Update April 1, 2014: This post was written before Southwest's massive devaluation. Now you need 70 points per dollar for Wanna Get Away? fares instead of 60. Now Rapid Rewards are worth about 1.45 cents each.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points are worth 1.69 cents per point. Unlike my calculation of the value of an Avios, the valuation of a Rapid Rewards point does not change based on where you live or your flying preferences because Rapid Rewards is a fixed-value award program.

In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the Avios program and how it compared to the AAdvantage program (another oneworld program.) In Part 2, we built on the rules of the Avios program to discover what awards they imply are the best values. In Part 3, we valued 20 specific Avios awards. And in the final post, I'm putting an exact value on an Avios.

In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the Avios program and how it compared to the AAdvantage program (another oneworld program.) In Part 2, we built on the rules of the Avios program to discover what awards they imply are the best values. In Part 3, we’ll value specific Avios awards. In Part 4, I'll put a number on an Avios.

In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the Avios program and how it compared to the AAdvantage program (another oneworld program.) In Part 2, we'll build on the rules of the Avios program to discover what awards they imply are the best value

Figuring out the value of your frequent flier miles is crucial for determining whether an award is a good deal, whether you should book a specific trip with cash or miles, which credit card bonus to sign up for, and which airlines to book an award on if you have several options. Perhaps because it can seem daunting to precisely calculate the value of a mile, I have seen no systematic attempts to do so mathematically. Luckily the formula is actually quite simple, and I've created an even simpler calculator at the bottom of this post.