Looking to buy Southwest points? Rapid Rewards is currently offering up to a 50% discount on purchased points, which is an opportunity to acquire them for just 1.5 cents each. Is that a good deal?
While there has long been value in strategically buying points, the concept of a revenue based frequent flyer program selling points can be tougher to rationalize. So that I don’t bury the lede, let me say that I’d only buy points in a very narrow set of circumstances, like if trying to top off a points balance for a specific redemption.
Link: Buy Southwest Rapid Rewards points with this promotion for 50% off
Buy Southwest Rapid Rewards points with promotion
Through 11:59PM CT on Thursday, October 29, 2026, Southwest Rapid Rewards is offering a discount on purchased points. With Southwest, it’s common for different members to be eligible for different offers, so you’ll have to log into your Rapid Rewards account to see what you’re eligible for.
However, the best version of the offer to buy Southwest points seems to be a tiered discount of up to 50%, structured as follows:
- Buy 2,000-6,000 points, receive no discount
- Buy 7,000-11,000 points, receive a 40% discount
- Buy 12,000-60,000 points, receive a 50% discount
Note that buying Southwest points doesn’t count toward Rapid Rewards elite status.
How much does it cost to buy Southwest points?
Ordinarily you can buy Southwest points for 3.0 cents each, and that price is inclusive of the 7.5% federal excise tax. Given the limit of being able to purchase up to 60,000 Rapid Rewards points per day, that means if you maxed out this promotion, you could buy 60,000 points for $900, which is a cost of 1.5 cents per point.
Southwest sells points in increments of 1,000 points, with 2,000 points being the minimum, and 60,000 points being the daily maximum.
Just in the interest of being thorough, some Rapid Rewards members may be eligible for smaller percentage discounts, so let me crunch the numbers on those potential offers:
- If you were eligible for a 45% discount, you’d be looking at a cost of 1.65 cents per point
- If you were eligible for a 40% discount, you’d be looking at a cost of 1.8 cents per point
- If you were eligible for a 35% discount, you’d be looking at a cost of 1.95 cents per point
How many Southwest points can you buy?
Southwest has no annual limit on how many Rapid Rewards points you can buy. The only restriction is that you can buy at most 60,000 points per calendar day.
How does this compare to other Southwest buy points promotions?
Southwest Rapid Rewards frequently offers promotions on purchasing points. When the program does have a buy points promotion, the 50% discount offer is pretty standard. So I’d recommend buying points based on when you have a relatively immediate use for redeeming them, rather than anything else.
Below is a chart with some of the recent Southwest buy points promotions that we’ve seen, before this one.
| Buy points offer | Start date | End date | Cost per point |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% discount | September 2, 2026 | October 2, 2026 | 1.5 cents |
| 50% discount | August 4, 2026 | August 26, 2026 | 1.5 cents |
| 50% discount | July 23, 2026 | August 2, 2026 | 1.5 cents |
| 50% discount | May 18, 2026 | June 8, 2026 | 1.5 cents |
| 50% discount | March 4, 2026 | April 4, 2026 | 1.5 cents |
| 50% discount | January 7, 2026 | February 23, 2026 | 1.5 cents |
Which credit card should you buy Southwest points with?
If you’d like to buy Southwest Airlines points, note that purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore this wouldn’t be treated as a Southwest purchase if you’re using a Rapid Rewards credit card.
I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach a minimum spending requirement, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending. See this post for more on which credit cards are best for buying points.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 2x miles per dollar on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
Learn More about The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
Terms Apply. |
See Rates & Fees
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
How much are Southwest points worth?
Southwest Rapid Rewards is a revenue based frequent flyer program, and the number of points required for a flight is roughly correlated to the revenue cost of a flight. However, there is a dynamic element to the pricing, whereby the value you get per point varies significantly, based on the flight and fare class you redeem for. With this, we’re seeing redemption values as low as 1.1 cents per point, and as high as 1.5 cents per point, give or take.
As you can tell, there are probably few situations where it makes sense to buy points for 1.5 cents (or more) each, when they can’t be redeemed for that, best case scenario.
Is buying Southwest Rapid Rewards points worth it?
Let me cut to the chase — there are few situations where it makes sense to purchase Rapid Rewards points. Even at the discounted cost, there’s not usually value in buying points for 1.5 cents each when you can typically only redeem them for less than that.
There are three potential scenarios I’d like to address, including the main scenario where I think it could make sense (but not really), which is to build up a balance of Southwest points, given the flexibility this provides.
Buying Southwest points to top off for an award
Some might buy Rapid Rewards points in order to top off their account so they have enough points for a Rapid Rewards award ticket. I guess this might be worth it to some if you need a small number of points, though personally I’d just keep collecting points and then redeem with your next ticket.
Buying Southwest points with Companion Pass
The Southwest Airlines Companion Pass is one of the best values in domestic travel. If you qualify for this, you can always have a companion travel with you for just the standard taxes, regardless of whether you’re booking a cash ticket or redeeming points.
For those with a Companion Pass, buying Southwest points could get you outsized value:
- You could buy points for 1.5 cents each
- You could then redeem them for 1.1-1.5 cents each toward travel and have a companion fly with you, meaning you’d get 2.2-3.0 cents of value
However, there’s still absolutely zero reason to do that. You’d be better off just booking a paid ticket and then having a companion fly with you.
There is value in having a stash of Southwest points
There is one major benefit in general to paying for a ticket with Southwest Rapid Rewards points rather than cash. While Southwest Airlines has no change fees on both revenue and award tickets on most kinds of fares:
- If you cancel a revenue ticket then you’ll be issued a travel credit that has to be used for a future flight, while Rapid Rewards points can be redeposited in your account and used for anyone; some Southwest fares do allow you to transfer your ticket to someone else
- If you cancel an award ticket then the Rapid Rewards points go back into your account and can be used for anyone at any future point in time
I do think there’s big value in having a stash of Rapid Rewards points. I use this when I speculatively want to book travel (including for friends and family), since there’s no downside.
What other ways can you earn Southwest points?
If you’re looking to earn Southwest points, there are plenty of ways to rack up this currency with credit card rewards:
- Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be moved to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio, so you can move over points earned on cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (learn more), Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (learn more), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (learn more), and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (learn more)
- Bilt Rewards points can be moved to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio, including points earned on cards like the Bilt Palladium Card (learn more), Bilt Obsidian Card (learn more), and Bilt Blue Card (learn more) (Rates & Fees)
On top of that, Rapid Rewards has a variety of co-branded Chase credit cards, which can be a great way to rack up rewards. This includes cards like the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (learn more), Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (learn more), etc.
Bottom line
Southwest is selling Rapid Rewards points with a discount of up to 50%, which brings the cost down to as little as 1.5 cents per point. I still don’t think there are many circumstances under which it makes sense to buy points, given that Rapid Rewards is a revenue based frequent flyer program, and points can typically only be redeemed for 1.1-1.5 cents each toward the cost of a ticket.
Under what circumstances do you think it’s worth buying Southwest Airlines points?
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