Southwest adds Turkish Airlines as sixth international partner

Southwest Airlines is continuing to expand its network of partner airlines. Next up: Turkish Airlines.

Southwest on Wednesday announced a new agreement with the Star Alliance carrier that will take effect next month.

As part of the Southwest-Turkish tie-up, you’ll be able to book itineraries that feature flights on both Southwest and Turkish, and you can make seamless connections between the two airlines.

This means you could book an itinerary that includes a Southwest flight to a major U.S. hub served by Turkish and then connect to one of Turkish Airlines’ wide-body planes for a long-haul trip to Istanbul.

And, as part of that link, your checked bags will transfer just like they would on any other connection.

Eventually, this arrangement could open the door to Southwest Rapid Rewards redemptions on Turkish Airlines flights to its Istanbul Airport (IST) hub and onward to its hundreds of destinations around the world.

How Southwest’s new Turkish Airlines partnership will work

From the start, it’ll be a more limited arrangement.

Southwest just launched airline partnerships in 2025, and it’s still getting up and running with technology that will support booking, earning and making redemptions on partner carriers.

Similar to its other partnerships, you’ll be able to book Southwest-Turkish connections via Turkish Airlines’ website and booking channels, as well as through certain third-party sites like Expedia.

In the not-so-distant future, Southwest hopes to offer partner bookings through its own website and mobile app.

The Dallas-based carrier has also been very clear: A big reason behind establishing these partnerships with international airlines is to eventually allow Rapid Rewards members to earn and redeem points on flights to faraway international destinations.

Southwest’s growing list of partners

To date, Southwest has created partnerships with a half dozen overseas carriers:

• Europe and the Middle East: Condor Airlines, Icelandair and Turkish Airlines
• Asia: China Airlines and EVA Air
• South Pacific: Philippine Airlines

As of this month, Turkish Airlines serves a total of 14 U.S. cities from its Istanbul home base: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Southwest said that the partnership between the two airlines will initially focus on 10 U.S. gateways.

Turkish Airlines deepens US ties

As a Star Alliance member, Turkish already partners with both United Airlines and Air Canada in North America.

Additionally, its Miles&Smiles loyalty program is a 1:1 transfer partner of several major transferable points programs, including Bilt Rewards, Capital One and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

So, once this tie-up with Southwest gets underway, you should be able to transfer your points from Bilt, Capital One and Citi to Turkish. And then, you can book an itinerary that includes a Southwest flight.

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