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All three of the consumer Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit cards are now offering increased bonuses of 75,000 Rapid Rewards points after $5K in purchases in the first 3 months. These offers are not the best that we’ve seen over the past few years, especially given that the required spend is $5,000, and the timing isn’t ideal for those interested in using the bonuses towards a companion pass.
The Offers & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
50K points ⓘ Affiliate 50K points after $1K spend in the first 3 months.$69 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). 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 local transit and commuting, including rideshare ✦ 2X internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming ✦ 2X Southwest Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction 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. 2 EarlyBird Check-Ins each year. 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year |
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
50K points ⓘ Non-Affiliate 50K points after $1K spend in the first 3 months.$99 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. FM Mini Review: The combination of 6,000 points plus 2 EarlyBird Checkins each year make this card a keeper for those who fly Southwest often. Earning rate: 3X Southwest ✦ 2X Rapid Rewards(R) hotel and car partners ✦ 2X local transit and rideshare ✦ 2X internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming ✦ 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. 2 EarlyBird Check-Ins each year. 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year ✦ 25% back on in-flight drinks, Wi-Fi, messaging, and movies. |
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
50K points ⓘ Affiliate 50K points after $1K spend in the first 3 months.$149 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: 3X Southwest ✦ 2X Rapid Rewards(R) hotel and car partners ✦ 2X local transit and rideshare ✦ 2X internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming ✦ 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: ✦ 7,500 anniversary points each year ✦ $75 Southwest annual travel credit ✦ Four A1-15 boardings every year ✦ 25% back on in-flight drinks, Wi-Fi, messaging, and movies. ✦ 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year |
Quick Thoughts
Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth 1.4 cents each according to our most recent Reasonable Redemption Values. That means that each of these bonuses should easily be worth more than $1000 worth of flights regardless of which card you choose. That’s a good return on $5,000 spend. Southwest points are nice to have as well, both for the flexibility of award bookings and because it continues to be a good airline to burn those pesky Amex incidental fee credits.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
- This card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule. If you have opened 5 or more new consumer card accounts in the past 24 months, you most likely not be eligible.
- You are not eligible for a new Southwest consumer card bonus if you currently have a Southwest consumer card or have earned a new welcome bonus on one in the past 24 months. You still can get 1 Southwest consumer bonus and 1 Southwest business card bonus, combining points from both towards a Southwest Companion Pass.
The timing for a companion pass isn’t ideal
About that companion pass. In order to get one, you need to earn 125,000 qualifying points in a calendar year…this includes credit card welcome bonuses and points earned from card spending. But the timing on these offers is not ideal if the primary purpose is to use the points towards a companion pass.
If you were to get one of these personal cards and a business card right now,it would take at least a couple of months to complete the spending and have the points awarded to your Rapids Rewards account. Because of this, the Companion Pass you earn probably won’t begin until at least July. The pass is good for the rest of the calendar year in which you earned it and the entire next year, so you’d end up with a little less than 18 months of Companion Pass use. Seems like a good deal, right?
Well, yes, but it could be better.
Ideally, you’d wait until after October 1st to open any Southwest cards and then wait to finish the minimum spend until January (thus earning your welcome bonuses in January). Doing it this way, you could earn the 125,000 points that are necessary in January and have a Companion Pass that is valid for all of 2023 and 2024. While we don’t know what the bonuses on the cards will be in October/November, they most likely would be sufficent to trigger the pass by signing-up for one busines and one consumer card. The risk involved seems more than worth it for the potential of having an extra 6-7 months of companion pass usage.
Which card is best?
If you’re not interested in a companion pass and/or if you need a bonus to put you over the top this year, we generally like the Priority card the best, especially for a frequent Southwest flyer. Cardholders receive 7,500 points on each anniversary (easily worth $100) and a $75 Southwest Airlines credit, effectively offsetting annual fee. It also offers reimbursement for four A1-A15 boarding positions each year (valued at $30-40 each) and 25% off inflight drinks and wifi.
But if you can, I think holding off until the end of the year makes the most sense in order to maximize the potential Companion Pass.
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I just finished the minimum spend on the Priority at 40K, so I contacted Chase. “We know this isn’t what you wanted to hear”. Really
Agreed, Priority is clearly the best of the three.