The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is a travel rewards credit card built around Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program. It comes with a $99 annual fee and offers a welcome bonus of 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Plus earn 20,000 points after you spend $12,000 within your first year.
In addition, after each account anniversary year, you’ll earn 6,000 bonus points. As a cardholder, you earn 2X points per $1 spent on all Southwest Airlines purchases, as well as purchases with select hotels and rental car companies. You earn 1X point per $1 spent on everything else. If you frequently fly Southwest or you’re interested in what this card has to offer, check out the benefits to see if this card is worthwhile for you.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
 The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card offers a $400 statement credit and 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. In addition, you'll earn 6,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary each year. You'll earn: • Earn 3X points on Southwest purchases. • Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. • Earn 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming. You're able to redeem your points for flights, hotel stays, gift cards, access to events and more. This card does carry a $99 annual fee, but there are no foreign transaction fee. |
Why You Should Apply for This Card:
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 40,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Since Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth around 1.5 cents per point, this bonus will earn you about $600 worth of free Southwest flights. This bonus also gets you almost half the required 110,000 points toward a Companion Pass.
Annual Bonus: This card offers a unique perk where you can earn 6,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary. This bonus is worth about $90 worth of free Southwest flights.
Earn Up to 2X Points: Earn 2 Rapid Rewards points per $1 spent on direct purchases of Southwest Airlines tickets, vacation packages, and onboard items, as well as partner purchases at select hotel and car rental companies. You’ll earn 1 point per $1 spent on everything else. You can earn unlimited points that don’t expire as long as your card account is open and there are no blackout dates, no seat restrictions, no change fees, and bags fly free, up to two bags, when you redeem your points for flights. Redeem your points for flights, hotel stays, gift cards, access to events, experiences, and more. You earn the most value for your points when you redeem them for travel. You can also use Rapid Rewards points during some of Southwest’s great sales, like the Wanna Get Away specials, to get an incredible value.
Other Card Benefits:
Earn Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs): TQPs can be earned and used for Rapid Rewards elite status to get sweet perks. For every $10,000 in eligible purchases, you earn 1,500 TQPs. You can earn a max of 15,000 TQPs per year. For 35,000 TPQs per year (or 25 one-way qualifying flights), you can get A-List status which enables you to get priority check-in, security, and boarding, a dedicated phone line, free same-day standby, and 25% earnings bonus on Southwest flights. For 70,000 TPQs per year (or 50 one-way qualifying flights), you can get A-List Preferred status which gets you all the above, plus free in-flight Wi-Fi and 100% earnings bonus on Southwest flights.
Fast Track to a Companion Pass: Companion Pass status is designed for heavy spenders who regularly fly Southwest. To earn it, you have to have 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 110,000 qualifying TPQs during the calendar year. Some of the other ways to earn the Companion Pass include the purchase rewards earned with your Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card. You can also earn qualifying points with participating Rapid Rewards partners for travel, home, and dining purchases. With this pass, you can bring along a travel partner at no additional fare charge (fees and taxes must be paid) for the rest of this year and next year. There’s no limit to how many times you can use this benefit. Companion Pass holders can travel with as many individual companions throughout the year as you like, but you can’t travel with more than one companion per flight.
No Foreign Transaction Fees: Use this card when traveling abroad without paying a foreign transaction fee to keep earning your rewards.
Travel and Purchase Perks: Get travel and purchase coverage such as lost luggage reimbursement, baggage delay insurance, extended warranty protection, and purchase protection.
Bottom Line:
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is a great way to earn valuable Southwest Airlines points to grab some great value tickets within the U.S. and select international destinations. With Southwest’s easy to use rewards system, no fees for checked bags or itinerary changes, and the opportunity to get the Companion Pass, this card is one of the best airline card options for loyal Southwest Airlines members. If you’re looking for luxury perks and upgrades, this probably isn’t the card for you. Check out our full list of best Chase credit card promotions and browse our other featured credit card bonus promotions to find the one that best suits you.
Learn more about this card here.
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.
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