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Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card Review

overall rating
3.0

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The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier credit card scores very well in customer satisfaction surveys and rewards people who travel on the airline. Members earn a generous introductory points bonus and 3 points for each dollar spent on Southwest purchases, with no foreign transaction fee. After the first year, cardholders receive a 6,000-point anniversary bonus, and when used for Southwest flights, helps justify the card’s ongoing $99 annual fee.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

Overall Rating
3.0
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
On Chase's Secured Site.
Current Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points plus a 30% off promo code after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Recommended Credit
Score Our recommended ranges are based off of the FICO® Score 8 credit-scoring model. Credit score is one of the many factors lenders review in considering your application.
350 579
580 669
670 739
740 799
800 850
Good - Excellent
Regular APR (%) 20.99% - 27.99% variable
Annual Fee $99
Rewards Earning Rate Earn 3 points for each dollar spent on Southwest purchases. Earn 2 points for each dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners. Earn 2 points for each dollar spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2 points for each dollar spent on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1 point for each dollar spent on all other purchases. Plus, earn 2 Early Bird Check-In® each year, 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year, and more.
Balance Transfer Fee Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Foreign transaction fee (%) 0%
how this card stacks up
When compared among all rewards cards in our database:
Rewards
Benefits
Low Fees
Security/Customer Experience
Low Interest
worst best

The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card is not one of our top-rated airline credit cards. You can review our list of the best airline credit cards for what we think are better options.

Full Review of Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card

Pros
  • Allows you to supplement Southwest miles earned through flying

  • Generous introductory and anniversary rewards bonuses

Cons
  • $99 annual fee applies

  • No luxury travel benefits

Pros Explained

  • Allows you to supplement Southwest points earned through flying: You can earn 1 to 3 points when you use your card for Southwest flights, hotels, car rental partners, transit, phone services, and other purchases.
  • Generous introductory and anniversary rewards bonuses: Cardmembers receive 6,000 points on their first and subsequent anniversaries. Plus, Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Cons Explained

  • $99 annual fee applies: The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards card, even in your first year, has a $99 annual fee billed to your account statement.
  • No luxury travel perks: The Southwest card does not include extras like complimentary lounge access and credits for onboard food and drinks or the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

Who This Card Is Best For

Like most airline cards, the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa is purpose-built to serve dedicated customers of its branded airline. Delivering 50,000 points, the card’s introductory bonus justifies its $99 fee for the first year.

After that, the annual 6,000-point anniversary bonus helps the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa make financial sense even to those who occasionally fly Southwest. Cardholders can earn more points by using the card on hotel stays and rental cars with Southwest partners. 

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card Bonus

Earn 60,000 bonus points plus a 30% off promo code after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. To qualify for the bonus, you can't currently hold a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card or have received a new card member bonus in the past 24 months.

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All About Rewards Credit Cards

Rewards Earning Details

With the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa, you can earn

  • 3 points for each dollar spent on Southwest purchases
  • 2 points for each dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners
  • 2 points for each dollar spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
  • 2 points for each dollar spent on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming
  • 1 point for each dollar spent on all other purchases
  • 1 point per $1 on balance transfers made within the first 90 days, up to $15,000. That's a feature you don't often see with other rewards cards, although many of those extend a period of 0% APR on such transfers, which this card doesn't do.
  • Plus, earn 2 Early Bird Check-In® each year, 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year, and more.

There are no limits on the number of points you can earn. Each year, members earn 6,000 anniversary bonus points and are eligible to earn 20,000 points by referring friends and family to this card, or the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card, with its $149 annual fee. The bonus is good for up to five referrals per year or 100,000 points.

Rewards Redemption Details

Members can redeem points earned with this card for flights aboard Southwest. The number of points needed depends on the fare, and no blackout dates apply. Besides airfare, you can also redeem rewards for:

  • Gift cards
  • Merchandise
  • International flights
  • Hotel stays with partner brands
  • Rental cars
  • Exclusive experiences

Transferring Points

You can redeem rewards earned with this card for flights on Southwest's international partners, but you cannot transfer points to Southwest's other travel partner's loyalty programs, which many other airline loyalty programs allow.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Use the card for everyday expenses, such as groceries, online shopping, or gas.

Compare the value of earning additional bonus points to the benefit you get by charging those expenses to another card that offers more than 1.5% in value per dollar spent, which is close to the effective rate earned with the 1 point per dollar spent earned with this card. 

By flying with Southwest and using the airline's partners when you make travel arrangements, you can earn points with rental-car partners, Avis, Budget, Hertz, and National, or with hotel partners, Marriott, Radisson, and Best Western. You can sign up for email updates on special promotions that can boost the points you earn, or the price you pay, on flights or goods and services from Southwest partners.  

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Credit Card's Outstanding Benefits

  • $0 fee for first and second checked bags
  • Earn tier qualifying points toward Rapid Rewards A-List and A-List Preferred Status

Standard Perks

  • Contactless pay
  • Lost luggage reimbursement
  • Baggage delay insurance
  • Extended warranty protection
  • Purchase protection

Cardholder Experience

This card is issued by Chase, which earned a score of 813 in J.D. Power's 2022 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. This rating was one point below the average and ranked Chase fourth out of 11 national card issuers.

