Southwest recently ended its limited-time offers on the business cards and now it’s back with increased offers on the personal cards.
Here are the best current Southwest credit card sign-up bonues:
The best Southwest credit card sign-up bonuses
 Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card Annual fee: $99 | Sign-up bonus: Earn 85,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply. Offers the lowest-cost way to get a 10,000 qualifying point boost toward Companion Pass® each year and the lowest-cost way to get a free checked bag on Southwest when Southwest changes its free checked bag policy. |
 Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card Annual fee: $149 | Sign-up bonus: Earn 85,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply. The lowest-cost card offering both tier-qualifying points and an annual Companion Pass® boost. All information about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com. |
 Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card Annual fee: $229 | Sign-up bonus: Earn 85,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply. The best value card for Southwest flyers thanks to its $75 annual Southwest travel credit and 7,500 bonus Rapid Rewards points each year. |
 Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Annual fee: $149 | Sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply. A lower-cost option for small business owners who wouldn’t get value out of the Performance Business card’s wifi credits. |
 Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card Annual fee: $299 | Sign-up bonus: Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply. The best card for small business owners who frequently use Southwest’s in-flight wifi. |
My take: Now is the time to get the personal card bonus
Southwest Airlines welcome bonuses excite me a lot less than they used to. That is primarily because Southwest dropped its free checked bag benefit and because the airline varies the amount of value you’ll get from your redemptions.
Sure, you’ll get a free checked bag with any of the Southwest credit cards, but historically, I’ve used Southwest as my secondary airline without a credit card. Every few years, I would get a new Southwest credit card, bank a bunch of points, and then use the points for backup flights.
My own personal frustrations with Southwest Airlines’ changes to its loyalty program and baggage policies aside, this is a good time to get a Southwest credit card if you’re in the market. There have been a few times in recent memory where the bonus has gone up to 100,000 points, but there are no guarantees that Southwest and Chase will bring that bonus back. 85,000 points seems to be the standard increased offer.
Finally, unless you’re getting incremental value out of the ongoing benefits in excess of the annual fee, it makes no senses to apply for anything other than the Plus card—the bonus is the same across all of the personal cards.
As for the business cards? If Southwest follows its historical pattern, a bonus on those will be back shortly after the bonus on the personal cards ends.
Are you eligible to earn a Southwest Rapid Rewards bonus?
If you currently hold or have received a new cardmember bonus of any Southwest Rapid Rewards personal credit card within the previous 24 months, Chase’s terms state that you not only won’t be eligible for the bonus, but you won’t be eligible to get the card.
Here’s the exact wording, which is common across the offer terms on all of the personal cards:
The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card offer terms
On the small business side of the house, you won’t receive the bonus if you either hold or have received a new cardmember bonus within 24 months on the exact same product. My interpretation of this is that you can receive a bonus on both small business variants of the Southwest credit card, without waiting 24 months.
Here’s the exact wording from the terms and conditions on the business cards:
This new Cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of this business credit card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of this business credit card who received a new Cardmember bonus for this business credit card within the last 24 months.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card offer terms
Holding or receiving a welcome bonus on the business cards does not impact your ability to receive a bonus on the personal cards, and vice-versa.
More on the Southwest cards
If you’re looking to dig in and figure out which is the best Southwest card for you, see our complete guide to the Southwest Airlines credit cards.
