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If you aren’t familiar with Southwest Airlines, it’s the fourth largest carrier in the United States by several metrics. Southwest developed as a low-cost carrier and has operated differently than the so-called “big three” U.S. carriers (American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines). As of July 2025, Southwest is different from the other airlines in the following ways:
- Southwest operates flights solely within the Americas and primarily within the U.S.
- Southwest planes have one cabin (economy) and don’t offer business- or first-class seats and amenities.
- Southwest isn’t an airline alliance member and has limited partnerships with other airlines.
- Southwest operates a point-to-point network with more service to some primary bases rather than using a hub-and-spoke system.
- Southwest has open seating rather than assigned seating, although that’s changing in early 2026.
Until early 2025, it was relatively straightforward to assign a monetary value to Southwest Rapid Rewards points because award rates were closely tied to cash rates. Although the redemption rate wasn’t consistent on every flight and across fare types, there was far less variability compared to award rates with other loyalty programs.
Among many changes that Southwest announced in March 2025 was a statement noting that Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program “will also introduce variable redemption rates across higher-demand and lower-demand flights.” This change was implemented in mid-March 2025.
Another major change beginning on May 28, 2025, that has a significant impact on rates involves changes in Southwest fare types, including the introduction of a basic-economy fare replacing Southwest’s Wanna Get Away fare.
Because major Southwest changes are recent and haven’t been fully implemented, the value of Southwest points likely will change over time. Therefore, we’re focusing on the impact of the changes made or announced through July 2025 and sharing an approach and examples for calculating the value of Rapid Rewards points.
Southwest and Rapid Rewards Overview
Let’s begin with some background about Southwest Airlines and its Rapid Rewards loyalty program.
Southwest Fare Types
The same fare types apply whether booking flights using Rapid Rewards points or cash.
On May 28, 2025, Southwest modified its fare types and associated benefits. Fare types as of August 2025 are:
- Basic, which replaced Wanna Get Away in June 2025.
- Wanna Get Away Plus, which became Choice.
- Anytime, which became Choice Preferred.
- Business Select, which became Choice Extra.
The following table summarizes the differences between these fares, and additional details are available on Southwest’s fare page and policy changes page.
| Benefit | Fare types | |||
| Choice Extra (formerly Business Select) | Choice Preferred (formerly Anytime) | Choice (formerly Wanna Get Away Plus) | Basic (formerly Wanna Get Away) | |
| Checked bag | Two free | Fee applies | Fee applies | Fee applies |
| Points earned per dollar (base fare) | 14X | 10X | 6X | 2X |
| Flight credit expiration | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months | 6 months |
| Transferable flight credit | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Refundable | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Changes | Fare difference | Fare difference | Fare difference | No |
| Cancellations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Same-day changes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Boarding priority: before Jan. 27, 2026 / beginning Jan. 27, 2026 | A1 – A15 group / Early boarding | EarlyBird check-in / Early general boarding | Fee applies / General boarding | Fee applies / Last to board |
Award and Cash Rates Relationship
Rapid Rewards has been a revenue-based program for many years. This means that award rates are dynamic and closely tied to cash rates. Before March 2025, the redemption value—which is expressed as a cents per point (cpp) number—fluctuated in a narrow range. Some differences were observed among fare types and on particular routes, but most industry sources estimated the redemption value for Rapid Rewards points to be around 1.3 to 1.4 cents each.
Cents per point isn’t a perfect way to measure what Rapid Rewards points are “worth” because cpp compares rates—essentially costs in money and points—and doesn’t directly measure value. Value or worth are subjective terms that aren’t easy to quantify.
Many points and miles enthusiasts use cents per point (or similar cents per mile) numbers as a way to quantify value and determine if they should redeem points for a particular flight based on their personal thresholds. A higher cpp indicates better redemption value than a lower cpp.
We’ll delve into the details of calculating cpp later, but the calculation involves taking the net cash amount—the cash booking rate minus the taxes and fees paid on an award booking—and dividing it by the combined number of points that would be required for an award booking or earned with cash booking, then multiplying by 100.
