Southwest Will Give You Up to 10,000 Travel Points for Doing Something Surprisingly Simple

Southwest Airlines wants you to disconnect from your phone and is paying you to do it. Southwest Airlines' new campaign, Enter Airplane Mode , is running a promotion that can earn eligible Rapid Rewards members as many as 10,000 points.

The concept is simple: Snap a picture of the notifications stacking up on your phone and enter it through Southwest's Notification Vacation promotion. If you qualify, you can earn 1,000 to 10,000 Rapid Rewards points, while supplies last.

The promotion has 150 million points to give away, but any one member can only win a single award.

Your Notifications Could Pay for Your Next Trip

The Southwest campaign focuses on one problem most travelers are probably well aware of: The incessant checking of emails, messages, work alerts, and other notifications makes it hard to truly disconnect.

The airline's August 2026 survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults found that 76% of respondents said they were experiencing burnout , while 68% said taking a trip was one way to regain control of their time.

Southwest also debuted a Burnout Quiz, giving eligible Rapid Rewards members another opportunity to earn points. You can earn 500 Rapid Rewards points for taking the quiz, and there are 37 million points available through that promotion.

That means Southwest is making more than 187 million Rapid Rewards points available for the two promotions. The offers are separate, and you cannot collect the entire 187 million points yourself.

But there are some big catches. Notification: Vacation is available to Rapid Rewards members age 18 or older who are residents of the U.S. or Washington, D.C. You can only enter once, and the points are available only while supplies last. Southwest also said that entries and points are subject to verification.

The Burnout Quiz has the same eligibility requirements and is also limited to one completion per member.

Southwest is also using the campaign to encourage travelers to book a vacation, in addition to the promotions. The airline says it can make taking that trip easier, with flexible policies such as no change or cancellation fees under its applicable rules.

For travelers who already have a Southwest Rapid Rewards account, the promotion is an especially easy opportunity to pick up some extra points. You don't need to book a flight first; you just need to prove your phone has been keeping you busy.
And if your notification bar is anything like mine, you've probably got plenty of evidence already.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Oct 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.