is not going to rack you up a lot of points, but they will trickle in. 

4. If you live in certain states, you may be eligible to earn more Southwest points by enrolling in NRG, Reliant or buying gas at Marathon. Check out the home and lifestyle offers on Southwest.com. 

5. You can take surveys too to boost your points balance. Again, these are small amounts, but if you just need more points, it might work for you. Check out this page to enroll. 

The #1 Reason Why I Love Flying on Southwest Points

                              

Even with the meltdown over the holiday by Southwest Airlines, I will continue to fly them. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons:

• The Southwest Companion pass 
• Two checked bags for FREE 
• No fuel charges 
• Points are easy to earn 

But my #1 reason is the fact that if you book on points, you can change your flight without any penalty and you may even get points back! 

The #1 Reason Why I Love Flying on Southwest Points 

Confused? Let me explain. You book a flight on Southwest using points. If you don't have enough points, open a Southwest credit card and earn them or even buy them. But don't pay cash for your ticket because then you may get stuck with a credit voucher, yuck! 

If you pay with points and make a change or cancel, the points just return to your account. Easy! 

That's a great perk right there, but wait there's more. 

The #1 Reason Why I Love Flying on Southwest Points 

Once you book a flight, anytime Southwest has a sale or even on random Tuesday or Wednesday, use the change flight option to see if the number of points for that flight has dropped. If it has, rebook the flight and you get the difference returned to your account. 

Let me show you how this works. 

Log into your account, click on trips and click on change flight. 

Check the flight that you want to change. Don't make any updates to the selected flight and click on explore options. 

Then you will see all the flights for that day, find the one that you are already booked on. If you see a + sign, that means it now costs MORE points to book, but if you see a - sign that means it now costs LESS points to book. 

If you see that it costs LESS now than it did when you originally booked, click on the flight, review changes and purchase. 

The points will return to your account immediately. You can do this as many times as you want up until your flight departs. 

The #1 Reason Why I Love Flying on Southwest Points 

If you have a companion booked on the flight with you, you will need to cancel the companion's flight BEFORE you make the change. 

Pretty sweet! 

If you do not have a Southwest credit card yet, please use my referral link. The current offer is 50,000 bonus miles for a $3,000 minimum spend for each of the personal cards. You can check out which card I prefer here. 

It's Time To Plan For Your Southwest Companion Pass

 

The Southwest Companion pass is by far the best travel perk around. It's a BOGO plane ticket on any Southwest flight for up to two years. Did you hear me? BOGO on any Southwest flight anywhere Southwest flies. Costa Rica, yep. Belize, yep. No blackout dates. No blackout flights. All you do is pay the $5.60 for taxes. Amazing! 

I have had the Southwest Companion Pass for the past 6 years and it has saved me thousands of dollars. I have traveled to Cuba, Washington DC, Boston, New York City, Florida and a number of college visits, trips, family events and more and taken my companion with me for FREE.

You can even change your companion three times in a calendar year and your companion can be your spouse, child, sibling, cousin, friend, neighbor or whoever you want.  

It's Time To Earn The Southwest Companion Pass

The way to earn the Southwest Companion Pass is to rack up 125,000 Southwest points in one calendar year. Once you do that, you earn the pass for the remainder of that year PLUS the following year. 

If you time it right, you could have the pass for almost two years. 

But that's a lot of points! How do you earn so many points? You could fly, but that would be very time consuming and expensive. You could shop through portals and that would help, but again, very expensive. 

The way to max out the two years is by opening Southwest credit cards. If you open a personal credit card and the bonus is 50,000 points and you open a business credit card and the bonus is 80,000 points then your total is 130,000 points and bam, you earn a companion pass. Follow me?

We are going to map out the strategy here and I hope you will come along with me on this journey. 

Let's look at what you need to do month by month:

October 

• Cancel your personal credit card 

*You can only hold one personal Southwest credit card at a time and you have to wait at least 30 days to apply for a new personal Southwest credit card. So in order to plan it right, you will need to cancel your Southwest personal credit card this month. I know it can be tough, but it has to be done. 

Also you want to confirm that it's been at least 24 months since you earned a bonus on a Southwest personal credit card because you can only earn this bonus once every two years. 

