Southwest Airlines has the best program to earn free flights. Unlike other programs that require you to accumulate miles, Southwest requires you to collect flight credits. Most of the Mileage programs out there require you to accumulate 25000 miles to earn a free ticket. Therefore, if you travel from San Diego to Las Vegas, a distance of 300 miles, it would take you 40 roundtrips to Las Vegas to earn a free ticket. With Southwest, you get 1 flight credit for each trip, or 2 for a round trip. Therefore, if you fly to Las Vegas 8 times round trip, you get a free ticket! It gets better! If you purchase these tickets from their website, you get double credit. With SOUTHWEST, you can earn a Free ticket by booking FOUR roundtrips on their website.



Free Drinks Vouchers: With every ticket you are rewarded, Southwest sends you a coupon book with 12 vouchers for drinks. At $3 a drink, this is a pretty good freebie.

Companion Program. If you collect 100 credits in a year, Southwest automatically enrolls you in their Companion plan. Once you are in the companion plan, you can have a companion fly with you for free on every trip, even if the trip is the redemption of a free ticket. Here are the details from their website:

A Rapid Rewards Member who accumulates 100 credits within any 12 consecutive months becomes a Companion Reward Member and is eligible for a Companion Pass, which entitles a designated traveling companion to fly free with you for one year. (The Companion Pass is valid whenever your Companion checks in and travels on the same flight in the continental U.S., whether you are traveling on a fare-paid ticket or a Rapid Rewards Award Ticket.) You will automatically be notified of Companion Pass eligibility and be provided Companion Pass rules and instructions for designating your Companion. (You are limited to one Companion Pass at any time. Companion Reward membership must be earned every 12 months.)

Best Visa Rewards: I spend about thirty thousand dollars a month on my credit cards for business purchases. With most reward Visa programs, you need to spend $25000 to earn a free ticket. With Southwest, you earn a flight credit for every $1000 you spend, so you can get a free ticket for every $16000 you spend.


LIMITATIONS:

Flight selection and Partnerships. Southwest has no partnership with any other airlines, and therefore you are limited to fly where Southwest flies. They only offer flights to the Continental United States. Also, they do not fly to every major city. If you’re trying to get a free flight to New York City, you’ll have to arrive in Buffalo because Southwest does not fly into NYC.

Expiration of Credits: Many programs are removing the time limits for use of their miles. Southwest has very strict limitations. You must use any flight credit you have received within a year: Here are the details from their website:

Each credit is valid for 12 months from the date earned. Your Rapid Rewards account will contain only credits earned within the immediately preceding 12 consecutive months. If a credit is not applied toward an Award Ticket within 12 months of the date earned, it will be deleted from your Rapid Rewards account. Southwest Airlines reserves the right to cancel the membership of any Member with no credits in the account and who has earned no credits for at least 12 consecutive months.


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