3 Quick tricks for free drinks on Southwest Airlines

June 14, 2020 By Meghan Hunter

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

Southwest Airlines is famous for cheap flights, two free checked bags per passenger, the best cancelation policy in the business, and no blackout dates when you book flights with points. But you may not know these three Southwest tricks for free drinks!

Along with free drinks, you can earn rewards towards flights with the Southwest credit cards:

Wheels up and bottoms up on Southwest Airlines using these quick tricks for free drinks. (Photo by Carlos Yudica/Shutterstock)

How to get free drink coupons on Southwest Airlines

Trick #1: Take enough paid flights

Southwest will mail you four drink coupons after 10 paid one-way flights (or five round-trip). But…you’ve got to be opted-in. I’ll show you how.

Make sure you’ve opted-in for your drink tickets by first logging into your Southwest account and clicking the “My Preferences” box. Then just scroll down to “Travel.”

From there click the “Extras” box at the top right corner of the page.

Then you’ll have the option to select your free drink preferences.

You can either click “Yes” or “No” to drink vouchers, and save your selection by clicking the “Save” button.

Trick #2: Fly on certain dates

On certain special dates, Southwest treats you to a free beverage. But you may have to know it’s a free drink date and ask. Here are the dates as reported in various forums:

New Year’s Day
Valentine’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day
Mother’s Day
Father’s Day
Southwest’s Birthday – June 18
U.S. Independence Day
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Card’s Anniversary — August 7
Halloween
Thanksgiving

Note: Southwest can discontinue any of these dates. They might also add dates.

Trick #3: Hold a Southwest credit card

Southwest credit cardholders have reported getting free drink coupons in the mail on their 2nd card anniversary. On the various forums I’ve read, this one seems to be a bit hit or miss.

Officially, it looks like this doesn’t work any longer based on a tweet from Southwest. But you might get lucky.

Ways to earn Southwest points towards flights

Here are the best Southwest cards:

And don’t forget, the sign-up bonus points on these credit cards count towards earning the best deal in travel — the Southwest Companion Pass!

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

APPLY NOW

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

New Offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 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.
Earn 5x total points on air travel and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel
With Pay Yourself Back(SM), your points are worth 50% more during the current offer when you redeem them for statement credits against existing purchases in select, rotating categories
1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority PassTM Select and up to $100 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more

Intro APR on purchases

N/A

Regular APR

17.74% – 24.74% Variable

Annual Fee

$550

Balance Transfer Fee

Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater

Rates & Fees

Annual Fee $550

Other

Credit Needed Excellent

Issuer Chase

Card Type Visa

MORE INFO

Meghan Hunter

Contributor

Meghan Hunter is an editor for Million Mile Secrets. She covers points, miles, credit cards, airlines, hotels and general travel. Her work has also appeared in The Points Guy.