Effective March 2025, the key difference is that Southwest award rates fluctuate based on demand and other factors. Let’s look at a simplified hypothetical example for two flights considered lower and higher demand flights. These examples are intended to illustrate the concept of variable redemption rates, not show how Southwest actually determines rates.
- Before demand-based redemption rates, cash rates would be higher when demand is higher, but the same factor (what we’re referring to as cents per point or redemption value) would be used to determine the number of points needed for each flight. For example, if the net cash rates are $210 for the higher demand flight and $140 for the lower demand flight and a fixed redemption value of 1.4 cents is applied, award rates would be 15,000 points and 10,000 points respectively. The calculation involves dividing the net cash rate by 0.014.
- With variable redemption rates, different cpp numbers are used to translate the cash rates to award rates for the two flights. That often means that points are worth less for higher demand flights and worth more on lower demand flights. Using the same cash rates and applying a factor of 1.2 cpp to the $210 flight and 1.45 cpp to the $140 flight, the award rates would be 17,500 points and 9,655 points respectively.
High-Demand and Low-Demand Flights
While details of what Southwest considers higher and lower demand flights are proprietary, there are some general characteristics that likely contribute to this distinction. Some demand drivers can be identified by looking at what flights are covered in Southwest fare sales and/or typically have lower rates.
Factors influencing demand include:
- Busy travel periods: This includes both generally busy times of year, such as travel around major holidays, and destination- and event-specific high-demand periods. Examples would include ski destinations in the winter and the location of the Super Bowl for that weekend.
- Day of week: On many Southwest routes, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays have the lowest rates. These also are the days to which many Southwest fare sales apply.
- Flight times: Although this may vary for individuals booking connecting flights and in markets with limited service, lower rates often apply to flights that depart at times many travelers find less convenient, such as early morning or late evening.
- Purchase timeframe: This factor relates to how far ahead of travel dates booking occurs. Southwest doesn’t open its booking window as early as most other airlines do. The furthest in advance Southwest flights are bookable usually is about eight months before travel dates. For example, on May 29, 2025, Southwest opened its schedule for flights through late January 2026. Initial rates when the schedule first opens often aren’t the lowest. On the other end of the spectrum, Southwest fares often increase within 21 days of travel.
Airline Partners
Southwest traditionally hasn’t had airline partnerships through which Rapid Rewards members can earn and redeem Rapid Rewards points on flights operated by other carriers. In 2025, Southwest announced its first three international partners: Icelandair, China Airlines and EVA Air. Although these partnerships initially are limited in scope, the possibility of Southwest adding more partners and expanding partnership benefits may be worth watching.
Other Significant Southwest Changes
Although not directly related to Rapid Rewards points, Southwest is undergoing major changes in how it does business beginning in 2025. These changes impact fare type features and are relevant to which fare types travelers may choose. Some of these changes won’t be implemented until 2026 or beyond.
Assigned Seating
Southwest traditionally has utilized open seating, with travelers receiving a boarding number rather than a seat assignment and being able to select any available seat when they board.
Southwest is implementing assigned seating and a new boarding process for travel beginning Jan. 27, 2026. Fares reflecting the new seat options were introduced in late July 2025. Here’s an example of the different fares with seat notes for travel in February 2026.
Premium Seating
Southwest planes traditionally have been configured so that all seats, except bulkhead rows and exit rows, have similar legroom. In conjunction with other changes, Southwest is reconfiguring planes to have extra legroom seating. These seats also will provide “earlier access to bin space, enhanced snacks and complimentary premium beverages.”
Checked Bag Fees
Southwest previously differentiated itself from other U.S. airlines by allowing all passengers to check two bags for free.
That benefit no longer exists for bookings made beginning May 28, 2025, and changes made after that date to existing bookings. Holding co-branded Chase Southwest credit cards or purchasing Choice Extra fares provides some travelers one or two free checked bags. Otherwise, travelers must pay $35 for the first checked bag and $45 for the second bag.
