Since launching in 2021, Bilt Rewards points have been considered one of the most valuable transferable points currencies, right up there with the likes of American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Not only can you earn points for paying your rent every month, but Bilt also provides a flat 1:1 transfer ratio for all but one of its 18 transfer partners (the exception being Accor Live Limitless, which has a 3:2 transfer ratio).
Unfortunately, Southwest Rapid Rewards is not one of the 13 airline loyalty programs Bilt counts as partners, so you can’t transfer Bilt Rewards points directly between them. (Southwest is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, so you can transfer Chase points to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio.)
Thankfully, there are still a few ways to get around this and redeem your hard-earned Bilt points for (nearly) free flights on Southwest Airlines. For starters, you could book your trip directly through the Bilt Travel Portal, which would allow you to put all or just a portion of your points toward a flight booking.
Alternatively, you can convert Bilt points to Southwest via one of Bilt and Southwest’s mutual hotel partners — Marriott Bonvoy or World of Hyatt. That said, the transfer ratios aren’t nearly as lucrative as the usual 1:1 ratio would be with other loyalty programs.
Whether you’re new to the world of points and miles or are practically a pro, here’s everything you need to know about redeeming Bilt points for flights on Southwest Airlines.
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Booking Southwest flights by using the Bilt Travel Portal
On the bright side, using the Bilt Travel Portal to redeem points for flights, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, and other parts of your trip is fairly straightforward. Since it’s powered by Expedia, you’ll have a wider range of airlines and hotels to redeem points with, since it’s not limited to just Bilt’s travel partners.
However, since Bilt points have a fixed redemption rate of 1.25 cents per point, you might end up getting slightly less value than you would if you transferred points directly to a partner program at a 1:1 ratio. But if you prefer to fly with Southwest Airlines, putting your points toward free flights could still be worthwhile.
First, you’ll need to log into the Bilt Rewards app or open up the Bilt Travel Portal on your preferred browser — the screenshots below are from the website, though the app offers a similar booking experience. Start by clicking on “Flights” and entering your preferred departure and arrival cities and travel dates. Then, press the search button.
For this example, let’s find a one-way Southwest Airlines flight from Washington, D.C. (DCA) to Tampa (TPA) in early May. The results page, pictured below, shows a brief overview of all available points and miles options, plus the cash rates, to compare.
While a few Southwest flights appeared near the top of the page, you also have the option to filter results by carrier. Just click on “Airline,” then tick the “Southwest Airlines” box and hit the “Apply” button to narrow those results.
Choosing the first flight, offered for $114 or 9,158 Bilt points, reveals that this is the Wanna Get Away fare. Details and restrictions regarding checked and carry-on bags, as well as ticket refund options, are listed below.
By scrolling to the right, you can also see how much other Southwest fares cost. Wanna Get Away Plus tickets are available for $134 or 10,759 points, while Anytime tickets will run you $194 or 15,558 points, and Business Select tickets cost $244 or 19,558 points.
Let’s choose the Wanna Get Away ticket for $114 or 9,158 points. The final booking page rings up your total price in cash, but if you want to pay with points, scroll down.
In the “Payment” section, you can toggle the slider to choose how many points you want to put toward your flight redemption. You can use them all or just a portion. To use all your points, slide it all the way to the right. Here’s what it looks like if I just want to redeem 5,000 Bilt points and pay the remaining $51.98 in cash, for example.
The remaining balance will be calculated for you to pay in cash and outlined on the top right portion of the screen. Once you’ve filled out the rest of your passenger and billing information, press the “Complete Booking” button to finalize your purchase.
If you opted to use only Bilt points to book this Wanna Get Away flight, it would have cost a total of 9,158 points. For comparison, the same one-way trip is listed on Southwest’s website for $115 or 8,000 points, while Wanna Get Away Plus trips cost $135 or 9,500 points, Anytime fares cost $195 or 13,500 points, and Business Select fares are $245 or 21,000 points.
Keep in mind that each of the Southwest flights also requires you to pay $5.60 in taxes and fees, whereas the Bilt Travel Portal redemption includes those additional fees.
In this example, there’s a difference of 1,158 points for that same Wanna Get Away fare (or 1,259 points for the Wanna Get Away Plus ticket, or 2,058 points for the Anytime fare) so if you’ve got Bilt points to spare, it may be worth it to book via the travel portal.
