3 Quick tricks for free drinks on Southwest Airlines
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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:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
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:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
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®
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.
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, 50,000 points are worth $750 toward travel
With Pay Yourself Back℠, 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 Pass™ Select and up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry 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
16.99%-23.99% Variable
Annual Fee
$550
Balance Transfer Fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater
Rates & Fees
Other
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