Get up to a 100% transfer bonus when you transfer Bilt Rewards to Southwest Rapid Rewards.

Analysis

Southwest lacks any partnerships for award redemptions. They have also been devolving the entire airline into a “me too” airline minus premium service or First Class cabins – or partner airlines for redemptions.

However, they do still have the famous Southwest Companion Pass which we show you how to earn for up to two full years, which gets you a companion on every flight paid with cash or points paying only their taxes and fees.

That can obviously amp up the value of a redemption!

With the caveat that I’d still rather use my own Bilt points (which I value at 1.8 cents each) for Hyatt, Alaska, or soon JAL for international premium cabin awards and luxury hotel stays, you might want to use for Southwest flights – especially if you have the Companion Pass.

Here’s how the baseline approximate values shake out:

● Platinum: 100% transfer bonus (2 Southwest points per 1 Bilt point) means a rough value of 2.5 cents per Bilt point on an average redemption. With a Companion Pass, that gets to around 5 cents per point. It’s hard to ignore that value – again, if you aren’t gunning for international premium cabin awards which these cannot get you.

● Gold: 75% transfer bonus = 2.185 cents per point (using the same formula as above) or around 4.4 cents using a Companion Pass.

● Silver: 50% transfer bonus = 1.875 cents per point (using the same formula as above) or around 3.75 cents using a Companion Pass.

● Blue: 25% transfer bonus = 1.56 cents per point (using the same formula as above) or around 3.12 cents using a Companion Pass.

However, before you get too excited (FIVE CENTS PER BILT POINT?!) – not so fast!! The Companion Pass applies to cash tickets all the same – so I leave it to you whether or not that counts in your calculation of whether you want to transfer or not. And you may not even have the Companion Pass!

Personally, I wouldn’t because I’d consider it no different than using cash meaning that if I’m Platinum, which I am, it’s 2.5 cents per point or just 0.7 cents more than my base value of a Bilt point.

As a Gold, you come out about .38 cents per point ahead of an average Bilt point redemption via transfer partners (as always, this isn’t the value you WILL get – it’s an approximation based on the various transfer partners).

At a Silver or Blue Bilt tier, you are below the Bilt point value and so that’s a no go for me.

Bottom line, if you are Platinum, have a Companion Pass, and fly Southwest often – this may well be a pretty darn nice transfer bonus!

If you are Gold with a Companion Pass…. it’s probably worth moving some?

If you are below Gold status with Bilt, I’d leave this one alone.

I hope that helps!