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Offers for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
Southwest has undergone some major changes over the past couple of years. The airline started charging for bags, overhauled its co-branded credit card portfolio, and even joined Bilt Rewards as a 1:1 transfer partner. As part of its credit card portfolio refresh, Southwest has upgraded a temporary offer to an annual benefit on select Southwest credit card holders: Each account anniversary, you'll receive a promo code for a discount on a Southwest Airlines booking.
This promo code is valid for both cash and award bookings and appears to be uncapped. That makes this a card benefit that can provide a massive amount of savings.
Here's what to know about this Southwest cardholder benefit — including how to find it in your Rapid Rewards account and which cards are eligible.
Which Southwest Cards Offer a Promo Code?
Out of Southwest's five co-branded cards (three personal and two business), three offer cardholders an annual single-use promo code. The specific discount will depend on which card you have:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card (Rates & Fees): Receive a 10% promo code each year on your account anniversary.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card: Receive a 15% promo code each year on your account anniversary.
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees): Receive a 15% promo code each year on your account anniversary.
- 2X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2 points for every $1 you spend at gas stations and grocery stores on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on all Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Interestingly, the premium Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees) and Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees) don't offer cardholders a discount. It's not often that lucrative cardholder benefits are reserved for cards with lower annual fees!
Restrictions on the Southwest Cardholder Discount
This Southwest promo code is quite easy to use. The only restriction Southwest places on using this discount code is that it cannot be used on a Basic fare. Otherwise, it can be applied to a one-way or round-trip booking in any other fare class: Choice, Choice Preferred, and Choice Extra.
Cardholder discount codes can be used on revenue flights or award bookings. Just note that the code applies only to the base fare, so you'll still need to pay the full amount of taxes and fees.
How to Redeem Your Southwest Cardholder Discount
The promo code will appear in your account within 15 days of your account anniversary, and will remain valid for one year from the date of delivery. To use the code, simply enter it in the promo code box when searching for a flight on Southwest's website.
If you have multiple Southwest credit cards — like those who are earning the Southwest Companion Pass through credit cards — you should have a discount code for each eligible Southwest card you currently have.
In AwardWallet testing, we found no limit to how many points you can save using the Southwest promo code. For instance, this Southwest trip from Baltimore to Honolulu costs a whopping 73,000 Rapid Rewards points each way for a Choice Extra ticket. However, by applying a promo code, we could discount the cost by 21,500 Rapid Rewards points to a still-very-expensive 51,500 points each way:
Award flights to Hawaii can be expensive — especially since we just lost the best sweet spot out there. Ideally, you won't end up paying that much for a Southwest award flight. However, this shows how much this promo code can save you. As you can see, the discount appears to be at least 15% — select fare options in the search results above received discounts of up to 30%.
Related: The Best Points and Miles for Free Flights to Hawaii
How to Find Your Southwest Promo Code
Unlike other cardholder discounts — like the 10% British Airways cardholder discount — we don't have a generic promo code to share. Instead, each Southwest cardholder should have an individualized promo code already loaded into their Rapid Rewards account.
You can retrieve your Southwest promo code at the bottom of the payment page of your Southwest Rapid Rewards account. After logging into your account, scroll past your saved payment cards and flight credits to find the Southwest promo code section.
How to Track Your Southwest Promo Code Using AwardWallet
If you want a reminder to use this promo code, we recommend tracking it in your AwardWallet dashboard. Unfortunately, Southwest blocks travelers from using AwardWallet to monitor their Rapid Rewards account, so you'll need to manually track this promo code.
To start, click this link to add a promo code to your AwardWallet account. Enter Southwest Airlines (Rapid Rewards), select Coupon as the type, and enter your promo code and expiration date. You have the option to attach this promo code to a Rapid Rewards account already in your AwardWallet account.
Once you're done adding details, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “add” to save the promo code to your AwardWallet account. That way you'll get alerted as the expiration date approaches.
Related: How to Use AwardWallet to Track Free Night Awards, Room Upgrades & Other Perks
Bottom Line
Select Southwest credit cardholders have access to a discount code of up to 15% for Southwest flights. The opportunity to receive a discount on both cash and award bookings makes this benefit extremely valuable. Not already a Southwest cardholder? This award discount is just one of the many perks of getting one of these Southwest credit cards:
- 2X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2 points for every $1 you spend at gas stations and grocery stores on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on all Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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