Southwest Cards Now Offer Up to 90K Points & One Last Shot at a Companion Pass

Chase and Southwest just rolled out some of the biggest bonuses we’ve seen on the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards – and the timing of these offers might matter even more than the points.

With the current offers, you can earn up to 90,000 Rapid Rewards points (depending on which card you choose) after meeting the minimum spending requirement.

On their own, these are all respectable bonus offers. But for a few more weeks, these bonuses can still unlock something much bigger: the Southwest Companion Pass.

What’s the Southwest Companion Pass? Oh, just one of the best deals in all of travel. With it, you choose one person to fly with you for just taxes and fees every time you buy a flight or redeem points. There are no blackout dates and no questions asked.

But starting Jan. 1, 2027, Southwest is blowing up how you earn it by tying the Companion Pass to status instead of the points you earn. You’ll need 140,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) for the unlimited version, and credit card sign-up bonuses will no longer count toward it. Your cards will earn just 1 TQP per dollar spent, so you’d need to spend $140,000 to get there on plastic alone.

There’s one last exception, though. If you’re approved for a new Southwest card on or before Dec. 2, 2026, its bonus points still count toward the Companion Pass under the old rules. That’s true even if you don’t finish the spending requirement until early 2027. Pull it off, and you’ll have BOGO flights through Dec. 31, 2027.

Beyond the Companion Pass, carrying one of these cards matters more than ever. After Southwest’s slew of big changes, a Southwest card is the easiest way to get a free checked bag on every flight. You also get anniversary points, Group 5 boarding, and seat selection perks.

Keep reading for everything you need to know about these offers and how to use them for one last shot at the Companion Pass.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

• bonus_miles_full
• 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.
• Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points on the first $5,000 in combined spend at gas stations and grocery stores each anniversary year
• Earn 1x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
• Free checked bag: Cardmembers and up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation can check their first bag for free.
• Complimentary seat selection: Select a Standard seat within 48 hours of departure, when available.
• Boarding benefit: Cardmembers and up to eight passengers on the same reservation will board with Group 5, giving you earlier access to overhead bins.
• 10% Flight discount: Receive a 10% promo code each year on your cardmember anniversary (excludes basic fares).
• No foreign transaction fees
• Annual Fee: $99 

Learn more about the *sw plus*.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

• Earn 85,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• 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.
• Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points on the first $8,000 in combined spend at restaurants and grocery stores each anniversary year
• Earn 1x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
• Free checked bag: Cardmembers and up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation can check their first bag for free.
• Complimentary seat selection: Select a Standard or Preferred seat within 48 hours of departure, when available.
• Boarding benefit: Cardmembers and up to eight passengers on the same reservation will board with Group 5, giving you earlier access to overhead bins.
• 15% Flight discount: Receive a 10% promo code each year on your cardmember anniversary (excludes basic fares).
• No foreign transaction fees
• Annual Fee: $149 

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

• bonus_miles_full
• Anniversary Bonus: On your cardmember anniversary, you will receive 7,500 Rapid Rewards points each year.
• Earn 4x Rapid Rewards Points (was 3x) per dollar spent on Southwest Airlines purchases.
• Earn 2x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar spent at gas stations and restaurants each anniversary year.
• Earn 1x Rapid Rewards Points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
• Free checked bag: Cardmembers and up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation can check their first bag for free.
• Boarding benefit: Cardmembers and up to eight passengers on the same reservation will board with Group 5, giving you earlier access to overhead bins.
• Complimentary Preferred seat selection: Enjoy unlimited upgrades to an Extra Legroom seat within 48 hours of departure, when available.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Annual Fee: $229

Learn more about the *sw priority*.

One Last Kick at the Companion Pass Can

For years, earning the Companion Pass followed a simple recipe: You opened a Southwest card or two, let the bonus points do most of the work, and enjoyed nearly two years of BOGO flights. That recipe expires at the end of this year.

Here’s how it works today. You need 135,000 Companion Pass-qualifying points (or 100 qualifying one-way flights) in a calendar year. Points from Southwest card bonuses count toward that total.

Here’s how it works in 2027. Companion Pass-qualifying points go away, and status takes over:

• 140,000 TQPs (or 100 qualifying flights) get you the unlimited Companion Pass.
• 95,000 TQPs (or 75 qualifying flights) get you three one-time companion trips.
• Card spending earns 1 TQP per dollar, and sign-up bonuses don’t count.

For most casual Southwest flyers, the unlimited pass is about to move out of reach.

