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Freedom Awards Fly freely with freedom awards
(As of February, 2010)
  1. Membership in Rapid Rewards will be granted by Southwest Airlines through enrollment as a Rapid Rewards Member.
  2. A Rapid Rewards Standard Award will be automatically deposited into your account once your 16th credit posts to your account during any consecutive 24-month period.
  3. One credit will be given for each Southwest Airlines flight flown. A flight is a one-way trip on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city, including any intermediate stops and/or connections on Southwest Airlines.
  4. To obtain credit for each Southwest Airlines flight, you may provide your Rapid Rewards account number when you make a reservation or provide it to the Southwest Airlines Customer Service Agent upon checkin at your originating city, prior to commencement of travel.
  5. Each credit is valid for 24 months from the date earned. Your Rapid Rewards account will contain only valid credits collected within the immediately preceding 24 consecutive months. If a credit is not applied toward an Award within 24 months of the date earned, it will be deleted from your Rapid Rewards account balance. 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.
  6. No credits will be issued to a Member if the name on the government-issued photo identification does not match the name on the Rapid Rewards account.
  7. The following are ineligible for credit in Rapid Rewards: nonrevenue (free) and service-charged tickets, unless specifically designated as eligible; charter flights; tradeout tickets; stops at intermediate cities on connecting or through flights; Rapid Rewards Awards; Rapid Rewards Companion Pass travel.
  8. Membership in the Rapid Rewards program is for individual travelers only. Individuals must enroll separately and may not pool or combine credits with other Members. Members are limited to one account. Corporations and other entities may not be enrolled as Members.
  9. Credits can only be earned by the person whose name appears in the Rapid Rewards account and who actually travels, regardless of who purchased or paid for the ticket. The membership card is nontransferrable, and photo identification will be required.
  10. Southwest Airlines permits minors (children under the age of 18) to become Members of the Rapid Rewards program. Awards received through the minor’s accumulation of Rapid Rewards credits will be deposited into the minor's account. Award notifications will be sent to the minor’s address on record (not necessarily the address of the parent who purchased the tickets for the minor). In a divorce situation, either parent or guardian who wishes to challenge the address on record will be required to provide Southwest Airlines with court orders indicating which parent or guardian has the legal right to establish the address of the minor.
  11. One (1) Rapid Rewards Standard Award or Freedom Award is valid for one roundtrip to any city Southwest Airlines serves in the continental U.S.
  12. Award travel must occur on scheduled service between origin and destination. If we do not offer scheduled service between any two cities, an unscheduled routing may be built. Unscheduled routings must be built using the most direct routes and the first available connecting flights. Arrival at destination must occur on the same day as departure from origin. An overnight stopover may not occur at any point between origin and destination. If an overnight stopover is scheduled, additional Award coupons must be used.
  13. All Standard Awards are valid for travel 12 months from the date of issue. Southwest Airlines is not responsible for and will not replace stolen Awards.
  14. All Rapid Rewards Awards are transferrable; however, Awards or Drink Coupons may not be sold, purchased, brokered, or bartered. The Awards and Drink Coupon Books have no cash value and are void if sold, purchased, brokered, or bartered. All transactions in the Rapid Rewards program are subject to review and adjustment by Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines will cancel the Member's account, A-List Membership (if applicable), Awards, and any associated reservations if misuse or violation of Rapid Rewards rules is suspected. It is also against Rapid Rewards rules to offer to buy or sell Awards via Internet auction sites or classified advertisements, whether the transaction is completed or not.
  15. Reservations are required prior to arrival at the airport for use of Standard or Freedom Awards and must be made through southwest.com or our toll-free reservations number at 1-800-248-4377. When making your reservation, please advise the Reservations Sales Agent that a Rapid Rewards Award will be used for travel. At the time of reservation, the government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 per roundtrip must be paid by credit card.
  16. Rapid Rewards Standard Awards are subject to seat restrictions, and seats will not be available for Standard Award travel on all flights on all days. It may be particularly difficult to secure a seat to popular destinations around holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, President’s Day, some weekends during Spring Break, Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day to popular destinations.
