(EXPIRED) 5,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points for new members with flight activity

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards is offering 3,000 bonus rapid rewards points for new members who join from April 1, 2021 to May 31, 2021 and fly one round trip or two one-way revenue (paid) flights and 2,000 additional bonus points for flying a second round trip or two more one-way revenue flights during that time period (for a total of up to 5,000 bonus rapid rewards points). Note that the Tweet below has the wrong start date in the text, but the image and the fine print on the landing page indicate that this begins April 1, 2021.

Wanna get up to 5,000 points closer to your next adventure? Join Rapid Rewards from April 6 – May 31, 2021 and start earning today!

— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) April 1, 2021

 The Deal

• Southwest is offering additional bonus points for new members who join rapid rewards and fly between April 1, 2021 and May 31, 2021 depending on activity:
  • Join and fly one round trip or two one-way paid flights, get 3,000 bonus points
  • Fly one additional round trip paid flight (two round trips total) or two additional one-way paid flights, get 2,000 additional bonus points

Key Terms

• To be eligible for this promotion, you may not be a current Rapid Rewards member, you will need to enroll in Rapid Rewards, and you will need to provide your Rapid Rewards account number at the time of booking.
• Once you complete and submit the enrollment form, you will be automatically registered for this promotion if all eligibility requirements are met.
• How it works:
  • 1. Enroll in Rapid Rewards between April 1 and May 31, 2021 (“Promotional Period”).
  • 2. After you enroll during the Promotional Period, book your first round trip or two one-way qualifying flights, then fly before May 31, 2021 to earn 3,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points.
  • 3. Book and fly a second round trip or two more one-way qualifying flights during the Promotional Period and earn an additional 2,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points.
• Enrollment must be completed prior to commencement of travel.
• Member’s qualifying flight(s) must be booked through Southwest Airlines® during the Promotional Period for travel during the Promotional Period.
• Member’s flight(s) must be completed during the Promotional Period.
• Member’s Rapid Rewards account number must be entered at the time of booking Member’s qualifying flight(s) to earn the 3,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points for the first round trip or two one-way flights.
• To earn the additional 2,000 Rapid Rewards points, Member must book and fly additional qualifying flight(s) during the Promotional Period.
• You are not eligible for this promotion or any portion of the bonus points if you enroll under a false name.
• If a Member books and flies more than two round trips or four one-way flights during the Promotional Period, Member will still receive only a total of 5,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points.
• A qualifying flight is two one-way revenue flights on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city, including any intermediate stops and/or connections or a round trip revenue flight on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city and back to the originating airport or carrier-recognized co-terminal.
• Travel booked or flown prior to enrollment in Rapid Rewards is not eligible for this Rapid Rewards bonus points offer.
• Rapid Rewards earned points are calculated using base fare. Member will receive 12 points per dollar spent on Business Select® fares, ten points on Anytime fares, and six points per dollar spent on Wanna Get Away? fares.
• Bonus points are in addition to the standard flight points earned through Rapid Rewards.
• Bonus points will not count toward A-List, A-List Preferred, or Companion Pass qualification.
• Member will receive bonus Rapid Rewards points within four weeks after completion of entire ticket.
• Charter flights, group travel, Companion Pass, Southwest Vacation packages, and reward travel do not qualify for promotion.
• Valid on Southwest Airlines published scheduled service.
• Changes made to the itinerary after purchase may eliminate qualification for promotion.

Quick Thoughts

If you know you’ll be taking a round trip paid flight or two during this promotional period and you are not yet a Southwest Rapid Rewards member, it is absolutely worth joining and taking advantage of this. Flying two round trips or four one-ways gets you 5,000 total bonus points. That’s on top of whatever you would ordinarily earn. Five thousand Southwest points should buy you somewhere around $75 in Southwest flights, so that represents a good rebate here.

Keep in mind that the qualifying flights you’ll take during the promotional period must be revenue (paid) flights. Award flights will not count. Still, given cheap airfares at the moment, the rebate here could certainly make it worth paying for two flights if you’ll be traveling and Southwest is convenient and you’re not currently a member. That’s a lot of conditions, but it’s a good deal for those who meet them since we don’t often see programs offer meaningful bonus miles for joining. With the current market conditions, it is certainly possible to book yourself a free one-way between some markets with the 5,000 bonus points.

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