We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Monkey Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The Chase Southwest credit card offers
Apply by 6/26/23
Here’s a look at the 3 current offers from Chase and Southwest and how they could be used to hit the enviable Southwest Companion Pass and get some savings on a future Southwest flight. The biggest differences between the cards comes from the annual point bonus, whether you want a Southwest travel credit ( Priority ), and either EarlyBird check-in or upgraded boarding.
Explain the single use 30% promo code
- Single Use
- Valid on one-way or round trip Wanna Get Away®, Wanna Get Away Plus™, Anytime, and Business Select® fares
- Must be used by 10/31/24
- 30% off is on the base fare and won’t discount government taxes and fees
Offcial terms:
30 percent promotion code savings valid for one-way or round trip Wanna Get Away®, Wanna Get Away Plus™, Anytime, and Business Select® fares booked on Southwest.com® by 10/31/2024, (the “Booking Period”). Promotion code expires on 10/31/2024. Promotion code savings is applied before government taxes and fees. Enter your unique promotion code in the Promo Code box when booking during the Booking Period. If you have entered your single-use promotion code in the Promo Code box on Southwest.com, then while selecting your flights, savings in the base fare will be visible as a strike-through of the original fare
Southwest Rewards Plus Offer
- 60,000 Rapid Rewards points and a 30% off promo code for travel via Southwest Airlines after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
- 3x on Southwest purchases
- 2x on transit including commuting and rideshare apps
- 2x on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
- 3000 point anniversary bonus:
- After you account anniversary you’ll receive 3000 Southwest points
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
- 10k Companion Pass Point boost each year
- $69 Annual Fee
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
This is the entry level Southwest Rapid Rewards® credit card that helps ease the path to Companion Pass, earns a couple EarlyBird Check-In® passes and lowers the requirement for Companion Pass next year.
Welcome Offer
60k Southwest Rapid Rewards after $3k spend in 3 months + 30% off promo code ( single use )
Annual Fee
$69
Points Earned
Southwest Rapid Rewards
For $69 you can lower the requirement for Companion Pass, earn points to hit it quicker*, get a couple EarlyBird(R) check in passes and 3k points on your account anniversary. Not too shabby for $69 and I’d argue a better deal than the midtier Premier card.
*You’ll get a 10k point credit toward Companion Pass meaning you’ll need to hit 125k instead of the normal 135k
30% off promo code:
- Single Use
- Valid on one-way or round trip Wanna Get Away®, Wanna Get Away Plus™, Anytime, and Business Select® fares
- Must be used by 10/31/24
- 30% off is on the base fare and won’t discount government taxes and fees
Remember that you are ineligible for a Southwest personal card if you already hold one, and you won’t get the bonus if you’ve received a Southwest personal card bonus in the past 24 months.
- 60k Southwest Rapid Rewards after $3k spend in 3 months + 30% off promo code
- 3x on Southwest purchases
- 2x on transit including commuting and rideshare apps
- 2x on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
- 3000 point anniversary bonus:
- After you account anniversary you’ll receive 3000 Southwest points
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
- 10k Companion Pass Point credit each year
- $69 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
Southwest Rewards Premier Offer
- 60,000 Rapid Rewards points and a 30% off promo code for travel via Southwest Airlines after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
- 3x on Southwest purchases
- 2x on transit including commuting and rideshare apps
- 2x on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
- 6000 point anniversary bonus:
- After you account anniversary you’ll receive 6000 Southwest points
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
- 10k Companion Pass Point boost each year
- $99 Annual Fee
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
If you’re looking for a way to expedite your pathway to the Southwest Companion Pass this will undoubtedly help. You’ll also get 2 EarlyBird Checkin® each year and 6000 Southwest Rapid Rewards on account anniversary
Welcome Offer
60k Southwest Rapid Rewards after $3k spend in 3 months + 30% off promo code ( single use )
Annual Fee
$99
Points Earned
Southwest Rapid Rewards
This is the midrange Southwest Personal card that offers 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year + 6000 Southwest points upon account anniversary and comes with an $99 annual fee
You’ll get a 10k point credit toward Companion Pass meaning you’ll need to hit 125k instead of the normal 135k
30% off promo code:
- Single Use
- Valid on one-way or round trip Wanna Get Away®, Wanna Get Away Plus™, Anytime, and Business Select® fares
- Must be used by 10/31/24
- 30% off is on the base fare and won’t discount government taxes and fees
Remember that you are ineligible for a Southwest personal card if you already hold one, and you won’t get the bonus if you’ve received a Southwest personal card bonus in the past 24 months.
- 3x on Southwest purchases
- 2x on transit including commuting and rideshare apps
- 2x on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
- 6000 point anniversary bonus:
- After you account anniversary you’ll receive 6000 Southwest points
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
- 10k Companion Pass Point credit each year
- $99 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
Southwest Rewards Priority Offer
- 60,000 Rapid Rewards points and a 30% off promo code for travel via Southwest Airlines after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
- 3x on Southwest purchases
- 2x on transit including commuting and rideshare apps
- 2x on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
- 7,500-point anniversary bonus:
- After you account anniversary you’ll receive 7500 Southwest points
- $75 annual Southwest travel credit:
- During your cardmember year, you’ll get a $75 travel credit to use on Southwest – these don’t include upgrades or inflight purchases, but the great thing is that it does count towards purchasing tickets.
