Earn Up to 30,000 Southwest Points Renting Cars With Turo (Often Better Cars, Cheaper)

Southwest Airlines and peer-to-peer rental car company Turo have a new partnership to earn up to 30,000 Rapid Rewards points.

  • 2,000 points after your first trip (minimum $50)
  • 500 points for each additional trip (minimum $50)
  • 10,000 points the first time you rent out your own car (minimum $50).

Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth about 1.5 cents apiece in travel. So 2000 points is worth $30 in travel, a hefty rebate on a modest rental.

Pocketing $150 in Southwest travel (10,000 points) from renting your car out is huge, it could make sense to rent it to a friend for $50++ since for the net cost of transaction charges they’d pocket 2000 points and you’d have 10,000. Bear in mind that the ‘trip fee’ can be up to 25% of the rental rate, and some jurisdictions impose taxes. Also note that cars will usually have a mileage maximum included, with additional mileage charged.

You’ll want to link your Southwest and Turo accounts before booking or listing.

(HT: @elliott_wdc)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Comments

  1. Watch out for renting from Turo if you expect your credit card insurance to cover you. Chase coverage specifically excludes Turo rentals. My auto insurance carrier wouldn’t give me a straight answer as to whether I’d be covered either. If you have an accident in a Turo vehicle, the only coverage that is certain is that the owner of the car isn’t liable, but *you* may be fully liable.

    Given the coverage uncertainty, I won’t be renting from Turo.

Comments are closed.