Customers who fly Southwest a lot, well look no further than the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Visa card. Southwest Airlines, a Dallas-based airline, is offering the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card with 85,000 points when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

With redemption as low as 5,000 points each way, it’s hard to find a better value for short-haul domestic flights. The card offers a great annual bonus of 6,000 points a year and is one of the best ways to get started earning the valuable Southwest Companion Pass thanks to a good intro bonus. There is no foreign transaction fees, so you can use the card abroad without the hassle of foreign transaction fees.

Update 9/17/24: The Southwest Premier card 85K points bonus is back! Offer ends 10/17/2024.

While there’s a $99 annual fee, every year on your card anniversary you get 6,000 bonus points, which can be worth almost the fee in travel value. Remember, all the points you earn with the card count towards Companion Pass qualification, and you can also earn your way toward A List status with your spending.

Southwest Premier Referral Link

The Southwest Effect

As the airline industry began a challenging downturn, airline companies began to nickel-and-dime passengers with frivolous fees to compensate for losses and to stay afloat. Southwest stood their ground and refused to follow the trend, instead launching their Bags Fly Free campaign offering everyone first and second free checked bags within a weight limit on all flights.

Additionally, Southwest has no change fare fees. Passengers are only responsible for the difference in fare price. Add in no frills low fares, safe punctual flights, extensive domestic routes with international expansions, and all-around exemplary customer service and you’ve created happy and loyal customers. This Southwest Effect has resulted in sustained annual profitability for 42 consecutive years, a record unmatched in the airline industry.

Bonus – 3 Ways

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card offers the opportunity to earn 3 bonuses within the first year of opening an account. With more bonus opportunities each year, it makes the $99 annual fee totally worth it.

1. Welcome Bonus – Earn 85,000 bonus points plus 1 year companion pass after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account. This bonus of 85,000 points is more than enough for two round trip flights when redeemed for Wanna Get Away fares. You’re eligible if you do not already have this card and have not received this bonus in the past 24 months.
2. Anniversary Bonus – Earn 6,000 bonus points after the anniversary of your enrollment date each year. Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Premier card awards you every year just by being a cardholder.
3. Tier Qualifying Bonus – Earn 1,500 bonus points for every $5,000 tier in purchases up to 30,000 tier qualifying points each calendar year. Tier qualifying points are earned through the purchase of revenue flights or through the use of Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card. These points are automatically tallied towards three distinct status categories for even more added benefits:

•     A-List Status is reached when you fly 20 qualifying one-way flights or earn 35,000 tier qualifying points within a calendar year. Benefits include priority check-in and Fly By security lane access, priority boarding, standby priority, and an additional 25% more points on each flight.
•     A-List Preferred Status is reached when you fly 40 qualifying one-way flights or earn 70,000 tier qualifying points within a calendar year. Enjoy the same benefits as A-List status and an additional 100% more points on each flight instead of 25%. Inflight WiFi is also free with each flight when available.
•     Companion Pass Status is reached when you fly 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 135,000 tier qualifying points points within a calendar year. Your companion can fly with you any where you go as long as there is an available seat without charge for the remainder of the year and all of the following year. This companion pass may surpass any credit card reward out there.

(Visit Chase to learn more details about this card)

Rapid Ways to Rewards

With the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, earn 2 points for each $1 spent on Southwest Airlines and Rapid Rewards Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases and 1 point for each $1 spent on all other purchases. There are no limits on how many points you can earn and they do not expire as long as you have activity every 24 months. There are also more ways to earn rapid rewards that is worth calling attention to.

Rapid Rewards Dining – With this free program, earn 3 Rapid Reward points for every $1 dollar spent at participating restaurants and 10 points for each online review. If you register and use your Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Premier card to pay when dining or carrying out, add 1 extra point for a total of 4 points. Also take advantage of the following Rapid Rewards Dining bonus opportunities: 750 bonus points with the Holiday New Member Bonus, 500 bonus points with the First Step Bonus, and then 300 bonus points with the Thank You Bonus. There are requirements for each to be completed but they are fairly simple and easy.

Rapid Rewards Shopping – Shop with Rapid Rewards Shopping and earn as much as 15 Rapid Reward points for each $1 spent and earn major bonus points just for signing on for service packages. For example, Macy’s is offering 6 points for every $1 or earn 4,000 points for signing up with AT&T Wireless. Remember to add 1 extra point with your Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier card.

Earn with Partners – Be on the look out for Rapid Reward featured promotions available at various moments. Take advantage of these promotions and watch how quickly your rewards grow. Also don’t miss out on earning rewards with Southwest partners that you never knew were available like signing on for electricity service with Energy Plus, Everything Energy, or Reliant Energy. You can also easily earn points from completing surveys with e-Miles, e-Rewards, and Valued Opinions and by using airport transportation with SuperShuttle or Execucar.

Transfer from Partners – Southwest Airlines is a partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, therefore you have the ability to transfer points earned with Chase Ultimate Rewards to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1 to 1 ratio and vice versa. This gives you access to points when you need it most. Other partners with options to transfer points include Diners Club Rewards, Hyatt Gold Passport, Club Carlson, and Marriott Rewards.

The number of points needed for a reward flight is directly based on the fare. Reward pricing can vary based on destination, time, day of travel, demand, fare class, point redemption rate, and other factors and is subject to change. There are no blackout dates or seat restrictions when you redeem with points. If a seat is available, it’s available to redeem.

Bottom Line

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card gives you direct access to all the exclusive benefits that is available from Southwest including Bags Fly Fee and the coveted Companion Pass. This card allows you more opportunities to earn points quickly towards amazing travel rewards with the Rapid Rewards program. Although Southwest is considered an economic non-luxury airline, its delightfully quirky perks may be more valuable and a far better trade off. Review our complete list for more credit card bonus promotions.

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.