Interestingly, the Business Select fare is being offered for 19,558 points in the Bilt Travel portal, while the same seat would cost 21,000 Rapid Rewards points via Southwest’s website. So, it would cost you 1,442 fewer points if you booked it through Bilt Rewards.
Booking Southwest flights by using Bilt points on partners
Let’s start with the bad news: Southwest doesn’t have any airline partners. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of its hotel partners. And since two of them — Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt — also happen to be Bilt partners, you can use either one as a middleman to indirectly convert Bilt points into Southwest Rapid Rewards.
The good news is that your initial points transfer, from Bilt Rewards to either Marriott Bonvoy or World of Hyatt, happens at a 1:1 ratio. After that, however, the transfer rates to Rapid Rewards aren’t so hot — 3:1 from Marriott Bonvoy or 5:2.4 from World of Hyatt — so that’s why this method is recommended as a last resort.
If you’re a member of any other transferable points program — for instance, American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, or Citi ThankYou Rewards — it might be worth “pooling” points from any of those to a common hotel partner (Marriott Bonvoy or World of Hyatt, depending on the program). That way, you’d have more points to transfer over to Southwest Rapid Rewards to soften the blow.
It’s also a good idea to have a redemption in mind and double-check award availability, as the process can’t be reversed once your points are transferred from Bilt Rewards.
Bilt Rewards Partner: Marriott Bonvoy
The first thing you’ll need to do is log into your Bilt Rewards account and make sure your Marriott Bonvoy account is linked. If it’s not, simply follow the onscreen instructions to verify your identity and get those connected. When you’re ready to transfer your Bilt points, choose ”Rewards,” then “Transfer” from the tabs at the top of the page. Lastly, select “Hotels” to bring up the list of available partners.
From here, click on the “Transfer” button under Marriott Bonvoy. The next page will ask how many Bilt points you’d like to convert (in 1,000-point increments, up to 500,000 per day) and list any minimum transfer requirements (1,000 for Bilt Silver status and higher or 2,000 for Bilt Blue members).
Remember that you’re going to have to convert your points from Marriott Bonvoy to Southwest at a 3:1 transfer ratio in the next step, so pick an amount that is 3X the final amount you’ll need. For instance, if my redemption requires a total of 25,000 Rapid Rewards points, I’d have to convert 75,000 points from Marriott Bonvoy to cover it. I would end up scoring an extra 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points I transfer from Marriott Bonvoy to Southwest, so that’s a nice perk.
Click “Next” and review your transfer details, check the terms and conditions box at the bottom, and finally, “Confirm transfer.”
Note that it can take up to 48 hours for the first transfer to take place. Once they hit your Marriott account, click on this link, choose “transfer points,” and log in (you might also have to verify your identity with a code).
Next, choose Southwest Rapid Rewards from the Frequent Flyer Program drop-down menu, and enter your membership number and how many points you want to transfer.
On the last page, fill in any additional details, then click “Transfer points now.” It should go through immediately or within 24 hours.
Bilt Rewards Partner: World of Hyatt
The process is pretty similar for transferring Bilt points to World of Hyatt, then to Southwest. The only difference is that the conversion rate is 5:2.4. In other words, you’ll get just 2,400 Rapid Rewards points for every 5,000 World of Hyatt points you transfer.
Follow the same steps as above to log into your Bilt account and transfer points to Hyatt — just make sure you calculate how many points you’ll need to convert to hit the total for your Southwest redemption.
The initial transfer should happen within 72 hours. Once that happens, log into your World of Hyatt account and go to this page to complete the points-transfer process.
You’ll need to transfer at least 5,000 Hyatt points, and you can earn 5,000 bonus points by converting at least 50,000. Click on “Terms and Conditions” to view the rules for transferring Hyatt points to Southwest; you’ll get 2,400 Rapid Rewards points for every 5,000 Hyatt points.
Just beneath that is where you can choose Southwest Airlines for the transfer, enter your membership number, and select how many points you wish to transfer. Click “Review your conversion” to continue.
Next, the screen will show all your final details and the amount of points you’ll get. Click “Confirm” to finalize the transfer.
Be aware that Southwest’s website states it might take up to six weeks for points to transfer from World of Hyatt, so it’s best to do this far in advance, just in case.
