Southwest Rapid Rewards Transfer Partners

Last updated: February 2026

Only two transferable points programs send points directly to Southwest Rapid Rewards: Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1, instant) and Bilt Rewards (1:1, processed twice daily). Every other major program—Amex, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo, Rove—has no direct transfer path to Southwest. That single fact shapes the entire strategy for funding a Rapid Rewards account with transferable points, and getting it wrong means locking points into an irreversible transfer with a poor ratio or, worse, discovering there’s no transfer option at all.

This guide covers every direct and indirect path, the exact ratios and timing, when transferring actually makes sense versus alternatives, and the mistakes that cost travelers real value.

Key Takeaways

• Chase Ultimate Rewards is the primary pipeline to Southwest Rapid Rewards, with instant 1:1 transfers—no other program matches this combination of ratio and speed.
• Bilt Rewards added Southwest in 2025 at 1:1, with transfers processed roughly twice daily (not yet instant as of early 2026).
• Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Points, Wells Fargo Rewards, and Rove Miles cannot transfer directly to Southwest Rapid Rewards.
• Hotel loyalty programs (Marriott Bonvoy, IHG, World of Hyatt) offer indirect transfer paths, but the ratios are poor enough that buying Southwest points or booking cash fares often delivers better value.
• All transfers to Southwest are irreversible. Once points land in Rapid Rewards, they cannot be moved back.

Quick Answer

Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards are the only two credit card points currencies that transfer directly to Southwest Rapid Rewards. Chase transfers at 1:1 instantly. Bilt transfers at 1:1, processed twice per day. No other major transferable points program—including Amex, Capital One, or Citi—offers a direct transfer to Southwest. For a full comparison of which banks transfer to which destinations, see the Award Travel Hub transfer partners table.

Which Programs Are Direct Southwest Rapid Rewards Transfer Partners?

Two programs transfer directly. Here’s what matters about each.

Chase Ultimate Rewards → Southwest (1:1, Instant)

Chase is the dominant transfer partner for Southwest. The 1:1 ratio means 50,000 Chase points become exactly 50,000 Rapid Rewards points, and the transfer completes in seconds. This is the same ratio Chase offers to partners like United, Hyatt, and British Airways—there’s no penalty for choosing Southwest.

Who this is best for: Anyone with a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Preferred who flies Southwest domestically. It’s also the fastest path to qualifying for the Companion Pass through transferred points (combined with points earned from Southwest credit cards).

Decision rule: If you have Chase points and need Southwest points, transfer from Chase. There’s no reason to consider alternatives unless you’ve already exhausted your Chase balance.

For a deeper look at all Chase transfer options, see the Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners guide.

Bilt Rewards → Southwest (1:1, Twice Daily)

Bilt added Southwest as a transfer partner in 2025, making it the second direct pipeline. The ratio matches Chase at 1:1, but transfers aren’t instant—they’re processed in batches roughly twice per day. In practice, this means a transfer initiated in the morning might post to your Rapid Rewards account by the afternoon or evening.

Who this is best for: Renters who earn Bilt points on monthly rent payments and prefer Southwest for domestic travel. Bilt points are uniquely valuable because rent is typically a non-bonused expense with other programs.

Edge case: Because Bilt transfers aren’t instant, don’t initiate a transfer minutes before you need to book. Allow at least 12 hours of buffer. Southwest award pricing is dynamic and can change between when you start a transfer and when your points arrive.

For the full list of Bilt transfer options, check the Bilt Rewards transfer partners guide.

Which Programs Do NOT Transfer to Southwest?

This is where confusion costs people time. Several major transferable points currencies have no direct path to Southwest Rapid Rewards.

Why This Matters

If you’re sitting on a large Amex Membership Rewards balance and want to fly Southwest, your options are limited. You can book through the Amex Travel portal (which prices Southwest flights at cash rates and redeems points at a fixed cents-per-point rate), but you cannot convert Amex points into Rapid Rewards points. The same applies to Capital One, Citi, and others. For details on what those programs can transfer to, see the guides for Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, and Citi ThankYou Points.