November 

• Apply for your new personal credit card (you have 3 months to reach the minimum spend, but you can do it faster)
• Apply for your new business credit card (you have 3 months to reach the minimum spend, but you can do it faster)
• You can start using the cards immediately, but DO NOT reach the minimum spend before the statement closes in December or to be extra safe Jan. 1. 
• This is the biggest mistake people make and it could cost you a whole year of the companion pass because you earn the pass for the current year and the following year. If your bonus posts before your December statement closes or Jan. 1st then it counts for this year instead of next year. Ouch! 

December 

• Find out your statement close date on both cards
• DO NOT reach the minimum spend before the statement closes otherwise your points will count towards the current calendar year and not next year
• To be extra safe, hit the minimum spend after Jan. 1st 

January

• The goal is to meet your minimum spend as close to Jan 1st as possible, but AFTER your December statement closes. 
• Once you reach the minimum spend, your bonus points will deposit into your account 
• The deposit will trigger the earning of the Southwest Companion Pass 

And bam, BOGO travel for the next two years! Woohoo! 

If you decide to come along with me on this journey or if this post helps you, please consider using my referral links to apply for your Southwest credit cards. Same bonus for you, but I also get a few points for referring you. 

Here is a breakdown of the three personal credit cards offered by Southwest right now, but remember, we are NOT going to apply for these until November: 

Southwest Priority - 50,000 bonus offer with $1,000 minimum spend 

• $149 annual fee for the first year
• $75 Southwest credit 
• 7,500 anniversary points annually
• 2x on Southwest purchases
• 1x on everything else
• 4 upgraded boardings 

Southwest Premier - 50,000 bonus offer with $1,000 minimum spend 

• $99 annual fee
• 6,000 anniversary points annually
• 2x on Southwest purchases
• 1x on everything else
• 2 Early Bird check ins 

Southwest Plus - 50,000 bonus offer with $1,000 minimum spend 

• $69 annual fee
• 3,000 anniversary points annually 
• 2x on Southwest purchases
• 1x on everything else
• 2 Early Bird check ins 

The Priority credit card is my favorite! Even though it has a higher minimum spend at $149, it comes with a $75 Southwest credit. The credit can be used to offset the $5.60 fee charged on every ticket and it is applied automatically by the credit card as a statement credit. 

The Priority also includes 4 upgraded boardings which help if you forget to check in and get in that dreaded C boarding group. 

Please let me know if you are joining me on this journey to earn the companion pass. I would love to chat with you. 

Got the Southwest Credit Card with the 75,000 point bonus? Great job. Now you need to work on earning the companion pass and you are almost there! 

Got The Southwest Credit Card, Now Get The Companion Pass 

What's the Southwest Companion Pass? It's the best travel perk in the business. You get to take a friend on all your trips for FREE for two years. Do you need to read that again?

Yep, it's the best travel deal out there! 

And I'm going to help you earn it. Right now is the best time to earn it since Southwest just announced a 75,000 bonus offer on all of their personal credit cards. 

How You Can Earn A BOGO Pass On Southwest Airlines....Fast! 

I have had the Southwest Companion Pass for the past 8 years. I have used it to take family members to the East Coast many, many times for college trips, family events, vacation and more. 

Plus my husband and I went to Cuba with Southwest. 

You can go to the Caribbean, Belize and Costa Rica too. 

Anywhere Southwest flies, you can bring a friend for FREE. 

Amazing, right?

And with sky high airline prices right now, this is a huge deal! 

Okay, so what do you need to do to get the pass? All you need to do is collect 125,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year and bam!

But you are probably saying, wow, that's a lot of travel. 

But here's the rub, you don't need to travel to collect points. There are lots of ways to collect points without ever stepping on a plane. 

The easiest way is to apply for the Southwest personal credit card and earn that 75,000 bonus offer. To earn the offer, you need to spend $5,000 on the credit card within 3 months. If you have any big purchases coming up, property taxes, tuition payments etc., put them on that card. You MUST pay off your credit card though otherwise this doesn't make any sense. We do NOT build up debt here! 

You are eligible to apply for this card IF you do not currently hold a Southwest personal card and have not earned a bonus in the past 24 months. If you do currently have a card, then there is a work around. Cancel your personal card, I know it's tough, wait, 30 days and apply for a new card. Easy!

