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Looking for ways to earn more Southwest Airlines
Here are the ins and outs of the Southwest Dining program so you can earn more points on your dining spend.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining Program Overview
Southwest Dining allows you to earn up to three points for every dollar spent on dine-in and takeout orders at thousands of participating U.S. restaurants. These points are in addition to any points you use by paying with a credit card that earns bonus points on dining.
Signing up costs nothing, and the simple enrollment process takes only a few minutes. Once you've enrolled and linked your credit card(s), you'll earn points dining at participating restaurants and milestone bonuses along the way.
Related: Beginner's Guide To Using Dining Programs for Easy Points and Miles
How To Use Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining
Enroll if you haven't already
Before you can join Rapid Rewards Dining, you'll need a Rapid Rewards account. Next, follow the steps to enroll in the dining program. Enter your name, ZIP code, Rapid Rewards number, email address, create a password, and then click “Join Rapid
The next screen will ask you to link a credit card. By linking one or more credit or debit cards, you'll enable the program to track your dining spending and award you points accordingly.
We recommend linking multiple credit and debit cards to earn as many points as possible when switching between cards as you pay at affiliated restaurants.
Once you've enrolled and linked your card(s), Southwest begins tracking your dining spending and, every time you swipe a linked card, credits points to your Rapid Rewards account.
Remember: When prompted, you must opt in to emails and stay opted in to earn the maximum 3X on spending. If you opt out of emails, you'll only earn 1 point per $2 spent.
Participating Restaurants
To find restaurants in the Southwest Dining program, use your current location or search by restaurant, cuisine, or city.
The search results show a map, and you can also filter by price, food type, and reservation availability.
Some restaurants only offer bonus points on certain days of the week or up to a maximum spending amount per month. You can find this information by clicking on a specific restaurant and reading the fine print.
Program restrictions
Your Rapid Rewards Dining membership can become inactive after 36 consecutive months without eligible dining activity on your linked card. It can also take up to eight weeks for bonus points to post to your account.
Best Credit Cards To Link to Your Southwest Dining Account
Some credit cards offer bonus points on dining purchases. These points stack on top of your Southwest Dining program earnings.
For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 3X on dining, while the
It makes sense to add any cards you think you'll use when you go out to eat. However, keep in mind that you can generally only enroll in one dining program at a time. If you link a card to Southwest Dining, it will most likely unlink that card from any other dining program you may have enrolled in.
$95Rates & Fees
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on gas and EV charging
- 3X points on vacation homes at top brands like Airbnb, Vrbo and more
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
$325Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com
- 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on cruises booked and paid through amextravel.com
- 1X on other eligible purchases
$595Rates & Fees
- 12X – Earn 12 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants including Restaurant Delivery Services on CitiNights℠ purchases, every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent any other time.
- 1.5X – Earn 1.5 Points per $1 spent on All Other Purchases.
Special Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining Bonuses
Southwest also offers multiple milestone bonuses. While this is a great way to earn even more points, keep in mind that bonus points earned do not count towards A-List or A-List Preferred elite status or Companion Pass qualification.
New member bonus
Enroll by January 5, 2027, and earn 500 bonus points. To qualify, create an online account and link your credit and/or debit cards. Within the first 30 days of joining:
- Dine at a participating restaurant.
- Spend at least $25 in one dining visit.
- Complete an online review.
- Earn 500 bonus points.
Related: Current Bonuses for New Members in Airline Dining Programs
Other promotions
You can take advantage of a variety of other promotions, but keep in mind you must opt into promotional emails to receive most of these bonuses. Most can be combined with other Rapid Rewards Dining bonuses, but read the terms and conditions for more information.
- First step bonus: After you earn the new member bonus, you can earn the first step bonus. Earn 1,500 Rapid Rewards points from dining and completing online reviews to qualify for a one-time 500-point bonus.
- Spend $200, get 200 bonus points: Through November 5, 2026, spend $200 or more in one or more visits and review your experience to earn 200 bonus points.
- Thank you bonus: For every 1,000 Rapid Rewards points you earn by dining and completing online reviews, you'll earn 300 bonus points. This keeps rewarding you for every additional 1,000 points you earn going forward.
- Review bonus: Once you've dined and paid with your linked credit or debit card at any participating location, review your experience within 30 days of your visit to earn 10 Rapid Rewards bonus points. Members can only submit one review for each dining transaction. Members are also limited to one review bonus per restaurant each day.
- Reservation bonus: Some restaurants let you reserve a table through Southwest Dining. Once you complete your reservations, you will earn 50 bonus points. It is also limited to one completed reservation per day and eight times per calendar month.
Final Thoughts
Southwest Airlines makes it easy to earn extra points by dining in or getting take-out from participating restaurants. Just sign up, link your credit card, and dine away. Base points earned through Southwest Dining count toward Companion Pass qualification, but bonus points do not. With the many milestone rewards offered through the program, you can quickly and easily rack up rewards toward your next vacation.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), and Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
