Southwest offers free mileage points when you let a stranger rent your car

It’s rare to get airline points outside of credit card plans, tedious consumer surveys, or, you know, booking flights and flying. So a new offer from Southwest Airlines and car-sharing app Turo feels like the ultimate cheat.

Starting this week, if you either book a car through the car-sharing platform or rent out your car on the service, you get points on Southwest’s reward program, Rapid Rewards. 

The program offers 2,000 Rapid Reward (RR) points for your first Turo car booking and then 500 RR points for every trip after your first. The big doozy is 10,000 Rapid Rewards points for signing up as a host and having someone book your car for a rental. 

A one-way Southwest flight to San Diego from San Francisco this weekend starts at about 9,000 Rapid Rewards points. The Turo offers end on Oct. 15.

Last year, Lyft rides were available through the Southwest app, but those ride-hail trips didn’t earn you miles or reward points.

Usually airlines throw in deals for traditional car rentals through agencies like Hertz when you book a flight, but this is encouraging a new way to get around: Renting a stranger’s car. 

Try it, you might like it.