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4.5
Bottom line
Despite its higher fee, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card provides excellent rewards and perks for routine flyers and is the best pick among the airline’s three consumer cards. However, if Southwest isn’t your preferred airline or you don’t want a high-cost annual fee, a general travel card would likely provide greater value.
on Chase's secure site
Rewards rate
2X–3XAnnual fee
$149Intro offer
Earn 50,000 pointsRegular APR
18.24% - 25.24% VariableRecommended Credit Score
Good to Excellent (670 - 850)The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card is an ideal travel credit card for jet-setters who frequently book domestic flights, especially those who are loyal to Southwest. You’ll earn points on all your purchases, helping you quickly build up rewards you can redeem for future flights.
Best of all, you’ll get an annual Southwest travel credit, bonus points on your cardmember anniversary, discounts on in-flight purchases and four upgraded boardings per year (depending on availability), making it possible to fly more and have an elevated experience every time you travel.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card is currently offering 50,000 points to cardholders who spend $1,000 in their first three months of opening their account.
That’s a solid offer, worth around $750 based on The Points Guy’s latest estimated point redemption value of 1.5 cents per point. However, it’s a clear drop from the card’s previous offer of 75,000 points after a $5,000 spend in the same timeframe.
Earning points with your Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card is incredibly easy, especially if you fly frequently with Southwest. Best of all, your Rapid Rewards points will never expire while your account is open. Keep in mind that the sign-up bonus and rewards rate is the same for all consumer Southwest credit cards, so make sure you can take full advantage of the Priority card’s extra benefits to rake in more points.
An obvious way to earn points quickly with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card is to make Southwest Airlines your go-to airline whenever possible. Booking flights with Southwest will get you 3 points per dollar spent, and using Southwest partners for hotel stays and car rentals too will net you 2 points per dollar. Southwest’s newest update to the Rapid Rewards Priority card also includes a solid 2 points per dollar on everyday expenses, like local transit and commuting (including rideshares) and your monthly internet, cable, phone and select streaming services. All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar.
Priority cardmembers will receive an anniversary bonus of 7,500 points each year — the highest among Southwest credit cards. You can also earn additional points by shopping through the Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping portal and eating out at restaurants in its Dining Rewards program.
But perhaps the most effective way to earn more points is to earn Southwest elite status. On top of other benefits, qualifying for A-List status earns 25 percent more points on Southwest purchases and A-List Preferred delivers an extra 100 percent. You can get a headstart with the Priority card’s bonus 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) per $10,000 in purchases (there’s no longer a limit for earning bonus points this way).
However, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card also offers this same TQP bonus. If you go the extra mile and end up flying at least 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 125,000 eligible Southwest points in one year, you can stretch your rewards even further by sustaining the Companion Pass and its waived airline charges for a passenger (not including taxes and fees) beyond your first year.
Bankrate insight: According to Chase’s reward category FAQs, the following streaming services will earn you 2X points with this Southwest Rapid Rewards card:
The Rapid Rewards program boasts unlimited award seats with no blackout dates or restrictions for flight redemptions. You’ll just be required to pay taxes and fees on the award ticket (at least $5.60 for a domestic one-way flight). Southwest award tickets are tethered to the cash value of a ticket. So, a more expensive ticket will require more points.
Your points can also be redeemed for international flights with global carriers, hotel stays, rental cars, merchandise, gift cards and more. With the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card or another co-branded Southwest card, it’s even possible to gift or donate points.
With Rapid Rewards points weighing in around The Points Guy’s estimated 1.5 cents per point value, the 7,500-point anniversary bonus could be worth up to $112.50. However, your reward value may fluctuate depending on several factors, including the redemption option and your reward flight’s destination, time and date.
While you won’t get fancy perks like airport lounge access with this Southwest card, you’ll save plenty with its annual travel credit, Southwest priority card upgrades, anniversary bonus and more. Here’s a closer look at what the card has to offer.
You’ll be eligible for a variety of travel savings, including:
By using your card, you receive several protection benefits as a Visa card, including:
Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority cardholders will receive an additional 7,500 points on their account anniversary — worth almost $113 toward airfare at a 1.5-cent point value.
The Rapid Rewards Priority card has an annual fee of $149 — the highest of any Southwest personal credit card. However, there are no foreign transaction fees and Southwest never charges change fees, so you have more flexibility with your travel plans. This flexibility is helpful when offsetting your annual fee with rewards since it’ll take a little work; in order to recoup the yearly cost, you’ll need to spend at least $414 per month on Southwest purchases (based on TPG’s 1.5 cent point value). However, earning and maximizing the anniversary bonus or Companion Pass could nearly (or more than) offset the annual fee.
If you carry a balance month-to-month, you can expect interest to be charged at a rate between 18.24 percent to 25.24 percent variable APR.
Compared to other co-branded airline cards, the Southwest credit card has less flexibility in how you can earn and redeem rewards. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, for example, can potentially rake in more rewards value on a wider variety of travel in addition to everyday expenses like dining — all for a lower $95 annual fee.
The lower-cost Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier card might also be worth considering if you’re not as concerned with the Priority card’s bonus features since it offers the same rewards rate, sign-up bonus and TQP-earning feature.
on Chase's secure site
Annual fee
$149Intro offer
Earn 50,000 pointsRewards rate
2X–3XRecommended credit
Good to Excellent(670 - 850)on Chase's secure site
Annual fee
$95Intro offer
60,000 pointsRewards rate
2x–5xRecommended credit
Good to Excellent(670 - 850)on Chase's secure site
Annual fee
$99Intro offer
Earn 50,000 pointsRewards rate
2X–3XRecommended credit
Good to Excellent(670 - 850)Pair your Southwest credit card with a credit card that has no annual fee and will reward you for everyday purchases, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. Right now, you’ll get 5 percent cash back on travel purchased through Chase and on Lyft purchases (through March 2025), 3 percent on dining and drugstore purchases and 1.5 percent cash back on all other purchases.
If you have a Chase Sapphire card in your wallet, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Sapphire Preferred, you can use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points from other expenses like non-Southwest travel to book flights with other airlines, hotel stays and more. In fact, you can even transfer these points to your Southwest rewards account if you’d like.
This card is perfect for Southwest loyalists who fly often enough with the airline to make use of the points or are pursuing elite status. If qualified for the Companion Pass, frequent flyers should have no trouble raking in massive value for the comparatively low $149 annual fee.
If you need more flexibility (and can’t be loyal to Southwest), you’ll be better off with a general travel rewards credit card. These tend to come with bonus rewards on a broader range of spending categories and more redemption options. Look for one with a transferable currency so you can use your points and miles for a wide range of airlines and hotels.
Bankrate expert Garrett Yarbrough strives to make navigating credit cards and credit building smooth sailing for his readers. After regularly featuring his credit card, credit monitoring and identity theft analysis on NextAdvisor.com, he joined the CreditCards.com and Bankrate.com teams as a staff writer to develop product reviews and comprehensive credit card guides focused on cash back, credit scores and card offers.
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
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