How to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Southwest Airlines
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the most useful rewards on the market, largely due to their ability to be transferred to a variety of high-value travel partners, including United Airlines, Hyatt Hotels, and JetBlue. While Hyatt is often considered Chase’s best hotel partner, Southwest Airlines is one of Chase’s most popular options for booking flights with points!
Next time you are looking to travel with points or miles, consider doing it with Southwest
For those who don’t know, Southwest is a USA-based carrier with an extensive network of destinations and routes both within the domestic United States as well as internationally to three continents. Not only does Southwest offer excellent rates for flights across the domestic USA, but it also comes with a simple rewards platform with flexible bookings using airline miles instead of cash!
Compared to many airline reward programs operating domestically within the USA, Southwest's frequent flyer program (Rapid Rewards) offers cheap flights with generous cancellation policies. While Southwest flights are often already among the least expensive options for travel, using your Rapid Rewards points can make your travel even cheaper. Now, Rapid Rewards are never going to be worth as much as Hyatt points; however, they are still an extremely useful tool to help you enhance your travel experience.
Therefore, building up your Southwest Rapid Rewards point totals is extremely important to make the most of your Southwest flights without ever having to use your cash. And outside of often flying on Southwest, one of the best ways to accumulate Rapid Rewards points is by transferring points from Chase Bank’s Ultimate Rewards portal! Not only is this process both quick and easy, but it also allows you to get good value out of your points with minimal work and research.
For instance, look at flight prices from Boston to Nashville. If you book your Southwest flight with cash, you’re likely going to pay ~$150 for a basic fare (“Wanna Get Away” and “Wanna Get Away Plus”), $220 for a regular economy ticket, and $270 for a Business Select seat (note: this is different from a normal business class seat). However, if you pay with your Rapid Rewards Points, you’ll pay only 10,000-20,000 Miles for the same seats This is good value for a flight booked with points, giving you a consistent ~1.4 cents per point across all the seat types.
It’s an easy process to get good value out of Southwest flights using your Chase UR points and Rapid Rewards Miles!
Southwest is also one of the easiest airlines for finding reward flight (e.g., booking with miles/points) availability! All you need to do is adjust your search from “money” to “Miles” and you’ll see the same as is pictured above. And with no point-blackout dates, you don’t have to worry about booking your travel way in advance.
Now that we’ve discussed why we like using points for Southwest, let’s jump into how to transfer your points between the ecosystems. However, before we begin, It’s important to keep some things in mind when going about transferring points from Chase to Southwest Airlines:
To transfer points to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account, you must have an active account and a Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning credit card.
The transfer ratio between programs is 1:1, meaning that one Chase Ultimate Reward point equals one Southwest point.
Unlike with AmEx/Delta, there are no fees associated with transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to your Southwest account.
Typically, only one person can transfer points to a specific Southwest account, and sharing with friends or family is not allowed.
Soon, you’ll be able to fly on Southwest to a range destinations across the country!
Let's dive into the guide on how to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to your Southwest MileagePlus account.
How to Transfer Points from Chase to Southwest Rapid Rewards
1. If you don’t already have a Southwest Airlines log-in, go to the Southwest website here and create a new one (this is completely free). Keep a note of your Rapid Rewards number as it will be important for transferring later.
2. Log in to your Chase account and navigate to the Ultimate Rewards section. For this example, we will be transferring from an account holding the Chase Sapphire Preferred; however, a variety of different Chase cards will let you make this transfer (e.g., any card that lets you earn Ultimate Rewards points).
The Chase Ultimate Rewards Hub
3. Click on the upper left sidebar to open up the options and then on the "Transfer to Travel Partners" link.
Look for “Travel to Transfer Partners” at the bottom
4. Navigate to the section labeled “Airlines”, and then select "Southwest" from the list of transfer partners.
Click on “Airlines” at the top to limit the transfer partners to just airlines
You should see the description for Southwest transfers here
5. Link your Southwest Rapid Rewards account to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account by entering your Southwest membership number. It is essential that this number is correct—to be sure you’re entering it correctly, we recommend copying this number and pasting it directly from your account on the Southwest website.
6. Enter the number of points you want to transfer from Chase to Southwest. This has to be done in an even thousands quantity of points (i.e., increments of 1,000).
7. Click on the "Transfer Points" button and complete any required verification steps.
8. Book your flights on Southwest with points!
Soon you’ll be travelling to your favorite destination on Southwest with points!
While the transfer portal says that it can take up to 7 business days to see your points in your Southwest account, don’t be too worried: transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Rapid Rewards normally only takes a few minutes. If you are not able to see your points or want them to be transferred immediately, it's recommended to call Chase customer support directly to expedite the process and confirm the request. However, based on my personal experience, it usually takes less than an hour for my Chase points to get transferred to Southwest!
By following these tips, you can be sure to maximize the value of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points when using them for your Southwest flights. If you’re interested in using your Chase points for hotel stays, make sure to check out our guide for transferring your Chase points to Hyatt!
Summary
Transferring your Ultimate Rewards points from Chase to Southwest can be a great way to save money on your air travel and take far more trips than you would otherwise be able to afford. By following the steps above, you can easily transfer your points and start booking your next Southwest flight within minutes.
As well, here are some tips for getting the most out of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points when transferring to Southwest:
Look for promotions that offer bonus points for transferring points to Southwest. I’ll be honest, Southwest is notorious for rarely offering point bonuses on transfers. However, it's always worth keeping an eye out before you transfer your points., as there’s nothing better than saving an additional 20% on your point transfers!
Consider getting a Southwest-branded credit card to earn extra bonuses and Rapid Rewards points! Sign-on bonuses are an excellent way to dramatically bolster your total point reserves.
We hope this was helpful, and make sure to leave a comment down below with any questions or issues!