  17. If you ask to use an Award on a date for which no seats are available to the city you request, we will accommodate you on the nearest date for which seats are available.
  18. Effective November 8, 2007, Members can convert two (2) unused, unexpired Rapid Rewards Standard Awards from their account to one Rapid Rewards Freedom Award. Rapid Rewards Freedom Awards are not subject to seat restrictions when traveling on Southwest Airlines-only itineraries, but Freedom Awards are subject to holiday blackout periods during which they may not be used. Blackout dates are listed below:

    2010 BLACKOUT DATES
    JANUARY 3 JULY 2, 5
    MARCH 21, 26, 28 NOVEMBER 24, 28, 29
    APRIL 2, 5 DECEMBER 23, 24, 26, 30
    MAY 28
    2011 BLACKOUT DATES
    JANUARY 2 OCTOBER 16
    MARCH 13, 20, 25, 27 NOVEMBER 23, 26, 27, 28
    MAY 27 DECEMBER 23, 26, 30
    JULY 1
  19. When converting two (2) Rapid Rewards Standard Awards into one Rapid Rewards Freedom Award, the two Rapid Rewards Standard Awards must come from the same Member’s account. Awards from two or more separate accounts cannot be combined for a Freedom Award conversion. Once processed, the Rapid Rewards Freedom Award will be deposited into the Rapid Rewards account belonging to the Member who provided the two Rapid Rewards Standard Awards for conversion.
  20. Upon conversion of two Rapid Rewards Standard Awards to one Rapid Rewards Freedom Award, the Rapid Rewards Freedom Award will bear the expiration date of the earliest expiring Rapid Rewards Standard Award used for the conversion, with the following exception: at the time of conversion, for a fee, you can opt to prolong the validity of your new Rapid Rewards Freedom Award to 12 months from the date of conversion. See more information on
    Converting to a Freedom Award.
  21. Once two Rapid Rewards Standard Awards have been converted into one Rapid Rewards Freedom Award, the Rapid Rewards Freedom Award conversion cannot be reversed.
  22. A Rapid Rewards Member who accumulates 100 credits within any 12 consecutive months becomes eligible for a Companion Pass, which entitles a designated traveling Companion to fly free with you for one year on Southwest-operated service. (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.) Companion Pass travel has no blackout dates or seat restrictions. 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, however you may change your Companion up to three times during its validity period. Companion Pass eligibility must be earned every 12 months.)
  23. A Rapid Rewards Member who flies 32 qualifying one-way revenue flights in a 12-month period becomes eligible for Rapid Rewards’ A-List membership. Rapid Rewards’ A-List membership entitles the Member to reserved boarding privileges for 12 months, which means that Southwest Airlines will automatically reserve a boarding pass for the Member beginning 36 hours prior to each of the Member’s confirmed Southwest Airlines’ flights to ensure the Member will receive the best available boarding pass. An A-List Member will be eligible for receiving reserved boarding pass privileges only for flights he/she completes during his/her designated A-List membership period.
  24. Southwest Airlines will “reserve” boarding passes for A-List Members, but Members are still responsible for “printing” their boarding pass. Passengers who do not obtain a boarding pass and are not present and available for boarding in the departure gate area at least ten minutes prior to scheduled departure time may have their reserved space cancelled and will not be eligible for denied boarding compensation.
  25. A-List qualification is based on actual revenue flights flown, not Rapid Rewards credits earned. A qualifying flight that will count toward Rapid Rewards’ A-List membership is a one-way revenue flight on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city, including any intermediate stops and/or connections on Southwest Airlines.
  26. The following will not count toward Rapid Rewards' A-List membership qualification: Rapid Rewards Awards; Rapid Rewards Companion Pass travel; Rapid Rewards Preferred Partner credits; bonus Rapid Rewards credits, unless specifically designated as such; nonrevenue (free) and service-charged tickets, unless specifically designated as eligible; stops at intermediate cities on connecting or through flights; charter flights; tradeout tickets.
  27. For a Member with Rapid Rewards’ A-List membership to receive reserved boarding privileges, the Member must include his/her Rapid Rewards account number in his/her reservation at least 36 hours prior to checkin. Reserved boarding privileges will be provided for A-List Members for both revenue and Rapid Rewards Award travel on Southwest Airlines-operated flights as long as the above requirement is met.
