Southwest Credit Card Limited Time Welcome Offers: Companion Pass + Points

Link: Learn more about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Card

Southwest Airlines is one of the most popular airlines in the United States, thanks to its extensive domestic route network, vouchers that never expire, and two free checked bags. The carrier’s co-branded credit cards are quite popular as well.

Southwest Rapid Rewards card welcome offers

The three Southwest Rapid Rewards personal credit cards are offering a limited time welcome bonus where you can earn a Companion Pass + some amount of Rapid Rewards points. The bonus and spend requirements differ for each card — they are as follows:

This welcome bonus applies to the following three cards:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card (review) – Earn Companion Pass through 2/28/27 and 20,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card (review) – Earn Companion Pass through 2/28/27 and 30,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Card (review) – Earn Companion Pass through 2/28/27 and 40,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

I value Rapid Rewards points at 1.2 cents each.

Eligibility for Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa cards

When it comes to getting approved for a personal Southwest Visa card, you’re not eligible for one of these cards if you are:

• A current cardmember of any personal Southwest Visa Card
• A previous cardmember of any personal Southwest Visa Card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 24 months

See this post for Southwest credit card eligibility restrictions, and see this post for Chase’s general application restrictions.

Differences between Southwest personal credit cards

The welcome bonus on all three of these personal cards is the same, though the annual fees range from $99 to $229. The temptation might be to go for the card with the lowest annual fee, though as I’ll explain below, the premium cards can represent a much better value.

What are the differences between these three Southwest credit cards?

What all three Southwest Visa cards have in common

All three Southwest personal credit cards have one main thing in common, which is 25% savings on inflight drink and Wi-Fi purchases. All the other benefits of the cards differ, so let’s look at those differences.

Southwest credit card annual fees

The three personal Southwest Visa all have different annual fees, as follows:

• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card has a $99 annual fee
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card has a $149 annual fee
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card has a $229 annual fee

Southwest credit card anniversary bonus points

As an incentive to hold onto the Southwest Visa, you earn a certain number of anniversary bonus points every year (this happens every 12 billing cycles after you open your card):

• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card has a 3,000 point anniversary bonus
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card has a 6,000 point anniversary bonus
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card has a 7,500 point anniversary bonus

I’ll talk more about the value of Southwest Airlines points below, but as a general rule of thumb, you can expect that points can be redeemed for ~1.2 cents toward the cost of a ticket. To crunch the numbers further:

• On the $99 annual fee Plus Card you’re earning $36 worth of points
• On the $149 annual fee Premier Card you’re earning $72 worth of points
• On the $229 annual fee Priority Card you’re earning $90 worth of points

Southwest credit card return on spending

All three personal Southwest Airlines credit cards offer different returns on spending:

• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card offers:
  • 2x points on Southwest purchases
  • 2x points at Gas stations and Grocery stores on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per year
  • 1x point on all other purchases
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card offers:
  • 3x points on Southwest purchases
  • 2x points at Grocery stores and Restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per year
  • 1x point on all other purchases
  • 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points for every $5,000 spent on the card
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card offers:
  • 4x points on Southwest purchases
  • 2x points at Gas stations & 2x points at Restaurants
  • 1x point on all other purchases
  • 2,500 Tier Qualifying Points for every $5,000 spent on the card

How much are Rapid Rewards points worth?

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards is a revenue-based program, meaning that the number of points required for an award redemption is directly tied to how much a ticket would cost in cash.

As a general rule of thumb, you need around 85 Southwest Rapid Rewards points per dollar of airfare, meaning each Southwest Rapid Rewards point gets you about 1.2 cents toward an airfare purchase (which is how I arrive at my valuation of Rapid Rewards points).

There are further things to remember when redeeming points on Southwest Airlines.

First Checked Bag Free with Credit Card

While bags no longer fly free for everyone with Southwest, having one of their co-brand credit cards will get a first checked bag free for Cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation.

Southwest offers free snacks & soft drinks

Unlike other airlines, Southwest Airlines doesn’t charge for snacks (it doesn’t even sell any, as everything is free) and soft drinks are free. The only things you can pay for on board are Wi-Fi and alcohol, and the co-branded credit cards even offer savings on those purchases.

Rapid Rewards points don’t expire as long as your account is open

It’s that simple — as long as your account is open, your points don’t expire.

Southwest’s Premier & Performance Business cards

If you’re looking for a business credit card, you’re in luck, because the offers on business cards are excellent as well:

• The $149 annual fee Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (review) has a welcome bonus where you can earn 60,000 points after spending $3,000 within the first three months
• The $299 annual fee Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (review) has a welcome bonus where you can earn 80,000 points after spending $5,000 within the first three months

Bottom line

The Southwest Airlines’ personal co-branded credit cards are offering their standard welcome offers. With this, you can earn some Rapid Rewards bonus points and a companion pass thorugh 2/28/27.

Of the three cards, I think the $229 annual fee Southwest Priority Card is the best option, given the extra perks it offers, which more than justify the annual fee.

Do you plan on picking up a Chase Southwest credit card with this offer?