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The Southwest credit cards are all offering big welcome bonuses that include a 30% off promo code for paid flights, but only until June 26, 2023.
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Until June 26, 2023, all three personal Southwest credit cards are offering Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card – Intro Bonus.
This is the first time we’ve seen a 30% off promo code for paid and award travel included with a Southwest card offer.
These offers are a good deal if you’re planning travel on Southwest or are working toward earning the Southwest Companion Pass.
Read Insider’s guide to the best travel rewards credit cards.
Southwest flyers have lots of ways to earn points without stepping on an airplane, and one of the easiest routes is by opening and using one of the best Southwest credit cards. Right now, all three personal Southwest cards (Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card – Product Name Only, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card – Product Name Only, and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card – Product Name Only) are offering elevated limited-time bonuses through June 26, 2023.
All three cards are offering Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. The points alone are worth around Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card in flights, based on Insider’s points and miles valuations, which peg Southwest points value a 1.4 cents apiece. And the 30% off promo code could be worth hundreds of dollars (or lots of points), depending on how you use it.
The 30% off promo code will appear directly in your Southwest account after you meet the qualifications. The code is single-use and valid toward the base fare on one-way or round-trip paid and award Southwest flight bookings (up to eight tickets) made by October 31, 2024. So even if you don’t have immediate travel plans, you’ve got some time to use the discount before it expires.
What’s more, the bonus and points you earn from spending on these cards all count toward the Southwest Companion Pass. To qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass, you’ll need to earn 135,000 Southwest points in a calendar year — and once you have it, a friend or family member can fly with you for nearly free (just pay taxes and fees) on paid and award tickets through the end of the following calendar year.
Whether you’re angling for the Companion Pass, planning paid or award travel on Southwest, or just want to earn a big stash of points for future travel, these offers are well worth considering. Here’s what to know about each Southwest card to help you decide which is best for you.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Southwest Credit Card Offers: Earn 60,000 Points and a 30% off Promo Code
All three personal Southwest cards come with the same bonus: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. However, each has a different annual fee and benefits, so the right card for you mostly boils down to your travel habits, and whether or not you’ll use the perks that can justify a higher annual fee.
Keep in mind these aren’t the highest bonuses ever offered for the Southwest cards, but they come pretty close. Previously, the highest points bonus was up to 100,000 points, but you had to hit a big minimum spending requirement to achieve it. Most recently, there have been offers to earn fewer points plus a promotional Companion Pass.
Elevated Southwest bonuses come and go, but these are some of the best (and most unique, given the 30% off promo code) we’ve seen recently. However, if you don’t have travel coming up on Southwest where you can use the 30% discount, you might want to skip this round of offers and wait for a higher points bonus.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
If you just want to earn the welcome bonus for the lowest annual fee and don’t care about fancy perks, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is your best bet. It has the lowest annual fee ($69) of the personal Southwest cards, but it offers the same bonus and spending categories as the others.
However, it doesn’t offer tier-qualifying points from spending on the card like the others, so it’s not a good choice if you’re working toward Southwest elite status. Cardholders earn 3,000 bonus points each account anniversary (worth about $42 in Southwest airfare, according to Insider’s valuations), so if you plan on keeping the card long-term, the bonus points can cover much of the annual fee.
You’ll also get two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year and 25% back on inflight drinks and Wi-Fi. This is the only Southwest card that charges foreign transaction fees, so if you’re looking for a card to use when you travel abroad, it’s best to pick one of the other versions.
Read more about the Southwest Plus credit card:
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus credit card review
Southwest Premier Card
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card strikes a good balance between cost and benefits, and with a Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card annual fee, it’s a solid choice whether you fly Southwest often or just a couple of times a year.
In addition to the same welcome bonus as the other personal cards, this card comes with 6,000 Southwest bonus points each account anniversary (worth about $84 in Southwest flights, so nearly all of the annual fee). It’s also a good pick if you’re trying to earn Southwest elite status, because you’ll earn 1,500 tier-qualifying points (TQPs) for each $10,000 in purchases you make with the card, with no limits.
