Southwest Airlines and Chase are now offering an exclusive time-sensitive offer for the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. You will get a free round-trip air ticket, or 25,000 bonus points after just making your first purchase on the card! The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is for people with good to excellent credit score, and its rewards program will be maximized by those who fly frequently on Southwest, want to earn plenty of reward points and enjoy its many other benefits.
This review outlines the main pros and cons of the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, one of the best credit cards for airline rewards.
Things We Like About This Card
Simplified Rapid Rewards points program. Instead of earning credits, you now earn reward points based on how much you spend on your card. You receive 1 point for every $1 spent on the card, and 2 points per $1 on Southwest flights, partner hotels, or any of their car rental partners.
Get 25,000 bonus points after your first purchase/use of the card. This is a great sign-up bonus for first-time card members as 25,000 points can be used for a free round-trip air ticket. At the rate of 60 points per dollar of fare for Wanna Get Away (most value) airfares, 25,000 points are worth over $400!
Get 3,000 bonus points as an anniversary bonus each year. On your enrollment anniversary each year, you’ll receive 3,000 bonus points, which are worth $50 toward a Wanna Get Away fare. Just this bonus alone will nearly offset the $69 annual fee!
First and second bag checked in are free. This benefit will save you a lot of money when flying, especially now that many airlines charge you for checking in your luggage.
No change fees. What if something crops up unexpectedly and you need to change your flight? No worries – you will not be charged any fee if you want to get your flight changed. Do note that you’ll still have to pay for any differences in airfares should that apply.
No blackout dates and unlimited reward seats, when you use your points for air tickets on more than 50 global airlines, for any class, anywhere. If a seat is available, you can get it.
Points never expire. Don’t worry about your points expiring with this Southwest card, as long as you have flight or partner earning activity every 2 years. This gives you the freedom to plan for a vacation next month or next year!
Redeem your points for more than just flights. The new Rapid Rewards program now lets you redeem your points for domestic and international flights (other than Southwest travel!), auto rentals, hotel rooms, theme parks, cruises or store gift cards. Plus, you pay no extra fee when booking a flight with your points.
Redeeming for free flights on Southwest. Here is a quick look at how many points you need to redeem for the different Southwest fare types:
- Business Select: 120 points per $1 of airfare
- Anytime (unrestricted): 100 points per $1 of airfare
- Wanna Get Away (cheapest): 60 points per $1 of airfare
As you can see, the best value-for-money airfare is the “Wanna Get Away” fare, which is the fare type you should go for when redeeming your points. A $49 one-way ticket would only be 2,940 points, which you can easily earn even on your everyday purchases over a few months.
Get 1 point per $1 of balance transfers you make to this card within the first 90 days of card membership. The maximum points you can earn on this offer is 10,000 points, which equates to $10,000 in balance transfers. Note that the variable APR on balance transfers is 14.24%, so it will only save you money if you are currently paying a higher interest on a card balance. Also, for each transfer, you pay $5 or 3% minimum as a balance transfer fee.
Our Least Favorite Things About This Card
Annual fee of $69. If you fly frequently on Southwest and use your credit card a lot, it’s quite a low fee to pay for its pretty generous rewards program.
No introductory rate on purchases or balance transfers. The variable APR on balance transfers and purchases is 14.24%.
The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is a pretty competitive airline credit card with its fully revamped Rapid Rewards program. This card is highly recommended to people who usually fly Southwest since it gives you 2 points per $1 spent on Southwest Airlines, partner hotels and auto rentals, as well as 1 point per $1 on all other purchases, which is a pretty good amount of points per dollar of spending.
The $69 annual fee is nearly offset by the 3,000 anniversary bonus points you’ll get every year, plus as a new card member, you will receive 25,000 bonus points (which can be redeemed for a free flight) after your first purchase/first use of the card. Plus, you won’t be charged any fee if you need to change your flight, and your first and second checked bags will be free of charge. Get the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card if you often fly with Southwest and are looking for a card that gives your points for your everyday spending.
