Chase × Southwest 30% Transfer Bonus: 1.66 CPP Through June 5

I just paid 77,000 Chase points for a $1,300 Southwest flight — and the reason it works ends June 5, 2026.

Disclosure: Some links in this post may earn a commission at no cost to you. It never changes which cards I recommend or the numbers I run.

Chase Ultimate Rewards is running a 30% transfer bonus to Southwest Rapid Rewards — the biggest Chase→Southwest bonus ever offered, and only the second one in more than five years. Most points content obsesses over earning points. This is the rarer, more valuable moment: a chance to redeem them at a rate that shows up roughly once every half-decade. Here's exactly how I used it, the math, and the two catches that can quietly cost you.

TL;DR

• The offer: Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Southwest Rapid Rewards and get 30% extra. 1,000 UR → 1,300 Rapid Rewards points.
• The window: May 15 → June 5, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. About three weeks, then it's gone.
• Eligible cards only: Chase Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, and Ink Business Preferred can transfer directly. Freedom/Ink Cash/Ink Unlimited holders must combine points first (free, instant).
• The value: Turns a mediocre ~1.27¢-per-point redemption into about 1.66¢ per Chase point — beating the Sapphire Reserve travel portal (1.5¢).
• My real redemption: 77,000 UR → 100,100 Rapid Rewards points → covered a $1,300 flight.
• Two catches: Bonus points don't count toward the Companion Pass or A-List status, and transfers are one-way — they can't go back to Chase.
• Golden rule: Find your exact flight on southwest.com first, then transfer only what you need.

What's actually happening

Chase periodically runs "transfer bonuses" — limited-time promos where your Ultimate Rewards points convert to a partner program at better than the standard 1:1 rate. Most partners (United, Hyatt, Air France/KLM) see these a couple times a year. Southwest almost never gets one. This 30% bonus is only the second Chase→Southwest transfer bonus in over five years, and at 30% it's the largest the two programs have ever run together — earlier bonuses topped out around 25%.

The mechanics are simple: during the promo window, every 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points you move to Southwest lands as 1,300 Rapid Rewards points. The minimum transfer is 1,000 UR, there's no cap on how many times you can do it, and the bonus points usually post instantly (Chase allows up to 7 days).

Why does a 30% bonus matter so much for Southwest specifically? Because Southwest awards are revenue-based — the points price tracks the cash fare. That makes Rapid Rewards points worth a fairly fixed ~1.27 cents each, no aspirational first-class redemptions to chase. A transfer bonus is the only lever that meaningfully moves that value, which is why this 22-day window is worth paying attention to even if you normally ignore Southwest.

The math (using my actual redemption)

Here's the booking I made, start to finish:

• I found a $1,300 Southwest flight (DCA → Dallas).
• I transferred 77,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest.
• The 30% bonus added 23,100 points → I received 100,100 Rapid Rewards points.
• Combined with a small leftover (~400 points already in my account), that covered the booking.

To value it correctly, divide the cash price by the Chase points I actually spent — not the Southwest points I received:

Southwest points run about 1.27¢ each in practice. The 30% bonus means every Chase point you transfer now buys 1.3 Southwest points — so 1.27¢ × 1.3 ≈ 1.66¢ of value per Chase point. On my specific flight it landed a touch higher, since that fare priced slightly above Southwest's average. Either way, here's how that stacks up against your other options for the same points:

Redemption method	Value per Chase point
Chase → Southwest with 30% bonus	~1.66¢ ⭐
Chase Sapphire Reserve travel portal	1.5¢
Chase → Southwest, no bonus (1:1)	~1.27¢
Chase Sapphire Preferred travel portal	1.25¢

The takeaway: during this window, transferring to Southwest beats redeeming through even the Sapphire Reserve's 1.5¢ portal. Outside this window, it's the worst of the four. That inversion is the whole story — and it expires June 5. If you're new to how Chase transfer partners work, I walk through the broader mechanics in how I booked an all-inclusive Cancun resort with Chase points.

Which Chase cards actually qualify

This is the single most misunderstood part of the offer, so read carefully. Only three Chase cards can transfer Ultimate Rewards points directly to Southwest:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Ink Business Preferred

If you only hold a Chase Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, Ink Business Cash, or Ink Business Unlimited, your points are not directly transferable to Southwest — even though they're "Ultimate Rewards points." That doesn't lock you out, though. The fix is one extra step:

1. In the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, combine (move) your points from the Freedom/Ink Cash/Unlimited card to a Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred account you also hold. This is free and instant.
2. Then transfer from that premium card to Southwest with the 30% bonus.

The catch within the catch: you must already hold one of the three transferable cards. Combining points only works between your own Chase accounts — you can't borrow someone else's premium card. If a Freedom is your only Chase card, you can't access this bonus at all this round.

