Welcome offers, fees and the Companion Pass threshold change often — confirm the current terms on the issuer's page before you apply.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® cards matter more than their modest perks suggest for one reason: the Companion Pass, which lets a person of your choosing fly with you for just the taxes (~$5.60 each way) on every paid and award flight. Card sign-up bonuses count toward earning it, which makes these cards the fastest on-ramp to what is, dollar for dollar, the best deal in domestic travel.
Advertiser disclosure: we may be compensated when you're approved through our links. It doesn't affect our editorial take. Terms apply — see the issuer's Rates & Fees.
Quick answer
- Best for: earning the Companion Pass — card sign-up bonuses count as qualifying points toward the ~135,000 threshold for cards approved by December 2, 2026 (Southwest is changing the rules for 2027)
- Annual fee: $99 (Plus), $149 (Premier) or $229 (Priority)
- Welcome bonus: 55,000 points after $1,500 in 3 months on the personal cards; 60,000 after $3,000 on Premier Business (verify current offer)
- Key benefit: the Companion Pass — valid for the rest of the year you earn it plus the entire next calendar year, up to nearly two years
- Earning: Rapid Rewards points, worth ~1.35¢ each at our valuation — close to a fixed value. Skip it if you fly a variety of airlines — a Chase Sapphire Preferred is more versatile and transfers to Southwest 1:1
Free tool: find the credit card that earns the most for how you spend, and track every statement credit at kritdeals.com/points-path, or in the free KritDeals app for iPhone and Android.
September 2026: the 100,000-point consumer offer ended on 17 September; the public offer is back to 55,000 points after $1,500 in 3 months on Plus, Premier and Priority, and 60,000 after $3,000 on the Premier Business card. Assigned seating has been live since January, and cardholders (plus up to eight others on the same reservation) get their first checked bag free.
At a glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual fee | $99 (Plus) · $149 (Premier) · $229 (Priority) |
| Sign-up bonus | 55,000 points after $1,500 in 3 months (personal); 60,000 after $3,000 (Premier Business) |
| Best for | Earning the Companion Pass |
| Points earned (currency) |  Southwest Rapid Rewards points |
| Points worth (our valuation) | ~1.35¢ each |
| Key perk/status boost | Companion Pass progress; first checked bag free; tier-qualifying points (Premier, Priority, business) |
| Card network (issuer) | Chase |
Fees and perks are refreshed periodically — verify current terms before choosing.
| Plus | Premier | Priority | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $99 | $149 | $229 |
| Anniversary points | ~3,000 | ~6,000 | ~7,500 |
| Annual travel credit | — | — | — (removed in the refresh) |
| Upgraded Boardings | — | — | — (ended with assigned seating) |
| Tier qualifying points | — | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Cheapest way to the Pass | Balanced value | Frequent Southwest flyer |
What the points are worth
We value Rapid Rewards at 1.35¢ each, and — unusually — that's close to a fixed value. Southwest prices award seats as a roughly linear function of the cash fare (a "Wanna Get Away" fare of ~$X costs ~X÷1.3–1.5¢ in points), so you get:
- No blackout dates — if a seat is for sale, it's bookable with points.
- Free cancellations — cancel an award and the points redeposit with no fee.
- No change fees — Southwest never charged them.
The cents-per-point (CPP) formula, every time: (cash price − taxes/fees) ÷ points × 100 = ¢ per point
A $180 one-way that prices at 12,000 points + $5.60 is (180 − 5.60) ÷ 12,000 × 100 = 1.45¢ — right in the fixed-value band.
These are Southwest-only points — they don't transfer to other airlines. But Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 into Rapid Rewards, so a Chase Sapphire Preferred can feed your balance when you're short for an award. Rapid Rewards points don't expire as long as the account has activity.
To see how to stretch them — and how the Companion Pass turns every trip into a two-for-one — read How the Companion Pass flew my partner free.
Benefits & credits
- Companion Pass progress: card sign-up bonuses count as qualifying points for cards approved by December 2, 2026 (see below).
- First checked bag free: the primary cardholder and up to eight others on the same reservation each check their first standard bag free — add your Rapid Rewards number to the booking; authorized users don't qualify, and partner-carrier flights are excluded.
- Anniversary points: ~3,000 (Plus), ~6,000 (Premier), ~7,500 (Priority).
- Tier-qualifying points: the Premier and Priority personal cards and the business cards earn them through spend toward A-List.
