How To Use the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal to Earn More Points

BY 

Caroline Lupini

- March 31, 2017November 14, 2018

1. Earn Points  / 
2. Shopping & Dining

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Earning extra points and miles for something you’re already planning to spend money on is a pretty great concept. Luckily for you, it’s also pretty easily done!

This article tells you exactly what you need to know about using Southwest’s shopping portal. Don’t worry, it’s a piece of cake!

How To Log in & Basics of Using Program

You can view the bonus points offered for spending at various retailers without logging in, but you will need to log in to actually earn them.

Logging in is simple; just use the same information you would use to log in to your regular Southwest frequent flyer account.

Once you are logged in to the Southwest airlines store, you simply need to search for your desired retailer to see the number of bonus points they’re offering for your purchases!

Let’s say you are interested in reward shopping at Gap.com. At the time of writing, we searched for Gap and found an offer of 3 extra Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on Gap.com purchases.

To earn the bonus, just click “Shop Now” to be redirected to the retailer website to complete your transaction. Then complete your purchase from the window that opens. Beyond that, there’s nothing more you need to do in order to earn the bonus!

Special Shopping Offers

Southwest offers bonus points for spending different amounts of money through their store at various times throughout the year.

You should definitely keep an eye out for Southwest’s special shopping bonuses. Here is an example of a past offer that might come up again:

• Holiday 2018 Bonus: Spend $150 and earn 500 bonus points; spend $500 and earn 1,000 bonus points; spend $1,000 and earn 3,000 bonus points.

The holiday shopping season is a great time to earn lots of rewards for purchases you would be making already!

Example Retailers

The number of points earned for shopping at various retailers changes regularly. At the time of writing, here are some of the better deals offered through the Southwest Airlines store.

• LifeLock: 10 pts/$1
• MagazineLine: 15 pts/$1
• Personal Creations: 9 pts/$1
• 1800 Flowers: 7 pts/$1
• Bareminerals: 6 pts/$1
• …and many more!

Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Shopping Button

The shopping button from Southwest’s Rapid Rewards shopping program allows you to earn miles shopping online directly on the retailer’s website.

So you don’t have to click through from the shopping portal itself. All you have to do is download the free browser extension for Chrome and you’ll start getting alerts when browsing on retailer’s websites that participate in the program.

You will also see offers in your search results so this can help make quick decisions on which retailer to buy from. It’s win win really!

Using Credit Cards To Earn Extra Points

Even though you’ll be earning extra points through the reward shopping portal, it makes sense to multiply this bonus by also using a card that will give you a good reward for the spending you’re doing.

If your sole focus is to earn Southwest points, you should choose cards that earn them directly or cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points, which you can transfer to Southwest at a 1:1 ratio.

Also, consider whether the retailer you’re shopping with falls into a bonus category on any of your cards, and then choose your card accordingly.

Below we list the applicable credit cards to help you get the most rewards while using the online store!

Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards

Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)

CHASE CARD	BENEFITS & INFO
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card How We Get $1k+ Value From Just 60k Pts >	Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months That's worth $625 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide. $0 foreign transaction fees Annual Fee: $0 the first year, then $95
Chase Freedom Unlimited®	Earn $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase - it's automatic. 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases & balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24 - 25.99%. Annual Fee: $0
Chase Sapphire Reserve®	Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year 3X points on travel immediately after earning your $300 travel credit. 3X points on dining at restaurants. Access to 1,000+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select Annual Fee: $450

Recommended Chase Cards (Business)

CHASE CARD	BENEFITS & INFO
Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card We Get $1,600+ of Value Using This Card >>	Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months That's $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year: Travel, Shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines. Get up to $600 per claim in Cell Phone Protection against covered theft or damage for you (and your employees listed on your monthly cell phone bill) when you pay it with your Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card. Annual Fee: $95
Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card 21 Benefits This Card Offers Biz Owners >>	Earn $500 bonus cash-back after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services Earn 2% cash-back on the first $25,000 (combined) spent at gas stations and restaurants each year 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 15.49% - 21.49% $0 Annual Fee
Are you a business owner? For more detail, see our Chase business credit cards article, or in-depth business credit card guide to make an ideal choice for your situation.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Cards

Hot Tip: Check out the benefits of the best Southwest credit cards! We’ve also got a piece with plenty of tips for earning loads of Southwest points without even flying! 

Final Thoughts

Utilizing the Southwest shopping center is an easy way to earn an extra point or more per dollar spent on most of the shopping you’re going to do online anyway. You may also want to try using their dining program to really maximize the rewards.

Better yet, if you haven’t signed up for the shopping portal in the past, it is possible to earn bonus points simply for signing up at various times throughout the year. Gather up all your new rewards and use them for flights on Southwest!