Common mistake: Assuming that because a program has 15+ airline transfer partners, Southwest must be one of them. Southwest is not part of any airline alliance (no oneworld, SkyTeam, or Star Alliance membership), which significantly limits its transfer partner relationships.

How Does Southwest’s Revenue-Based Pricing Affect Transfer Value?

Southwest uses revenue-linked (dynamic) pricing for award flights. There is no fixed award chart. The number of Rapid Rewards points required for a flight is tied directly to the cash fare, divided by a set redemption rate.

Here’s what that means in practice:

• Higher cash fares require more points. A $350 one-way flight costs more points than a $99 one-way flight, proportionally.
• No fixed sweet spots in the traditional sense. Unlike programs with award charts (where you might find a Business Class seat for a set number of miles regardless of cash price), Southwest pricing scales with revenue.
• Typical redemption value for Rapid Rewards points is approximately 1.2–1.5 cents per point (cpp), depending on the fare and route. This is a general estimate based on community data points; actual value varies by booking.

Calculator Example

Suppose you want to book a one-way flight from Dallas (DAL) to Denver (DEN) that costs $198 in cash. At Southwest’s approximate redemption rate:

• Points required: ~14,100 Rapid Rewards points (assuming roughly 1.4 cpp)
• Transfer needed from Chase: 14,100 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (1:1)
• Transfer needed from Bilt: 14,100 Bilt points (1:1)

Compare that to the same 14,100 Chase points transferred to Hyatt, where they could book a Category 1–4 hotel night worth $150–$250+. The relative value depends entirely on your travel priorities.

Decision framework:

• Transfer to Southwest if you value the specific flight and the cpp is at or above 1.3 cents—competitive with portal bookings.
• Don’t transfer if the cash fare is low enough that paying cash and saving points for higher-value redemptions (premium cabin awards on partner airlines, for example) makes more sense.

For tools to run your own comparisons, visit the Award Travel Hub calculators page.

What About Hotel Loyalty Program Transfers to Southwest?

Several hotel programs allow transfers to Southwest Rapid Rewards, but the ratios are unfavorable enough that they rarely make sense.

Why Hotel Transfers Are Usually a Bad Deal

Consider Marriott Bonvoy: transferring 75,000 Marriott points yields 25,000 Rapid Rewards points (including the 5,000-point bonus for the 60,000 threshold). Those 25,000 RR points might book a ~$350 Southwest flight. But 75,000 Marriott points can book 2–3 nights at a mid-tier hotel worth $150–$250 per night, totaling $300–$750 in hotel value.

The math almost always favors keeping hotel points for hotel stays.

When hotel transfers might make sense: Only if you have a large, expiring hotel balance you can’t use otherwise, and you need a small top-up to reach a Southwest booking threshold. Even then, buying Southwest points directly (available for purchase at varying rates during promotions) may be cheaper.

Rule of thumb: Treat hotel-to-Southwest transfers as a last resort, not a strategy.

How to Transfer Points to Southwest Rapid Rewards (Step-by-Step)

From Chase Ultimate Rewards

1. Log in to your Chase account at chase.com or via the Chase mobile app.
2. Navigate to Ultimate Rewards from your eligible card dashboard.
3. Select Transfer Points (sometimes labeled “Transfer to Travel Partners”).
4. Find Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards in the airline partner list.
5. Enter the number of points to transfer (minimum 1,000, in 1,000-point increments).
6. Confirm your Rapid Rewards member number. Double-check this—transfers to the wrong account are difficult or impossible to reverse.
7. Submit. Points typically appear in your Rapid Rewards account within seconds.

From Bilt Rewards

1. Log in to the Bilt app or biltrewards.com.
2. Navigate to the Transfer section.
3. Select Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards from the partner list.
4. Enter the transfer amount (minimum 1,000 points).
5. Confirm your Rapid Rewards member number.
6. Submit. Points are processed in the next batch cycle, typically within 12 hours.

Common pitfall: Entering an incorrect Rapid Rewards number. Both Chase and Bilt require you to input your Southwest member number manually. A single digit error can send points to a stranger’s account. Always verify before confirming.

