We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

3 Quick tricks for free drinks on Southwest Airlines

  • 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.

    Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    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:

    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!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)