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Looking for ways to earn more Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points? In addition to earning points by flying Southwest and through Southwest credit card spending, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining Program allows you to earn points at participating U.S. restaurants. Today's post explores the ins and outs of the Southwest dining program.
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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. Signing up costs nothing, and the simple enrollment process takes only a few minutes. Once you've enrolled and linked your card(s), you'll earn points dining at participating restaurants and milestone bonuses along the way.
Related: Beginners Guide To Using Dining Programs for Easy Points and Miles
How To Use Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining
First, you'll need a Rapid Rewards account to enroll in Rapid Rewards Dining. Next, follow our process below to enroll in the dining program. By linking one or more credit or debit cards, you'll enable the program to track your dining spending and award you points accordingly.
Remember that when prompted, you must opt into emails and remain opted in to earn the maximum 3X on spending. If you opt out of emails, you'll only earn 1 point per $2 spent.
Signing up for Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining: Step-by-Step
To enroll in the complimentary program, head to the landing page here, enter your email address, and choose “Get started.”
On the next page, you'll enter your name, zip code, Rapid Rewards number, email address, create a password, and then click “Join Rapid Rewards Dining.”
The next screen will ask you to link a credit card. You can link 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 every time you swipe a linked card, crediting points to your Rapid Rewards account.
Best Credit Cards To Link to Your Southwest Dining Account
Some credit cards offer extra earning power on dining. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 3x on dining, while the American Express® Gold Card offers 4x at restaurants worldwide (applicable on up to $50,000 in purchases annually, then 1x ). You should note that linking your credit card to Southwest Dining will most likely un-link that card from any other dining program you may have enrolled in.
Related: Best Credit Cards for Dining and Restaurants
It's also worth noting that the rewards from your credit card and rewards from Southwest Dining stack on top of each other. You can earn points by completing your dining visits and also earn points by swiping the right credit card for extra earnings.
Participating Restaurants
To find out what restaurants are in the Southwest dining program, choose “Browse Restaurants” on their landing page:
You can search for restaurants near you on the next screen or enter your desired destination. You can also filter results by type of food:
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 certain restaurant and reading the fine print.
Special Southwest Rapid Reward 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 9, 2026, 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 dine.
- Complete an online review.
- Earn 500 bonus points.
Related: Current Bonuses for New Members in Airline Dining Programs
First step bonus
After you earn the new member bonus, you can earn the first step bonus. Earn a total of 1,500 Rapid Rewards points from dining and completing online reviews to qualify for a one-time bonus of 500 points.
Thank you bonus
After you earn the new member and first step bonuses, for every 1,000 Rapid Rewards points you earn dining and completing online reviews, you'll earn 300 bonus points.
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. You must dine at a participating restaurant or bar and complete the associated post-dine survey within 30 days to earn this bonus. Members can only submit one review for each dining transaction.
Also, members are limited to one restaurant visit per member per participating restaurant or bar per day. The good news is that this is combinable with other Rapid Rewards Dining bonuses.
Note that you must opt into promotional emails to receive this bonus.
Program restrictions
If you do not complete a dining transaction for 365 consecutive days, your Rapid Rewards Dining point balance will be reset to zero. Also, you should be aware that it can take up to eight weeks for bonus points to post to your account.
Final Thoughts
Southwest Airlines makes it easy to earn extra points by dining in or getting take-out from participating restaurants. Even though bonus points don't count towards status or Companion Pass qualification, with the many milestone rewards offered, you could easily rack up rewards towards your next vacation.
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