If you haven't signed up for the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Program, you can sign up for an account for free. The account tracks your flights/points and offers different ways to earn points. You can also redeem your points for other things and not just on flights. Sign up for an account here.

The quickest and easiest way to earn points. I've had my Southwest credit card for years and it's the main reason how I've been flying for free several times throughout the year. I highly recommend waiting for a credit card sign up bonus to sign up for the credit card if you don't have one yet. The best sign up bonuses are 50,000 points or more and/or the companion pass. Click here to sign up for the Southwest Airlines credit card with my referral code (as of 4/27/22, the sign up bonus is 40,000 points after spending $1,000).

*The Companion Pass is a Southwest Airlines benefit that allows you to designate one person as your companion and they get to fly with you on any Southwest flight that you book FOR FREE (but they do still have to pay the tax).

As part of the Southwest Rapid Rewards program, you can earn rapid reward points through purchases such as dining. See more information on the website here. With Rapids Rewards Dining, you can link a debit or credit card to your Rapid Rewards account and dine in at the restaurants participating in the Rapid Rewards program. You will earn points per every dollar spent at the restaurant. You can use the website to locate participating restaurants and see which restaurants have special offers where you can earn bonus points. If you dine out a lot, this is a great way to earn points.

Another great way to earn points is by booking hotels through Southwest's booking.com portal. Most of the time, booking through Southwest Airlines is cheaper than booking directly through the hotels (make sure you compare the prices to get the best deals). Many hotels have partnered up with Southwest Airlines where you can earn points for staying at those hotels. They usually range from 1,000-12,000 points but when there are promotions, you can earn much more. Points are generally based on how expensive the hotels are but for reference, a $400 stay earned me 4,000 points. Book your next hotel through Southwest here.

You can also earn points by booking car rentals through Southwest. I have found some really good deals on car rentals through Southwest such as a $20/day car rental in Utah. A really good benefit with booking through Southwest is that you don't have to prepay in advance when making a reservation so you can easily cancel or change your reservation. Take a lot at their car rental offers and deals here.

Last but not least, you can book hotels through Rocketmiles as another alternative to Southwest Hotels. Similar concept where you can earn points for each hotel stay. Rocketmiles also works with other loyalty programs too and not just Southwest so if you're part of another loyalty program that offers better points, you can definitely choose your points to go to that program/account instead.