Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping portal guide

You can start earning points toward your next Southwest flight without even leaving home.

If you’re already a Southwest Rapid Rewards member, you can use the Rapid Rewards Shopping portal to earn bonus points when you make purchases with participating online retailers.

Here’s more about how it works and how you can maximize your purchases to earn award flights with Southwest more quickly.

What is Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping?

Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Shopping portal works similarly to other shopping portals from airline and credit card loyalty programs.

You can choose from over 1,100 online stores, ranging from department stores to magazines and newspapers, sporting goods, tech and more. These retailers offer a certain number of points per dollar you spend, or reward a fixed amount of points per purchase. Many offers range from about 1 to 6 points per dollar spent.

What’s more, you can benefit from checking the portal regularly, since these offers change and retailers may offer extra points during certain periods.

Benefits of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping portal

• Earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points toward future travel with the airline
• Choose from a wide variety of merchants to find the deals that best work for your budget and needs
• Select your favorite stores and get email alerts when they offer extra points through the portal

How to sign up and access Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping

To access the Rapid Rewards Shopping portal, you must be a Southwest Rapid Rewards member. You can sign up for free on Southwest’s website.

Then, you can access the portal anytime at rapidrewardsshopping.southwest.com. You’ll need to use this site to click through to the retailer you’re shopping with each time so Southwest can track your points earned.

When you’re in the portal, you can search for specific stores, browse by points offerings, by category or by popularity.

You can also use the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping button, a browser extension that lets you skip clicking through the portal website altogether. The button will alert you when you’re shopping at an online store that offers extra points, and you can use it to activate the offer.

How to earn points through Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping

After clicking through the portal or activating a deal with the button and making your purchase, the points you earn will be credited to your Rapid Rewards account. There’s no limit to the number of points you can earn via the portal.

You shouldn’t expect to access them right away, though. The points will first post to your Rapid Rewards Shopping account within 15 days of the purchase, according to Southwest. Then, it may take an additional seven days for the points to appear in your Rapid Rewards account, where you can redeem them.

Like Rapid Rewards points you earn by traveling, spending with a Southwest credit card or via Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining, you’ll have a few different redemption options. These include Southwest flights, gift cards, merchandise, hotel stays and more.

Best credit cards for Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping

You can maximize your spending even further by choosing the right rewards credit card for your spending.

You don’t need a Southwest Airlines co-branded credit card to use the portal, but it can help you earn extra points over time as a Southwest Rapid Rewards member — both on your online portal shopping and everyday purchases. Another thing to consider is a card that instead offers rewards on online shopping or with the retailers you’ll be making your purchases with.

Here are a few different card options to consider when you’re shopping with the Rapid Rewards Shopping portal:

Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card charges a $69 annual fee and earns 2X points on Southwest purchases; Southwest hotel and car rental partners; local transit and commuting (including rideshares); internet, cable, phone and select streaming services.

You’ll get 1X points on everything else, including your non-eligible spending through the shopping portal. The card also comes with a 3,000-point bonus every year on your cardmember anniversary, 25 percent off eligible in-flight purchases, two early boarding upgrades per year and more.

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card

If you’re looking for a card to earn rewards on your spending, rather than banking more Southwest points, the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card may be another good option.

This no-annual-fee card allows you to opt into different rewards categories every quarter, so you can change where you earn the most cash back depending on your planned spending.

You’ll get 5 percent cash back in two categories of your choice (up to $2,000 in combined purchases per quarter, then 1 percent) plus 5 percent back on prepaid air, hotel and car reservations through the U.S. Bank Rewards Center. Choice categories include electronics stores, sporting goods stores, department stores, furniture stores and more. You’ll also earn 2 percent cash back in another category of your choice, between: gas and EV charging stations, restaurants and grocery stores. All other spending earns 1 percent back.