Southwest credit card offers September 2024
Updated 2:24 PM EDT, Tue September 17, 2024
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Please note: The Southwest Rapid Rewards? Premier Credit Card is currently unavailable through this site.
As we approach the last quarter of 2024, it’s a good time to start thinking about planning vacations for next year. And welcome offers on the Southwest credit cards can provide a nice chunk of points to use toward your next trip.
For a limited time, the Southwest Rapid Rewards? Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards? Premier Credit Card * The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards? Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. and the Southwest Rapid Rewards? Priority Credit Card are offering new card holders 85,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
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Earn 85,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO? credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
That’s a 35,000-point increase and $2,000 increase in the minimum spending requirement compared to the cards’ previous offers.
If you have a small business, you can earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening with the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Performance Business Credit Card.
The Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card is also offering 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth 1.4 cents each, according to September 2024 valuations from travel site The Points Guy. That means 85,000 bonus points are worth roughly $1,190 toward Southwest travel.
Plus, points earned from Southwest credit cards can help you qualify for the coveted Southwest Companion Pass, which is valid until the end of 2025 if you earn it in 2024.
We receive compensation from our partners for Featured Offer placements, which impacts how and where their offer is displayed.
Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO? credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Perks of the Southwest credit cards
Aside from offering lots of points from welcome bonuses, Southwest credit cards come with other benefits for Southwest flyers.
Anniversary points
With all of Southwest’s credit cards, you’ll get bonus points on a yearly basis, starting at your first anniversary (one year from the date you originally get the card). These points can help offset each card’s annual fee.
With the Southwest Plus Credit Card Credit Card, you’ll receive 3,000 bonus points on your anniversary, while the Southwest Premier Credit Card and Southwest Premier Business cards come with 6,000 bonus points. The Southwest Priority Credit Card offers 7,500 bonus points at each account anniversary, while the Southwest Performance Business card will increase your balance the most with 9,000 bonus points each year.
Using a valuation of 1.4 cents per point, these 3,000, 6,000, 7,500 and 9,000 anniversary bonus points are worth $42, $84, $105 and $126 in Southwest airfare, respectively.
Annual travel credit
A benefit of just the Southwest Priority Credit Card is up to $75 in travel credit each account year. This travel credit can be used for most Southwest purchases, including flights, taxes or even fees when using points (but not upgraded boardings and in-flight purchases), so long as you use your Southwest Priority Credit Card to pay for it.
Upgraded boarding positions
Southwest has a different seat assignment policy than most other airlines — there are no assigned seats (yet — the airline plans to shift to assigned seating in 2025). Currently, the carrier has open seating, where you pick your preferred seat upon boarding the plane. Your boarding position — which you get when you check in for your flight — determines when you board.
With the Southwest Priority Credit Card and Southwest Performance Business, you get four upgraded boarding positions per year to use on Southwest flights. This means you can purchase an A1 through A15 boarding position at the gate (if available), giving you the opportunity to board the plane before most other passengers, and you’ll receive a statement credit for the amount charged.
Purchasing an upgraded boarding position normally costs between $30 and $149, so this benefit is worth $120 to $596 per year, if you use it.
EarlyBird Check-In? credits
If you don’t want to have to worry about checking yourself in as close to 24 hours ahead of your flight as possible, Southwest allows you to purchase an add-on option called EarlyBird Check-In that automatically checks you in and assigns you a boarding position for your flight before the traditional 24-hour mark.
The Southwest Plus Credit Card, Southwest Premier Credit Card and Southwest Premier Business cards all come with two EarlyBird Check-In credits per year. EarlyBird Check-In typically costs between $15 and $99 one-way per passenger, so this benefit is worth $30 to $198 per year if you use it.
25% back on in-flight drinks and Wi-Fi
All of the Southwest credit cards except the Southwest Performance Business offer 25% back on in-flight drinks and Wi-Fi purchases. While this isn’t a huge savings, it could save you a few bucks over time.
However, if you’re a small-business owner who flies on Southwest often and typically pays for Wi-Fi on your flights, you might want to consider the Southwest Performance Business, since you can get complimentary Wi-Fi on essentially every Southwest flight you take with that card — up to 365 statement credits per year. In-flight Wi-Fi costs $8 per flight per device, so this could amount to significant savings.
A-List Status qualifying points
Another perk available on the Southwest Premier Credit Card, Southwest Priority Credit Card, Southwest Premier Business and Southwest Performance Business cards is the ability to earn 1,500 tier-qualifying points toward A-List status for every $5,000 you spend on a card. Since there’s no cap, you can theoretically earn A-List and A-List Preferred status solely by spending money on your Southwest credit card.
However, it’d be a lot of spending to make it all the way to the top without flying at all. Just to earn A-List status would require spending well over $100,000 on your credit card. Still, this is a useful perk if you combine it with tier-qualifying points earned by doing some flying on Southwest as well.
