Pros
- Attainable initial bonus
- 6,000-point annual anniversary bonus
- Strong earning rates for people who fly often and always with Southwest
Cons
- $149 annual fee
- High regular APR
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- Earn 3 points for each dollar spent on Southwest Airlines purchases.
- Earn 2 points for each dollar spent at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year.
- Earn 1 point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
Rewards Details
- Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 6,000 anniversary points each year.
- Earn 3 points for each dollar spent on Southwest Airlines purchases.
- Earn 2 points for each dollar spent at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year.
- Earn 1 point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
- First checked bag free for Cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation.
- Select a Standard or Preferred seat within 48 hours prior to departure, when available.
- Receive a 15% promo code each year on your Cardmember anniversary (Excludes Basic fare).
- Cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation will board with Group 5 giving them earlier access to overhead bins. For flights operating in 2026 and beyond.
Additional Info
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Member FDIC
- More Details & Reviews About Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
Is the Southwest Premier Card Worth It?
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is worth it for people with good credit or better who regularly fly with Southwest Airlines and want to earn free flights. It offers 1 - 3 points per $1 spent on purchases, and 50,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. That bonus will cover the card’s $149 annual fee for multiple years.
To top it off, the card gives a bonus of 6,000 points every account anniversary, and you get the first checked bag free for you and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation.
What You Need to Do to Make the Southwest Premier Card Worthwhile
To make the Southwest Premier Card worthwhile, you should spend $1,000 in the first 3 months to earn the card’s initial bonus of a 50,000 points. If you earn that, you’ve made enough to cover the cost of the annual fee for the next several years, even without the anniversary bonus and rewards on your purchases.
Southwest Credit Card Highlights
Good Initial Bonus
Although you should never use an initial rewards bonus as an excuse to overspend, spending an average of $334 per month for the first 3 months will earn you the 50,000 points. That's a pretty nice initial bonus, according to my research, as well as a reasonable spending requirement.
Annual Anniversary Present
Each year, on the anniversary of the date you opened your account, you will receive 6,000 bonus points. Those points are only worth about $89.4 in airfare, but they’re all you need to book many one-way Southwest flights. Take it from me, a one-way flight from the Northeast to the South during the winter feels even more valuable.
Southwest Airlines Purchases
You won’t be earning cash back, but the 3 points that you will normally receive for each $1 spent through Southwest Airlines does equate to about 4.47% in Rapid Rewards Cash Back.
For example, buying $5,000 in Southwest airfare would earn you 15,000 points. Those 15,000 points would then equal roughly $223.5 when redeemed for a free flight, according to our analysis of Southwest fares and point pricing.
You’re therefore being paid quite the premium over most rewards cards in exchange for limiting your travel to certain providers. To confirm this card is a good fit, I suggest checking out our review of the Southwest Rapid Rewards program to learn more about redeeming the rewards you earn.
All Other Purchases
This card provides 2 points per $1 spent at grocery stores and restaurants for the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year. You also get 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.
One point is worth about 1.49 cents, on average. In contrast, the average cash back credit card has a base earning rate of only 1.17%.
So, it’s clear the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card’s rewards rates are competitive. I think the main question is whether you’d prefer to use your everyday spending to earn future Southwest flights or something like cash back on a regular basis. The answer depends on your spending and travel habits.
Southwest Credit Card Lowlights
$149 Annual Fee
With all this card offers, I think it’s easy to overlook what it takes in return. A $149 annual fee isn’t all that egregious relative to other top-shelf rewards cards for excellent credit, but it will effectively cancel out your anniversary points bonus. So, don’t forget to take the annual cost into account when weighing whether the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card will be worthwhile in your situation.
Potential for A Very High Regular APR
You will be assigned an interest rate from 19.99% - 28.49% (V), based on your overall creditworthiness.
For context, the average good-credit credit card has an APR of 23.93% and the average excellent-credit credit card has an APR of 17.68%, according to our latest Credit Card Landscape Report. This Southwest card doesn’t compare favorably to either benchmark.
So, if you don’t want to see your capacity to earn free travel diminished by erosive finance charges, you’ll make sure to pay your Southwest Card’s bill in full every month. I suggest setting up automatic payments from a bank account.
Other Things to Consider About This Southwest Credit Card
No Foreign Transaction Fee
In the past, this would have amounted to a largely empty benefit because Southwest only flew domestic routes and someone in a position to rack up a lot of foreign transaction fees likely would have chosen to open a credit card affiliated with an air carrier operating in their destination of choice. But now that Southwest has added flights to Mexico and the Caribbean, “no foreign transaction fee” is an essential feature.
Let me tell you, it sure isn’t fun to find an extra 3% added to your credit card bill when you get back from an already expensive trip. It’s good that’s not a concern with this card.
The First Checked Bags Free Per Flight
Cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation will get their first checked bag for free. So while this feature will certainly save you money, it’s not an outright reason to submit an application.
No Seat Restrictions, Change Fees or Blackout Dates
Southwest Airlines doesn’t have assigned seats, so seating restrictions for reward flights are kind of a moot point. The same is true of change fees because Southwest Airlines simply doesn’t charge them. And while you don’t need to be a cardholder to avoid blackout dates either – a free membership in Rapid Rewards will provide that – it is nice to have the reassurance that red tape won’t derail redemption.
Southwest Credit Card vs. The Competition
There's a lot of competition between travel rewards credit cards that help you lift off more often at less of a cost. Below, you can see how high the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card flies compared to a couple of popular alternatives.
annual fee$149 | annual fee$99 | annual fee$99 | annual fee$95 |
rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
|
bonus offer 50,000 points | bonus offer 50,000 points | bonus offer 60,000 points | bonus offer Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel |
Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A |
transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro apr0% for 12 months Transfer Fee: 5% (min $5) | transfer intro aprN/A |
Regular APR19.99% - 28.49% (V) | Regular APR19.99% - 28.49% (V) | Regular APR19.99% - 29.99% (V) | Regular APR19.99% - 28.99% (V) |
SponsoredApply Now | SponsoredApply Now | SponsoredApply Now | SponsoredApply Now SponsoredApply Now |
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card Review Methodology
This Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close Southwest Premier Card is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Southwest Premier Card to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
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