Another pitfall: Transferring before confirming award availability. Because Southwest uses dynamic pricing, the points price you see today might change tomorrow. Check availability and pricing on Southwest.com first, then transfer the exact amount needed.

Is Transferring Points to Southwest Worth It Compared to Other Options?

It depends on what you’re comparing against and how you fly.

Southwest Transfers vs. Portal Bookings

If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can book Southwest flights through the Chase Travel portal at 1.5 cpp. A $198 flight would cost 13,200 Chase points through the portal versus ~14,100 points transferred to Rapid Rewards.

In this scenario, the portal booking is actually cheaper in points. However, booking through the portal means:

• You earn no Rapid Rewards points or tier-qualifying credits on the booking.
• Changes and cancellations follow portal rules, not Southwest’s famously flexible policies.
• The booking doesn’t count toward Companion Pass qualification.

Choose direct transfer if: You want Rapid Rewards earning credit, Companion Pass progress, or Southwest’s free change/cancellation flexibility.

Choose portal booking if: You want to minimize points spent and don’t care about Southwest loyalty benefits.

Southwest Transfers vs. Other Airline Partners

Chase Ultimate Rewards also transfers 1:1 to United, Hyatt, British Airways, and many others. For domestic U.S. travel, Southwest competes primarily with United (via Chase) and occasionally with other domestic carriers bookable through partner programs.

Southwest’s advantages for domestic award travel:

• No blackout dates or capacity controls in the traditional sense—if a seat is for sale, it’s available for points.
• Free changes and cancellations with points redeposited to your account.
• Two free checked bags on every ticket.
• No fuel surcharges on any route.

Southwest’s disadvantages:

• No premium cabins. Southwest operates an all-economy configuration. If you’re targeting Business Class deals or First Class redemptions on domestic routes, Southwest isn’t the right program.
• No international long-haul network. Southwest flies primarily within the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. For international premium cabin awards, other Chase transfer partners deliver far more value.
• Dynamic pricing means you rarely get outsized value. The cpp hovers around 1.2–1.5, whereas fixed award charts on other airlines can yield 3–10+ cpp on premium cabin flights.

Common Mistakes to Avoid with Southwest Rapid Rewards Transfers

1. Transferring before checking award pricing. Southwest’s dynamic pricing means the cost in points varies by fare class. Always search Southwest.com for point pricing before initiating a transfer.

2. Forgetting that transfers are irreversible. Once Chase or Bilt points are converted to Rapid Rewards points, they cannot be converted back. If your travel plans change, those points are locked into Southwest.

3. Transferring hotel points at terrible ratios. As covered above, Marriott’s 3:1 and IHG’s 5:1 ratios destroy value. Avoid unless you have no alternative.

4. Paying Southwest’s internal transfer fee. Southwest allows members to transfer points between Rapid Rewards accounts, but charges a fee of approximately $5 per 500 points. At that rate, you’re paying roughly 1 cent per point to move them—often more than the points are worth. This is almost never a good deal.

5. Assuming Amex, Capital One, or Citi can transfer to Southwest. They can’t. If Southwest is your primary airline and you’re choosing a new card, prioritize Chase or Bilt.

6. Ignoring the Companion Pass angle. If you’re close to earning the Southwest Companion Pass (which requires 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year as of 2026), transferred points from Chase count toward the threshold. This can dramatically change the value calculation, since the Companion Pass lets a designated companion fly free (excluding taxes/fees) on every Southwest flight for the rest of the qualifying year and the following calendar year.

Best Uses of Southwest Rapid Rewards Points (After Transferring)

Since Southwest uses revenue-linked pricing without premium cabins, its “sweet spots” differ from those of alliance-based programs. Here’s where transferred points deliver the most practical value:

• Peak-season domestic flights where cash fares spike (holidays, spring break, summer). The points cost rises too, but if you’re transferring from Chase at 1:1, you’re still getting ~1.3–1.5 cpp—competitive with or better than portal rates.
• Companion Pass bookings. If you hold the Companion Pass, every flight effectively doubles in value because your companion flies free. A 20,000-point booking covers two passengers instead of one, pushing effective cpp well above 2 cents.
• Last-minute domestic travel. Southwest’s no-change-fee policy means you can book with points speculatively and cancel if plans shift. Points return to your account immediately.
• Flights to Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Southwest’s expanding international-ish network offers decent point values on leisure routes, especially during fare sales.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I transfer Amex Membership Rewards to Southwest Rapid Rewards?