But Southwest is giving new cardholders one final opening. If you’re approved for a new Southwest card on or before Dec. 2, 2026, that bonus counts toward the 135,000 points you need. That’s true even if you hit the spending requirement and the bonus posts in early 2027.

It matters because the usual deadline pressure is gone. You don’t have to cram $3,000 in spending into the next few weeks. Get approved by Dec. 2, finish your spending on a normal timeline, and the bonus still counts.

The catch is that a pass earned this way expires Dec. 31, 2027, no matter when you earn it. You won’t get the nearly two-year runway from past years. The sooner you finish the spending, the more months you’ll get out of it. Unfortunately, no single bonus gets you to 135,000 points.

Chase only lets you hold one Southwest personal card at a time, so you can’t stack two personal bonuses. But you can easily bridge this gap with a business card like the *SW Performance Biz* and its current offer: bonus_miles_full

Both bonuses fall under the carve-out, so you aren’t relying on any other points arriving before the calendar flips.

Worried about whether you’ll qualify for a business credit card? You might be surprised by what banks consider a small business. 

Going It With One Card

Only want one card? It’s possible, but it’s a tighter squeeze.

Even the 90,000-point Priority bonus leaves you 45,000 points short. And based on Southwest’s guidance, any points beyond the bonus need to post to your account by Dec. 31, 2026, to count. That leaves you about two months to close the gap through Southwest flights, card spending, and shopping portal purchases.

For most people, that’s a stretch … and you don’t want to cut it too close: The deadline is about approval, not application, and Chase applications can go pending for days or even weeks. If you’re going for it, apply by mid-November, so you have time to address a pending application or a call for reconsideration.

Be sure you’re eligible, too (more on that below). The 24-month bonus rule and Chase’s 5/24 rule still apply – the sign-up bonus carve-out doesn’t change either one of those rules.

What Can You Do With the Points?

We typically see Chase and Southwest roll out bigger bonuses on these cards, up to 90,000 points, a few times per year, so this is about as good as it gets. 

When it comes time to redeem your points, you’ve got options. One nice thing about booking a Southwest flight with points is that, unlike other airline programs, award availability is easy to find. If you can book with cash, Southwest will also give you the option to redeem Rapid Rewards – just how many you need will vary, but at least it’s a surefire redemption option.

Take this nonstop flight from Phoenix (PHX) to Denver (DEN) as an example. These basic economy fares will cost you $90 when paying cash. But you’ll see the same fares for just 6,000 points and $5.60 in taxes and fees. That’s nearly 1.5 cents per point in value – not bad!

Or maybe you’re hoping to use your points for something a little more aspirational. Hawaii fits the bill.

This roundtrip from Oakland (OAK) to Maui (OGG) will cost you $548 for Southwest’s cheapest basic economy fares. But if you use Rapid Rewards to book this flight instead, you’ll need just 43,000 points and $11.20 in taxes and fees.

With the Southwest Priority Card’s current 90,000-point bonus, you’d have more than enough for a roundtrip, saving you nearly $1,100 in the process. 

These are just a couple of examples of what’s possible with Rapid Rewards – but if you regularly fly Southwest, there’s still lots of value to be had with these offers.

What to Know Before You Apply

There are some considerations to work through before you apply. And the first comes down to whether you’re even eligible to open one of these Chase Southwest cards.

Chase only lets you hold one Southwest personal credit card at a time. That means if you already have one Southwest credit card open, you will not be approved for a second card. But there’s nothing to stop your favorite travel buddy from picking one up … unless they already have one.

On top of that, these welcome bonuses are not available if you have earned a welcome bonus on any of the three Southwest Airlines personal credit cards in the past 24 months (two years).

And of course, these cards are also subject to the dreaded Chase 5/24 rule, so getting approved for one of these cards may be difficult depending on how many credit cards (from any bank, not just Chase) you’ve opened in the last 24 months.

If you’ve opened five or more credit cards with any bank in that time span, you will not be approved for Chase credit cards, regardless of your credit score or history with Chase.

But if you are eligible, these Southwest credit cards are among the best credit cards you can get if you are under the Chase 5/24 rule. 

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 instantly transferred to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account on a 1:1 basis, meaning 1,000 Chase points get you 1,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points. 

Learn more about the *csp*.

Learn more about the *csr*.

Bottom Line

Chase and Southwest are out with big bonus offers of up to 90,000 Rapid Rewards points on Southwest’s trio of personal credit cards. What’s more, these big bonuses give travelers one last chance to earn Southwest’s coveted Companion Pass before the rules change next year.

If you’re looking for an easy(ish) path to nearly 12 months of BOGO flights, this is it … and it might be the last opportunity you have.