Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card 60K Offers
One of the best deals in travel is the Southwest Companion Pass. The pass is given after you earn 110,000 Rapid Rewards Points in a calendar year and credit card points count towards that total! While the normal Southwest 50K bonus takes a nice chunk out of that requirement, right now you can do even better. Let’s take a look.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus 60K Offer
The Plus card has been my choice in the past for Southwest personal cards due to its lower annual fee.
The Offer
Earn 60,000 points when you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Need to Know
- $69 annual fee is not waived.
- Earn 2X on Southwest purchases and 1X everywhere else
- Receive 3,000 bonus points each year after your cardmember anniversary
- Southwest points have a variable value from about 1.3 to 1.5 cents each
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier 60K Offer
The Premier card has a higher annual fee, but you get a bigger cardmember anniversary bonus if that’s important to you.
The Offer
Earn 60,000 points when you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Need to Know
- $99 annual fee is not waived.
- Earn 2X on Southwest purchases and 1X everywhere else
- Receive 6,000 bonus points each year after your cardmember anniversary
- No foreign transaction fees
- Southwest points have a variable value from about 1.3 to 1.5 cents each
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business 60K Offer
If you are eligible to get both a personal and a business card, you can knock out the Companion Pass requirement completely!
The Offer
Earn 60,000 points when you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Need to Know
- $99 annual fee is not waived.
- Earn 2X on Southwest purchases and 1X everywhere else
- Receive 6,000 bonus points each year after your cardmember anniversary
- No foreign transaction fees
- Southwest points have a variable value from about 1.3 to 1.5 cents each
Timing
One thing to consider with these offers is the timing. When you earn the Companion Pass you get it for the rest of the current year and all of the next year. This means earning the Companion Pass now would net you about 15 months. If you waited to get the cards and timed your spend so the bonus(es) post in January, then you would get 24 months of the Companion Pass. Timing is definitely something to consider, however we don’t know how long these increased bonuses will last.
Analysis
One of the biggest obstacles these days to getting the Companion Pass through credit cards is Chase’s 5/24 rule. All of these cards are subject to 5/24, meaning if you have opened up 5 or more new accounts over the past 24 months then you most likely will not be approved.
As for strategy, I tend to favor the cheaper Plus card on the personal side. Yes, the extra 3,000 points at your anniversary offset the higher fee on the Premier card, but these cards aren’t always the best long term holds. The only other difference between the Plus & Premier is foreign transaction fees. Let’s just say I don’t plan to use my Southwest credit card abroad, but if you do then take that into consideration.
Conclusion
These Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card 60K offers tie the best we have seen and represent a great opportunity to make progress towards the Companion Pass. If y ou are under 5/24 and are looking to get a Companion Pass soon, then it makes a lot of sense to look at these offer.
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I don’t think the Chase / Southwest points summary carry over into the next year. If you get the card and the 60,000 points in 2017, you must add another 50,000 before December 31, 2017 to get the Companion Pass. You keep your points earned in 2017. They just start a new total towards the 110,000 over in the new year.
Sorry if I wasn’t more clear. You can get the card in late 2017, but the points would have to post in 2018. For example some people get the card in October/November, but then wait until right after the new year to meet their spend and they then receive the points in the next year which is what determines Companion Pass eligibility.