You can earn 1,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points just for doing your taxes

Jan. 25, 2020

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3 min read

You can earn 1,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points just for doing your taxes

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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card

In case you haven't heard yet, it's tax filing season, and Southwest Airlines is making everyone's least-favorite time of year a little less painful by rewarding anyone who files with TurboTax with 1,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points. All you have to do is go through the Rapid Rewards shopping portal.

The bonus is available across various versions of TurboTax including the free edition, TurboTax Deluxe, TurboTax Premier, TurboTax Self-Employed and TurboTax Live. Just be sure to file by the April 15th deadline.

While 1,000 Rapid Rewards points isn't the most lucrative offering, it can certainly help top off your account or build up your balance further. Bottom line: If you already planned to file your taxes through TurboTax, there's no reason to not claim your bonus points. All it takes is one additional easy step.

You can expect to see your bonus points post within eight weeks.

Unfortunately, the bonus doesn't count towards A-List, A-List Preferred or Companion Pass qualification. However, it could ultimately lead to an award booking.

Even though these bonus points don't count towards earning the coveted Companion Pass, there's still a strategy that you can pursue that will help you earn it quickly.

Just this past October, Southwest upped the ante and is now requiring travelers to earn 125,000 points instead of 110,000. One of the easiest methods for earning the pass is by signing up for a co-branded credit card, like the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card which all offer an up to 75,000-point welcome bonus; earn 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months, plus an additional 35,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.

And if you're considering making Southwest your airline of choice, here's exactly why you should do that, courtesy of TPG's very own Aviation Queen and Southwest fan, Benèt Wilson.

Featured image by A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 parked at BWI Airport. (Photo by Benét J. Wilson / The Points Guy)

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.