Southwest Rapid Priority Priority Credit Card Overview
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is Southwest Airlines’ most rewarding personal credit card, offering a $75 annual Southwest credit and 7,500 anniversary bonus points. With the most benefits of any airline offering, this is the card to get if you’re a Southwest loyalist. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐½
*Card rating is based on the opinion of TPG editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.
Southwest Airlines has a lot of fans – mostly because of its flexible change/cancellation policies and offering two free checked bags for all passengers. Unlike other airlines, Southwest does not offer lounges, superior rooms or even seats with extra legroom.
But it offers a comprehensive range of cobranded credit cards to help frequent flyers achieve their Southwest travel goals.
This card won the Best Airline Cobranded Credit Card award at the 2023 TPG Awards.
The Southwest Priority card has a recommended credit score of 670 or higher and is the top personal credit card in Southwest’s lineup.
But are its benefits significant enough to warrant the $149 annual fee? And is now the right time for you to apply? Let’s find out.
Southwest Priority Credit Card pros and cons
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Southwest Priority Credit Card acceptance offer
New Southwest Priority cardholders can earn a welcome bonus of 40,000 bonus points and a $400 statement credit after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first four months of account opening. This offer ends on December 16.
According to TPG prices for November 2024, this welcome offer is worth up to $960 when you include the statement credit. The bonus points will also get you that much closer to earning the Companion Pass, which requires earning 135,000 points per calendar year.
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To extend the Companion Pass for 2025 and 2026, it is best to wait to apply for the card until December. Then, after your December statement date, complete the minimum spending requirement to get your bonus points in January. This should help you get a Companion Pass for 2025 and 2026 (there are some for 2024 and 2025 if your bonus points arrive in December).
Note that Southwest cards are subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. If you’ve opened five or more credit cards in the past 24 months (at all banks, not just Chase), you may not be approved.
In addition, you cannot activate a new personal Southwest card if you already have one activated. You also won’t be able to get a new welcome bonus on a Southwest personal card if you got one in the last 24 months.
Related: 15 lessons from 15 years of Southwest Companion Passes
Benefits of the Southwest Priority Credit Card
The Southwest Priority card offers the following benefits, the first two of which are in addition to paying an annual fee:
- Birthday bonus: During your card year each year, you’ll earn 7,500 Instant Rewards points, worth $105 based on TPG’s November 2024 rates.
- Annual Southwest travel credit: For each cardmember year, you’ll receive a $75 travel credit that can be used toward most Southwest purchases, including tickets (except for upgraded fares and inflight purchases).
- 25% savings on airfare: Get 25% back (as a statement credit) after using your card to purchase inflight beverages and Wi-Fi.
- Qualifying points for the category improve: Earn 1,500 TQPs that count toward A-List and A-List Preferred Status for every $5,000 you spend per calendar year.
- Four boards were developed per year
In addition to Southwest-specific benefits, the card comes with lost baggage reimbursement, baggage delay insurance, extended warranty protection and purchase protection.
These benefits are important to one TPG student, who said they often visit the Southwest campus:
“Great travel insurance benefits and Southwest benefits like free upgrades and opportunities to earn more points. It’s my choice as long as I stay near a Southwest hub.” – Trisha M for TPG Newsletter survey
Note: Feedback submitted by readers has not been edited, reviewed or approved by the issuers and does not reflect TPG’s views on these cards.
The card also has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s a great choice for spending money abroad.
Related: How to get elite flight status
Earn points with a Southwest priority credit card
Here’s what you’ll get with the Southwest Value Card:
- 3 points per dollar on Southwest purchases
- 2 points per dollar spent with Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners
- 2 points per dollar on local transportation and commuting, including ride-hailing apps
- 2 points per dollar on internet, cable and phone services; select stream
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
This airline credit card offers wider bonus categories than other airline credit cards, although top travel cards often have even greater benefits.
You’ll earn 4.2% on Southwest purchases and 2.8% back on select purchases (according to TPG estimates for November 2024), which isn’t a bad return rate for a cobranded credit card.
However, this may not be the best Southwest card for you if you don’t book Southwest flights regularly or prefer to use other sites for booking hotels and rental cars.
Related: The best credit card rewards in every bonus category
Redeems points with a Southwest priority credit card
Using Instant Rewards points with the Southwest Value Card is pretty straightforward. Southwest award prices are directly proportional to the price of the ticket, which means the number of points you need for a flight will fluctuate, but you won’t run into times when you can’t use your points. Plus, you can redo your prize without penalty if your plans change.
While Southwest points won’t help you fly first class rooms, they can give you great value. For example, you can fly from Los Angeles (LAX) to Chicago-Midway (MDW) for as little as 4,701 points one way, depending on the time of year. Meanwhile, some airlines often charge 10,000 miles or more (assuming you can find availability).
If you book during one of Southwest’s flash sales, you can earn rewards for as little as 2,500 points one-way. You can even fly to exciting faraway destinations like Hawaii, Costa Rica and Mexico with your Southwest points.
For example, TPG credit card planner Emily Thompson recently used one of these sales to book a round-trip ticket between Nashville (BNA) and San Jose, California (SJC) for less than 25,000 points. If you fly to one of Southwest’s destinations, you can get more points.
Related: Why I always choose Southwest
What cards compete with the Southwest Priority Credit Card?
Southwest Airlines offers three personal cards, so you can choose the one that suits you best.
- If you want the benefits of Southwest for less money: The Southwest Rapid Rapid® Premier Credit Card is the mid-tier card in Southwest’s lineup, with an annual fee of $99. Its benefits include 6,000 anniversary bonus points, two EarlyBird entries per year and 25% back on inflight purchases. To learn more, read our full Southwest Premier card review.
- If you’re looking for a Southwest card with the lowest annual fee: The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card has an annual fee of $69 and an anniversary bonus of 3,000 points. You’ll also get two EarlyBird entries every year and 25% back on incoming purchases. To learn more, read our full Southwest Plus card review.
- If you’re looking for transferable points to use with Southwest and other airlines: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which you can transfer 1:1 on Southwest and a wide range of other airlines for making flight redemptions. You’ll get more travel protections, a $50 annual hotel credit on hotel bookings made through Chase Travel℠ and strong earning tiers for a $95 annual fee. To learn more, read our full Sapphire Preferred review.
Southwest Rapid Rapid Rewards Premier information is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card information on this page has not been updated or provided by the card issuer.
For more options, check out our full list of travel credit cards.
Related: An Essential Comparison of Southwest’s Instant Rewards, Premier, and Premium Credit Cards
Is the Southwest Priority Credit Card right for you?
If you fly Southwest at least a few times a year, you’ll come out ahead with the Southwest Priority card. The card’s daily rates aren’t the most lucrative, but the built-in benefits are impressive like advanced promotions, a $75 annual travel credit and an easy 7,500 anniversary bonus. However, if you fly Southwest a few times, you’ll prefer one of our favorite flight cards.
Bottom line
The Southwest Priority Card is Southwest Airlines’ personal credit card, which allows you to earn more points and get more benefits for any airline offer. If you fly Southwest often, this is the best Southwest card for you.
However, if you don’t fly Southwest often or want to keep your annual expenses low, you may want to choose one of Southwest’s cobranded cards or a card that earns transferable rewards.
Apply here: Southwest Rapid Priority Credit Card
Related: How to choose the right travel credit card for you
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