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Family travelers love Southwest Airlines for its no-fuss attitude, family-friendly seating policy, strong domestic route network, two free checked bags, lack of change fees and its easy-to-use Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program. In fact, Southwest Airlines just came in at the #1 spot in the TPG Best Airline for Families report. Given that Southwest is a family travel favorite, let’s look at which one of the Southwest credit cards is the right fit for families who want to fly more while spending less.
Comparing the Southwest Airlines Credit Card Bonuses
Choices are a good thing, and you have multiple optionss when it comes to Southwest co-branded credit cards. There are actually four different Southwest credit cards issued by Chase, including three personal cards and one small business card. Given all the options, it can be a little tricky to pick the best Southwest credit card for your family, so let’s dive right in.
The first thing I look at when deciding which Southwest credit card is the best match for my family are the sign-up bonuses. Families require lots of points to get where they are going, so you will probably want to get as many points as possible when applying for a new rewards credit card. While it can change over time, here is the current line-up of Southwest credit card bonus offers.
TPG has Southwest Rapid Rewards points valued at 1.5 cents apiece, so by those calculations, 65,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points would be worth $975, 60,000 bonus points would be worth $900 and 40,000 bonus points would be worth about $600. In other words, these are all valuable bonuses, though the two higher offers excite me a little bit more than the others for a few reasons.
First, more points are simply more exciting than fewer points, but I’ve also seen the Southwest offers all peak at or above 50,000 points. Personally, I wouldn’t want to prioritize applying when the offers were under 50,000 points unless you really needed the points ASAP to earn the Companion Pass or prepare for a big award trip on Southwest.
From a straight-forward view, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card currently has my favorite bonus of the four since you earn 60,000 points with just $3,000 in spending and a $99 annual fee. You would need a small business to qualify for this card, but if you can meet that criteria, it gets my thumbs-up.
The Best Southwest Credit Card for Frequent Southwest Flyers
Once you get beyond the initial bonuses, the next elements to consider are the built-in perks of the various Southwest credit cards. There is no question that the new Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card has the most built-in perks of all of the Southwest credit cards. In exchange for the $149 annual fee, cardholders get 7,500 bonus Rapid Rewards points at each account anniversary (worth $112.50 by TPG calculations), a $75 annual Southwest travel credit, 20% back on in-flight drinks, Wi-Fi, messaging and movies and four Upgraded Boardings in the A1 – A15 position each year (worth up to $50 each). Note that Upgraded Boarding is only available the day of travel and is not the same thing as Southwest’s Early Bird Check-In that sells for $15 per person and will not get you a boarding position as high as A1 – A15.
Assuming you will use the annual $75 Southwest travel credit and value Southwest points in a similar range as listed above, the new Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card is actually the winner when it comes to built-in perks and discounts for families who fly Southwest. Read the full card review here.
The Southwest Companion Pass Factor
Families considering a Southwest credit card should absolutely factor earning the Southwest Companion Pass into the equation. A Southwest Companion Pass allows the pass holder to designate one person to fly for free with them (other than paying taxes) for the remainder of the year in which it is earned and the entire following year. Having the Southwest Companion Pass basically turns your Southwest airline tickets into BOGO deals for you and your designated companion. To earn the Southwest Companion Pass you need to earn 110,000 eligible Southwest Rapid Rewards points or take 100 qualifying one-way Southwest flights in a calendar year.
Not all Rapid Rewards points count toward earning the Companion Pass. For example, transfers to Southwest Rapid Rewards from the Chase Ultimate Rewards program and cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card do not count toward earning the Companion Pass. However, the sign-up bonus points and the points earned from everyday spending on the Southwest co-branded credit cards do count toward earning the Southwest Companion Pass.
Getting a Southwest credit card and its sign-up bonus points can bring earning the Southwest Companion Pass very quickly into range. For example, if you were approved for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card and met the spending requirement to trigger the full 65,000 point bonus, you would have the 65,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points + at least 15,000 additional Rapid Rewards points earned from the spending necessary to trigger the bonus. As long as that all happened within the same calendar year, that would mean you are already at 80,000 of the 110,000 necessary Rapid Rewards points to earn a Companion Pass. You could earn the remaining points by flying on purchased Southwest tickets, charging more to the card or utilizing other Southwest Companion Pass-eligible partners.
However, since the calendar resets on January 1 of every year in terms of earning points that count toward the Companion Pass, you want to really be sure that you are timing your applications wisely so that you don’t accidentally fall short of earning a Southwest Companion Pass.
Which Southwest Credit Card Are You Eligible For?
When deciding which Southwest credit card is right for your family, you want to narrow down which card(s) you are actually eligible to receive. With Chase’s general application restrictions, including the issuer’s infamous 5/24 rule and the terms on each specific card, it can get a little tricky.
The terms on the three personal Southwest credit cards state:
In practical terms, this means you cannot get approved for a new Southwest personal credit card if you currently hold one and/or received a new cardmember bonus for one in the last two years. This only refers to primary account holders, so if you were just an authorized user on someone’s Southwest card that should not hurt your chances of getting your own card. Of note is that the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card is viewed differently than the personal cards and having it now or in the past does not disqualify you from getting a personal Southwest credit card.
I would keep that very important term in mind if you are interested in earning the Southwest Companion Pass as you could theoretically earn the sign-up bonuses from the Southwest Priority and Southwest Business Premier in the same calendar year to earn more than enough Companion Pass eligible Rapid Rewards points to enjoy the Companion Pass in the year you earn it and all of the following year.
Bottom Line
Every family’s travel needs, goals and budget are unique, so there will never be a one-sizes-fits-all credit card recommendation. That said, the new Southwest Priority card gets my vote as offering the most overall points, perks and benefits for families who fly Southwest, while the Southwest Business Premier gets my nod for currently offering the overall best sign-up bonus for those looking to earn a whole bunch of Rapid Rewards points with just $3,000 in total spending.
If your family does not have plans to fly Southwest in the near term and wants to minimize annual fees then the Southwest Premier or Southwest Plus cards may be a good place to start, especially the next time their bonuses (hopefully) increase.
Even if Southwest hasn’t been high on your family’s radar in the past, with its Hawaii routes scheduled to come online in 2019, there has never been a better time to get serious about Southwest Rapid Rewards and its co-branded credit cards.
Source: thepointsguy.com