Southwest Airlines lets you use points to book basically any seat that they sell for cash. A very reasonable approximation from my experience is 1.3 cents in Wanna Get Away airfare in per point. That works out to roughly $780+ in Wanna Get Away airfare for 60,000 Rapid Rewards points. Plus, they still offer two free checked bags on all flights.
Their Companion Pass lets you pick one person to fly with free when you book both paid AND award flights (including to Hawaii!) on Southwest. Once you qualify by earning 135,000 points in a calendar year, you earn the Companion Pass for both the rest of the year in which you earn it AND all of the next year (ex. rest of 2023 + all of 2024). Importantly, all points earned from credit cards count toward the requirement, and each card also offers a 10,000 point boost toward the Companion Pass requirement. Many times if you get both a personal and a business card in the same year, you can meet this requirement with the new cardmember bonuses alone.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus credit card
- Earn 60,000 bonus points plus a 30% off promo code after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Receive 3,000 anniversary points each year.
- 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year.
- 2X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
- 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- All points earned count towards Companion Pass(R).
- $69 annual fee.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier card
- Earn 60,000 bonus points plus a 30% off promo code after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Receive 6,000 anniversary points each year.
- 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year.
- 3X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
- 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- All points earned count towards Companion Pass(R).
- $99 annual fee.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority card
- Earn 60,000 bonus points plus a 30% off promo code after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Receive 7,500 anniversary points and a $75 Southwest® travel credit each year.
- 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year.
- 3X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
- 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- 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.
30% Off promo code details. The 30% off promo code will appear directly in the cardmember Southwest.com account after meeting the qualifications. The 30% promo code discount is on base fare applied before taxes and fees and available for use until October 31, 2024.
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.
There may be other options like gift cards, but the redemption value is less than half the value you could get from redeeming for flights.
Southwest points expiration policy, per Southwest.com:
Do the points I earn expire?
No, your Rapid Rewards points do not expire. However, if you choose to close your account, the points in your account will be terminated.
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.
Can you apply for business card with social security number (without a business)? I read on another site that something called an EIN number is needed for an individual applying for a business card.
Yes, you can enter your Social Security Number as the Tax ID. This is standard for a sole proprietorship.
I recently applied for the Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card in April 2019. I have applied for Chase Business cards in the past for both myself and my girlfriend, and they have all been approved with very few extra steps and no extra required documentation, etc.
This time is completely different. They want proof of business address, proof of business name, and proof of business TIN. Documents required can be Articles of Incorporation, Certificate of Formation, IRS TIN confirmation letter, sales tax permit, tax account transcript, utility bill in business name. I am a simple sole proprietor that does some construction work on the side. It probably goes without saying, but I don’t have these documents. I simply file taxes under my own SSN.
Are others experiencing similar requests, or did I inadvertently set off a flag that made Chase ask for all of this extra documentation? Is this Chase trying to crack down on what they perceive as abuse of their business credit card bonuses?
I posted my comment here because of the question above, even though my card was not the Southwest card.
can I apply both premier and performance business cards at the same time?
Just wanted to say I appreciate that you post these types of offers. Thank you! Other blogs post tons of new card offers (too many!) but the selected ones you choose are totally in line with what I am looking for in sign up bonuses. Thanks again!
Glad you find it useful!
Actually the gift card exchange right right now is 6750 for $50
https://www.1.awardhq.com/24468SWANCMSWARRNCM/shop/gift-cards/_/N-115344+4294933308
Thanks, fixed.
Should/are you able to wait until January 1 to apply to any of these cards to ensure the points are earned in 2021? Thanks.
No, there is basically no way that your bonus points would arrive before 2021. Even if you applied in early December 2020 and received the card by mid-December, your first monthly statement would not close until sometime in January. No points will post until at least after the first statement closes in 2021.
Do beware if you are not able to use the points for flying, they may be worth little or less. Earlier this year they severely devalued the gift card ratio in half (was over a penny per point) and removed many popular options (like Amazon). Over a month ago they took down the gift card conversion site entirely (for “maintenance”). Can be a great deal if you intend to use them for flying although another unannounced devaluation is likely to occur at least annually.
Thanks for the heads up.
Hello,
The Southwest points do not expire. Correct? Previously, they were valid for 2 years but now they never expire. Is my understanding correct?
From Southwest website as of October 2021: