Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card review: Respectable perks and rewards at a low asking price

For the low annual fee of $69, Southwest packs a lot of value into this card, including several helpful travel perks. This makes the card a great choice for both occasional travelers and those just getting their feet wet with travel rewards. 

Welcome offer: Solid value, but a downgrade from the limited-time offer

The Rapid Rewards Plus card recently changed up its welcome offer, and while it's carries solid value for a mid-tier airline card,  it carries significantly less potential value than the previous offer. New cardholders can now earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first three months from account opening. That's a good return on spend, and could offer enough value to offset your annual fee seven times over (assuming a standard 1-cent-per point redemption value). However, the card's most recent limited-time offer gave you a chance to not only earn 30,000 points, but also Southwest's coveted Companion Pass® after spending $4,000 in your first three months.

If you frequently fly Southwest, the value of the Companion Pass should easily outweigh the value of the points you'd receive with the new bonus, and you typically can only qualify for the Companion Pass by earning 135,000 points from qualifying purchases or taking 100 qualifying one-way flights. On the plus side, the points you can earn with the current bonus can get you more than a third of the way there. It's also hard to say when or if the card will feature the Companion Pass bonus offer again, so now can still be a great time to apply if you're eager for an influx of Rapid Rewards points.

Based on Bankrate's latest airline point valuations, which give Southwest Rapid Rewards an average value of around 1.5 cents per point, this bonus could be worth around $750 in Southwest flights. 

Cardholder perks: A great spread for the price 

While it lacks a few of the travel perks you’d expect on an airline credit card of this tier, like upgraded boarding status, the Rapid Rewards Plus does have a nice set of perks and can provide a lot of value, especially if you’re looking for a low-cost way to earn Rapid Rewards points.

You’ll receive a lineup of travel benefits, including lost luggage reimbursement of up to $3,000 per passenger and baggage delay insurance of up to $100 per day for three days. Additionally, your first two checked bags fly free (size and weight limits apply), and there are no fees for flight changes.

Of special note is the card’s anniversary bonus points: After your cardmember account anniversary each year, you’ll earn 3,000 bonus points, which equates to $45 toward flights based on a 1.5-cent point value.

These anniversary points are a great deal since their value nearly accounts for your entire annual fee. 

The Rapid Rewards Plus card also provides 25 percent back on eligible in-flight purchases and two EarlyBird Check-In® boarding upgrades each year (an up to $50 value).

Finally, when you use your card to buy items with eligible U.S. manufacturer’s warranties of three years or less, you may earn an extended warranty for an additional year. Further, purchase protection covers your purchases for up to 120 days against theft or damage, up to $500 per event and up to $50,000 per account.

Although general travel cards, like the flagship Chase credit cards, may offer a better benefit portfolio, these make up a pretty solid roster.  Even the top-shelf Southwest card only builds on this list with bonus elite status point opportunities, more boarding upgrades and a yearly travel credit.

Adding the Rapid Rewards Plus to your wallet is light on risk and most travelers could enjoy its perks. But there are a few reasons why it’s not necessarily the best airline pick.

Rewards rate: Lacking in flexibility and power

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card earns Rapid Rewards points, which you can spend on Southwest Airlines bookings and products and services through the airline loyalty program. 

Every dollar you spend on purchases with Southwest Airlines will earn you 2X Rapid Rewards points. Southwest Airlines purchases include Southwest flight reservations, in-flight purchases, gift cards, vacation package purchases and bookings with the airline’s rental car and hotel partners. 

The Rapid Rewards Plus card will also earn 2X points on a variety of more niche purchases: local transit and commuting (including ride-shares), internet service, cable service, phone services and select streaming services. All other eligible purchases earn 1X points.

Unfortunately, these categories don’t cover the average person’s largest spending areas, so you may struggle to earn as many points with this card as you would with a card that earns in more common categories like dining or groceries. In contrast, the Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 3X points on dining and online grocery purchases. It also earns 5X points on travel booked through Chase, beating out the 2X points the Rapid Rewards Plus earns on Southwest flights.

