The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is primarily popular among domestic travelers, but you can also use it when traveling abroad — it has no foreign transaction fees. The card offers a number of perks, including free first and second checked bags, priority boarding, and a ton of points to start with (sign-up bonus). These points alone are worth as much as a round trip across the country. Let’s dive into details, shall we?
- 50,000 sign-up bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first three months of account opening.
- Earn double points on Southwest Airlines and hotel + car rental partner purchases, one point on all other purchases.
- 16.24% – 23.24% Variable APR
- No foreign transaction fees
- $99 annual fee
How It Works?
Points: Earn two points for each dollar spent on Southwest Airlines, Rapid Rewards Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases, and one point per dollar spent on all other purchases. Points can be redeemed for flights, gift cards, car rentals, and hotel stays. Generally speaking, each point is worth as much as 1.4 cents per point, with the most value in redeeming for Wanna Get Away flights, which are Southwest’s least expensive tickets.
Sign-up offer: 50,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Money wise, this is an equivalent to as much as $700.
Anniversary bonus: Receive 6,000 bonus points after your cardmember anniversary.
Southwest Airlines goodies:
- Bags fly free – free first and second check bags. Some other airline can charge as much as $60 per flight for this feat.
- No change fees – Southwest Airlines will not charge change fees, which can come in handy if you need to change your flight. In comparison, this could cost as much as $200 with some other airlines.
- Anniversary bonus points – 6,000 points each year on your anniversary date.
- Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) – receive a bonus of 1,500 TQPs for each $10,000 spent with this card. These points are used to earn elite statuses with Southwest Airlines that qualify for additional flight benefits, such as free in-flight Wi-Fi, Priority Check-In and Boarding, and a 100% point earning bonus. For example, the middle status (A-List Preferred) requires 50 qualifying one-way flights or 70,000 TQPs within a calendar year.
Balance transfers: A balance transfer fee of 5% ($5 minimum) applies for each transfer, but within the first 90 days of account opening, you will earn one point for every $1 in balance transfers, up to 15,000 points.
APR: It is variable, set anywhere between 16.24% and 23.24% based on your creditworthiness.
Annual fee: $99. It’s easy to justify this annual fee with sign-up bonus and anniversary bonus. Also, you’ll get to benefit from all the extra perks a card like this includes.
No foreign transaction fee: Making this card a good choice for travelling to other countries.
Costs
- 16.24%-23.24% Variable APR
- 5% Balance Transfer Fee ($5 minimum)
- $0 Foreign Transaction Fee
- $99 Annual Fee
Pros
- Sign-up bonus of 50,000 points that is worth as much $700 if you redeem it for a round trip at Wanna Get Away fare (where each point is worth around 1.4 cents).
- Free first and second check bags – some other airline can charge as much as $60 per flight for this feat.
- Balance transfer will also earn you points within the first 90 days of account opening, though it will cost 5% or $5 whichever is greater. While this card comes with a relatively high APR, there are some cards that incur an even higher interest rate. You should transfer your balance only from such cards to this one.
- No foreign transaction fee – makes this card useful even when traveling abroad.
Cons
- Annual fee is not waived in the first year, which we’ve seen in some other travel credit cards.
- High APR – typical for travel credit cards. Guess that both the bank and Southwest Airlines have to make some money.
Is This The Card For You?
If you frequently travel with Southwest Airlines, the answer is YES — get this card and benefit from all the perks it offers. You are already paying for the airline’s services, so why not get something in return. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card can come in handy both for trips inside the U.S. and when traveling to other countries where you won’t be charged a foreign transaction fee. The sign-up bonus alone is worth a round trip, and as you use the card more often, you will also be earning points with the option to redeem them for upgrades, flights, hotel stays, and more.