Step-by-step: how to transfer

1. Log into your Chase Ultimate Rewards account.
2. Go to "Earn/Use" → "Transfer to Travel Partners."
3. Select Southwest Rapid Rewards.
4. Enter your Southwest Rapid Rewards member number and name — the name must match exactly on both sides.
5. Choose your transfer amount, in 1,000-point increments.
6. Confirm. The base points and the 30% bonus post to Southwest — usually instantly, up to 7 days per Chase's terms.

CRITICAL: Find your flight BEFORE you transfer

This is the section most write-ups skip, and it's the one that prevents the costliest mistake.

Southwest award prices are dynamic — they move with the cash fare, sometimes daily. A flight that costs 100,000 points today can be 130,000 next week if the fare jumps. And once your points are at Southwest, they cannot go back to Chase. Transfers are permanent and one-way.

So do it in this order, every time:

1. Find the exact flight you want on southwest.com and note the points price.
2. Check your existing Rapid Rewards balance.
3. Transfer only the difference you need — plus a tiny buffer (a thousand points or two) for fare wobble, not a big "just in case" cushion.
4. Book immediately, while the price you priced out is still live.

Transferring a big round number "to be safe" is how people end up with 40,000 orphaned Rapid Rewards points and no use for them. Transfer against a specific booking, not a hunch.

The two catches

1. Bonus points don't count toward the Companion Pass or A-List status. This is the big one for Southwest loyalists. Transferred points — base and bonus — do not count as qualifying activity toward the Companion Pass or A-List/A-List Preferred elite tiers. If you're chasing the Companion Pass, do not rely on this bonus to get there. Use credit-card spend or points earned directly through Southwest flights and partners for qualification, and reserve transferred points purely for booking trips.

2. Transfers are one-way. As covered above — industry standard, but worth stating plainly. Chase → Southwest only. There is no path back.

Stacking strategies: where the bonus actually pays

The 30% bonus rewards expensive redemptions and wastes itself on cheap ones. Because Southwest pricing is revenue-based, the dollar value you extract scales with the cash fare:

• Best uses: high-fare routes — transcontinental flights, peak-season holiday travel, and last-minute bookings where cash prices spike. That's where 1.66¢ per Chase point on a pricey ticket turns into real money.
• Worst uses: cheap sub-$200 hops. The points price is already low, so the bonus saves you very little in absolute terms — you'd be burning a once-in-five-years rate on a redemption that was never expensive.
• Stack with Southwest's own promos if any are live during the window (point sales, double-points offers) — these apply on the Southwest side and don't conflict with the Chase bonus.
• For award search, southwest.com is your tool. Southwest doesn't publish award space to third-party tools like Seat.Aero or ExpertFlyer, so don't bother — pricing lives on Southwest's own site.

FAQ

Does this stack with my Chase welcome bonus?

Yes. The transfer bonus and any card welcome bonus are separate offers. Earning a sign-up bonus and transferring points with the 30% bonus are completely independent.

Can I transfer business points from the Ink Business Preferred?

Yes — the Ink Business Preferred is fully eligible to transfer directly to Southwest with the bonus, same as the Sapphire cards.

I only have a Chase Freedom. Am I eligible?

Not directly. Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, Ink Business Cash, and Ink Business Unlimited can't transfer to Southwest on their own. You'd need to combine those points into a Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred you also hold, then transfer. No premium card, no access this round.

What if my Southwest flight gets canceled after I book with transferred points?

Southwest refunds the points to your Rapid Rewards balance — not back to Chase. You keep them in Southwest for a future booking, but they can't be reversed into Ultimate Rewards.

Should I transfer the maximum "just in case"?

No. Transfer only what a specific booking requires (plus a small buffer). Points are stuck at Southwest once moved, and a "just in case" cushion often becomes a stranded balance.

Do Ink Business Cash / Unlimited points work?

Yes, but only after you combine them into an Ink Business Preferred or a Sapphire card. On their own they're not transferable.

When will the next Chase→Southwest bonus come around?

Unknown — and possibly years away. The last one was over five years ago. Treat this as a now-or-maybe-never window, not something that'll be back next quarter.

What's the deadline again?

June 5, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. Transfers must complete within the window to earn the bonus.

Bottom line

If you hold a Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred and fly Southwest, this is a genuinely rare chance to redeem Chase points above their usual ceiling. Price your flight on southwest.com, transfer exactly what you need before June 5, and book it. Just keep the two catches in mind: bonus points won't build your Companion Pass, and there's no undo button once they leave Chase.

One thing I wouldn't do: open a new Chase card just to chase this bonus. The window is too short to earn and transfer a fresh welcome bonus in time, and the value math only works for points you already have. (If you're weighing a Sapphire card on its own merits, I ran the full return-on-spend numbers in May 2026's bonuses, ranked.)

Like breakdowns like this? I send one short email a week — no spam, no upsells. Subscribe below, or follow along on social for the short version.

---

Sources

• Chase — Ultimate Rewards transfer partners & current transfer bonuses
• Southwest — Rapid Rewards program details

This post is informational and not financial advice. Promotion terms, transfer ratios, and award pricing can change — verify current details with Chase and Southwest before transferring. Once transferred, points cannot be moved back to Chase.