BGR has partnered with The Points Guy for our coverage of credit card products. BGR and The Points Guy may receive a commission from card issuers.Please note: the offers mentioned below are subject to change at any time and some may no longer be available.I don’t know about you all, but I’m already making plans for my next vacation and trip out of town. Yes, it’s only the beginning of the year, the weather is miserable in some places and this isn’t exactly vacation season yet. But that hasn’t stopped myriad air carriers from going ahead and rolling out stunningly low discounts and fare sales in recent days. And if that wasn’t enough, Southwest Airlines has just unveiled a new limited-time offer covering all of its personal credit cards — an offer that includes the carrier’s biggest card sign-up bonus ever.The offer: 40,000 points after you’ve spent $1,000 on purchases with the card within your first three months. And if you manage to spend $5,000 within your first six months of card ownership, you’ll score an extra 35,000 points — so, 75,000 points in total, which is Southwest’s highest-ever sign-up bonus. You can earn either or both of those points tiers, and these are the cards the offer applies to: The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card.
Comparatively, this is a much more easily obtainable tiered bonus than you’ll find with other credit card offers — some of which require you to spend $10,000 and up over six months to get the full bonus. In this case, you only need to spend $5,000 over half a year to reach the second Southwest bonus tier.
This enhanced offer is available on all three of Southwest’s personal credit cards, which you can learn more about below along with some highlights of each.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card — This card comes with a $69 annual fee, includes a 3,000 Rapid Rewards anniversary points bonus, and has an earnings rate as follows: 2x on Southwest flights and hotel and car rental partners, 1x everywhere else.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card — This card comes with a $99 annual fee, includes a 6,000 Rapid Rewards anniversary points bonus, and offers the same earnings rate as the Rapid Rewards Plus card.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card — With this card, the annual fee is $149, offers a 7,500 Rapid Rewards anniversary point bonus and the same earnings rate as the previous two cards. You also get perks including a $75 annual Southwest travel credit, four upgraded boardings per year (when available) and 20% back on inflight drinks and Wi-Fi purchases.
It should go without saying, but just because all three of those cards are offering the same welcome bonus of up to 75,000 points, that doesn’t mean the cards are equal. You should certainly pay attention to the respective annual fees and benefits and pick which one offers the right mix to match your needs. For example, not everyone will need the upgraded boardings that come with the Priority Card.
Who’s not eligible: You won’t be able to earn this sign-up bonus or open any of those three cards if any of the following are true: You already own a personal Southwest card, you’ve earned a Southwest consumer credit card bonus anytime in the last 24 months, or you’ve hit Chase’s 5/24 mark (meaning, you’ve opened at least five credit cards in the last 24 months).
The final word
It’s never too early to plan for your next getaway – the earlier the better, in fact. Southwest’s new flights to Hawaii, plus this offer of up to 75,000 bonus points, are as good of incentives as any to start planning your next trip. Making this offer even more tempting is the fact that it covers the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, so you’re not necessarily limited to a specific card, any of which could be a fantastic addition to your wallet.