Southwest A-List status requires 25 Southwest one-way qualifying flights or 35,000 tier-qualifying points per calendar year. To unlock A-List Preferred status, you’ll need 50 Southwest one-way qualifying flights or 70,000 tier-qualifying points in the same timeframe.
This card also comes with two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year and 25% back on inflight drinks and Wi-Fi. It doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, so it’s safe to use when you’re overseas.
Read more about the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier credit card review
Southwest Priority Card
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is the priciest of the bunch, with a $149 annual fee, but offers the most benefits and perks. It’s best suited to frequent Southwest flyers, and — if you maximize its benefits — you can get far more than $149 in value from the card each year.
The card comes with up to $75 in Southwest credit per year, which you can use toward any Southwest purchase except inflight purchases and upgraded boarding. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card awards 7,500 points each account anniversary (worth about $105 in Southwest airfare), four upgraded boardings per year when available (worth up to $80 each time), and a 25% discount on inflight purchases including Wi-Fi.
And, like the cheaper Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card can give you a boost toward elite status because it earns tier-qualifying points when you hit the same spending thresholds, with no limit to the number of TQPs you can earn.
Read more about the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit card
Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority credit card review
Compare Southwest credit cards
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the Southwest credit cards to help you narrow down your decision:
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
Annual fee
$69
$99
$149
Rewards rate
2x points on Southwest® purchases
2x points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
2x points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming
1x point per dollar on everything else
3x points on Southwest® purchases
2x points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
2x points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming
1x point per dollar on everything else
3x points on Southwest® purchases
2x points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
2x points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming
1x point per dollar on everything else
Welcome bonus
80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months ,and an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months)
80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months ,and an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months)
80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months ,and an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months)
Anniversary points
3,000
6,000
7,500
Travel benefits
Two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year
25% back on inflight drinks and Wi-Fi
Earn tier-qualifying points toward A-List elite status
Two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year
25% back on inflight drinks and Wi-Fi
Earn tier-qualifying points toward A-List elite status
$75 annual Southwest travel credit
4 upgraded boardings per year when available
25% back on inflight drinks and Wi-Fi
Foreign transaction fee
Yes
No
No
You’ll notice, apart from the benefits, annual fees, and anniversary points, the only other major difference is the earning rate on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. It only earns 2x points on Southwest purchases (versus 3x on the other cards), but if you don’t pay for flights on Southwest a lot, this shouldn’t make much of a difference.
Chase recently added its popular program Pay Yourself Back to the Southwest credit cards. You can currently redeem Southwest points for eligible dining purchases through June 30, 2023, (maximum $300 in statement credits at 0.8 cents per point) and the card’s annual fee at 1 cent per point (no end date given).
If you don’t care about Southwest credit card benefits, consider these other cards
Southwest is a Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer partner, which means you can move points from cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card – Product Name Only to your Southwest account at a 1:1 ratio.
If Southwest points are all you’re after and you don’t care about airline-specific perks, you might be better off opening one of the cards mentioned above and transferring points to Southwest when you need them. This strategy has a few advantages:
You won’t be locked into a single rewards program — Chase’s transfer partners currently include 14 airline and hotel loyalty programs, like Southwest, United, British Airways, Hyatt, and Marriott. That flexibility is handy if you aren’t sure of your travel plans.Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points have a wider range of bonus categories with more opportunities to accumulate lots of points quickly. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns 5x points on Lyft rides through March 2025, 5x points on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal, 3x points on dining, 3x points on select streaming services, 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), 2x points on other travel, and 1 point per dollar on everything else.These cards also have more broadly useful benefits, such as statement credits and better travel insurance.
Southwest credit card application rules
Both the personal and small-business Chase Southwest cards are subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, which means if you’ve opened five or more cards (from any bank) in the past 24 months, you likely won’t be approved for the card.
While you’re allowed to have one personal and one small-business Southwest card at the same time, there are other card application restrictions to keep in mind. For the Southwest personal cards, you aren’t eligible if you currently have any personal Southwest card, or have received an intro bonus on one in the past 24 months. This doesn’t include Southwest business cards (Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card).
And with the Southwest business cards, you won’t be approved if you currently hold the card, or have received a welcome bonus for that specific card in the past 24 months.