Southwest Airlines Encourages Customers To Join The Global Generosity Movement By Giving Back On Giving Tuesday

DALLAS, Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today celebrates Giving Tuesday by encouraging Rapid Rewards® Members to join the Company in giving back to organizations whose missions are aimed at transforming lives and championing communities across the nation through the carrier's Points for a Purpose program. To kick-start this year's Giving Tuesday effort, Southwest is welcoming three new organizations to its Points for a Purpose program and donating 100,000 Rapid Rewards Points to each of the new organizations: Polaris, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and UNCF (United Negro College Fund). They are joining the carrier's Points for a Purpose roster, which also includes the Student Conservation Association, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Team Rubicon, and Honor Flight Network.

Travel is an essential component for these organizations, and by donating Rapid Rewards Points, Customers can help them provide mission-critical services and special experiences for the communities they serve. As part of Southwest's Points for a Purpose program, Customers can support causes that matter to them by using their Rapid Rewards Points, allowing organizations to help offset travel costs.

"As the pandemic continues impacting all of us, we remain dedicated to our support of organizations that are working to meet the growing needs within communities across the country," said Laurie Barnett, Southwest's Managing Director of Communications and Outreach. "We invite our Customers and Rapid Rewards Members to put their Heart in action, harnessing the spirit of giving, and igniting transformation in communities across the country."

Points for a Purpose Partners celebrate Southwest's commitment to loving People, building resilience, and living responsibly. Through this program, Rapid Rewards Members have donated nearly 400,000,000 Rapid Rewards Points to deserving organizations since 2015.  The organizations in Southwest's Points for a Purpose program support a wide range of needs including providing assistance during and after disasters; supporting survivors of human trafficking; honoring our military; helping students from diverse populations develop into future leaders; and making a positive impact on our environment.

To learn more about Points for a Purpose and how Customers can donate Rapid Rewards Points, visit Southwest.com/donate. 

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
In its 50th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service to a Customer base topping 130 million passengers in 2019. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. In peak travel seasons during 2019, Southwest operated more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 101 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. In early 2020, the carrier added service to Hilo, Hawaii, and Cozumel, Mexico. Southwest began service to Palm Springs, Calif. and Miami on Nov. 15, and will begin service to two new seasonal destinations in Colorado, Steamboat Springs and Montrose (Telluride and Crested Butte) on Dec. 19, 2020. On Feb. 14, 2021, Southwest will begin service to Chicago (O'Hare) and Sarasota/Bradenton. Service from Savanah, Georgia and Colorado Springs will begin on March 11, 2021, and operations from Houston (George Bush Intercontinental) and Jackson, Miss. are anticipated to begin in the first half of 2021.

The carrier issued its Southwest^® Promise in May 2020 to highlight new and round-the-clock efforts to support its Customers and Employees wellbeing and comfort. Among the changes are enhanced cleaning efforts at airports and onboard aircraft, and face covering requirements for Customers and Employees. Additional details about the Southwest Promise are available at Southwest.com/Promise.

Southwest coined Transfarency^® to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free^® to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances). Southwest does not charge change fees, though fare differences might apply.

Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. Learn more about how the carrier gives back to communities across the world by visiting Southwest.com/citizenship.

Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA.

ABOUT POLARIS 
Named after the North Star, a historical symbol of freedom, Polaris is leading a social justice movement to fight sex and labor trafficking at the massive scale of the problem - 25 million people worldwide robbed of the freedom to choose how they live and work. For more than a decade, Polaris has assisted thousands of victims and survivors through the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, helped ensure countless traffickers were held accountable, and built the largest known U.S. data set on actual trafficking experiences. With the guidance of survivors, we use that data to improve the way trafficking is identified, how victims and survivors are assisted, and how communities, businesses and governments can prevent human trafficking by transforming the underlying inequities and oppressions that make it possible. 

ABOUT HISPANIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The Hispanic Heritage Foundation is a national nonprofit focused on education, workforce, innovative leadership and culture to meet America's priorities. Visit www.hispanicheritigage.org to learn more or follow HHF on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. 

ABOUT UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND
UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students' education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20% of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste."^® Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.

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SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.