Despite Southwest being in the news recently for its big, negative changes, the airline's suite of co-branded credit cards is still worth your attention … maybe now, more than ever.
Carrying a co-branded card will soon be the easiest way to get a free checked bag when flying with Southwest. With the current offers, you can earn 50,000 Rapid Rewards points after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of card membership … no matter the card you choose.
Better yet, the sign-up bonus from any of these cards will count toward the 135,000 points needed to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass. What's the Southwest Companion Pass? Oh, just one of the best deals in all of travel – and the timing of these bigger bonuses could allow you to earn it for nearly two full years – more on that later.
With the Southwest Companion Pass, you get to choose one person to fly free with you every time you buy a flight or redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards points. No blackout dates and no questions asked: If the flight is bookable, you can add your companion. Considering you get another 10,000 Companion Pass-qualifying points just for having a Southwest Card, you'd only need an additional 75,000 points to unlock more than a year of BOGO flights with Southwest.
Beyond the bonus points and opportunity to get close to a coveted Companion Pass, these cards come with other benefits like anniversary bonus points, early bird check-ins, upgraded boardings, and a discount on in-flight purchases.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about these Southwest credit card offers.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
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- Anniversary Bonus: On your cardmember anniversary, you will receive 3,000 Rapid Rewards points each year.
- Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar spent on Southwest Airlines purchases.
- New! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points on first $5,000 in combined spend at gas stations and grocery stores each anniversary year
- Ending Soon! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards for every $1 you spend on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners. This bonus category is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- Ending Soon! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar spent on local transit and commuting purchases – including rideshares like Uber and Lyft – as well as internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming purchases. This bonus category is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- Earn 1x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
- New! 10% Flight discount: Receive a 10% promo code each year on your cardmember anniversary (excludes basic fares).
- New! Boarding benefit: Cardmembers and up to eight passengers on the same reservation will board with Group 5 giving them earlier access to overhead bins.
- New! Free checked bag: Cardmembers and up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation can check their first bag for free.
- New! Complimentary seat selection: Select a Standard seat within 48 hours of departure, when available.
- New! No foreign transaction fees
- Increased! Annual Fee: $99 (was $69)
Learn more about the *sw plus*.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
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- Anniversary Bonus: Each year, on your cardmember anniversary, you will receive 6,000 Rapid Rewards points.
- Earn 3x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar spent on Southwest Airlines purchases.
- New! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points on first $8,000 in combined spend at restaurants and grocery stores each anniversary year
- Ending Soon! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards per dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners. This bonus category is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- Ending Soon! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar spent on local transit and commuting purchases – including rideshares like Uber and Lyft – as well as internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming purchases. This bonus category is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- Earn 1x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
- Ending Soon! Get 2 EarlyBird check-in® each year. This benefit is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- New! Spend your way to A-List status: Earn 1,500 tier qualifying points (TQPs) toward A-List status for every $5,000 spent in purchases annually accelerating your way to A-List status.
- New! 15% Flight discount: Receive a 10% promo code each year on your cardmember anniversary (excludes basic fares).
- New! Boarding benefit: Cardmembers and up to eight passengers on the same reservation will board with Group 5 giving them earlier access to overhead bins.
- New! Free checked bag: Cardmembers and up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation can check their first bag for free.
- New! Complimentary seat selection: Select a Standard or Preferred seat within 48 hours of departure, when available.
- No foreign transaction fees
- Increased! Annual Fee: $149 (was $99)
Learn more about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
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- Anniversary Bonus: On your cardmember anniversary, you will receive 7,500 Rapid Rewards points each year.
- New! Earn 4x Rapid Rewards Points (was 3x) per dollar spent on Southwest Airlines purchases.
- New! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar spent at gas stations and restaurants each anniversary year.
- Ending Soon! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards per dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners. This bonus category is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- Ending Soon! Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar spent on local transit and commuting purchases – including rideshares like Uber and Lyft – as well as internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming purchases. This bonus category is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- Earn 1x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
- Ending Soon! 4 Upgraded Boardings each year when available for 2025 flights. This benefit is going away effective Dec. 31, 2025!
- New! Spend your way to A-List status: Earn 2,500 tier qualifying points (TQPs) toward A-List status for every $5,000 spent in purchases annually accelerating your way to A-List status.
- New! Boarding benefit: Cardmembers and up to eight passengers on the same reservation will board with Group 5 giving them earlier access to overhead bins.
- New! Free checked bag: Cardmembers and up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation can check their first bag for free.
- New! Complimentary Preferred seat selection: Enjoy unlimited upgrades to an Extra Legroom seat within 48 hours of departure, when available.
- No foreign transaction fees
- Increased! Annual Fee: $229 (was $149)
Learn more about the *sw priority*.
Easy Path to BOGO Flights
You won't find a better deal in the world of travel than the Southwest Companion Pass: an unlimited buy-one, get-one flight pass. Even after Southwest (slightly) increased the points needed to qualify for the Companion Pass, we're still singing its praises.
Typically, the Southwest Companion Pass requires you to earn 135,000 qualifying Southwest Rapid Rewards points … or fly 100 one-way revenue flights in a calendar year.
Considering Rapid Rewards points earned through a sign-up bonus count towards the Companion Pass, you'd only need to earn an additional 85,000 points by the end of the year. But it's even less than that: Since all Southwest credit cardholders get a 10,000-point Companion Pass boost just for having a card, you'll really only need to earn an additional 75,000 points to get that coveted Companion Pass.
Once you earn all the points you need, you get your Companion Pass for the rest of the year and the entire following year. That means with the end of the year quickly approaching, now isn't the best time to earn it. But if you time your application right, there's a way to earn the sign-up bonus at the very beginning of 2026 and then have the remainder of the year to earn the additional 75,000 points needed.
