
The best Southwest Airlines credit cards can save you hundreds of dollars per year, and they all offer an initial bonus for spending a certain amount in the first few months. Southwest credit cards also provide ongoing bonus rewards on purchases and perks such as free checked bags and upgrades. You just need to choose the card that fits your spending and travel habits the best.
Best Southwest Credit Cards Comparison
Credit Card | Best For | Rewards Rate | Annual Fee |
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card | Winner | 1 - 3 points / $1 | $149 |
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card | Low Annual Fee | 1 - 2 points / $1 | $69 |
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card | Bonus Rewards | 1 - 3 points / $1 | $99 |
The World of Hyatt Credit Card | Southwest Partner Card | 1 - 4 points / $1 | $95 |
Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card | Business Rewards | 1 - 4 points / $1 | $199 |
Southwest Airlines Credit Card Alternatives
Even if you fly Southwest Airlines frequently, you might not want a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card. The best credit cards for travel rewards are just that good.
For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 60,000 points (worth up to $750 in travel through Chase) for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. The Sapphire Preferred Card also gives 1 - 5 points per $1 in rewards on purchases, and has a reasonable annual fee: $95.
The World of Hyatt Credit Card is another interesting option because Hyatt is one of Southwest’s rewards partners. That means Southwest Rapid Rewards members can earn Southwest points on Hyatt hotel bookings, and World of Hyatt members can exchange their Hyatt points for Southwest rewards. You can trade 5,000 Hyatt points for 2,400 Southwest points, or 50,000 Hyatt points for 30,000 Southwest points.
If you want more options, check out WalletHub’s picks for the year’s best airline miles credit cards.
Methodology for Selecting the Best Southwest Credit Cards
To find the best Southwest credit cards for different types of travelers, WalletHub’s editors regularly compare all of the available Southwest Airlines credit card offers based on their airfare rewards, frequent-flyer benefits, fees and approval requirements. To ensure the most complete comparison possible, we also consider credit cards from partners of Southwest Airlines, as they often have attractive rewards that can be used to save on Southwest airfare.
We compare these offers by calculating the expected rewards earnings – after subtracting annual fees – for frequent flyers, using spending data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We include a card’s initial rewards bonus in our calculations if a cardholder would earn it by spending an average of $700 per month for up to four months. And for our heavy-spender category (10X the average person's airfare spending), we double the expected spending. We also incorporate WalletHub’s research into the average value of a Southwest Rapid Rewards point.