Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program is offering a new member bonus, which is pretty rare. If you join the Rapid Rewards program now you can earn up to 5,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points:
- Earn 3,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points after completing two one-way itineraries
- Earn an additional 2,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points after completing an additional two one-way itineraries
- This is valid for travel between April 1 and May 31, 2021
In other words, you can earn a total of 5,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points after completing four one-ways.
There are a few further terms to be aware of:
- You need to provide your Rapid Rewards account number at the time of booking
- Only paid flights booked directly with Southwest Airlines qualify, and not award flights
- A one-way is defined as an itinerary from one city to another, even if there’s an intermediate stop, so a connecting itinerary would count as a single one-way
- Bonus points will post four weeks after completion of travel
Personally, I value Rapid Rewards points at ~1.2 cents each, so to me this is like a ~$36 bonus after two one-ways, and a ~$60 bonus after a total of four one-ways. This is in addition to the points you usually earn with Rapid Rewards.
Bottom line
Southwest Rapid Rewards is offering new members up to 5,000 bonus points after completing four one-ways in the coming weeks. The fact that there’s a new member bonus at all is rare for the program, though the requirement to fly before the end of May will limit the usefulness of this for most.
Will anyone be able to take advantage of this Rapid Rewards new member bonus?
(Tip of the hat to View from the Wing)
I just booked my first Southwest flight ever last night (not that easy getting from SRQ to JAX via air...and driving was not an option). Looks like I'll at least get the 3000 bonus points from this!