No. Amex Membership Rewards does not have a direct transfer partnership with Southwest. The only way to use Amex points for Southwest flights is through the Amex Travel portal, where points are redeemed at a fixed rate against the cash fare.

What is the Chase to Southwest transfer ratio?

Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. 10,000 Chase points become 10,000 Rapid Rewards points.

How long does a Chase to Southwest transfer take?

Transfers from Chase to Southwest are instant. Points typically appear in your Rapid Rewards account within seconds of confirming the transfer.

How long does a Bilt to Southwest transfer take?

Bilt processes transfers to Southwest in batches roughly twice per day. Expect points to arrive within 12 hours, though it can occasionally be faster.

Can I transfer Southwest points back to Chase or Bilt?

No. All transfers to Southwest Rapid Rewards are one-way and irreversible. Once points are in your Rapid Rewards account, they stay there.

Does Capital One transfer to Southwest?

No. Capital One Miles cannot be transferred directly to Southwest Rapid Rewards. Capital One’s airline transfer partners include other carriers but not Southwest.

Do transferred Chase points count toward the Companion Pass?

Yes. Points transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Rapid Rewards count toward the 135,000-point threshold for the Southwest Companion Pass (as of 2026 program rules).

Is it better to transfer Chase points to Southwest or book through the Chase portal?

It depends on your priorities. The Chase portal with a Sapphire Reserve card offers 1.5 cpp, which can be slightly cheaper in points. But transferring directly preserves Southwest’s flexible cancellation policy, earns Rapid Rewards activity credit, and counts toward Companion Pass qualification.

Can I transfer Marriott points to Southwest?

Yes, but the ratio is poor: 3 Marriott Bonvoy points convert to 1 Rapid Rewards point, with a 5,000-point bonus when transferring 60,000 Marriott points. This rarely delivers good value compared to using Marriott points for hotel stays.

Are there ever transfer bonuses to Southwest?

Transfer bonuses from Chase or Bilt to Southwest are rare. Chase occasionally runs transfer bonus promotions to various partners, but Southwest bonuses are uncommon. Always check current promotions before transferring, as even a 10–20% bonus can meaningfully improve value.

Does Southwest charge fuel surcharges on award flights?

No. Southwest does not impose fuel surcharges on any flights, whether booked with cash or points. The only additional cost is government-imposed taxes and fees (typically $5.60 per one-way domestic segment).

What’s the minimum number of points I can transfer to Southwest?

Both Chase and Bilt require a minimum transfer of 1,000 points to Southwest Rapid Rewards.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Southwest Rapid Rewards has a narrow but effective set of direct transfer partners: Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards, both at 1:1. If Southwest is your go-to domestic airline, building a strategy around Chase points (and supplementing with Bilt if you pay rent) is the clearest path to keeping your Rapid Rewards balance funded.

Here’s what to do next:

1. Confirm your Rapid Rewards number is correctly saved in both your Chase and Bilt accounts. A wrong number is the most common and most painful transfer mistake.
2. Search Southwest.com first for award pricing on your target route before transferring any points. Note the exact points cost.
3. Transfer only what you need. Because transfers are irreversible and Southwest’s dynamic pricing offers steady (not outsized) value, there’s no reason to speculatively move large balances.
4. Consider the Companion Pass. If you’re within striking distance of 135,000 qualifying points for the year, a strategic Chase transfer could push you over the threshold—and the Companion Pass effectively doubles the value of every Southwest point you spend for up to two years.
5. If you don’t have Chase or Bilt, Southwest is not efficiently reachable via transferable points. Consider earning Rapid Rewards directly through Southwest co-branded credit cards, or explore other domestic airline options through your existing points program. The bank transfer partners overview can help you identify which airlines your points can be transferred to.

For broader strategy on using transferable points across all programs, start with the complete credit card transfer partners guide.

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