Not sure which Southwest personal card to apply for, I review all the cards here and give you my choice!

Once you reach the minimum on the personal card, there are lots of ways to earn the rest of the points. FYI, you cannot buy points to earn the companion pass. 

Here are the ways:

1. The easiest and quickest way is to open a Southwest Business card. You must spend $4,000 in the first 3 months to earn the bonus 60,000 or 80,000 points. 

2. Fly on Southwest

3. Use the Southwest Shopping Portal - Look for bonus offers at the stores you shop at anyway. Read more to find out how I navigate these portals! 

4. Refer a friend to the Southwest Credit Card 75,000 Bonus Offer = 20,000 points 

5. Answer a survey

6. Use Southwest hotels or Rocketmiles to earn bonus points on hotel stays 

7. Book a rental car through Southwest 

With all of these ways though, be sure you are not overspending just to earn points. Keep in mind with any travel bonus points, the points won't post to your account until you take the trip. 

There you go, FREE BOGO on Southwest for the rest of this year and next year! 

You must start with the 75,000 bonus offer though and that offer ends July 11th so don't wait. 

Please use my referral link to apply for your card so I can earn the companion pass and bring you amazing travel tips! 

How You Can Earn A BOGO Pass On Southwest Airlines....Fast!

 

Is Yosemite National Park on your bucket travel list? Beautiful, right? You might want to take a friend, right? With the Southwest Companion Pass, you get to take a friend on all your trips for FREE for two years. Do you need to read that again?

Yep, it's the best travel deal out there! 

And I'm going to help you earn it. Right now is the best time to earn it since Southwest just announced a 75,000 bonus offer on all of their personal credit cards. 

How You Can Earn A BOGO Pass On Southwest Airlines....Fast! 

I have had the Southwest Companion Pass for the past 8 years. I have used it to take family members to the East Coast many, many times for college trips, family events, vacation and more. 

Plus my husband and I went to Cuba with Southwest. 

You can go to the Caribbean, Belize and Costa Rica too. 

Anywhere Southwest flies, you can bring a friend for FREE. 

Amazing, right?

And with sky high airline prices right now, this is a huge deal! 

Okay, so what do you need to do to get the pass? All you need to do is collect 125,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year and bam!

But you are probably saying, wow, that's a lot of travel. 

But here's the rub, you don't need to travel to collect points. There are lots of ways to collect points without ever stepping on a plane. 

The easiest way is to apply for the Southwest personal credit card and earn that 75,000 bonus offer. To earn the offer, you need to spend $5,000 on the credit card within 3 months. If you have any big purchases coming up, property taxes, tuition payments etc., put them on that card. You MUST pay off your credit card though otherwise this doesn't make any sense. We do NOT build up debt here! 

You are eligible to apply for this card IF you do not currently hold a Southwest personal card and have not earned a bonus in the past 24 months. If you do currently have a card, then there is a work around. Cancel your personal card, I know it's tough, wait, 30 days and apply for a new card. Easy!

Not sure which Southwest personal card to apply for, I review all the cards here and give you my choice!

Once you reach the minimum on the personal card, there are lots of ways to earn the rest of the points. FYI, you cannot buy points to earn the companion pass. 

Here are the ways:

1. The easiest and quickest way is to open a Southwest Business card. You must spend $4,000 in the first 3 months to earn the bonus 60,000 or 80,000 points. 

2. Fly on Southwest

3. Use the Southwest Shopping Portal - Look for bonus offers at the stores you shop at anyway. Read more to find out how I navigate these portals! 

4. Refer a friend to the Southwest Credit Card 75,000 Bonus Offer = 20,000 points 

5. Answer a survey

6. Use Southwest hotels or Rocketmiles to earn bonus points on hotel stays 

7. Book a rental car through Southwest 

With all of these ways though, be sure you are not overspending just to earn points. Keep in mind with any travel bonus points, the points won't post to your account until you take the trip. 

There you go, FREE BOGO on Southwest for the rest of this year and next year! 

You must start with the 75,000 bonus offer though and that offer ends July 11th so don't wait. 