Flight Credits
Southwest innovated the industry with its policy to issue flight credits without imposing change or cancellation fees for non-refundable tickets purchased with cash. When other U.S. airlines adopted similar policies during the pandemic, Southwest improved its flight credits by removing the expiration date.
For tickets purchased or changed beginning May 28, 2025, Southwest travel credits expire six months from the ticketing or change date for Basic fares and 12 months from the ticketing or change date for other fare types.
Although it’s difficult to quantify, this policy change has implications for individuals deciding between cash or award bookings and particular cash fares. The following impacts apply:
- Points bookings become more valuable than cash bookings because flights booked with Rapid Rewards points don’t have cancellation fees, and points don’t expire.
- Basic cash fares become less valuable for individuals who book flights far ahead of travel or travel on Southwest infrequently.
Award Redemption Value
We’ve independently examined multiple routes and specific flights and applied the approach discussed below to determine redemption value for redeeming Rapid Rewards points.
It’s important to understand that a higher redemption value doesn’t mean you’re saving points or money. Cpp only measures how much one Rapid Rewards point is worth when using points instead of cash for a particular flight.
Calculation Approach Details
Let’s begin with more details about how to calculate redemption value. The calculation utilizes four inputs for cash and award rates, typically for the same flight and same fare type.
- A = Cash ticket cost: This amount includes all taxes and fees.
- B = Award ticket tax and fee cost: This amount represents government-imposed taxes on award tickets. It often is $5.60 for one-way domestic awards, but the amount can be more for international flights or domestic routes with longer layovers.
- C = Number of points required for the award ticket
- D = Number of points earned for the cash ticket: This is shown when booking or can be calculated using the base fare and the earning rate multiple for each fare type. Earning rates are 2X for Basic, 6X for Choice, 10X for Choice Preferred and 14X for Choice Extra. Including this component in the calculation reduces the cpp, and the impact is greater for fare types that earn more points per dollar of base fare.
The formula (A – B) / (C + D) x 100 estimates the value (in cents) for one Rapid Rewards point.
Let’s look at a flight from Chicago (MDW) to Houston (HOU). This route has multiple daily nonstop flights.
Cash rates for Nov. 12 flights are shown below.
To see the number of points earned on cash tickets, hover over the fare for the preferred flight and fare type or select the flight to see the points earned and the base fare amount.
Details for the Choice fare for this flight show that the base fare is $91.33, which earns 548 Rapid Rewards points at 6X points per dollar.
Points rates with award taxes and fees are shown below for flights on the same date.
Using the formula above, the cpp for this flight is ($114 – $5.60) / (8,000 + 548) x 100 = 1.27.
Analysis Approach
To see how different factors impact redemption value, we’re going to look at a variety of routes as well as variables such as flight dates and times and fare types. Calculations address all available fare types for each flight.
Route variations examined include:
- Domestic nonstop routes between two of Southwest’s main operating bases, such as Chicago (MDW) and Houston (HOU) and Los Angeles (LAX) and Las Vegas (LAS)
- Domestic nonstop routes between a Southwest base and a smaller airport, such as Baltimore (BWI) and Buffalo, New York (BUF)
- Domestic connecting routes between a Southwest base and a smaller airport, such as Nashville, Tennessee (BNA), and Palm Springs, California (PSP)
- Domestic connecting routes between two smaller airports, such as Richmond, Virginia (RIC), and Tucson, Arizona (TUS)
- Domestic routes between the mainland U.S. and Hawaii, such as Phoenix (PHX) and Honolulu (HNL)
- Domestic routes within Hawaii, such as between Kahului (OGG) and Honolulu (HNL)
- International routes between the U.S. and Mexico, Central America or the Caribbean, such as Houston and Cancun
Flights used for redemption value calculations include a mix of flights, with some chosen to examine factors expected to influence variable redemption rates and others randomly selected. Slightly more than half the flights were selected to ensure that different types of flights and demand factors were examined. The rest of the flights involved random selection of origin and destination airports from the list on Southwest’s website, travel dates and specific flights.
