• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home » American Express » 50% Off Southwest Bookings With American Express Platinum
American ExpressSouthwest Airlines

50% Off Southwest Bookings With American Express Platinum

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 20, 2017April 21, 2017 5 Comments

This is not clickbait–I learned something new yesterday that may help Southwest flyers save some change.

The American Express Business Platinum card offers 50% points back when you use your points to book through the AMEX travel portal. Thus, instead of getting one cent per point, you receive two. Spend 40,000 points on a ticket and you’ll get 20,000 back into your account.

American Express Southwest

But you never see Southwest in the search results. Indeed, Southwest tightly controls its booking distribution channels. Thus, I assumed that American Express points could not be used to book with Southwest. But yesterday I noticed this–

 American Express Southwest Bonus

So you can use your points to get 50% back on Southwest, Frontier and Spirit even though you will not see those results online. If this is how you spend your points, it may make more sense to use the AMEX Plat than a Southwest credit card which only earns one point per dollar on all non-Southwest purchases. (Downside: harder to get the Companion Pass).

Let me give a small plug for the AMEX travel agents as well. While some are apathetic, some are highly skilled and can book complicated mixed cabin bookings that are hard to build using an online travel agency and impossible using the AMEX online portal.

Remember, that if you book with AMEX, you’ll still earn Southwest points for your flight. Those points are worth 1.5 cents each, a pure revenue-based valuation that correlates with the current fare.

What about Mixed Carrier Bookings?

Say you book a ticket that is United is one direction and American in the other (it happens). Do you still get 50% off? AMEX told me it is the issuing carrier that counts. So if you chose United as your 50% back partner, you’ll get the points back only if United issues the ticket. If AA issues the ticket, you will get zero points back. How do you know? It is often not clear. The fare rules may be revealing, but sometimes you just have to wait for the ticket number to arrive and see what it starts with.

Remember that all premium tickets (business/first class) regardless of carrier get you 50% Membership Rewards points back.

CONCLUSION

While Southwest works for many people, I still recommend that you stockpile your points and use them for special trips. Premium cabin redemptions often represent a far greater value than domestic economy bookings and make aspirational travel possible for people like me who would otherwise not spend thousands on a pricey ticket.

But Southwest (and Frontier and Spirit) are available if you want to use AMEX points to book travel.

Get Daily Updates

Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts! We never sell your info.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Previous Article Arrogant U.S. Carriers Rejoice in Mocking Emirates
Next Article Review: Austrian Airlines 767 Business Class from Beijing to Vienna

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • Southwest Airlines Checked Bags

    Suicide: Southwest Airlines Eliminates Free Checked Baggage

    May 27, 2025
  • Southwest Airlines Gunfire Dallas

    Southwest: Investor Forced Changes But Killed The Airline

    March 16, 2025
  • Intoxicated Southwest Airlines Passenger

    Entitled Southwest Airlines Passenger Demands New Flight

    March 15, 2025

5 Comments

  1. Mike L Reply
    April 20, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    You can also call Chase to book Southwest tickets at the 1.5cpp valuation if you have the Sapphire Reserve card, even though it won’t show up in the Ultimate Rewards portal.

    • James Reply
      April 20, 2017 at 12:38 pm

      Yea but SW points are already valued around 1.5 so your breaking even transferring to SW loyalty program versus having to inconveniently call Chase to book the Southwest tickets.

      I just checked my Reno trip and instead of having to use 16.7k UR, it will only cost me 13.9k MR. Winner winner.

      • Eric Heaps Reply
        April 20, 2017 at 1:02 pm

        If your options are chase transfer or chase UR portal, remember you still can still EARN SW points if you book with UR and wipe the charge with points. Transferring, assuming similar value, may not always be the best option.

  2. Randy H Reply
    April 20, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    1.67 cents per point for Southwest points? That was 4 years ago, when they converted at 60 points per dollar; Southwest devalued them to 70 points per dollar 3 years ago. They still have the advantage that the points can be redeposited without penalty.

  3. paul Reply
    April 25, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    That’s a great tip. Using points for short flights on SW doesn’t seem to make sense, but, for example, LAX to Costa Rica, yeah, then it would totally make sense. Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for May

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 100,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • United JetBlue Strategy
    Analysis: United Hopes To Contain Delta, Suppress American With JetBlue Partnership May 29, 2025
  • JetBlue United Blue Sky
    Details: New JetBlue – United “Blue Sky” Partnership Includes JFK Slots, Reciprocal Loyatly Perks May 29, 2025
  • Eurowings Real Business Class
    Eurowings Plans “Real” A320neo Business Class Seat On Medium-Haul Flights May 29, 2025
  • Turkey Fine Passengers Unbuckle
    Impatient Flyers, Beware: Turkey Will Fine You For Standing Up Too Soon May 28, 2025

Categories

Popular Posts

  • United Airlines Polaris Lounge Chicago Review
    Review: United Polaris Lounge Chicago (ORD) May 1, 2025
  • a hand holding a blue card
    Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K Bonus Offer Ending Soon May 2, 2025
  • Aegean Airlines Feast
    A Feast Fit For A King On Aegean Airlines May 23, 2025
  • United American O’Hare gate dispute
    United Airlines To American Airlines: Fly More, Sue Less May 6, 2025

Archives

May 2025
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Apr    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss
Privacy Policy © Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.