Please use my referral link to apply for your card so I can earn the companion pass and bring you amazing travel tips! 

Have Southwest Flight Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money

 

I met with a client recently who asked me why Southwest Airlines charged her 23,000 points and $185 for a round trip flight from San Diego to Phoenix. She logged into her account so we could investigate and I noticed she had $1,372 in flight credits on Southwest. 

So now I was wondering "why was she giving Southwest any money at all?"

First, let's look at how she accumulated so many travel credits in the first place. 

How do you get travel credits on Southwest?

When you buy a flight with cash as opposed to points on Southwest and then cancel that flight, Southwest does not return your funds to your credit card instead it issues you a travel credit. 

If the price of your flight goes down and you change the flight to get the better fare, if you paid with cash, then you would get a travel credit for the difference.

Have Southwest Travel Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money 

If you click on the "my account" tab inside your Southwest online account and scroll all the way to the bottom you will see your flight credits. If you always fly using points like I do, you will have no flight credits. 

But if you pay cash for flights and cancel, you will see this.

Most of the time, flight credits are not transferable which means they must be used by the same passenger as the original ticketed passenger. And starting May 28th 2025, travel credits will expire in 6-12 months depending on the type of fare. 

Have Southwest Flight Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money 

If you have flight credits, then you should use them. Definitely stop giving Southwest your money and buying flights with cash. Even if you have points, use your travel credits first since you can use points for anyone and you can only use flight credits for the original passenger. 

To use flight credits, when you get to the payment section for your flight, scroll down and click apply flight credits. You will need your confirmation number which is a jumble of numbers and letters listed in the flight credits section of "my account." You can use several flight credits to pay for single flight.  

In the future, always use points to book Southwest flights. That's why we love flexible points like Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt points. You can transfer those to Southwest 1:1 if you need more Southwest points. If you book with points, you will never be stuck with those pesky flight credits. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

It's Time To Apply To Earn The Southwest Companion Pass

 

If you are planning to earn your Southwest Companion Pass along with me this year, now is the time to apply for your Southwest credit cards.

The Southwest Companion Pass is the best perk in travel. It is BOGO for up to two years on any Southwest flight. You need 135,000 points in a single calendar year to earn the pass. 

Hopefully, you cancelled your old personal card at least 30 days ago. I find it takes about 30 days for the system to process the cancellation. 

But if it hasn't been 30 days, you may still get approved or you can wait a bit longer. The deadline for the increased bonus offer ends December 5th so you have time. However, it would be nice to have your new card for those Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. :) 

Remember you can start charging your new card, but DO NOT reach the minimum spend until after your December statement closes or January 1st. 

Now the question is which card to apply for. All three personal cards have the same bonus offer right now: 75,000 bonus points for a $3,000 minimum spend. Each card has different benefits and a different annual fee which could make a difference for you. So let's take a look:

Plus card - this is the basic card with an annual fee of $69. It includes 2 early bird check ins, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, Southwest, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 3,000 anniversary points. 

Premier card - annual fee of $99. It includes 2 Early Bird check ins, 3x points on Southwest, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 6,000 anniversary points. 

Priority card - annual fee of $149. It includes 4 upgraded boardings, $75 Southwest credit, 3x points on Southwest, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 7,500 anniversary points. 

My favorite is the Priority card because once you deduct the Southwest credit from the annual fee, the card really only costs $74. So for $5 more than the Plus card, you get four upgraded boardings per year and 3x points on Southwest. 

Once you are approved for the personal card, then go ahead and apply for a Southwest business card. You have two choices here:

Premier Business - the offer is 60,000 bonus points for a $3,000 minimum spend. It's a $99 annual fee and the card comes with 2 Early Bird check ins. 

Performance Business - the offer is 80,000 bonus points for a $5,000 minimum spend. It's a $199 annual fee and the card comes with 4 upgraded boardings plus $100 Global Entry credit. 

Since the personal card has an increased bonus offer of 75,000 points, either business card will earn you the companion pass. So it just depends on whether you want to reach a $6,000 minimum spend or $8,000 minimum spend, want the Global Entry credit or upgraded boardings. And you can hold both of these business cards at the same time! 

For all of these cards, please consider using my referral link to apply and keep me posted!