Sample Routes
The examples below are a subset of routes examined and illustrate how different factors impact redemption value.
Chicago to Houston nonstop flights
Let’s extend the example above for nonstop flights from Chicago to Houston to calculate redemption value for each fare type and each flight and consider multiple travel dates. This nonstop route distance is 937 miles and is between two airports with a significant Southwest presence.
Three of the flights on Nov. 12 had the same cash and award rates, so the redemption value for these flights would be the same for each fare type. Cpp for each fare type are:
- Basic: 1.31
- Choice:1.27
- Choice Preferred: 1.21
- Choice Extra: 0.98
The flight departing Chicago at 10:15 a.m. appears to be more heavily booked—as indicated by Southwest showing higher cash and award rates. The resulting redemption values for this flight are similar:
- Basic: 1.35
- Choice:1.29
- Choice Preferred: 1.22
- Choice Extra: 0.98
The low fare calendar view for the month is useful for seeing differences among dates. The example below displays lowest cash rates, which are the Basic fare type if available. It’s also possible to view the calendar showing point rates and to select a particular fare type.
Dates around Thanksgiving Day are among the busiest travel dates of the year, so we checked rates around Nov. 27. Basic fares were unavailable for several days around the holiday, but all fare types were available for Thanksgiving Day.
Cash and award rates for Wednesday, Nov. 26 flights are shown below.
Here are cash rates and award rates for Nov. 27 flights.
The table below shows the redemption value for the different fare types for selected flights, with the flights in order based on least expensive to most expensive cash fares.
| Flight date and departure time(s) | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| Nov. 27 – all nonstops | 1.22 | 1.15 | 1.10 | 0.97 |
| Nov. 26 – 5:05 a.m. / 7:25 p.m. / 10:15 p.m. | Not available | 1.17 | 1.11 | 0.98 |
| Nov. 26 – 8:05 a.m. | Not available | 1.10 | 1.04 | 0.98 |
Rapid Rewards points are worth less on the high demand dates compared to flights on Nov. 12.
Las Vegas to Los Angeles Nonstop Flights
Southwest operates multiple daily nonstop flights on this short distance route, and rates typically are low and fairly consistent. These factors make the route useful for examining redemption value when booking travel dates within the next month.
We checked rates on June 26 for travel dates in July 2025 and looked at flights on Wednesdays for four consecutive weeks. Travel dates and number of days from the search date were:
- July 2: Six days
- July 9: 13 days
- July 16: 20 days
- July 23: 27 days
The monthly calendars show the lowest rates for each date (all are for Basic fares), and rates reach the lowest level for the month ($49 cash or 3,500 points) on July 17. Looking at later months, lowest rates remained relatively consistent, although some months had lowest rates of $47 or 3,000 points.
We used the same approach discussed above to calculate cpp for each fare type on each date but aren’t showing flight details. The following table shows the redemption values.
| Flight date | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| July 2 | 1.42 | 1.36 | 1.34 | 1 |
| July 9 | 1.51 | 1.52 | 1.46 | 0.99 |
| July 16 | 1.31 | 1.30 | 1.27 | 1 |
| July 23 | 1.22 | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1 |
For this example, dates within 21 days of travel provide higher cpp for redeeming points, despite cash and points rates being higher. If you’re in a situation where you need to book Southwest flights within 21 days of travel, it might be worth checking to see if points provide better value than cash.
Buffalo to Baltimore Nonstop Flights
Southwest operates multiple daily nonstop flights on this short route.
Examples are for flights during September, which has some dates available at the lowest rates available on Southwest’s schedule.
We also looked at a date in September with expensive rates that illustrates an event-driven demand spike. The National Football League (NFL) franchises representing the two cities play against each other on Sept. 7 in Buffalo, and the high rates on Sept. 8 likely represents Baltimore-based fans returning from that game.