- Priority ($229): the perks that used to justify this fee — the
$75 travel credit and 4 Upgraded Boardings — were both removed in the refresh, so 7,500 anniversary points ($101) is now the main offset. It is the hardest of the three to justify. - Premier ($149): 6,000 anniversary points (~$81 value) covers over half the fee, and it earns tier-qualifying points toward A-List status.
- Plus ($99): cheapest door in — fine if you mainly want the sign-up bonus and Companion Pass progress.
- Business cards (Performance and Premier Business): higher anniversary points, tier credits and — critically — their own separate sign-up bonuses that also count toward the Companion Pass.
A note on A-List status. Frequent flyers can chase A-List and A-List Preferred status (priority boarding, free same-day changes, and — for A-List Preferred — free inflight Wi-Fi and a 100% points bonus). Card spend nudges you toward A-List without extra flying. It's a nice bonus, but the Companion Pass is the reason to be here — treat A-List progress as gravy.
Best uses
The Companion Pass — the whole point. Earn a set number of qualifying points in a calendar year (the threshold is ~135,000 — verify current number) or fly ~100 qualifying one-way flights, and you get the Companion Pass. Once you have it:
- A chosen companion flies free (just ~$5.60 in taxes each way) on every flight you book — paid or award.
- It's valid for the rest of the year you earn it plus the entire following calendar year — earn it early in January and you get nearly two full years.
- You can change your companion a limited number of times per year (verify).
Card sign-up bonuses count as qualifying points. That's the hack: a well-timed personal-card bonus plus a business-card bonus can, on their own, put you at or near the threshold — meaning two card bonuses can earn the Pass outright, before you've flown anywhere.
Companion Pass worked example. Say you and a partner fly a $250 round-trip route six times in a Pass year. Your flights cost ~18,000 points + $11.20 each round trip; your companion pays only $11.20 each time.
- Your six trips: 6 × ($250 − $11.20) = ~$1,433 of value from points.
- Your companion's six trips, free: 6 × ($250 − $11.20) = ~$1,433 in avoided fares.
The companion side alone can be worth well over a thousand dollars a year — which is why we call it the best deal in domestic travel.
Who should get it
Get a Southwest card (or two) if you or your family fly domestically on Southwest and can coordinate two bonuses to earn the Companion Pass — the return is enormous.
- Good alternative: Chase Sapphire Preferred — more versatile if you fly a variety of airlines, and you can still transfer points into Southwest when you need them
Fine print worth knowing
- 5/24 rule: Chase (the issuer) generally won't approve you with 5+ personal cards opened in the past 24 months. Business cards usually don't add to your 5/24 count but you must be under it to be approved.
- Same-brand bonus rules: you typically can't earn a new bonus on a Southwest personal card you already hold, and there are limits on holding multiple personal Southwest cards at once — verify current eligibility before applying.
- Timing is everything: to maximize the Pass's ~2-year window, aim to hit the threshold early in a calendar year.
- Rapid Rewards points don't expire as long as the account has activity.
Bottom line
On their own the Southwest cards are ordinary — modest anniversary points, a free first checked bag, tier-qualifying points toward A-List. Together, and timed right, they unlock the Companion Pass, which turns every Southwest trip into a two-for-one for up to two years. That single benefit is worth more than any co-brand perk in the U.S. market.
Note: Sign-up bonuses and benefits change. Always confirm current terms on the issuer's site before applying.
FAQ
What is the Southwest Companion Pass? It lets a person of your choosing fly with you for just the taxes (~$5.60 each way) on every paid and award flight, for the rest of the year you earn it plus the entire next calendar year.
Do Southwest card sign-up bonuses count toward the Companion Pass? Yes. Card sign-up bonuses count as qualifying points, so a well-timed personal-card bonus plus a business-card bonus can put you at or near the ~135,000-point threshold (verify the current number).
Which Southwest card is best? Premier ($149) is the balanced pick — 6,000 anniversary points cover over half the fee and it earns tier-qualifying points. Plus ($99) is the cheapest door in; Priority ($229) is the hardest to justify since its travel credit and Upgraded Boardings were removed.
What are Rapid Rewards points worth? We value them at 1.35¢ each, and award prices track cash fares, with no blackout dates and free cancellations.
Does the Chase 5/24 rule apply to Southwest cards? Yes. Chase generally won't approve you with 5+ personal cards opened in the past 24 months; business cards usually don't add to your count, but you must be under 5/24 to be approved.