Unfortunately, you can't simply open a second Southwest personal card to get the remaining points – Chase only allows you to hold one version of their personal cards at a time. And you can't simply cancel one card and open another, either: Timing and restrictions on how often you can earn bonuses mean that won't work.
But you can easily bridge this gap with the *SW Rapid Rewards Premier Biz* and its current offer: bonus_miles_full
Worried about whether or not you'll qualify for a business credit card? You might be surprised to learn just what the banks consider a small business. Odds are if you've got any sort of side hustle, do consulting work, or even just buy and sell items on eBay or Facebook Marketplace, your business would qualify.
Otherwise, you could earn the remaining points you need the harder way: Simply flying with Southwest. You'll earn at least 2x points for every $1 you spend on the cheapest Southwest “Basic” fares or up to 14x points on the priciest Business Select tickets. But you'll need to do that flying as early as possible in 2026 to get maximum value out of your Companion Pass.
Finally, you'll also earn more Companion Pass points (and Rapid Rewards) for every $1 you spend on your Southwest credit card. If you're a big spender or have major purchase like a home renovation slated for early 2026, it wouldn't take more than a few months to earn the remaining points needed.
If you don't go with the tandem of a business Southwest card, some combination of earning this big bonus, spending more on your card, and flying with Southwest could be enough to get you a Companion Pass for nearly two full years.
Pair with a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve
All three of these Southwest credit cards make great companions to either the *csr* or the *csp*. That’s because Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account on a 1:1 basis, meaning 1,000 Chase points get you 1,000 Southwest Rapid Reward points. And those transfers are instant.
Learn more about the *csp*.
Learn more about the *csr*.
Bottom Line
Chase and Southwest are out with bonus offers allowing you to earn 50,000 Rapid Rewards points after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of card membership on any of the Southwest personal credit cards.
What's more, these big bonuses count toward the 135,000 points needed to earn Southwest's coveted Companion Pass … clearing an easy(ish) path to nearly two years of BOGO flights.
If I close my current card, how long do I have to wait to apply for this one to get the offer?
If you have earned a welcome bonus on any of the three Southwest Airlines personal credit cards in the past 24 months (or two years) you won’t be eligible. That said, if you close your current card, I would suggest waiting at least a month before applying for one again. Also, you would need to be under the Chase 5/24 rule.
If I were to transfer 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points over to Southwest miles added to the 75,000 sign in bonus plus 10,000 companion pass bonus allow me to reach 135,000 to qualify for the companion pass?
Unfortunately Chase points transfers DO NOT count toward Companion Pass-qualifying points.
My husband is an authorized user on my Southwest card. Would he be able to apply for his own card since a person can only hold one Southwest personal card?
Hi Diane. Yes, he should be able to.
So, I applied for both the personal and business cards. I was called about the business card but received notification that the personal card was declined “due to already having that card”. I called and was told that I can only have one version of the Southwest card. I explained that I wanted to keep my personal and business charges separate but earn the points on all my charges. I asked to be reconsidered but they said that department was closed due to the holiday. I called the next day and went through the same procedure and waited on hold for an hour before hanging up and calling back. I explained everything again and was told that it would be under consideration, and I would hear in 1 to 2 weeks.
Do you know how long this most recent bonus offer will last? I’ve gotten 2 chase cards in the last 30 days so I think I need to wait, but scared to miss it!
Unfortunately, we don’t. Chase hasn’t yet listed an end date for the offer.
Closing up this discussion for reference to others. I contacted Chase and was unable to change closing date to be earlier. Seems you can only do this for future closing dates which doesn’t help me.
Anyone know how to get the Companion Pass added the quickest way? I got the card Feb 16th, it arrived in ~ 5 days. I charged over $5000 within 3 weeks, I went online to pay the bill early and now hoping I can at least get the Companion Pass to use ASAP. I can wait on the 30,000 bonus points, but really want the CP!
Thanks
It should be available as soon as your card statement closes.
My first statement closed Feb 25th, but I was only 1/2 way there, so I have to wait until Mar 25th now? Hoping to esclate it somehow 🙂
Correct. After the statement closes in which you meet the spending requirement.
Just had another idea or thought….my first due date is April 2nd, but what if I change my due date going foward to the 6th, so I could pay the remaining balance by April 6th instead of waiting for May 2nd? I’m guessing these questions center around the Chase Card provider rather than the SW Rewards provider?
Yes. You will need to work with Chase on this.
FYI, Your article shows 2 different annual fees for the Chase Card where you earn the companion bonus.
Also, if you spend $5k in the first month you have the card how soon would I be able to use the companion benefit? Since it is only good until next February I want to maximize it this spring too.
Lastly, can I use it to fly others with companions or do I always have to be one of the ticket holders?
Hi Rayne. There are three cards all offering this right now and each of them has a different annual fee.
Regarding how quickly you would receive the Companion pass, generally, you would receive it within a few days after your card statement closes in which you met the spending requirement.
My husband and I both have personal Chase SW cards and have had them more than 2 yrs, Could one of us cxl a personal card and reapply in a couple weeks to attain this bonus? Or would it trigger something negative with Chase?
Hi Kim. That absolutely should work. I would give it 30 days from when you close the card to reapply. And I would also suggest applying for a different version than you currently have.
Do I actually have to spend the $5,000 by March 10 to qualify?
No, you’d simply have to apply while the offer is still available and then spend $5,000 within three months of being approved for the card.
Great deal, I just wish Southwest had more (direct) flights out of MSP to destinations I am interested in.
Does the point transfer go the other way? Can the points in Southwest credit card be transferred to Chase Sapphire? Thanks
They can not. Transfers are only one way