We've got good news and bad news, Southwest fans.
Let's start with the good news: The airline's long-awaited “Cash + Points” redemptions are live, giving flyers with just a few thousand Rapid Rewards an avenue to put those points to use. As first noticed by Award Wallet, it began rolling out this week – though not to everyone: Just a small subset of Southwest Rapid Rewards members will see it available (including yours truly).
Now for the bad news: It's a terrible deal. By using this new Cash + Points option, you're getting half as much value out of your Southwest points as you would when booking an award ticket wholly with Rapid Rewards – even after a devaluation that made those points less valuable to kick off 2024.
Officially, Southwest says: “The number of points required when paying with Cash + Points may vary based on destination, time, day of travel, demand, fare class, point redemption rate, and other factors.” Unofficially – and after crunching the numbers on a handful of flights, like this one from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Denver (DEN) – it seems that you'll typically get roughly 0.6 cents per point toward your fare, no matter which Cash + Points option you choose.
Consider this: You could book this same $76, one-way fare to Denver for 4,701 points and $5.60 in mandatory taxes and fees. In that case, your Southwest points are worth nearly 1.5 cents apiece – making them more than twice as valuable as using them for a Cash + Points booking.
It gets worse. Even if you only redeem 1,600 points to shave $10 off a $250 fare, you still won't earn Rapid Rewards points – nor points toward earning Southwest status or the vaunted Companion Pass on that $240 balance.
Of course, this new option gives everyday travelers with just 1,000 or 2,000 points a way to actually redeem them … and that's not nothing. But Southwest could have gone a different route, giving customers much more bang for their buck on these redemptions. Shortchanging flyers like this doesn't exactly square with Southwest's brand of simplicity.
And considering Southwest points never expire, most travelers would be much better off waiting to pile up enough points to book a flight outright – even if it takes a few years.
The airline first teased these new, flexible redemptions last fall as part of a broader revamp of using Southwest points and earning status. Now, they're here. We just wish they were better.
How to Book Cash + Points with Southwest
First things first: Not everyone will have this option available just yet.
While it officially launched on April 22, Southwest said “not all Customers will see Cash + Points as an available payment option” for the first 10 days after launch. That means you might need to wait until May 2 to use it.
Head to Southwest.com and log into your Rapid Rewards account. To see this Cash + Points, you'll need to search for a normal cash fare in “Dollars” – don't select “Points.”
After selecting your flight and proceeding to the payment screen, you might see the option for “Cash + Points and other forms of payment.” This is where you'll see the option to apply flight credits, gift cards, and this brand-new Cash + Points redemption. Click to expand and see your options.
Southwest says they'll present flyers with up to five different Cash + Points packages starting as low as 1,000 points – though that 1,000-point redemption won't be available on every fare. That means you'll need at least 1,000 Rapid Rewards and maybe more. And in some cases, you might get just one Points + Cash option.
No matter what you see or which one you pick, you should get 0.6 cents per point toward your fare – give or take a few decimal points.
Choose one, and you'll see those points are kicked in to chop $10, $20, or more off your final price tag.
You can combine these Cash + Points bookings with gift cards, leftover Southwest flight credits, and your typical credit card purchase. If you need to cancel, Southwest says you'll get the points you used back into your account plus a flight credit for the cash amount.
Read next: How to Find & Book the Best Southwest Deals
Bottom Line
From their consistently excellent sales to unparalleled flexibility with fares, there's a lot to love about Southwest. But this feels like a major miss.
Cash + Points redemptions are live, and they're a dud. Southwest could have done its occasional travelers a solid with a new way to put 1,000 or 2,000 points toward the cost of a flight. But instead of giving them decent value, they're seriously shortchanging these Cash + Points redemptions.