Here is the September calendar, showing the lowest available cash rates for each day.
We looked at flights on three dates to assess redemption value differences on dates with different rates.
- Sept. 8 is the demand spike related to the NFL game, and it’s one of the most expensive dates in the month.
- Sept. 9 rates are among the lowest rates in the month, which typically are available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Sept. 12 rates are representative of Friday and Sunday rates, which usually are higher than Monday through Thursday rates.
Cash and award rates for flights on Sept. 8 are shown below. Given high demand, Basic fares aren’t available on any flights, and Choice fares aren’t available on some flights. We selected the flight departing at 5:50 a.m., with the least expensive rates, to calculate cpp.
Cash and award rates for flights on Sept. 9 are shown below, and again, we used flights with the lowest rates in calculations.
Cash and award rates for flights on Sept. 12 are shown below.
Redemption values for the three days are summarized below and follow a similar pattern as many other routes, with better redemption values for less expensive fares and fare types.
| Flight day | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| Monday, Sept. 8 | N/A | 1.14 | 1.11 | 1 |
| Tuesday, Sept. 9 | 1.26 | 1.19 | 1.16 | 0.99 |
| Friday, Sept. 12 | 1.22 | 1.2 | 1.14 | 1 |
Nashville to Palm Springs Flights
Southwest routes between Nashville and Palm Springs during December all have at least one connection. We looked at the least expensive one-stop routes on the following dates:
- Wednesday, Dec. 10 (lowest rates during the month)
- Friday, Dec. 12
- Sunday, Dec. 26 (highest rates during the month)
The monthly calendar view shows lowest cash rates.
Cash and award rates for flights on Dec. 10 are shown below.
Cash and award rates for flights on Dec. 12 are shown below.
Cash and award rates for flights on Dec. 26 are shown below. There’s a pricing anomaly with the overnight flight departing at 10:50 p.m. The rate in Rapid Rewards points is slightly lower for the Basic fare compared to the Choice fare. For cash rates, there’s a smaller than usual difference between these two fare types.
Redemption values for the three dates are shown below.
| Flight day | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| Wednesday, Dec. 10 | 1.72 | 1.59 | 1.50 | 1 |
| Friday, Dec. 12 | 1.28 | 1.20 | 1.16 | 1 |
| Friday, Dec. 26 | 1.17 | 1.20 | 1.14 | 0.97 |
Except for Choice Extra fares, the least expensive rates on this route have redemption values on the higher end of routes examined.
Richmond to Tucson Connecting Flights
Many Southwest flights on this route involved more than one connection, but one-stop options were available on some dates and, when offered, were less expensive than other flights on the same day. We used one-stop routes in our examples.
We looked at availability in two different months—January 2026 and February 2026—to compare rates before and after Southwest implements assigned seating. To control other variables, we selected the least expensive Saturday rates for one-stop routes.
Here’s the calendar with lowest cash rates for January.
Cash and award rates for the one-stop route on Jan. 10 are shown below.
Here’s the calendar with lowest cash rates for February.
Cash and award rates for the one-stop route on Feb. 7 are shown below.
Noticing the trend for higher pricing later in February, we also checked March rates and saw additional increases. This likely reflects a combination of seasonal demand and Southwest’s tendency towards higher, more consistent rates near the end of its schedule. Lowest cash rates for March are shown below.
Cash and award rates for the one-stop route on March 14 are shown below.
Redemption values for the three dates are shown below.
| Flight day | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| Saturday, Jan. 10 | 1.27 | 1.23 | 1.15 | 0.98 |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 1.21 | 1.15 | 1.10 | 0.98 |
| Saturday, March 14 | 1.18 | 1.12 | 1.08 | 0.98 |
These redemption values reflect a relatively large decrease after assigned seats are implemented in late January, despite a minimal cash rate difference between Jan. 10 and Feb. 7 fares. For example, Choice fares increase by $11, from $208 on Jan. 10 to $219 on Feb. 7, while redemption value decreases by 0.08.
