Southwest Airlines Credit Card – 2 Bonus Flights is Back
For a limited time, Chase and Southwest have brought back this popular offer. With your very first purchase on your Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, you’ll earn 50,000 bonus points–enough to redeem for 2 free roundtrip flights (up to $833 towards Wanna Get Away fares).
The card has a $69 annual fee which is not waived for the first year. That fee, however, is substantially offset by the 3,000 points you’ll receive on your card membership anniversary every year, good for $50 towards a Wanna Get Away fare.
In addition, you’ll earn 2 points per $1 spent directly with Southwest. That includes flight, inflight, southwestgiftcard, Jackpot Deals, and Southwest Airlines Vacations package purchases, and purchases made at participating Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Hotel and Rental Car Partners. You will earn 1 point for each $1 of all other net purchases.
Redeem your Points towards Flights, Gift Certificates or other Travel
Points can be redeemed towards any Southwest flight, but the amount of credit you’ll receive will depend upon the fare type. For example, 120 points are good for $1 towards Business Select fares, while 100 points can be redeemed for $1 towards Anytime fares. The best redemption value, however, is towards Wanna Get Away fares, where you’ll receive $1 in credit for only 60 points. This means your 50,000 point signup bonus could be applied towards $833 of Wanna Get Aware fares, $500 of Anytime fares or $416 of Business Select fares.
Alternatively, your points can be applied towards gift cards and other travel rewards at a value of roughly a penny per point. Through December 15, 2011, there is also a special promotion where you’ll receive a 20% discount when you redeem your points for gift cards. For instance, a $50 Amazon gift card can currently be had for 4000 points, or a value of 1.25 cents per point. Note, however, that redeeming your points towards Wanna Get Away fares still yields the best redemption value at 1.67 cents per point.
At this point, it’s unclear how long Chase and Southwest plan to run the 2 free flights promotion. For more info or to apply, see the link below:
Update 11/11/11: This offer has expired.
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Hi, in regards to your promotion for two free airline tickets with your credit card, how soon can they be used and please explain the “wanna get away” Can you use these points at certain times?
Hi Jean,
Please note that the two free airline ticket promo is currently expired. The current offer is for 25,000 points, which is enough for one round trip ticket.
You’ll qualify to earn your bonus points after you make your first purchase. The terms state that you should allow 6-8 weeks afterwards for your points to post to your Rapid Rewards account. Once the points post, you’ll be able to redeem for free flight(s).
Southwest has a few different types of fares which you can read about here. Basically, “Wanna Get Away” fares are non-refundable tickets. If you need to change your flight, however, they still do offer you the opportunity to apply the amount as a credit towards future travel.
If my wife gets a second card does that get another 25000 credit or if she gets a separate card, does she qualify for the 25000 point free flight?
Walter, although the terms suggest otherwise, many people have been successful in getting a second card so long as it isn’t a duplicate of what you currently have. (Note that there are 2 versions of the personal card: Premier and Plus.) If your wife already has a Premier card, she should be able to get a Plus card (with the bonus) and vice versa.