The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is a good airline credit card for people with good credit, and it’s most worthwhile if you qualify for the initial bonus:
50,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. The Southwest Premier Card also offers solid ongoing rewards and an annual fee of just
$99.
Southwest Credit Card Review Highlights
Strong initial bonus
Spending at least
$1,000 within
3 months of opening the Premier Southwest Card will score you
50,000 points. That's a pretty nice initial bonus. The downside is that you have to book directly through Southwest and perhaps pass up all of the other lucrative
credit card deals that are currently available.
Modest ongoing rewards
In addition to its sizable initial bonus, this Southwest rewards card gives you 6,000 points each account anniversary. This supplements the
3 points per $1 spent with Southwest, 2 points per $1 on Rapid Rewards hotel and car partners, 2 points per $1 on local transit and commuting, including rideshare, 2 points per $1 on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming, and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. Those purchase-based earning rates equate to 1.39% to 4.17% cash back, as Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth an average of about $0.0139 apiece. Considering the average credit card offers roughly
1.15% cash back, this Southwest Airlines card is really only worthwhile for Southwest purchases.
Not the only Southwest credit card in town
There are three Southwest Airlines credit cards: the
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, the
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card and the
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card. This review will focus on the former, but you can see how these Southwest cards compare to one another
here.
No penalty for foreign use
If you plan on visiting any of Southwest’s international destinations (or making purchases through internationally based merchants), you’ll be glad to know that this Southwest credit card does not charge a foreign-transaction fee. Most credit cards have such a charge, after all, with the average being
1.56% of each purchase, according to WalletHub’s latest
Credit Card Landscape Report.
$99 annual fee
At
$99, the Premier Southwest Credit Card’s annual fee is about five times higher than the market average of
$22.29. And it’s even above what some of the rewards market’s heaviest hitters charge.
Above-average interest rates
This Southwest Rapid Rewards card does not offer 0% introductory interest rates. Considering you need good or excellent credit for approval, and the average credit cards for people with good and excellent credit charge
24.12% and 18.04%, respectively, it’s clear you’ll be overpaying if you carry a balance from month to month with your Southwest card. So don’t.
Good credit required
All three Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards require good or excellent credit for approval. So make sure to
check your credit score, and thus gauge your odds of acceptance, before applying.