Can You Transfer Southwest Points to Another Person?

Many travelers ask this question when a family member, spouse, or friend is short on points for a flight. At first, transferring points sounds simple. However, once you understand the cost, you may find that booking the flight for someone else is often the smarter choice.

Can You Transfer Southwest Points to Another Person?

Southwest does allow Rapid Rewards members to transfer points to another member. The transfer must be made through Southwest, and the recipient must have an active Rapid Rewards account.

According to Southwest’s transfer rules, points can usually be transferred in blocks of 500 or 1,000 points, depending on whether a promotion is active. The minimum transfer is 2,000 points, and the daily maximum is 60,000 points.

Transfers are not instant in every case. Southwest notes that point transactions may take up to 72 hours to post to the recipient’s account.

How Southwest Points Transfers Work

To transfer Southwest points, you generally need:

Your Rapid Rewards account login
The recipient’s full name
The recipient’s Rapid Rewards account number
A valid credit card for the transfer fee

The process is simple. You log in to your Southwest account, go to the Buy, Gift, or Transfer Points section, choose the transfer option, enter the recipient’s details, select the number of points, pay the fee, and submit the request.

Once completed, the transfer is non-refundable and nonreversible. This means you should double-check all details before confirming the transaction.

How Much Does It Cost to Transfer Southwest Points?

This is where many travelers change their minds.

Southwest point transfers can carry a fee of around $5 for every 500 points transferred. That means transferring 10,000 points could cost around $100 in fees. Since Southwest points are often valued around 1.2 to 1.3 cents each, the transfer fee can take away much of the value.

For example, if 10,000 points are worth about $120 to $130 in flight value, paying about $100 just to transfer them usually does not make financial sense.

Is It Worth Transferring Southwest Points?

In most cases, no. Transferring Southwest points is usually not the best use of rewards because the transfer fee is high compared to the value of the points.

A better option is to use your Southwest points to book a flight directly for another person. Southwest allows members to redeem points for seats for themselves or others, which means you do not need to transfer points just because someone else is traveling.

This is usually the easiest and cheapest solution. You keep the points in your account, avoid the transfer fee, and still help the other person travel.

When Transferring Points May Make Sense

There are a few situations where transferring Southwest points may still be useful.

It may make sense if the recipient is only slightly short of points for an urgent booking. It may also help if you want the other person to control their own reservation from their account. In some cases, gifting points may feel more convenient than booking travel on someone else’s behalf.

Still, you should always compare the transfer fee against the value of the flight before moving points.

Do Transferred Points Count Toward Companion Pass?

No. Purchased, gifted, transferred, and donated Rapid Rewards points do not count toward A-List, A-List Preferred, or Companion Pass qualification.

This is important because many Southwest travelers collect points specifically to qualify for Companion Pass. If that is your goal, transferring points to another person will not help.

Can You Transfer Southwest Points to Another Airline?

No. Southwest does not allow Rapid Rewards points to be transferred to another airline loyalty program. Southwest is not part of a major airline alliance, so Rapid Rewards points are mainly designed for Southwest redemptions and select partner options.

Best Alternative: Book the Flight for Them

The best alternative to transferring points is simple: book the ticket for the other person from your own Rapid Rewards account.

This helps you avoid transfer fees while still using your points for someone else’s travel. The passenger can fly on the ticket, but the account holder remains responsible for making changes to the itinerary.

Final Thoughts

So, can you transfer Southwest points to another person? Yes, you can. But in most cases, it is not the smartest financial move.

Because of transfer fees, limits, and nonreversible transactions, travelers are usually better off booking flights directly for friends or family members using their own points. Transferring may only make sense when someone is just short of a booking or needs control of the points in their own account.

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