Making Sense Out Of Southwest’s New Airline Rewards
February 5, 2012When Southwest airlines redesigned their reward program in 2011, they finally brought it into the 21st century. Thankfully, the program is now easier to understand, and compare with other airline programs. If you fly a lot with Southwest, it makes sense to spend a moment getting a good grasp on what the program can do for you.
The number of points you need to fly can vary based on the class and dollar amount of the flight. Here is a look at the what you will need to get a flight on Southwest.
Business Select: 120 points per dollar
Anytime: 100 points per dollar
Wanna Get Away: 60 points per dollar
Scenario: This means that if you were booking a $200 round-trip ticket, you would need 20,000 points for an “Anytime” fare. Compared to a lot of programs this is a bargain, especially considering that there is no blackout dates. Plus they do not have any reserved seat restrictions as do most other airlines. This makes your points much more valuable, because if there is a seat available, you can use your points to fly.
Its important to make sure that you do not lose your hard-earned miles. With Southwest Airlines, all you need to do is make sure that you earn more miles every 24 months. For the frequent flier, this is an easy task, and it means that the miles continue to last as long as you need them to.
So how do you earn these rewards? Primarily by flying on Southwest. Once again, they base it on what kind of flight you are on. If you are flying on Business Select class, you can earn 12 points for every dollar spent on the flight. Anytime flights would earn 10 points per dollar, and “Wanna Get Away” fares come in with 6 points per dollar earnings. You can also earn points by flying with their partners or getting a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Card.
They offer 2 credit cards, both through Chase bank. The first card, the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Visa costs $69 per year and the Premier card costs a little more at $99 per year. At the time of this writing, most of the new cards were being offered an interest rate of 14.24% variable APR. Base on my research, I actually think the card with the higher annual fee is better. Each year these cards receive an annual bonus of points. The Plus card gives 3,000 bonus miles, while the premier card is given 6,000 bonus miles. In “Wanna Get Away” fares, that means that a premier card holder could book a $100 flight with his bonus miles alone.
If you own a Southwest Credit Card, you can earn 1 point for every dollar spend, and two points per dollar on Southwest Airfare. Of course that is not counting the points Southwest is already going to be crediting your account for taking the flight.
The other advantage of being a Southwest card holder is that you have access to their “More Rewards” program. This program allows you to use your miles for other items such as hotel stays and international travel. If you do not have this credit card, Southwest restricts you to using your miles only on Southwest flights.
Want to find out more about Southwest Rewards Credit Cards?



