Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card Review

If you’re a frequent flyer on Southwest Airlines and belong to its Rapid Rewards® loyalty program, it can makes sense to consider adding the reasonable $69 annual fee Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card to your wallet.

One major appeal of the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card is the opportunity to earn the airline’s popular Companion Pass, which lets you bring along someone on your travels for the cost of government taxes and fees. To earn the Companion Pass, you must accumulate 125,000 qualifying rewards points or fly 100 one-way qualifying segments within a calendar year. The bonus points earned by signing up for a Rapid Rewards card count toward earning the pass.

The downside is that the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card doesn’t come with some common airline benefits, such as airport lounge access, like many other airline-branded credit cards. Also, you can’t travel the globe with your points thanks to Southwest’s limited route map (North and Central America and the Caribbean). If you’re OK with these limits, this still could be the card for you.

• Companion Pass

  A big draw of the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card is its famous Companion Pass, which lets you can choose one person to fly with you for free (you will only be responsible for taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way) each time you purchase or redeem points for a flight. The pass is valid for the remainder of the year in which you earned it, as well as the following full calendar year.

  To get the companion pass, you either have to fly 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 125,000 qualifying points in a calendar year.

• Bonus points

  New card members can receive the following sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

  Plus, receive 3,000 anniversary points each year. Enjoy benefits including 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare, 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming, 2 Early Bird Check-In® each year, 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year, and more.

  Additionally, get 20,000 bonus points for each friend you refer who gets approved for the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card, up to 100,000 points a year.

• Ability to earn A-List Status

  Racking up the points, on your card and by flying, helps you reach two levels of elite status on Southwest Airlines. A-List status gives you priority check-in and dedicated security lanes (where available), along with priority boarding, a 25% points bonus, a dedicated customer service line and free same-day standby on flights. A-List Preferred members get all of the above, plus a 100% points bonus and free in-flight Wi-Fi.

• No blackout dates, seat restrictions, points don't expire

  There are no blackout dates or seat restrictions, you earn unlimited points that don’t expire as long as your card account is open and there are no limits on how many points you can earn.

  You can use your rewards to travel to more than 100 destinations in the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. And unlike other major U.S. airlines, Southwest is the only airline that offers two free checked bags for all travelers.

• Limited international travel options

  If you want to use your points to fly outside the United States, your options are limited. While Southwest Airlines has flights to the Caribbean, Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica, you’re out of luck if you want to use your points for travel to other international destinations.

• Fewer perks compared to other Southwest cards

  In exchange for a slightly higher annual fee, both the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card ($99 annual fee) and the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card ($149 annual fee) offer the same sign-up bonus and rewards rate structure, but award cardholders with a higher number of anniversary points each year (6,000 and 7,500 respectively), as well as foreign transaction fees of $0, as well as the ability to earn qualifying points toward elite status.

• Preferred status doesn't include flying companions

  Cardmembers with A-List or A-List Preferred status flying with family members or travel companions cannot share their early boarding benefits.

Compare it to the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card

 

It may be difficult to decide whether to get the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card or the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card, because frankly, there aren’t many major differences between the two, besides the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card‘s slightly higher $99 annual fee.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card offers a similar bonus and rewards rate: Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Receive 6,000 anniversary points each year. Enjoy benefits including 3X points on Southwest® purchases, 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare, 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming, 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year, 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year, and more. There are also the same travel and purchase benefits.

However, one big difference with the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card is the ability to earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) each time you spend $10,000 on it. These TPQs help you earn Rapid Rewards, which unlock the bevy of perks that come with A-List or A-List Preferred elite status on Southwest.

You also get 6,000 bonus points on your anniversary, double that offered by the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card. And the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card is the one you want to use outside of the country, since it has a $0 foreign transaction fee, unlike the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card.

If you just want to get your feet wet with your first airline card, then the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card is a good choice, especially considering the sign-up bonus offer that’s currently being marketed to new cardholders.

Currently, all three Southwest cards are offering the same sign-up bonus and rewards rate structure, with minor variations in anniversary point rewards and the ability to earn tier qualifying points. Considering that, it can make a lot of sense to just get the lower-tier Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card as it has the lowest annual fee.