Southwest is currently allowing you to convert Southwest Travel Funds to Southwest points at a rate of 1.28¢ until December 15th. This means it’s actually possible to transfer flexible points to Southwest at a higher than normal rate.
- American Express:
- If you have the American Express Business Platinum card you receive a 35% rebate on points.
- Cancel the flight with Southwest
- Turn travel bank funds into Southwest points (should work out to be a transfer ratio of 1:1.2)
- Chase:
- If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card you can book travel with Southwest and get a value of 1.5¢ per point.
- Cancel the flight with Southwest
- Turn the travel bank funds into Southwest points (should work out to be a transfer ratio of 1:1.17)
- Citi:
- If you have the Citi Premier that was opened before April 10th, 2020 you get 1.25¢ per point until April 10th, 2021
- Cancel the flight with Southwest
- Turn travel bank funds into Southwest points (should work out to be a transfer ratio of 1:0.98)
I’d exercise extreme caution doing this with American Express because they have shut down accounts/clawed back points for less in the past.
Hat tip to SteveForDOC & FM
Is it just me or did all Southwest flights disappear from Citi’s Thank You travel site in the last few hours?
I think you have to call Citi to book SW flight.
Can someone confirm that Citi TYP book SW then cancel for Travel fund work, I did my booking but cancel option on SW web only show me that Travel fund will go back to Citi travel manager account, not my SW account.
Perhaps you’re right. I thought I saw them on there, but maybe I was hallucinating. Yeah, I think the ThankYou point angle doesn’t appear to work with this, but let us know if you find a way.
Kindnetfly – Any update on this? Were you ever able to successfully converst ThankYou points to Southwest points? Or did the travel funds end up back with Citi’s Travel company?
No, I don’t think citi booking works in this case, only booking direct from Southwest.com can be converted to points line Amex travel credit.
I cancelled and got refund for citi booking.
How do you book SW flights using Amex MR points? Then getting 35% back from Bus. Plat?
SW flights don’t show in Amex travel portal.
You have to call in and pay a $39 booking fee to be able to use the rebate.
See: https://consumer-travel.americanexpress.com/international-airline-program
“If you select Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or AirTran Airways, to receive your 35% Airline Bonus you must call Business Platinum Travel Service at 1-800-553-9497.”
While there were reports in the past of being able to get 1 CPP and the rebate by booking directly with Southwest (about 1.54 CPP) and calling in afterwards to redeem, this no longer appears to be the case based on my experience earlier this year.
While you could charge a flight to the Business Platinum Card directly with Southwest and redeem points against the charge, you won’t get the 35% rebate and I believe it redeems at a rate of 0.6 CPP.
So when you say book with CSR you mean through the portal and not as a transfer partner right?
I have $96 in travel funds that expire 12-20 from amex gold airline credit. Can I book a flight for slightly more, using my travel credit and few dollars on my CSR, then cancel. Once funds are issues convert to SW miles?
Yes, you can do exactly that.
Book a $99 flight. Cancel for travel credit. Wait a day until the travel credit shows an expiration of Sep 2022 and then it will allow you to convert to points.
Worked 100% thanks!
The terms on the conversion page say the funds being converted “must have originated from a ticket purchased on Southwest.com®, booked by a Southwest Airlines® Customer Service Agent, or approved by your employer” — wouldn’t booking a ticket through the Chase UR portal not qualify based on those terms?
Amextravel redeemed my MR at .66 CPP last time I tried. (2019 december.)
I would love to see different DPs but after several call a CSR told me where did you get the 1 CPP and I had to cancel the flights.
Woohoo. First DOC hat tip!
U can book on Southwest.com and redeem thank you for 1.25?
With Chase Sapphire Reserve, you could also buy Southwest gift cards at a grocery store or home improvement store and redeem points to cover the charge with Pay Yourself Back. That would avoid the step of having to call Chase Travel to book the flights, and would also earn an additional UR point per dollar for the spend. If bought at a grocery store with Fuel Rewards, it could also result in a good amount of free fuel.
Be careful with that. Soutwest is great but too much play might force them to review accounts and you can end up in a tough spot.
What you’re going to do might throw off their booking algorithms. Too many Cancelled flights MIGHT make them take an action and flag it as speculative booking. And your points will be tied to an account at risk.
They should have just announced this conversion after 9/7/20, the point where no new travel funds can get created. This was a one time courtesy to make travel funds more flexible. Of course, like all things like this people will push it to the limit and get what they deserve.
Travel funds can’t be created after 9/7/20? What happens then when you cancel a flight?
After 9/7 they would revert to the old policy of a year since you booked the ticket to use it. That’s what the fine print is saying. If you have travel funds that fall before cov you better book a flight with them quick.
Would probably also work with USB Altitude RtR at 1.5cpp
This might be a good way to cash out RtR if you fly SW.
Yup, should work.
How do u redeem thank you for southwest?