The larger cash rate increases between Feb. 7 and March 14 flights ($55 difference for Choice fares) have a smaller impact on redemption value (0.03 decrease).
Phoenix to Honolulu Flights
It’s possible to fly from Phoenix to Honolulu nonstop or on connecting flights, and we focused on nonstop flights. For October 2025, Southwest’s schedule had one daily nonstop flight from Phoenix to Honolulu.
The monthly calendar view shows the lowest rates for nonstop or connecting itineraries, and on some days, connecting itineraries had lower rates.
Cash and award rates for October 16—the date with higher rates—are shown below.
Cash and award rates for Oct. 21—the date with the lowest nonstop flight rates during the month—are shown below.
Redemption values for both dates are shown below.
| Flight day | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| Thursday, Oct. 16 | 1.30 | 1.26 | 1.18 | 0.94 |
| Tuesday, Oct. 21 | 1.31 | 1.27 | 1.19 | 0.94 |
While some other examples show significant decreases in redemption value as flight prices increase, that’s not the case within the same fare type for two dates with higher and lower rates. That may be because Oct. 16 isn’t one of the most expensive dates in the month. We selected Oct. 16 because other dates with higher rates didn’t have availability across all fare types.
Maui to Honolulu Flights
There are a few differences between this short nonstop interisland flight for dates examined including:
- The Basic fare type isn’t offered.
- Cash and award rates are the same on all flights for the same fare type each day.
The calendar views below show the lowest cash rates and award rates for September.
Cash and award rates for a subset of flights on Sept. 24 are shown below.
Cash and award rates for a subset of flights on Sept. 26 are shown below.
Redemption values for these dates are shown below.
| Flight day | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| Wednesday, Sept. 24 | N/A | 1.03 | 1.14 | 0.92 |
| Friday, Sept. 26 | N/A | 1.08 | 1.01 | 0.95 |
It’s worth noting that redemption values on this route are relatively low compared to other routes examined.
Houston to Cancun Flights
One difference with this route (and other international routes) compared to domestic routes is that taxes and fees on award tickets are significantly higher. For travel to Cancun, taxes and fees are $51.68, and for travel back to Houston, taxes and fees are $78.56.
During December, Southwest operates three nonstop flights on dates examined. There also are connecting options, but we focused on nonstop flights.
The two dates analyzed have the lowest and highest rates during December. The date with the highest rate (Dec. 26) is the day after Christmas, which is one of the busiest travel days of the year.
The lowest cash rates for December dates are shown below.
Filtering for Basic fares, there was no availability between Dec. 18 and Dec. 28.
Cash and award rates for flights on Dec. 9 are shown below.
Cash and award rates for flights on Dec. 26 are shown below.
It’s interesting that the Choice Preferred and Choice Extra fares have the same rates when using Rapid Rewards points.
Redemption values for both dates are shown below.
| Flight day | Fare types | |||
| Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra | |
| Tuesday, Dec. 9 | 1.72 | 1.62 | 1.47 | 0.99 |
| Friday, Dec. 26 | N/A | 1.04 | 1 | 1 |
Beyond the large difference in redemption values for these two dates (except for Choice Extra fares), it’s worth noting that the cpp for most fare types on dates with lower rates is better than many domestic routes. This may be related to higher taxes on international flights.
We also looked at flights from Cancun to Houston and saw similarly good redemption values on a lower fare date (Dec. 11) for Choice, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra fares. Inputs used to calculate the redemption value and the cpp for each fare type are displayed below.
| Fare type | Cash cost | Award taxes | Points rate | Points earned | Cpp |
| Basic | $201 | $78.56 | 7,000 | 190 | 1.7 |
| Choice | $237 | $78.56 | 9,000 | 780 | 1.62 |
| Choice Preferred | $300 | $78.56 | 13,000 | 1,900 | 1.49 |
| Choice Extra | $341 | $78.56 | 23,000 | 3,220 | 1 |
Observed Redemption Value Summary
Combining results from the searches described above and other searches performed, there were over 200 data points with an even distribution among fare types. For flights that didn’t have Basic and/or Choice fares available, we looked at similar flights to get an equal number of observations for each fare type. The number of observations is sufficient to see some patterns but insufficient to draw any statistically valid conclusions about what Rapid Rewards points are worth.
