Got a big stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards points? Here's an easy way to get even more out of them.
Chase just rolled out a new 30% transfer bonus when sending Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest Rapid Rewards. But you've got just three weeks to take advantage, as this bonus ends on Friday, June 5.
It is quite rare to see Chase – or any bank, for that matter – offer a transfer bonus to one of its U.S. airline partners. Aside from a similar promo last fall, it had been more than five years since we'd seen any sort of boost to Southwest.
Unfortunately, Southwest has made a handful of big, customer-unfriendly changes over the past year, like ditching its beloved “bags fly free” model, assigning seats, and introducing numbered boarding groups. Additionally, Southwest shifted to dynamic award pricing – charging more or less depending on demand. With this change, it seems you can generally get between 1.1 and 1.5 cents per Rapid Rewards point. While that might mean you're getting less value from your points on some days and routes, your points may go further on others.
But no matter how you slice it, this big transfer bonus will help you stretch your points even further. Using transfer partners is one of the best ways to get even more value from your Chase points. This transfer bonus makes it even better – think of it as a way to get some free airline miles.
Just keep in mind: These transfers are a one-way street – once you send points to Southwest, you can't get them back to your Chase account. That's why we typically urge travelers to ensure the flights they want are bookable before transferring any points.
Read on for more details about this transfer bonus and some inspiration for how you can use it.
Related Reading: Chase Transfer Partners: How to Maximize Your Ultimate Rewards Points
How to Use Rapid Rewards
There's no single best way to use Southwest Rapid Rewards, but there are a lot of decent options … especially for travelers looking to stick closer to home.Unlike most of Chase's airline partners, Southwest doesn't fly long-haul, so you'll need to be content using Rapid Rewards for travel throughout the U.S. or down to Mexico and the Caribbean.
It's worth noting that Southwest recently partnered up with Icelandair, ANA, Condor, Turkish Airlines, and more, but you can't yet redeem points to fly any of these airlines. Maybe someday you could use this transfer bonus to get to Europe or Asia, but not yet.
Having said all that, let's take a look at a few different options to see what is possible with this transfer bonus. Let's use this nonstop flight from Phoenix (PHX) to Denver (DEN) as an example.
These basic economy fares will cost you $90 when paying cash. But when you toggle over to “Points” instead of “$” on the top right of your screen on Southwest.com, you'll see the same fares for 6,000 points. With this transfer bonus, you could book that one-way flight for as few as 5,000 Chase points. Not bad!
This is just one flight, though. Here's another example: To fly from Baltimore (BWI) to San Diego (SAN), you'll need about $271 on these specific days. But if you toggle over to “Points,” it's 21,500 Rapid Rewards, or just 17,000 Chase points and $5.60 with this bonus – not bad at all, considering the cash price.
Finally, let's look at a much more popular route, like Maui (OGG), to see what kind of value can be had on some of Southwest's priciest flights. A roundtrip flight to Hawaii over Memorial Day weekend will cost you $548 for Southwest's cheapest basic economy fares.
If you instead use Rapid Rewards to book this flight, you'll need 43,000 points. With this transfer bonus, you'd need just 34,000 Chase points and $11.20 to book!
These are just a handful of examples of what's possible with Rapid Rewards and this big transfer bonus.
One nice thing about booking a flight with Southwest points is that, unlike other airline programs, award availability is easy to find. If you can book with cash, Southwest will also give you the option to redeem Rapid Rewards – just how many you need will vary, but at least it's a surefire redemption option.
Bottom Line
Chase just rolled out a new 30% transfer bonus to Southwest Airlines. Even with all the significant changes at Southwest, there's still good value to be had with the airline's Rapid Rewards program … and this bonus makes it all the better.
If you've got a good use for Southwest points, be sure to take advantage before the opportunity is gone: This bonus ends on Friday, June 5!