You can manage your card online or through the Chase app to track purchases, set up alerts, or review your points earned. If you have questions or need help with your account, customer service is available by phone at 1-800-432-3117.

Security Features

This card is EMV-chip-enabled for security, and Chase routinely monitors accounts to detect suspicious or fraudulent activity. You can also set up security alerts in your account to notify you of new transactions. If your card is lost or stolen, you can log into your Chase account online and use the lock/unlock feature to secure it against unauthorized purchases.

Our Verdict

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Visa is a basic airline card that offers 3 points for each dollar spent on Southwest purchases from the airline and its partners but does not come with the travel perks offered by other airlines like complimentary lounge access or credits for onboard food and drinks. Cardmembers can earn 1 or 2 points using the Rapid Rewards Visa for hotel and car rental partners, rideshare, phone services, and other purchases.

Because of its annual $99 fee, this card benefits those who travel on Southwest and want to use bonus points to buy flights. Other travel credit cards are more versatile. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers 2 points on travel, but you're not limited to flying on Southwest or a specific airline to earn those points.

Next Steps
For Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
on Chase's Secured Site.
Compare This Card
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CURRENT CARD
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
overall rating
3.0
Recommended Credit
Score Our recommended ranges are based off of the FICO® Score 8 credit-scoring model. Credit score is one of the many factors lenders review in considering your application.
350 579
580 669
670 739
740 799
800 850
Good - Excellent
Regular APR (%) 20.99% - 27.99% variable
Annual Fee $99
Rewards Earning Rate Earn 3 points for each dollar spent on Southwest purchases. Earn 2 points for each dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners. Earn 2 points for each dollar spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2 points for each dollar spent on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1 point for each dollar spent on all other purchases. Plus, earn 2 Early Bird Check-In® each year, 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year, and more.
Investopedia Credit Card Rating Methodology
Investopedia is committed to delivering the best credit card recommendations in the industry. We’ll tell you when a card is good, we’ll tell you when a card is bad, and we’ll only call a card the best if we would recommend it to our friends or family members.
Overall Star Rating Explained
To rate credit cards we objectively assess, score and weight nearly 100 individual card features which roll up into five major feature sets: fees, interest, rewards, benefits and security/customer service. Here’s how we weighted those feature sets for the overall star rating of a card:
We have applied our proprietary rating methodology to every generally-accepted credit card in the U.S. domestic market to allow consumers to make fully informed choices. It’s important to note that for our overall score that we make a number of assumptions about how you would be using your credit card:
  1. While we make no assumption as to whether balances are carried on a given card we do assign varying weights to all credit cards’ introductory APR (if present) in addition to the regular, long term purchase and balance transfer interest rates.
  2. We utilize BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) income and average category spending data to calculate annual earnings rates for rewards cards that offer cash back, points or miles rewards at a set rate on all spending or in consideration of bonus rewards for certain spending categories, like gasoline, groceries, restaurants or travel.
  3. We determine the maximum points value of rewards cards by dividing the points, cash back or miles required to exchange for the retail price of the most valuable redemption option (for example, in the case of a card that offers a domestic roundtrip airline ticket as a redemption option vs. another redemption option of lesser value that requires the same amount of points or miles to acquire, we would base the rewards value on the airline ticket).
  • Cards that are selected best overall in their respective categories generally feature most if not all of the following attributes:
  • Low or Reasonable Fees Credit card fees come in many forms but the primary ones involve those for annual card membership and balance transfer. There are a myriad of reward and non-reward card options that charge no annual fee but for the many that do assess an annual fee the cost is often justified by their lucrative ongoing rewards and initial signup bonuses. Balance transfer fees are occasionally waived during introductory periods with certain cards, a factor which is heavily and positively weighted in our scoring model for cards offering this benefit. When charged, balance transfer fees range between 3% - 5%, which we grade accordingly. Other standard fees can generally be avoided, such as those for paying late or taking cash advances but we rate those relative to other cards in the market for reference, though with less weight assigned
  • Competitive Interest Many cards offer 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for varying lengths and then revert to a permanent or regular APR (based on a variable rate tied to the prime rate) that applies to any balances not paid in full. We rate both introductory APR percentage and length (in months) along with the midpoint of the variable regular APR interest rate range.
  • Valuable Rewards Credit card reward programs can be based on cash back, points or travel rewards (which can be generic or travel partner-specific, as with airline and hotel co-brand card programs). For cards that offer rewards we determine the value per dollar spent along with average redemption values and assign more favorable ratings to cards that offer superior consumer value. We also assign value to sign-up bonus offers and their initial spending requirements, when present.
  • Excellent Benefits Credit card benefits cover a range of offerings like concierge service, TSA Pre-check, auto rental coverage, travel accident insurance, lost luggage assistance and free credit scores. We rate cards on the number and level of over a dozen standard and upscale benefits and provide extra weighting emphasis for those travel-related perks that apply to premium travel cards when present.
  • Solid Security/Customer Service Security and customer service features like lost or stolen card replacement, being able to lock one’s card from an issuer app and 24 hour customer support are becoming more standard across the card market and we provide a significant amount of weighting to features in this area.
  • You can also read the full version of our methodology for a more in-depth look at how we assess cards and award them the best in various categories.