Updated bonus and perks: Southwest has increased their new customer bonus offers on the Plus/Premier cards to their highest-ever levels, and also added brand-new perks to the cards which are valid for all cardholders. If you can time your points earning so that the sign-up bonuses show up in early 2022, you could earn the Companion Pass in early 2022 and have it last from 2022 all the way through the end of 2023. Details below.

Full review:

Southwest Airlines offers the unique Companion Pass, which lets you pick one person to fly with free when you book both paid AND award flights (including to Hawaii!) on Southwest. Importantly, points earned from credit cards are qualifying points toward the requirement, including sign-up bonuses! You can often get very close to that magic 125,000 points with a calendar year when you add up the potential miles from these Southwest consumer and business cards. This is on top of the value of redeeming those points for miles (ex. 75,000 points can get you $1,100+ in Wanna Get Away airfare).

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus credit card

  • Highest ever: Up to 100,000 points. 50,000 bonus points after $2,000 on purchases in first 3 months after account opening, plus 50,000 more bonus points after $12,000 total on purchases in the first 12 months.
  • 3,000 bonus points after each Cardmember anniversary.
  • 2X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
  • NEW: 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
  • NEW: 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming.
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • NEW: 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
  • NEW: 25% back on inflight purchases
  • All points earned count towards Companion Pass(R).
  • $69 annual fee.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier card

  • Highest ever: Up to 100,000 points. 50,000 bonus points after $2,000 on purchases in first 3 months, plus 50,000 more bonus points after $12,000 total on purchases in the first 12 months.
  • 6,000 bonus points after each Cardmember anniversary.
  • NEW: 3X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
  • NEW: 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
  • NEW: 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming.
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • NEW: 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
  • NEW: 25% back on inflight purchases
  • All points earned count towards Companion Pass(R).
  • $99 annual fee.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority card

  • Highest ever: Up to 100,000 points. 50,000 bonus points after $2,000 on purchases in first 3 months, plus 50,000 more bonus points after $12,000 total on purchases in the first 12 months.
  • 7,500 bonus points after each Cardmember anniversary.
  • NEW: 3X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
  • NEW: 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
  • NEW: 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming.
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • NEW: 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
  • NEW: 25% back on inflight purchases
  • NEW: 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points towards A-List Status for every $10,000 in spend
  • 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
  • $75 Southwest annual travel credit.
  • $149 annual fee.

The following are business credit cards:

Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card

  • 80,000 points after $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
  • 9,000 bonus points after each Cardmember anniversary.
  • NEW: 4X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
  • 3X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners.
  • NEW: 2X points on rideshare.
  • 2X points on social media and search engine advertising, Internet, cable and phone services and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
  • Inflight WiFi Credits (up to 365 x $8 credits per year).
  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® Fee Credit in the form of a statement credit of up to $100 every four years.
  • $199 annual fee.


Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card

  • 60,000 Rapid Rewards points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
  • 6,000 bonus points after each Cardmember anniversary.
  • NEW: 3X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
  • 2X points and Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partners.
  • NEW: 2X points on rideshare.
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • NEW: 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
  • $99 annual fee.

Value of Rapid Rewards points. Redeeming Southwest points for flights varies in a narrow range, but a very reasonable approximation from my experience is 1.3 cents in Wanna Get Away airfare in per point. That works out to $650+ in Wanna Get Away airfare for every 50,000 points or $1,300+ in Wanna Get Away airfare from 100,000 points (you are still liable for taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way). Importantly, Southwest does NOT have blackout dates or seat restrictions when you redeem with points. This means that Southwest points are much easier to use than a “saver award” on traditional airlines.

Now, if you manage to qualify for the the Companion Pass on every trip that you book with those points, that doubles the potential value of each award redemption. In other words, 125,000 Rapid Rewards, would usually get you $1,850 in Wanna Get Away airfare, but with the Companion Pass you’d get an extra companion ticket for every flight booked.

A backup option is gift card redemptions. You can currently redeem 6,750 points for a $50 a Amazon.com or Walmart gift certificate. That makes 60,000 points worth $444 in Amazon or Walmart gift cards. It’s something, but less than half the value you could get from redeeming for flights.

Southwest still includes two free checked bags per person. The fees on the other airlines have crept up to $30 per bag, each-way. That adds up.

Our family policy is to not try out a new credit card unless it offers us $500 in total value. Just the free award flights from the points are enough to satisfy that rule, and then you can add on the potential value of the companion tickets.

Card restrictions. All of these Southwest credit cards are subject to “5/24” restrictions, which means that your application will be automatically denied if you have opened 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months (check your credit reports). Our household strategy is to have one person only apply for Chase 5/24 cards, and the other person applies for everything else. There is also this language on the consumer card:

The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.

Basically, you can get one sign-up bonus from a Southwest consumer card once every 24 months. You can also get one sign-up bonus from a Southwest business card once every 24 months.

Stack your Companion Pass with Chase Ultimate Rewards points. If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest points on a 1:1 basis. If you book an award flight with those Southwest points while you have the Companion Pass, you can double the value of your Ultimate Rewards points as well.

Bottom line. Southwest credit cards offer new cardholders the opportunity to earn hundreds of dollars worth of Wanna Get Away airfare, but if you time things right and maybe combine a personal and business card, you can also grab the Southwest Companion pass, which provides a free companion ticket on every flight bought with cash or points booked both during the rest of the year in which you earned it, AND the full next calendar year. Finally, Southwest still includes two free checked bags per person on every flight.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers and the Top 10 Best Business Card Offers.

“The editorial content here is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. This email may contain links through which we are compensated when you click on or are approved for offers.”

Chase Southwest Credit Cards: Up to 100,000 Bonus Points Worth Over $1,300 in Wanna Get Away Airfare (Highest Ever Offer!) from My Money Blog.


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