Southwest Rapid Rewards Devaluation
Southwest Airlines has a notice in this months Rapid Rewards statement regarding a small devaluation of the program.
Southwest award tickets are priced based on the cash value of that same ticket. Rapid Rewards points are valued at about 1.4 cents-per-point. That means that if a flight costs $140, then you would be able to book it with 10,000 Rapid Rewards points. That might vary slightly based on routes.
Southwest says that starting on January 1, 2024, the number of Rapid Rewards points required per dollar of base fare will increase by approximately 4%. This change will not affect flights booked before that date, even if travel takes place next year.
So with this 4% increase, that same $140 flight that we took as an example above, will cost 10,400 Rapid Rewards points starting next year. That’s not a huge devaluation, but it is a devaluation nonetheless. That brings the value of Rapid Rewards points to about 1.35 cent each.