Point transfer reimbursement
On both the Southwest Premier Business and Southwest Performance Business cards, you can transfer Southwest points to another person and be reimbursed for up to $500 in fees for doing so each year. This can easily help you consolidate points between family members or gift Southwest points to business associates.
Southwest point transfers typically cost $5 for every 500 points transferred, so getting up to $500 in reimbursements each year means you can effectively transfer up to 50,000 points per year for free.
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit
Like many other popular travel credit cards, the Southwest Performance Business card will reimburse you for your Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS application fee, up to $100 once every four years. Starting Oct. 1, 2024, the reimbursement will increase to a maximum of $120.
Just pay for your application using your Southwest Performance Business card, and if you’re approved, you’ll be on your way to receiving expedited access at TSA security checkpoints in the US or quicker reentry into the country with Global Entry after traveling abroad.
Even if you already have Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, you can use this benefit for a friend or family member who doesn’t have it. Just use your card to pay for their application fee — the names don’t have to match.
How can these credit cards help you get a Southwest Companion Pass?
The Southwest Companion Pass allows a designated companion to fly with you for free (plus taxes and fees) an unlimited number of times during the life of the pass. Currently, to get the pass, you need to earn 135,000 qualifying Southwest points within a calendar year. But, if you have a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card on the first of the year, you’ll receive an annual 10,000-point boost (capped at a one-time boost regardless of the number of Southwest credit cards you have).
Fortunately though, earning the Companion Pass is easier than it looks, since the airline counts all Southwest credit card points toward the Companion Pass.
Combining a personal Southwest credit card with a business one could earn you a Southwest Companion Pass.
When you earn a Southwest Companion Pass the traditional way (by earning 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year), you get to keep it for the rest of the year you earn it, plus the entire following calendar year. So if you earn the pass now, you’ll have it for more than a year, all the way until Dec. 31, 2025.
Once you’ve earned the welcome bonus, there are many other ways to earn the remaining Companion Pass points you need, such as using the Southwest shopping portal, crediting your hotel and car rentals to Southwest, and using your Southwest credit card for everyday expenses.
But one of the easiest is to couple one of the personal Southwest credit cards with a Southwest business credit card. Although Southwest limits you to having just one personal credit card at a time, there are no restrictions on having both a personal and business card.
Which Southwest credit card should you get?
With five different Southwest credit cards on the table, it’s important to know which card is best for your individual needs.
If your main goal is to increase your Southwest Rapid Rewards points balance and earn points toward the Southwest Companion Pass, the Southwest Rapid Rewards? Plus Credit Card is best. This card carries the lowest annual fee at just $69 per year but offers the same welcome bonus. Just note that this is the only Southwest card that charges foreign transaction fees, so it’s not ideal for international travel.
We receive compensation from our partners for Featured Offer placements, which impacts how and where their offer is displayed.
Earn 85,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO? credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
The benefits of the Southwest Premier Credit Card are similar to those of the Southwest Plus Credit Card, but you’re paying a higher annual fee of $99. Although you’ll earn more bonus points on your card anniversaries, you don’t earn them until you complete your first year as a card holder and pay your second annual fee.
But you’ll earn 3 points per dollar on Southwest purchases with the Southwest Premier Credit Card versus 2 points that you earn with the Southwest Plus Credit Card. And the Southwest Premier Credit Card also allows you to earn tier-qualifying points toward A-List status.
If you fly Southwest a decent amount throughout the year and you want a card rich in benefits, the Southwest Rapid Rewards? Priority Credit Card is your best option. Although it has a significantly higher fee of $149, the benefits are worth it if you can use them.
The Southwest Priority Credit Card’s up to $75 travel credit brings the effective cost of the card down to $74. On top of that, you’ll receive four upgraded boardings per year and a 25% statement credit on in-flight drinks and Wi-Fi. If you can maximize those benefits, you can end up ahead in your first year. And starting with your second year, you’ll always be ahead once you add in the 7,500 bonus points at each card anniversary, which are worth about $105 in Southwest flights.
Finally, if you have a small business, you can get the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card and only pay a $99 annual fee, or get the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Performance Business Credit Card with all its perks and a higher $199 annual fee. The more expensive business card probably only makes sense if you’re interested in all its Southwest benefits, like the upgraded boarding positions, Wi-Fi statement credits and point transfer fee credit.
Is this the best time to get a Southwest credit card?
The welcome offers on the Southwest personal credit cards can get you almost two-thirds of the way to qualifying for the coveted Southwest Companion Pass.
If you believe you’ll be traveling on Southwest into 2025 and want to earn a lot of points quickly, applying for a card could make sense. However, elevated Southwest credit card offers typically come and go every few months, so it may be worth waiting until early 2025 to apply for a card and work toward earning the pass, which would be valid until the end of 2026.
All information about Southwest Rapid Rewards? Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines, hotel chain, or other commercial entity and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of such entities.
This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended and should not be understood to constitute financial, investment, insurance or legal advice. All individuals are encouraged to seek advice from a qualified financial professional before making any financial, insurance or investment decisions.
Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed or may no longer be available.
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