All three consumer Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit cards now offer an increased welcome bonus of 80,000-90,000 Rapid Rewards points after meeting minimum spend of $1k-$3k within the first 3 months. If you’re looking for a card and/or trying to earn a companion pass, these are certainly worth considering.
Referral links are showing these increased offers, so folks who can manage a household referral will get even more bang for the buck.
The Offers & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $923 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 80K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 80K points after $1K spend in the first 3 months$99 Annual Fee After clicking through, be sure to manually select the exact Southwest card in which you are interested. This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Recent better offer: 85K points after $3K spend in the first 3 months (Expired 12/16/25) FM Mini Review: This card can be great for its new cardmember bonus, but its ongoing perks are worth the annual fee only if fully used each year. Earning rate: 2X gas station and grocery (up to $5K in purchases combined per anniversary year) ✦ 2X Southwest ✦ 2X Lyft (through December 2027, must set as default card in app) Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: If you earn 135,000 points in one calendar year, you'll get a companion pass good for the rest of that calendar year and all of the next year Noteworthy perks: 3000 bonus points each year upon card renewal ✦ 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year ✦ First bag free for cardholder and up to 8 companions ✦ Receive a 10% promo code each year on cardmember anniversary (Excludes Basic fare) ✦ Complimentary Instacart+ for 3 months (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ $10 monthly Instacart credit ✦ Group 5 boarding ✦ Standard seat selection up to 48 hours pre-departure (if available) |
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $920 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 85K points ⓘFriend-ReferralThis is a friend-referral offer. A member of the Frequent Miler community may earn a referral bonus if you are approved for this offer 85K points after $2K spend in the first 3 months$149 Annual Fee This card is known to be subject to Chase's 5/24 rule. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 3X Lyft (through December 2027, must set as default card in app) ✦ 3X Southwest ✦ 2X restaurants and grocery (up to $8K in purchases combined per year) ✦ 1X on all other purchases. Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: If you earn 135,000 points in one calendar year, you'll get a companion pass good for the rest of that calendar year and all of the next year ✦ Earn 1,500 TQPs for each $5K in purchases Noteworthy perks: 6000 bonus points each year upon card renewal ✦ 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year ✦ First bag free for cardholder and up to 8 companions ✦ Receive a 15% promo code each year on cardmember anniversary (Excludes Basic fare) ✦ Complimentary Instacart+ for 3 months (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ $10 monthly Instacart credit ✦ Group 5 boarding ✦ Standard or Preferred seat selection up to 48 hours pre-departure (if available) |
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $887 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 90K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 90K points after $3K spend in the first 3 months$229 Annual Fee This card is known to be subject to Chase's 5/24 rule. FM Mini Review: Great for frequent Southwest flyers - this card could easily be a long-term keeper. Earning rate: 5X Lyft (through December 2027, must set as default card in app) ✦ 4X Southwest ✦ 2X gas & dining ✦ 1X on all other purchases. Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: If you earn 135,000 points in one calendar year, you'll get a companion pass good for the rest of that calendar year and all of the next year ✦ Earn 2,500 TQPs for each $5K in purchases Noteworthy perks: 7500 bonus points each year upon card renewal ✦ 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year ✦ First bag free for cardholder and up to 8 companions ✦ Complimentary Instacart+ for 3 months (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ $10 monthly Instacart credit) ✦ Group 5 boarding ✦ Preferred seat selection at booking (if available) ✦ Extra legroom upgrades up to 48 hours pre-departure (if available) |
Quick Thoughts
Although these offers are noteworthy simply from a points perspective, they are also helpful for those shooting for a 2027 companion pass. In order to get one (as a SW cardholder), you need to earn 125,000 qualifying points in a calendar year…including credit card welcome bonuses and points earned from card spending. Just the bonus on any of these offers gets you ~65-70% of the way there.
Keep in mind that you are not eligible for any of these offers if you have earned an introductory bonus on any of the consumer Southwest cards in the past 24 months, though it is possible to get a consumer card and a business card. Between these new consumer offers and what’s currently offered on any of the Southwest business cards, it’s possible to earn enough points for a Companion Pass.
Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth 1.3 cents each according to our most recent Reasonable Redemption Values. That means that each of these bonuses should easily be worth more than $1000 towards flights, regardless of which one you choose. That’s a good return on only $1,000- $ 3,000 in spend.
Which card is best for you?
The Priority card is now 50% more expensive than the Premier, and each of the three options includes the first checked bag free for you and up to 8 companions, as well as Group 5 boarding.
The biggest difference between the three is seat selection: Plus cardholders get to select a standard seat 48 hours pre-departure, Premier cardholders can select a Preferred seat 48 hours pre-departure, while the Priority card gets you a Preferred seat at booking and Extra Legroom upgrades 48 hours pre-departure. Additionally, the cheaper cards give you a 10% or 15% annual discount code, respectively, while the more expensive Priority card, oddly, does not.
It really comes down to how much you value being able to select your seat for free at the time of booking. If that is important to you and if you’d like the opportunity for extra legroom seating, then the Priority card remains the clear winner. If you’re happy with free seat selection 48 hours prior to departure, I think the Plus card might be the more logical choice than the Premier card.
Chase Applications Tips
- 5/24 Rule: You are unlikely to be approved for a new card if you have opened 5 or more cards (with any bank) within the past 24 months. Most business cards do not count towards that five-card total. Business cards that DO count include: TD Bank, Discover, and the Capital One Spark Cash Select, Spark Miles, and Spark Miles Select.
- 24 Month Rule: If you’ve had a card before, you can only get a welcome offer on that card again if you no longer have it, AND it's been more than 24 months since you last received a welcome offer for that card. This rule does not apply to the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards (see below). There can also be exceptions with some business cards.
- Sapphire cards: The Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve cards no longer have a family rule that prevents you from getting one if you currently have the other. However, both now have limitations that may prevent you from being eligible for a welcome offer if you've previously had the same card. In that event, you'll get a pop-up window telling you that you're not eligible, and you will be asked whether you want to proceed with the application without the welcome offer attached.
- Southwest "Family" Rules: Chase applies additional "family" rules to the Southwest cards. You're not eligible for the welcome offer on a personal Southwest card if you currently have one, or if you've received a welcome offer on any personal Southwest card within the last 24 months. This doesn't apply to business cards. You also can't be approved for the Southwest consumer card if you already have one open.
- IHG "Family" Rules: You're not eligible for the welcome offer if you've received one on any personal IHG card within the last 24 months. You also can't be approved for another IHG consumer card if you already have one open. You can have both an IHG personal and an IHG business card.
- Ink "Lifetime" Rule: You "may not" be eligible for the welcome offer on an Ink no-annual-fee card if you have ever had the same card or any other Chase for Business card without an annual fee. In addition, you may not be eligible for a welcome offer on a Chase Ink Business Preferred card if you currently have the card or have had it in the past. We don't yet know how consistently this is enforced.
- 2 per month Rule: Most applicants are limited to 2 new cards per 30 days. Business cards are usually limited to one per 30 days.
- Marriott cards: Approval for any Marriott card is governed by a labyrinthine set of unintuitive rules. You can see the full eligibility chart here.
- Card Limits: Chase doesn't have a strict limit on the number of cards you can have, but it does place limits on the total credit it will issue across all cards. Because of this, reconsideration can sometimes be successful by moving credit from one existing card to the new card that you want.
- Application Status: Call (888) 338-2586 to check your application status.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (888) 270-2127 for personal cards or (800) 453-9719 for business cards, and ask that your application be reconsidered.
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