Along with offering a lower rewards rate, the card’s points may offer less redemption value than other Chase card rewards. Bankrate’s latest points and miles valuations currently peg the value of Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2.0 cents per point on average when you transfer to a top travel partner, while Rapid Rewards points are worth just 1.5 cents per point on average. This means the Rapid Rewards Plus can quickly fall behind in value on travel purchases. 

For example, here’s a quick look at how the reward value breaks down between these two cards when you book a $600 round-trip flight with Southwest Airlines.

Southwest (direct): $600 x 2X points = 1,200 points x 1.5 cents per point = $18 in value

Chase (via Ultimate Rewards portal): $600 x 5X points = 3,000 points x 2.0 cents per point = $60 in value 

Southwest Rapid Rewards points are also locked to Southwest Airlines, making them less flexible compared to the top general travel card competitors. Rewards programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards have travel partners that allow you to transfer your points to partner rewards programs. Moving your points in this fashion can boost the overall value of your points by as much as double in some cases.  

On the bright side, Southwest points are among the most valuable when strictly comparing airline points and miles. 

Rates and fees: Could be better 

The APR on purchases and balance transfers ranges from 21.49 percent to 28.49 percent (variable), depending on your creditworthiness, with no zero-interest offers available currently. These are typical rates for cards of this tier, though you can find a few travel cards offering an intro APR on purchases, balance transfers, or even both. 

One major downside of the card for frequent international travelers is that if you use your card overseas, you will have to pay a 3 percent foreign transaction fee. This is a bit surprising since most travel-oriented cards — and the other premium Southwest Rapid Rewards cards — pose no foreign transaction fees.

Although the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card carries a $69 annual fee, its solid rewards potential and additional benefits carry enough recurring value for many travelers to easily recoup the cost. Even if you only travel occasionally, the current sign-up bonus could offset the annual fee multiple times over in your first year based on our points and miles valuations.

Even after the first year, your annual credits alone can make up the annual fee. Your 3,000-point anniversary bonus and two complimentary EarlyBird Check-In® boarding upgrades each year can be valued at up to $95. Recouping the $69 fee through rewards spending shouldn’t be too hard, either, since you’d only need to spend about $192 per month across your 2X bonus categories if you redeem your points at a 1.5-cent value.

Here's a look at how much you could earn in your first year and beyond, based on our credit card value estimates:

Frequent personal finance contributor Tim Maxwell is a fan of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus—especially the value its Companion Pass perk delivers.

If you prefer Southwest Airlines over the competition, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is the perfect tool to begin earning perks with the airline. The annual fee is low, and the value of the benefits is high.

The main attraction of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is the coveted Southwest Companion Pass. It’s the premier travel pass and the primary reason I love this card as much as I do.

— Tim Maxwell, Personal finance writer

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card offers good value to budget travelers focused on earning Rapid Rewards points. But for even better value, consider a different Southwest card or a general travel rewards card.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card limits the rewards you can earn outside of Southwest Airlines and its bonus category purchases. To maximize your spending, consider pairing it with a cash back card with higher rewards rates in other categories for everyday spending or a flat-rate rewards card.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus may be overshadowed by other travel cards out there, but it can still prove a good fit for a few types of cardholders. 

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is a good option if you fly occasionally and prefer to fly with Southwest. The boosted rewards and travel perks are well worth the modest annual fee. 

But if you travel frequently, one of the airline’s higher-tier cards like the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card can offer more lucrative perks and a slightly better rewards rate on Southwest purchases.

If you’re not a Southwest loyalist and like to travel with various airlines, a general travel rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred may offer you more flexible rewards, better rates and higher-value benefits for a similar annual fee.

*The information about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.  

We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.

Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest).

We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review: