nsx

40. Who earns the credits: the purchaser or the traveler? Can I combine credits from my family members? Do I earn credits when traveling on an award or on a Companion Pass?

a. (nsx) The traveler earns the credits, not the purchaser. For example, if your family of eight flies to Orlando, you will not earn a free trip. Southwest does not have family accounts, a la British Airways. You cannot combine family credits to earn an award. As a practical matter, infrequent fliers cannot earn awards on Southwest. Rapid Expiration is a significant weakness of Rapid Rewards relative to other airlines’ programs (except JetBlue).

b. (nsx) You do not earn credit on free flights, period. It might happen accidentally once in a blue moon on other airlines, but I have never seen this happen on Southwest.