When you are on the lookout for a top quality airline miles credit card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is a fine starting point. It has a rich range of offers, as well as $1,000 in free airline travel from the first-year rewards. Just $2,000 spent during the first three months will get you a whopping 50,000 points, and you also get 6,000 points on the first anniversary of the opening of your account.
For these reasons, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is a very popular credit card if you fly a lot with Southwest, The average point is worth around 1.80 cents.
Pros and Cons
- The 6,000 points given to you on your one-year anniversary is among the best automatic travel rewards in the industry
- Points expire after just 24-months of inactivity.
- Use is limited to flights by Southwest.
Fees and Expenses
- Great for frequent fliers with Southwest.
- The $99 annual fee is high.
- The rate at which your points expire could also be a problem, as these will not add up over time. There would not be enough value for people who don’t frequently fly.
Full Review
Who is the card for? Well, this card is NOT for those who are not regular flyers. If you fly a lot and you use Southwest Airlines a lot, then it may be worth owning. If not, there might be more suitable alternatives.
If you fly for business a lot, especially abroad, then this is arguably one of the best cards on the market for you. But you must be loyal to Southwest.
Things to consider: unlike other airline loyalty cards, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card has no luxury perks.
The fee is annual.
The limitations of the card simply make it a poor choice if you are unable to use this airline and only this airline moving forward.
Points expire after two years.
What We Like: For one, you get a 1,500 points bonus for every $10,000 spent every year, with a total of 15,000 points if you manage to spend $100,000. That makes it easy for you to earn Companion Passes and free flights with Southwest. The card has no foreign transaction fees, and gives impressive $2/point bonus when you buy with Rapid Rewards and Southwest.
Find out more about Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card.
Related Competitor Cards
With so many different credit cards to pick from, knowing if the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is the one for you is difficult . Like any good credit card, it’s got some rather tremendous competitors.
We recommend that you look at the following comparisons:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. This is a very popular card, providing you with some very good options. With 2 points per dollar spent on dining and travel, it’s a good choice for those who are on-the-go all the time. It also comes with a nice 50,000 bonus points: just spend $4,000 in the first three months and get around $600-625 worth of extras towards travel. At just $95 per year, too, it’s affordable – especially since the first year is free.
- JetBlue Plus Card. The JetBlue Plus Card is a fine competitor of the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card for various reasons. Not only is it the same price per month, but it also gives you some useful benefits – such as being able to get a whopping 6 points per dollar spent in the right locations. The regular APR can be higher at 26.49% (the highest usually provided) but it gives you 0% for 12 months on balance transfers. This makes it a more viable option for the majority than the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card.
- Capital OneVenture. This is a very fair competitor for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, and should definitely be considered if you are looking for something different. It’s one of the best travelers’ cards, giving you a whopping 50,000 miles as a reward bonus when used right. With no fee for the first year, and just $95 annually afterward, it’s a good value card. Add in the fact that its APR starts at 14.49% instead of 17.49%, and it’s easy to see why some prefer it to the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card.