Southwest credit card perk extended: Get 20% off last-minute award flights

If you’ve got one of the five Southwest Airlines credit cards from Chase, chances are you might not know about a little-known promo code that can save cardholders 20% off a last-minute flight redemption.

We first reported on this perk a year ago and thought it was a one-off, but AwardWallet has reported that it has been extended for another year.

Offer details

In order to be eligible for the promotional discount, you need to hold one of the following cards:

Log in to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account and head to the payment section, where you should find your personalized promo code for a one-time discount of 20% off a one-way or round-trip flight booked using Rapid Rewards points within 14 days of departure. These codes are valid through Jan. 11, 2025, and if you have more than one Southwest card, you should have a separate promo code for each one.

We checked with TPG staff members who have one of these cards, and all confirmed that they have promo codes in their accounts.

hands hold multiple Southwest Airlines credit cards — THE POINTS GUY

Here are some important terms and conditions to be aware of:

This is a single-use promo code — so you’ll want to save it for an expensive trip where your discount will save you the most points.
It’s only valid for a flight booked within 14 days of departure — so you may want to hold on to it for an emergency or a spontaneous trip.
It appears you can use one promo code to book up to eight people on the same itinerary — to save the most points, bring up to seven people with you.
You must redeem points for your ticket — this discount does not apply to cash fares.
This is a personalized promo code — it cannot be transferred to another person.
The code is valid for one-way or round-trip Wanna Get Away, Wanna Get Away Plus, Anytime and Business Select fares, so it’s pretty comprehensive.

Here are the full terms and conditions:

20 percent promotion code savings valid for one-way or round trip Wanna Get Away®, Wanna Get Away plus®, Anytime, and Business Select® fares booked with Rapid Rewards points on Southwest.com® from January 12, 2024 through January 11, 2025 11:59 pm Central Time (the “Booking Period”) and flown within 14 days of the date on which you book your ticket (“Travel Period”). Promotion code savings is applied before government taxes and fees. Enter your unique promotion code in the Promo Code box when booking during the Booking Period.

If you have entered your single-use promotion code in the Promo Code box on Southwest.com, then while selecting your flights, savings in the base fare will be visible as a strike-through of the original fare. After selecting your flights, savings are reflected in the base fare when entering your single-use promotion code in the Promo Code box on Southwest.com when booking during the Booking Period for travel during the Travel Period. Please note that the Department of Transportation (DOT) requires advertised fares to include all government taxes and fees, however this promotion code savings applies to the base fare only. Discount is valid on new reservations only.

Discount will apply only for flights booked within the Booking Period for travel flown within the Travel Period. If one direction of the trip is outside the Travel Period and one is within the Travel Period, only the portion of travel falling within the Travel Period will be discounted. Changes made to the itinerary after purchase will eliminate qualifications for this promotion and will result in forfeiture of any promotion code savings. The discount is only valid with the provided promotion code and is not combinable with other promotion codes or fares.

All reward travel is subject to taxes, fees, and other government or airport-imposed charges of at least $5.60 per one-way trip. Applicable taxes, fees, and other government or airport-imposed charges can vary significantly based on your arrival and departure destination. The payment of any taxes, fees, and other government or airport-imposed charges is the responsibility of the Passenger and must be paid at the time reward travel is booked with a credit card, travel fund, or Southwest gift card. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Offer applies only to published, scheduled service. Chase is not responsible for the provision of, or failure to provide, the stated benefits and services. Offer is not redeemable for cash, and may not be used in conjunction with other special offers, or toward the purchase of a gift card or previously-booked flight, or change to a previously-booked flight. Discount is only valid on Southwest.com and is not valid on Group Travel or Southwest Vacations®, fares booked via SWABIZ.com, our Southwest Partner Services API or through Global Distribution Systems, or special fares, such as military and government fares.

Southwest 20% discount example

I have the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card and did a sample booking to fly from Austin to Honolulu next week. The ticket would have cost 16,759 Rapid Rewards points, but with my discount, I could save over 3,300 points:

To max it out, I could bring seven people along with me on a round-trip itinerary to Hawaii, dropping the total price from 338,544 points plus $90 in taxes:

To just 270,824 points (plus the same amount in taxes), saving me more than 67,000 points:

While it is unrealistic to expect seven of my friends to drop everything and fly to Hawaii with me in a week’s time (though maybe not, if you knew my friends), you might want to just keep this promo code in mind in case an emergency arises and you don’t have a choice but to book a last-minute trip.

Or, think about a spontaneous getaway you can enjoy with loved ones. Just be sure to use your discount code before its expiration on Jan. 11, 2025.

Bottom line

You can maximize this Southwest credit card perk by using it on a round-trip itinerary booked with points for up to eight people within two weeks of departure. While the booking time frame might limit the promo code’s usefulness, it’s worth keeping in mind if the need for last-minute travel does arise and you can use it to save a large number of points on a trip in the coming months.