Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card Review (Sweet New Offer)

KEY LINK – Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card – Earn a $400 statement credit and 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. $69 annual fee

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus is one of three different personal credit cards offered by Chase and Southwest. Since it is under Chase 5/24, it typically makes sense to wait and apply for the cards when they’re at their all-time high welcome offer. If you are looking to get one of these cards, now could be a good time to apply, especially given the welcome bonuses that we’re currently seeing. Today we’re going to look at the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card and see how it stacks up and whether it’s a card you should get.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Review – Welcome Offer

The current welcome offer for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is a $400 statement credit and 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. Southwest Rapid Rewards points are tied directly to the cost of a cash ticket, with an average value of around 1.3 cents per point. That means this welcome bonus is easily worth several hundred dollars on its own, even once you account for the $69 annual fee that you’ll have to pay.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Review – Earning Rapid Rewards Points

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card has a fairly simple earning structure, where you will earn

• 2 points per $1 spent on Southwest purchases
• 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases.
• 2 points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
• 2 points per $1 spent on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming.
• 1 point per $1 spent on everyday purchases.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Perks and Benefits

Here are some of the perks and benefits that come with the card.

• You’ll get 25% back on inflight purchases when using your card, which can be nice if you are buying drinks or wifi.
• 3,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points each year on your anniversary
• 2 EarlyBird checkins per year

There is a $69 annual fee.

The Southwest Companion Pass

One of the biggest reasons to apply for one of the Southwest credit cards is if you’re going for the Southwest Companion Pass. The Companion Pass requires earning 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a single calendar year. Once you’ve reached that milestone, then a companion will fly free with you for the rest of that year AND the entire next calendar year

(SEE ALSO: How to change your Southwest Companion pass companion)

(SEE ALSO: How to check your Southwest Companion Pass status)

The points from the welcome offer DO count towards the 135,000 points that you need, so this can get you a good chunk of the way towards earning your Southwest Companion Pass. Also, the Plus card does offer a boost of 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year.

Which Southwest Card Is Best?

Chase and Southwest have 3 different personal credit cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card – Earn a $400 statement credit and 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. $69 annual fee
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card – Earn a $400 statement credit and 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. $99 annual fee
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card – Earn a $400 statement credit and 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. $149 annual fee

They do have a variety of similar perks and benefits and usually similar (or exactly the same) welcome offers, so it can be hard to decide which Southwest card is best. But I think for most people, getting the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is the best option for your first Southwest card – it has most of the same benefits and comes with a lower annual fee.

If you’re a business owner, or looking to get additional Rapid Rewards points, you can also consider one of the two Southwest Business credit cards

• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card – Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $199 annual fee
• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card – Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee

And remember that you might have a small business (and be eligible for a business credit card), even if you don’t think that you do.

The Bottom Line

KEY LINK – Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card – Earn a $400 statement credit and 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. $69 annual fee

The rules for getting the Southwest Plus card are that you must be under Chase 5/24, and according to Chase, you are only eligible if “you do not have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months”.

So you can’t get the Plus card (or any of the personal Southwest cards) if you already have any Southwest personal card or have gotten a bonus on any personal Southwest card in the past 24 months. You are able to get a Southwest personal card if you currently have a Southwest business card (and vice versa)

Planning on applying for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card or going for the Companion Pass? Share your plans in the comments below

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