I don't know about you, but I will take one more year of free flights for my kids/companion!
Today, 11/3/26, Southwest elevated the sign up offers on the 3 personal cards. I'll review each card and it's benefits/fee below; but first wanted to remind you of the eligibility rule:
You can only earn a sign up bonus on ANY Southwest Personal card every 24 months. That means, if you opened one of the personal cards late 2024 and hit the minimum spend in early 2025 in order to earn companion pass for the majority of 2025 and all of 2026, sadly you will not be eligible to earn a sign up bonus on a Southwest Personal card until at least January 2027; even if applying for a different SW personal card.
Elevated Southwest Personal Cards
There are 3 Southwest personal credit cards. Each card's minimum spend, sign up bonus offer, annual fee, and benefits vary. Let's talk through each card
Rapid Rewards Plus Card
Current Elevated Offer: Spend $1,000 in 3 months; earn 80,000 points
Annual Fee: $99
5/24: This is a personal card, therefore it takes a spot for the Chase 5/24 rule (Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics)
Benefits:
- Free checked bag for cardholder and up to 8 people on the same reservation. You do NOT have to use the card to purchase flights in order to utilize this benefit
- Free standard seat selection 48 hours in advance of flights for everyone one your reservation
- 10% Flight Discount
- No foreign transaction fees
- 3,000 anniversary points yearly
Annual Fee $149
5/24: This is a personal card, therefore it takes a spot for the Chase 5/24 rule (Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics)
Benefits:
- Free checked bag for cardholder and up to 8 people on the same reservation. You do NOT have to use the card to purchase flights in order to utilize this benefit
- Free Preferred seat selection 48 hours in advance of flights for everyone one your reservation
- 2x points per dollar spent at groceries and gas stations (up to $8k per year)
- 15% Flight Discount
- No foreign transaction fees
- 6,000 anniversary points yearly
Rapid Rewards Priority Card
Current Elevated Offer: Spend $3,000 in 3 months; earn 90,000 points AAnnual Fee $229
5/24: This is a personal card, therefore it takes a spot for the Chase 5/24 rule (Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics)
Benefits:
- Free checked bag for cardholder and up to 8 people on the same reservation. You do NOT have to use the card to purchase flights in order to utilize this benefit
- Free Preferred seat selection at time of booking for everyone one your reservation; plus free upgrades to extended leg room seats 48 hours in advance
- No foreign transaction fees
- 7,500 anniversary points yearly
Path to Companion Pass
SW has stated that as long as you are approved for a card by 12/2, that you can complete the minimum spend in 2027 and have the points backdate to give you companion pass for 2026/2027
There are a lot of paths to hit 135,000 points but are limited by rules like 24mo SW personal card and Chase's new 3/24 rule for sole proprietor businesses.
However, let's say you don't hold any SW cards right now and you're eligible for a SW personal card bonus. If you were to open the Personal Priority card (highest annual fee, but highest sign up bonus) and hit the $3,000 minimum spend, you would get:
- 90,000 point sign up bonus
- 3,000 points (minimum) for 1 pt per $1 spent on minimum spend
- 10,000 boost points (these can't be redeemed for flights; but are given for holding a credit card)
That puts you at 103,000 of 135,000 needs points to earn companion pass. Technically you could push for it by opening a Southwest Debit card (opening a card givens you 7,500 boost points; making a qualified deposit gives you 2,500 points); that would put you at 113,000 points.
If you could find just one person to refer to any SW card (business or personal), that would give you another 20,000 points, just 2,000 points shy! See below for ways to earn 2,000 points (without necessarily having to spend another $2,000)
If you're just 20,000 points shy of hitting companion pass, shoot me an email with your referral link and I'll share your link to see if we get can you there! justcallmehaha@gmail.com
Methods to earn more points
- Spend strategically on your SW card and utilize SW offers (found in your Chase card account)
- Book a pre-paid hotel stay through Southwest: points vary
- Book and complete cash Southwest flights
- Southwest Shopping Portal
- Southwest Dining
- Southwest Surveys
- Southwest promotions and offers tied to your account/credit card
- Southwest cardholder anniversary points
Summary
Ultimately, this is a HUGE hit and change to points and miles world. Since Southwest rolled out changes in 2025, their loyalty has already been fragile and in my opinion, this change really will cause Southwest to loose an even greater fan base.
However, myself and my P2 are both going for one more companion pass and will enjoy paying just $5.60 for our kids flights through the end of 2027!
If you're on the fence and interested in a 1:1 consult to talk about your options, feel free to reach out justcallmehaha@gmail.com
And as always, if you open one of these cards discussed, I so appreciate your support and use of my referral links to keep my content coming and free! Thank you!
Southwest Personal Cards
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus: Spend $1,000 in 3 months; earn 80,000 points
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier: Spend $2000 in 3 months; earn 85,000 points
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority: Spend $3,000 in 3 months; earn 90,000 points
No comments:
Post a Comment