Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card Review 2024
09.02.2024 - 10:59
/ insider.com
/ Credit Card
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The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is a solid choice if you occasionally fly Southwest and want to earn a lucrative welcome bonus for the lowest annual fee possible. But if you frequently fly with this airline, you may want to consider other Southwest credit cards that come with better benefits.
Chase issues five different Southwest credit cards. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is the entry-level version, with the lowest annual fee ($69) of the bunch.
Now's a great time to sign up for this basic card, since you can earn a excellent welcome bonus of a Companion Pass® good through 2/28/25 plus 30,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2 points on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases. Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
$69
N/A
21.49% - 28.49% Variable
Earn a Companion Pass® plus 30,000 bonus points
Good to Excellent
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is a solid choice if you fly with Southwest and want to earn a lucrative welcome bonus for the lowest annual fee. However, if you fly Southwest often, other Southwest personal cards could be a better fit if you can make the most of the benefits.
The low annual fee on the Southwest Plus means you'll receive relatively few ongoing benefits. This won't be an issue if you're just an occasional Southwest traveler. However, Southwest frequent flyers could get better value from the additional perks on the airline's other credit cards. The great thing about Southwest points is that they never expire, so there's no pressure to redeem your points right away.
The best way to redeem your points is for free flights, which will provide a value of around 1.4 cents per point, based on Insider's points and miles valuations.
Before you decide on whether the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is the right pick for you, you'll want to compare it to the other credit cards in the Southwest family, because you can only hold one Southwest personal card at a time. And if you want to use your points for other forms of travel, a card that earns transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards® points might be a better bet.
Southwest is one of over a dozen Chase airline and hotel transfer partners, and cards like the