The best Southwest flights to book using Bilt points
The “best” flight redemption is going to depend on whatever your personal travel needs are. The more flexible your schedule is, the better, as you’ll be able to take advantage of any sweet spots on Southwest’s Low Fare Calendar. This feature allows you to search by month, choose the cheapest option, and pay for your flights in cash or with points.
Though it depends on your destination and the time of year, you’ll end up getting the best value for your points by booking shorter one-way flights between major cities — for example, between Phoenix (PHX) and Las Vegas (LAS) or Los Angeles (LAX).
A sample search for a one-way flight from Phoenix (PHX) to Las Vegas (LAS) in May 2025, for example, revealed options from 5,500 Rapid Rewards points, plus $5.60 in taxes and fees. The cash value for that same flight was $79.48, which means you’d be getting a value of about 1.3 cents per point for this redemption.
Since Southwest Airlines also serves international routes, you could end up saving on trips from Southern California or South Florida to Mexico and the Caribbean.
A recent sample search for one-way flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Los Cabos (SJD) in September showed trips from 7,500 Rapid Rewards points each way (plus $5.60 in taxes) or $180.03 in cash. That translates to a value of roughly 2.3 cents per point — a steal if your schedule is flexible enough to let you leave on one of those two dates.
You’ll also find some sweet spots on flights to Hawaii, especially from the West Coast. Southwest flies to Honolulu (HNL), Kona (KOA, Hilo (ITO), Lihue (LIH), and Maui (OGG).
A quick search for one-way flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Honolulu (HNL) revealed flights from 9,000 Rapid Rewards points (plus $5.60 in taxes) or $154 in cash. That translates to a redemption value of roughly 1.6 cents per point.
How point.me helps you book Southwest flights with Bilt points
Point.me makes it easy to find the best possible flight redemption for your travel and financial needs. Start by searching for your travel dates, preferred airports/cities, and the class you want to fly in. Then, narrow down your results by filtering for your preferred airlines or any credit card loyalty programs you’re a member of.
Point.me shows you all the taxes and fees, plus the total amount of points you’ll need to transfer. It also offers comparable cash fares, so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal available.
Frequently asked questions about booking Southwest flights with Bilt points
Can I use Bilt points for Southwest flights?
You can use Bilt points for Southwest flights, though the process is not as straightforward, since the two programs are not travel partners. The easiest option is to simply use Bilt points to book Southwest flights directly through the Bilt Travel Portal, which is powered by Expedia. Your points are worth 1.25 cents each toward the cost of a Southwest flight.
You can also transfer Bilt points indirectly to Rapid Rewards, through a mutual travel partner — in this case, either Marriott Bonvoy or World of Hyatt. The transfer rate isn’t the most lucrative. You could transfer Bilt points to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1 ratio, then from Marriott Bonvoy to Rapid Rewards at a ratio of 3:1. Similarly, you could transfer Bilt points to World of Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio, then from World of Hyatt to Rapid Rewards at a transfer ratio of 5:2.4.
What other airlines can I transfer Bilt points to?
Bilt Rewards partners with 13 airlines that accept transfers of Bilt points. They include Alaska Airlines, Avianca Lifemiles, United MileagePlus, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Red (Virgin Atlantic Flying Club), Emirates Skywards, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Iberia Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Aer Lingus AerClub, Air Canada Aeroplan, and TAP Miles&Go.
Can I partially pay for a Southwest flight with Bilt points?
Yes, you can partially pay for a Southwest flight with Bilt points. Simply use the slider at the end of your purchase in the Bilt Rewards Travel Portal to choose how many Bilt points you’d like to put toward your flight. You can redeem the full amount or just a portion. If you opt for the latter, the remaining balance will be calculated for you to pay in cash.
Summary
Redeeming Bilt points for (nearly) free Southwest Airlines flights may take a little extra effort since the two loyalty programs aren’t direct partners, but it’s not impossible. By booking your trip directly through the Bilt Travel Portal or using one of their mutual hotel partners — namely, Marriott Bonvoy or World of Hyatt — as a middleman, you can still make it happen, even if the redemption rates aren’t exactly ideal (3:1 or 5:2.4, via each program, respectively). Even so, knowing how to navigate these kinds of tricky non-partner redemptions can still lead to a free flight or two if you plan it just right.
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