  28. Reserved boarding privileges will not be provided in instances where the A-List Member’s reservation meets any of the following criteria: reservations booked less than 36 hours prior to scheduled departure; changes made to an existing reservation less than 36 hours prior to a scheduled flight; standby travel on a different flight than what was originally confirmed; flights taken after a Member’s A-List membership expires. Irregular operations may also affect A-List membership benefits.
  29. Reserved boarding privileges will only be provided for A-List Members. If an A-List Member is traveling on a multiple-passenger reservation, reserved boarding privileges will not be provided for non-A-List Members in the same reservation. For A-List Members who are also Companion Pass Holders, reserved boarding privileges will not be provided for the Member’s designated Companion unless he/she is also an A-List Member.
  30. All qualifying A-List Members have access to Fly By priority checkin and priority security lanes where available. You must present your A-List Membership card to access Fly By lanes.
  31. In addition to Awards, Southwest Airlines may from time to time offer "bonus" awards or credits, partnership programs, or promotional incentives for Rapid Rewards Members' use, such as Drink Coupon Books, rental car discounts, hotel discounts, or discounts at recreational parks. Such offers are not a part of the program’s formal award structure and may be temporary. Southwest Airlines reserves the right to modify or eliminate such offers at any time. The offers are void where prohibited by law.
  32. Address or name change requests may be submitted in writing to Rapid Rewards, P.O. Box 36657, Dallas, Texas 75235. The written request must contain your Rapid Rewards membership number, along with photocopies of legal documentation (ex. Driver’s license, marriage certificate, etc.) and an informal letter indicating your legal name. Please allow four weeks to receive your updated Rapid Rewards membership card. You may also update your address by visiting MySouthwest® at southwest.com. Simply create a password so you can access your account and change your account information at your convenience. Please note that name change requests cannot be made online.
  33. Southwest Airlines periodically updates Rapid Rewards mailing addresses automatically through change of address forms submitted to the U.S. Postal Service. In addition, Southwest Airlines may, from time to time, share information about Rapid Rewards Members with other businesses, who may make special offers available through direct contact. If you do not want your address updated by this means, you must notify Rapid Rewards either by phone or in writing.
  34. Online enrollment requires that an e-mail address be provided. Award notification will be sent via e-mail to the e-mail address in the Member’s Rapid Rewards account. If an e-mail address is not provided, Award notification will be mailed to the address of record. Rapid Rewards Members are responsible for notifying Rapid Rewards immediately of any change of e-mail or physical address. If you prefer to receive your Award notification via e-mail, simply login to your Rapid Rewards account and add an Account E-mail Address.
  35. Southwest Airlines is not responsible for lost or stolen membership cards. Requests for replacement cards can be made over the telephone by calling Reservations at (800) 248-4377 or in writing. Requests made in writing should include your signature and account number and can be mailed to: Rapid Rewards, P.O. Box 36657, Dallas, Texas 75235-1657.
  36. Companion Pass and Award travel is subject to a government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 per roundtrip. The fee must be paid by credit card when the reservation is made. Any additional tax liability, if imposed, is the responsibility of the Award or Companion Pass traveler.
  37. All Rapid Rewards membership cards are the property of Southwest Airlines and must be surrendered upon request.
  38. Rapid Rewards membership cards are not credit cards.
  39. All taxes, user fees, and airport Passenger Facility Charges that may be imposed on Awards or on Award travel are the responsibility of the recipient.
  40. Southwest Airlines reserves the right to amend, suspend, or terminate this program at any time, with 30 days' notice.
  41. If you have any questions regarding this program, you may call 1-800-248-4377.
  42. Travel on Rapid Rewards Awards will be subject to the tariff, contract of carriage, ticket terms, and reaccommodation policies of the carrier on which travel is scheduled and may also be subject to the Warsaw Convention or its successor. You can view the operating carrier’s contract of carriage at the operating carrier’s web site.
* Travel is free, but is subject to the government–imposed September 11th security fee of up to $10 per roundtrip.