We’re summarizing redemption value observations below and showing four measures for all fare types and broken down by fare type:
- Average or mean: This is the sum of all calculated cpp amounts divided by the number of observations.
- Median: This is the mid-point of observed values where half are lower and half are higher.
- Minimum: This is the lowest observed value.
- Maximum: This is the highest observed value.
| Measure | All observations | Basic | Choice | Choice Preferred | Choice Extra |
| Mean | 1.22 | 1.36 | 1.29 | 1.23 | 0.98 |
| Median | 1.17 | 1.3 | 1.23 | 1.16 | 0.98 |
| Minimum | 0.92 | 1.12 | 1.03 | 0.97 | 0.92 |
| Maximum | 1.72 | 1.72 | 1.62 | 1.52 | 1.02 |
Notable findings are:
- Redemption value was highest for the least expensive fare type (Basic) and decreased for each subsequent fare type.
- Redemption value for Choice Extra was far lower than other fare types, which pulls down the overall redemption value.
- Overall mean values are 0.05 cpp higher than median values. The difference and direction are expected since averages are more influenced by high values.
- Mean and median values excluding Choice Extra fares would be almost identical to the Choice redemption values of 1.29 and 1.23 cpp.
- The range between the minimum and maximum values for all fare types except Choice Extra is 0.75 cpp, while the variation for Choice Extra is 0.2 cpp.
Other takeaways from the analysis are similar to the situation with other airline programs that have variable redemption rates. Beyond differences among Southwest fare types:
- Being flexible about choosing flights with lower rates often results in better redemption value.
- Connecting routes sometimes provide better redemption value. Among flights examined, cpp was slightly higher for connecting routes (average 1.24, median 1.19) than nonstop flights (average 1.19, median 1.16).
With variable redemption rates and other Southwest changes, it’s likely that there will be future changes in Southwest’s rates—for cash and award flights—as Southwest continues to implement operational changes.
For example, the cash fare difference between Choice Preferred and Choice Extra fare types for many flights examined was $40 to $50. The primary current benefit of the Choice Extra fare is that it includes two free checked bags, while Choice Preferred fares don’t have free checked bags. Going forward, the rate difference between the two fare types may increase because Choice Extra fares will include extra legroom seats and other benefits.
Other Reported Redemption Values
Other points and miles sources that have examined Rapid Rewards point value since variable award rates were implemented have reported similar results. In particular, findings were consistent that overall redemption value has decreased (in the 0.1 to 0.2 cent per point range) and variation in redemption values has increased.
Final Thoughts
Our analysis of Rapid Rewards points value after Southwest began implementing major changes in 2025 shows that points generally are somewhat less valuable in June to August 2025 than they were before these changes.
The analysis also revealed greater variation in redemption value for specific flights and fare types. The overall range of observed values was 0.92 cpp to 1.72 cpp. Flights with characteristics associated with higher demand tended to have lower redemption values compared to lower demand flights.
Looking at observations by fare type, the highest redemption values were observed for the least expensive Basic fares, and the lowest redemption values were observed for the most expensive Choice Extra fares. The overall order from best to worst redemption value was Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra.
Because the 0.98 cpp for Choice Extra fares is so far below the cpp for other fare types, we believe that for many travelers, it’s more accurate to consider redemption value for the particular fare type(s) they would purchase. Alternatively, using a redemption value calculated by combining observations for Basic, Choice and Choice Preferred fare types may be a more useful metric for individuals who aren’t interested in Choice Extra fares. Mean and median values—excluding Choice Extra fares—were 1.29 cpp and 1.23 cpp, respectively.