Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card review: Earn a Companion Pass with a single welcome bonus and enjoy valuable travel perks

Review: Is the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority credit card the best for you?

When it comes to customer-friendly perks and policies, Southwest is among the most generous of US airlines. The carrier allows two free checked bags, and doesn't charge a fee to change or cancel your flight. If you fly Southwest even occasionally, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card can improve your travel experience, with benefits like an annual $75 travel credit and upgraded boarding up to four times per year. 

Until March 10, 2021, all of the Southwest personal cards, including the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, are offering an excellent bonus: 80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months ,and an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months). 

This is a great offer for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card ($99 annual fee), and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card ($69 annual fee), especially if you plan to fly Southwest often in the next year. The Southwest Companion Pass allows a designated friend or family member to fly with you for free (just pay taxes and fees) on paid and award tickets, and many people think it's one of the best deals in travel.

Southwest points don't expire, so even if you're not flying right away, it's worth considering the card for the bonus, anniversary points, and travel credit, all of which can make the $149 annual fee worthwhile. But before you decide on this card, be sure to check out the other Chase Southwest cards— the other two personal cards come with an identical bonus but lower annual fees (and fewer benefits).

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority vs other Southwest personal cards

Like other Chase cards, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so if you've opened five or more cards from any bank in the past 24 months, you're not eligible. You also won't be approved if you currently have any Southwest personal card or have received the bonus from one in the past 24 months.

Comparison: Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority vs other airline credit cards

How to use points from the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card

Southwest has a vast domestic route network (including Hawaii), and the airline also flies to a number of international destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Southwest continues to add new routes despite COVID-19, so stocking up on points now is a good strategy if you plan to fly the airline down the road..

Southwest doesn't have an award chart — instead, the number of points required for an award flight is tied to the price of a paid ticket. You can expect to get a value of 1.5 cents per Southwest point on average when you redeem them for award travel. With Rapid Rewards, there are no blackout dates and no seat restrictions; as long as there's a seat available for purchase, you can book that seat with your points. 

Using your Southwest points to book award flights online is straightforward — once you log into your Rapid Rewards account, just search for flights as if you were looking for a paid ticket. You can toggle between the cash price and the points cost, so you can easily compare the two. 

If you're not flying Southwest right now, there's no harm in holding on to your points until you're ready, because they'll never expire. However, Southwest credit card holders do have other options for redeeming points through the More Rewards program, including merchandise, gift cards, car rentals, hotels, cruises, experiences, and international flights on other airlines. The value you'll get per point varies, but it's usually a poor value compared to redeeming for Southwest flights.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card benefits and perks

Earn the Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Companion Pass is widely considered to be one of the best deals in travel. It allows you to bring a designated companion along on paid and award flights for just the cost of taxes and fees (typically about $6 on domestic flights) — and you can use your Companion Pass an unlimited number of times while it's valid.

The limited-time bonus on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card comes with a Companion Pass that's valid until February 28, 2022. If you're able to use it frequently, this bonus could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in airfare (or in points).

Normally, to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you'll need to accumulate 125,000 qualifying Southwest points in a calendar year, and points earned from the bonus and spending on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card count toward that total. It makes the most sense to qualify for the Companion Pass early in the year, because it's valid for the rest of the year in which you earn it and the entire year after.

However, as a result of the pandemic, Rapid Rewards members with accounts that were open as of December 31, 2020, will receive 25,000 Companion Pass qualifying points for 2021 — effectively reducing the requirement to just 100,000 points for the calendar year. If you decide to earn a Companion Pass the old-fashioned way (so it's valid until the end of next year), the points from the welcome bonus will help you qualify.

$75 annual Southwest Airlines travel credit

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card has a $75 annual travel credit, which is valid for any Southwest purchase except upgraded boarding and in-flight purchases. Just buy a Southwest ticket, pay with the Priority card, and get a $75 credit back on your credit card statement automatically with no hoops to jump through.

If you'll spend at least $75 on Southwest flights anyway, this annual credit is an easy way to offset the $149, effectively bringing it down to $74.

Upgraded boardings and discount on inflight purchases

This card will reimburse you for the purchase of four upgraded boardings with Southwest every year. This is different from Southwest Early Bird Check-In, which you purchase at booking or add afterward; upgraded boarding is sold at the gate when there is extra space available in the A1-A15 boarding group.

Since Southwest seating is famously first-come, first-serve, upgraded boarding can be a great way to avoid a middle seat. This normally costs $30-50 per flight, but with the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card you won't pay anything for the first four Upgraded Boardings each year.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card also offers a 20% rebate on inflight purchases — including premium drinks, Wi-Fi, movies, and messaging — when you pay with your card.

You don't get a free checked bag with this card, but you don't need one, because Southwest is the rare airline that offers two checked bags for free.

Fast-track to Southwest A-List elite status

If you're aiming for Southwest's A-List or A-List Preferred elite status, this card can also help you move up to the next level. For every $10,000 in eligible net purchases on the card, you'll earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs), up to 15,000 points per year. This is the only way to earn TQPs other than flying on a paid Southwest ticket.

Other travel benefits

If you use this card to pay the full cost of a car rental, you can forget the rental company's collision insurance: The Southwest Priority Card offers automatic theft and damage protection on most rental cars in the US and abroad. In the US, though, this coverage is secondary to your personal car insurance. Other cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offer primary car rental insurance in the US, so you don't need to file a claim with your personal insurance first.

When traveling, your luggage is also covered: If you use the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card to pay for your flights and your bags are delayed over six hours, you'll be reimbursed for necessities (up to $100 a day for three days), and if your bags are lost or damaged, you're covered for up to $3,000 per passenger.

Purchase protection and extended warranty

Nearly anything you purchase will be covered against damage or theft for 120 days, up to $500 per claim and up to $50,000 per account. And if it has an eligible manufacturer's warranty of three years or less, paying with this card will grant you an additional year of warranty coverage.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card fees and costs

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card has a $149 annual fee, and no foreign transaction fees, so you don't have to worry about extra charges when you travel internationally.

As with most cards, you'll also pay a fee for cash advances, balance transfers, and late or returned payments.

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