Update: This offer has expired.
I am very excited to see that all three Southwest credit cards are offering a 60,000 point sign up offer! Typically, these cards offer anywhere between 25,000-50,000 points, so seeing a 60k offer is awesome! With these offers, you’ll need to spend $2,000-$3,000 on the card within the first 3 months of card membership and the annual fee is NOT waived the first year.
Key Links:
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card: Earn 60,000 points after spending $2,000 on the card within the first 3 months; $69 annual fee. This card will earn you 3,000 bonus points on your account anniversary.
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card: Earn 60,000 points after spending $2,000 on the card within the first 3 months; $99 annual fee. This card will earn you 6,000 bonus points on your account anniversary.
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card: Earn 60,000 points after spending $3,000 on the card within the first 3 months; $99 annual fee. This card will earn you 6,000 bonus points on your account anniversary.
*If you have any questions on which credit card to apply for, feel free to email me!
The BEST THING about these offers are that the points earned from the credit card sign up currently count towards the 110,000 point required for the Southwest Companion Pass. For those new to the Southwest Companion Pass, I want to quickly point out that this pass allows another passenger to fly with you for FREE an UNLIMITED number of times! This means that if you get two of these cards, you’ll immediately earn the companion pass after the points from the sign up offer post to your account. Points post to your account a few days after your statement closes after you meet the minimum spend. If you earn the 110,000 points required on January 1 that will earn you the Companion Pass for for 2018 and 2019.
Unfortunately, these cards are not available to those that have received a bonus within the past 24 months. However, if you applied for one card recently, you are still eligible to earn the bonus points for another card as they are three separate products. Also keep in mind that the Southwest credit cards are subject to Chase’s “5/24” rule.
What are the sign up bonus points worth?
For those who are new to Southwest, 60,000 points is worth approximately $840 towards a future “Wanna Getaway” fare. Remember, the 60,000 points earned from the credit card sign up after meeting the spend requirements count towards reaching companion pass status, which is by far my favorite aspect of the Southwest program. Also you are not actually redeeming your points for the companion pass, but you are receiving the pass ON TOP of the points earned to redeem for free flights!
Quick recap of the companion pass
The best part of the pass is that a companion is allowed to fly with you on ANY flight. As long as there is one seat available, you can book your companion a ticket. There are NO restrictions and NO blackout dates. Not only that, even if the main passenger is flying on a free ticket with points, you can still use the companion pass! So that means on your first few flights, you can use the sign up bonus points earned from the credit card PLUS a companion can fly with you. So while 110,000 points are worth approx $1,154, if a companion flies with you on these flights, then that is essentially doubling the value of the sign up bonus!
Some things to keep in mind:
- Once you accrue the necessary 110,000 points to earn the companion pass status, the pass will be available for you the entire year it was earned PLUS the entire following calendar year. So if you earn the pass now, your pass with be active for the rest of 2017 and all of 2018. WAIT TO MEET YOUR MINIMUM SPEND FOR THE POINTS TO POST IN 2018. THAT WILL EARN YOU THE PASS FOR 2018 AND 2019
- You cannot combine points between two accounts to count for the companion pass.
- Transferring Chase Ultimate Reward points OR hotel points to Southwest DO NOT count towards the companion pass
- Your companion can fly with you an UNLIMITED number of times during the life of the pass. You can change your companion 3 times per year.
- The only amount your companion pays is the tax which is $5.60 per one-way. International flights are more and depends on where you are flying to/from.
- You CAN use the companion pass when the main passenger is flying on a free ticket!
Related Posts:
- Getting the Southwest Companion Pass
- Southwest Airlines Companion Pass Blog Series
- Southwest Rapid Reward Program Blog Series
Let me know if you have any questions!
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
How easy is it to use Southwest points for flights? Are the points needed for flights static or dynamic and is there a “saver” level to be aware of?
points are super easy to use. there are no blackout dates. plus you can rebook if points for your trip go down without fees and the saved points just go back in your account. you can also cancel award tix without penalty or fees and the points just go back to your SW account. I’ve had the Companion Pass since January 2016 and still have it till December 31, 2017 and it’s fantastic! I’m going to have my wife apply for the premiere and business cards so we”ll have the CP for 2018, then i’ll apply again in October of 2018, earn the bonuses (and CP) in Jan of 2019 and have it for the rest of ’19 and all of ’20!
@Chris – Southwest points are extremely easy to use. As long as you book a flight a few weeks plus in advance (or non-holiday week), you can typically get their “Wanna get away” tickets. Points are directly correlated to the price of the ticket. The higher the ticket price, the more points you need to redeem for a free flight. The absolute best thing about using points to redeem for a flight is if you need to cancel a flight, you can do so with no penalty. You just cancel and the points are put back into your account – absolutely no fee. You just need to cancel at least 10 minutes prior to the flights departure time.
Southwest is wonderful.
Can someone apply and have a reasonable expectation of being approved for both SW personal cards? How long should I wait between applications?
@Donald – If you have good credit it is a very good possibility as getting approved for both SW personal cards. It would be the same as being approved for any two Chase personal cards. If you have a good amount of Chase cards, however, they might ask that you move around some of your credit from other cards to these cards (same would apply for applying for any new Chase card).
When you say getting two of these cards means immediate companion pass do you mean adding a second authorized user? I assume that means double the annual fee? How long can you accrue points towards the companion pass? Aiming for January seems like the best bet for the pass.
Ryan – Applying for two separate cards. So either two personal cards, or one personal and one business. So you’d be paying the annual fee on two cards. The companion pass will go through a few days after your statement closes during the month you complete the minimum spend, so it is no exactly instant.
The $2000 minimum requirement…can I just simply transfer a balance from another card?
@Gail – Balance transfers do not qualify.
I just got off the phone with a Southwest customer service rep. He told me the 60,000 points only go towards your Rapid Rewards total and NOT towards your companion pass. This would be a complete change from bonus points in the past. I questioned him a couple of times to clarify the distinction, and he seemed very confident in his understanding. He pointed out this is a brand new program. I sure hope he was wrong.
@Bruce – Southwest Customer Service reps have been saying this for years. Typically they are not very knowledgeable on how the credit card bonus works with the companion pass. This has been very common.
With that being said, Southwest could always change (like it did with hotel transfers no longer counting), but I do hope this was just another not knowledgeable rep.
When you say he pointed out this is a brand new program, what program is that? Did he say that the points used to count and now they aren’t? Thanks!
The rep did say the 60k program just started a day or two earlier. He seemed very sure of himself about the details. I’ll be calling again today for clarification. Ed’s reply about his wife’s experience is very encouraging.
My wife took out the business and premier card in june – both at 60K and she just earned the Companion Pass yesterday. Funny thing was, she earned the 60K for the business card last month and her statement came for the premier the other day. she went online and paid it immediately and not only did the 60k points post immediately but it said she earned the CP! i got mine in Jan 2016 and it took a few days from when my points posted to when SW said i had the CP. Hers was just about instantaneous!
I am new to the program- I don’t understand why you have two cards? You aren’t allows to blend points, why would you want 2 CP accounts? I must be missing something.
Thanks!
@Patrish – If you have two cards you can earn the 60k bonus points per card and that will help you earn the companion pass. If both cards are under your account, the points will be posted to the same account.