How to Book Southwest Rapid Rewards Awards

Booking an award step by step

Southwest sets out a four-step online flow for a points booking. [1] The member first logs in to their Rapid Rewards account on the Southwest.com homepage, and travellers without an account are pointed to a sign-up link. [1] Next they enter their flight information and view the fares in points. [1] They then select a flight and review the price and schedule, before entering passenger details and purchasing the flight. [1] Award searching and a first-award walkthrough in more depth are covered in the award search workflow and the first award flight walkthrough.

The award has to be booked through Southwest: the programme terms say points can be redeemed for any available seat on any flight booked through Southwest, plus other products and services Southwest approves. [2] A member may also spend points on seats for other people, but the member stays responsible for any changes to the itinerary afterwards, and a passenger travelling on points from another member's account cannot make changes themselves — they must ask the member to do it. [2] Accounts are individual, and members may not pool or combine points with one another. [2] The programme itself is described on the Rapid Rewards programme page.

What sets the points price

On Southwest's redemption page, the number of points needed for a reward flight depends on the fare, and when fares go on sale, so do the points needed for a reward flight. [1] The terms add that the number of points required may vary by destination, time, day of travel, demand, fare class, point redemption rate and other factors, that Southwest sets it, and that it is disclosed on the Southwest website. [2] The price is subject to change at any time until the booking is confirmed, and changing an itinerary after the initial booking may change the points required. [1] [2] Because the price tracks the fare rather than a published chart, this behaves like the model described under revenue-based redemption.

Cash + Points, which Southwest dates from 22 April 2024, lets a member pay for a flight with a mix of cash and points. [1] The terms say the points required for a Cash + Points booking vary on the same factors and are disclosed on the Southwest website. [2]

The points price is not the whole cost. Reward travel and Cash + Points bookings are subject to taxes, fees and other government or airport-imposed charges from $5.60 per one-way trip; they can vary significantly by origin and destination, and the passenger must pay them at the time the reward travel is booked. [2] For how award fees work in general, see award redemption fee.

Fare bundles, changes and cancellations

Southwest's fare-benefits page lists four bundles — Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra — with different seat, boarding and baggage features. [3] Basic is the lowest: the seat is assigned at check-in unless the traveller is A-List Preferred, A-List or a Rapid Rewards credit cardmember, boarding is last, and the fare is non-refundable except as allowed by Southwest's 24-hour cancellation policy. [3] Choice adds a standard seat chosen at booking, general boarding and free same-day change or standby, with taxes and fees possibly applying. [3] Choice Preferred adds a Preferred seat at booking, Groups 3–4 boarding and refundability, with 100% of the ticket value returned to the original form of payment where the reservation is cancelled at least 10 minutes before scheduled departure. [3] Choice Extra adds an Extra Legroom seat at booking, Group 1 boarding and two free checked bags. [3] Seats included in a bundle are subject to availability. [3] The page also lists earning rates of 2x, 6x, 10x and 14x points per dollar across the four bundles, but reward flights are excluded from qualifying flights, so those rates apply to cash purchases. [3]

Southwest states that no fare type carries a cancellation fee, but where one or both segments of a roundtrip is booked as Basic, the reservation can only be cancelled if both segments are cancelled or the Basic segment is upgraded, and failing to cancel at least 10 minutes before original scheduled departure may forfeit travel funds. [3] On changes, Choice, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra passengers pay only the difference in fare where one applies, while a Basic fare must be upgraded to one of those bundles to change. [3] Flight credits from a Basic fare expire six months from the date the fare was booked and ticketed, whereas a Transferable Flight Credit from Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra expires after 12 months. [3] For travel booked with points, the fare page says a cancellation returns the points to the Rapid Rewards account holder who booked the reservation, and that not cancelling means funds are refunded as a Transferable Flight Credit. [3]

Exceptions and limits

• What points cannot buy. Military and government special fares, charter flights, group travel, Getaways by Southwest vacation bookings, service-charged, reduced-rate and trade-out travel, and travel not purchased directly through Southwest cannot be bought with points. [2] Cash + Points bookings also exclude travel purchased through a travel agent. [2]
• Earning on award travel. Reward flights, charter flights, nonrevenue travel and Companion Pass travel are excluded from qualifying flights, so they earn nothing; a Cash + Points booking earns points only on the portion of the base fare paid in dollars. [2] [3]
• Companion Pass. A Companion Pass may be added to travel booked with Cash + Points as a form of payment, but not to Southwest Vacations, Getaways by Southwest, group travel, charter flights, interline itineraries or nonrevenue travel. [2] The member must book and purchase their own flight first, then book the companion through the Companion Pass option on Southwest.com or by calling 1-800-248-4377, and both must be on the same flights and dates; if the member cancels, the companion's ticket is cancelled, and if the member changes, the companion's ticket must match. [2] See Companion Pass.
• Account risk. Points do not expire, but they are forfeited if a member closes their account, and Southwest will not replace stolen points. [2] Suspected fraud, misrepresentation, misuse or violation of programme rules may lead to cancellation of the account and associated reservations and forfeiture of points, status and rewards. [2]
• Southwest reserves the right to change the programme and its rules at any time without notice. [2] [3]

Related pages

Programme: Southwest Rapid Rewards. Guides: award search workflow, first award flight step by step. Terms: award redemption fee, Companion Pass, revenue-based redemption, and the full glossary.

Sources

Sources accessed on 18 October 2026.

1. How to Redeem Points — Rapid Rewards, Southwest Airlines, checked 18 October 2026
2. Rapid Rewards Terms & Conditions, Southwest Airlines, checked 18 October 2026
3. Fare Types and Benefits, Southwest Airlines, checked 18 October 2026