The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card is the Southwest card with the most benefits. The Rapid Rewards Priority card is the Southwest personal card that I recommend to those who fly Southwest at least a couple times a year.

The card comes with an annual fee of annual_fees and is one of Southwest’s 5 total cards.

It’s current bonus: bonus_miles_full

Other Southwest card options include…

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Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card Quick Look

Southwest Airlines planes parked at Marco Island.

 

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card

Bonus Offer:  bonus_miles_full

Annual Fee: annual_fees

Card Benefits:

  • 3 points per $1 on Southwest purchases
  • 2 points per $1 on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
  • 2 points per $1 on internet, cable, phone services and select streaming
  • 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
  • 25% back on inflight purchases
  • 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available
  • $75 Southwest annual travel credit
  • 1,500 tier qualifying points towards A-List status for every $5,000 spent
  • 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partner purchases
  • 7,500 Points earned every year on your Cardmember anniversary
  • No foreign transaction fees

 

All About the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card

This travel card from Southwest has a higher annual fee at annual_fees, but comes with a few added perks, which I’ll explain below.

Overall, I DO recommend this card if you are eligible and if you fly Southwest frequently. See my post below:

[10 Reasons to Add the Southwest Priority Card to Your Wallet]

But first let’s have a look at who can be approved for this card.

 

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Who Can Hold This Card

Like Southwest’s 2 other personal Southwest cards, you can only get the bonus introductory offer on ANY ONE of the personal cards every 24 months.

Here is the wording from Chase:

The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapids Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.

Chase

That means you can hold the card, but you can’t get the bonus offer if you’ve received a personal bonus offer from Southwest in the last 24 months OR if you currently hold one of the other PERSONAL cards.

Earning a Southwest Companion Pass

Southwest Companion Pass Hawaii

The points you earn for signing up and meeting the minimum spend for this card can help you earn the Southwest Companion Pass. The pass is good from the time you earn it until the end of the following year.

You must earn 135,000 qualifying points within 1 calendar year to secure a Southwest Companion Pass, which lets 1 person fly free with you, and works like a Buy One Get One for flights.

In Summary

I recommend getting the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card if you fly Southwest regularly, but it SHOULD be part of a plan to use the points to earn a Southwest Companion Pass.

I can help you efficiently map that out quickly and easily inside of the Secrets of a Travel Journalist Club.

Read More: 

Author

  • Lyn Mettler is a travel expert, author and longtime travel writer for US News & World Report, USA Today and The TODAY Show. Lyn is also the creator of the Secrets of a Travel Journalist Club, where she shares her secrets for saving on travel and traveling with less stress learned from her 25+ years as a professional travel journalist. She is one of the industry's foremost experts on collecting and using travel rewards with her expertise featured in major media outlets and on podcasts, television and radio.

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