(New!) Southwest personal card offers! Are they worth it?

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The Chase Southwest personal credit cards now have a new best of the year offer! For a limited time, all three personal Southwest cards have a welcome offer of 100,000 Rapid Rewards points for $4,000 spend in 5 months.

There’s a good chance you’ve already heard about some of the changes Southwest is making to both their program and credit card. However, despite these changes, Rapid Rewards points still remains as one of our favorite ways to book free travel. The program is incredibly easy to use and with no cancellation fees for points booking, it still offers one of the most flexible and travel-friendly programs.

And right now, Southwest is offering one of the highest offers we’ve seen this year, amongst all three of their personal credit cards. And if you time it right, these credit card offers will get you one step closer to earning the highly desirable Southwest Companion Pass.

Even though there’s been many changes with Southwest recently, the Companion Pass has not changed, where your companion can still fly with you for free (plus taxes/fees) an unlimited number of times throughout the life of the pass. And, if you time it right, this current offer can in fact allow you to earn the pass for 2026 and 2027. Be sure to read more on strategy below.

The three Southwest personal cards each have the same offer, but varying perks:

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card ($99 annual fee)

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card ($149 annual fee)

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card ($229 annual fee)

We typically recommend the Plus or Priority cards. The Premier card often ends up as the awkward middle option—but that may shift now due to new card benefits. Also note that these annual fees have all increased. If you already have a Southwest credit card, the new annual fee will not take place until your cardmember anniversary date in 2026.

Changes to the Southwest Personal Credit Cards

With the new welcome offers on all three cards, card benefits and annual fees are changing as well. This includes new benefits being added, and some perks being removed. We’ve recapped the changes below as this may influence which card works best for you.

New and existing credit card features:

Assigned Seating

Starting July 27, 2025, Southwest will transition to an assigned seating model for flights taking off Jan. 27, 2026 and later. With this change, cardmembers will receive the following seating benefits, depending on their Southwest credit card:

• Plus: Choose Standard seats up to 48 hours before departure

• Premier and Priority: Choose Standard or Preferred seats up to 48 hours before departure

• Priority only: Choose Standard or Preferred seats at time of booking, plus enjoy unlimited complimentary extra-legroom upgrades within 48 hours of departure (pending availability)

Group 5 Boarding

Once assigned seating takes place, all three cards will offer Group 5 boarding for the cardholder and up to 8 travel companions on the same reservation.

A-List Status Boost

• Priority cardholders now earn 2,500 TQPs per $5,000 spend (up from 1,500; note that Premier cardholders will continue to earn the same 1,500 TQPs per $5,000 spend)

Anniversary Perks & Companion Pass Credits

You’ll continue to earn the same number of bonus points on your cardmember anniversary and annual Companion Pass qualifying points. However, a money-saving promo code has been added as a new perk for the Plus and Premier cards.

• Plus: 3,000 points + 10,000 CP points

• Premier: 6,000 points + 10,000 CP points

• Priority: 7,500 points + 10,000 CP points

• Promo codes: 10% off (Plus) and 15% off (Premier) on Southwest flights each year (excludes basic economy fares)

Enhanced Earning Categories

• Plus: 2x at gas stations & grocery stores (up to $5K/year)

• Premier: 2x at groceries & restaurants (up to $8K/year)

• Priority: 4x on Southwest; 2x on gas & restaurants (with no cap)

No Foreign Transaction Fees

• The Plus card will have no foreign transaction fees (the Premier and Priority already had this benefit, and will continue to do so)

First Checked Bag Free

• Plus, Premier and Priority cardmembers will still be able to check their first bag at no additional cost. This includes the cardmember and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation.

25% Back on In-flight Purchases

• Plus, Premier and Priority cardmembers will continue to receive 25% back on all in-flight purchases

Benefits Ending December 31, 2025

These perks are still active—but only until year-end:

• Plus, Premier and Priority: 2x on internet, cable and phone services and select streaming; 2x on transit and rideshares; 2x on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners

• Plus and Premier: 2 EarlyBird Check-Ins per year

• Priority: 4 Upgraded Boardings per year and $75 annual flight credit

Should You Get One of These Cards?

If you’re aiming for the Companion Pass, yes—absolutely, assuming you’re eligible. (See below for application rules or check out your CardGenie.)

Southwest is now giving new cardholders an incredibly generous 5 months to meet the minimum spend on these offers.  To lock in the pass for both 2026 and 2027, you’ll want to make sure to apply after August 1, 2025, and to not meet the minimum spend requirement until January 1, 2026 or later.

The Strategy: How to Earn the Companion Pass

Option 1: Personal + Business

1. Apply for a personal card after August 1 (ideally August 5 or later)

2. Don’t meet the minimum spend until on or after January 1, 2026

3. In Fall 2025, apply for a Southwest business card (Note: You’ll need to see the welcome offer at the time as typically the business cards have a 3-month minimum spend requirement, which means you’ll want to wait until October 1st or later. However, if you need to spread out your card applications, you can always wait until this winter to apply, it just might mean you earn the Companion Pass a few months into 2026).

4. Again, wait until 2026 to meet the minimum spend on the Southwest business card

This combo earns enough points to unlock the Companion Pass through December 31, 2027.

Option 2: Two Business Cards

You can get both Southwest business cards (you just can’t have more than one personal).

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (60,000 points after spending $3,000 on the card within the first three months; $149 annual fee)
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (80,000 points after spending $5,000 on the card within the first three months; $299 annual fee)

Same rule applies as the strategy involving the personal credit card. This means you’ll want to wait until 2026 to meet the minimum spend to maximize your Companion Pass duration.

If you’re interested in the Companion Pass, here’s the lowdown on the best strategy for earning the Southwest Companion Pass. Without earning a few signup bonuses, the Southwest Companion Pass can be difficult to achieve.

Who should you skip this offer?

If you rarely fly Southwest, you’re probably better off with a different travel card.

Application Rules

There are some specific application rules for getting this bonus. Perhaps the easiest thing to do is to check out your CardGenie to see if you’re eligible for any of these cards. The rules are:

1) Cannot currently have ANY Southwest personal card.

2) Cannot have earned any Southwest personal card bonus in the last 24 months. All 3 cards are considered a family. So, if you have one, then you cannot get approved for another.

3) You cannot be at 5/24 or above. (Check your 5/24 number on your Travel Freely dashboard)

Again, the CardGenie knows these rules, so you just need to check if they are showing up in your recommendations. Note: If you currently have a SW personal card, none of the SW personal cards will show up. BUT if it’s been more than 24 months since your last SW personal card bonus, you can close it, wait at least a week (more if possible), then re-open a new SW personal card in order to earn the bonus.

Summary

Here at Travel Freely, Southwest Rapid Rewards points are some of our favorites. And earning this current bonus might be what you need to help earn the Southwest Companion Pass.

If you’re not interested in the Southwest Companion Pass, you may want to consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred or one of the Ink business cards right now. These cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards. If Southwest Airlines is your preferred airline, you can use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points towards a Southwest flight.

• Category: Credit Card Strategy
• Tag: Card-10, Card-11, Card-194, Chase, Chase Ultimate Rewards