- Four upgraded boardings per year ( when available ):
- Want to get in that sweet A1-A15 spot? You can use these at the ticket counter or gate to jump to the front.
- 10k Companion Pass Point boost each year
- Annual Fee $149
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
This is the best Southwest credit card offering an annual $75 travel credit, 4 upgraded boarding passes ( when avail ), and 7500 points each year you hold the card.
Welcome Offer
60k Southwest Rapid Rewards after $3k spend in 3 months + 30% off promo code ( single use )
Annual Fee
$149
Points Earned
Southwest Rapid Rewards
The biggest reason you get a Southwest credit card is to help you get the enviable Companion Pass where you can bring along an extra person for just the taxes and fees of their ticket, and this card earns points that count towards earning that CP.
This is the premium Southwest credit card and offers extra perks like a $75 travel credit to use on Southwest and 4 upgraded boardings a year so you can slide into the A1-A15 boarding group and it gives you 7500 Rapid Rewards on your account anniversary.
You’ll get a 10k point credit toward Companion Pass meaning you’ll need to hit 125k instead of the normal 135k
30% off promo code:
- Single Use
- Valid on one-way or round trip Wanna Get Away®, Wanna Get Away Plus™, Anytime, and Business Select® fares
- Must be used by 10/31/24
- 30% off is on the base fare and won’t discount government taxes and fees
Remember that you are ineligible for a Southwest personal card if you already hold one, and you won’t get the bonus if you’ve received a Southwest personal card bonus in the past 24 months.
- 3x on Southwest purchases
- 2x on transit including commuting and rideshare apps
- 2x on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
- 7,500-point anniversary bonus:
- After you account anniversary you’ll receive 7500 Southwest points
- $75 annual Southwest travel credit:
- During your cardmember year, you’ll get a $75 travel credit to use on Southwest – these don’t include upgrades or inflight purchases, but the great thing is that it does count towards purchasing tickets.
- Four upgraded boardings per year ( when available ):
- Want to get in that sweet A1-A15 spot? You can use these at the ticket counter or gate to jump to the front.
- 10k Companion Pass Point credit each year
- Annual Fee $149
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
80k Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card
Note that this card does not have a Companion Pass included
- Earn 80k points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
- 4X points on Southwest purchases
- 3X points on Rapid Rewards hotel + car partners
- 2X points
- rideshare
- social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services
- 9,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary
- 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
- Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® Fee Credit
- Annual Fee $199
Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
If you have a small business and want to earn points that help you get a Southwest Companion Pass faster – This could be a good card to check out.
Welcome Offer
80k points after $5k in 3 months.
Annual Fee
$199
Points Earned
Southwest Rapid Rewards
If you sign up for this card alongside a Southwest personal card they points combine and help boost you to Companion Pass.
Remember that Companion Pass is good during the year you achieve it as well as the year after. So if you can earn it during Jan/Feb you can get it for nearly 2 years.
- 4X points on Southwest purchases
- 3X points on Rapid Rewards hotel + car partners
- 2X points
- rideshare
- social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services
- 9,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary
- 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
- Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® Fee Credit
- Annual Fee $199
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
You may be a small business and not even know it
If you have a side hustle, earn money from the gig economy, or even now what people are referring to as the creator economy…the odds are strongly in your favor that you qualify for a small business credit card. So many people earn money that isn’t W2 income, but they haven’t established formal LLCs or S-corps that have EIN ( Employer Identification Number), and they aren’t taking advantage of what that income opens the door to….but they can still apply and get approved for small business credit cards.
If you’re earning income on a 1099, you’re good to go. Some examples of those are…
- Online Coaches, tutors, etc
- Uber and Lyft drivers (assuming they still get 1099s whenever you’re reading this).
- DoorDash, GrubHub and Postmates
- Social Media income ( TikTok, Instagram, YouTube )
- Cater Waiters
- Personal Trainers
- Dog Walkers
- Freelance graphic designers and web designers
- Singers, artists, dancers, models, etc
- Virtual Assistants
- Ebay, Amazon and Facebook resellers
What is the Southwest Companion Pass?
It’s really pretty simple, and as I mentioned one of the topics I’m asked about most. Every single time you fly, whether you used cash or points to book your Southwest ticket, your companion flies with you free. In 2023, this requires earning 135k Qualifying Rapid Rewards points in a year in order to qualify. Note that the Southwest credit cards will come with a 10k Companion Pass credit each year.
- You still have to pay the companion taxes and fees
- You have to select the companion that will fly free with you while your companion pass is valid
- You can change who this is 3x in the year
- This is based on calendar year so you could change it 3x this year, and then again 3x in 2022
- You can make changes by calling this number 1-800-435-9792
- You can change who this is 3x in the year
How to get almost 1.5 to 2 years of the Southwest Companion Pass
Sometimes we Southwest offer large bonuses on their credit cards at the end of the year. It sets you up perfectly to land a Companion Pass for nearly 2 years and these offers are quite advantageous to make this work. How?
The Southwest Companion starts when you hit 135k miles and expires the year after the year you hit that threshold. So if you got a personal and business version of this card when they are offering more than 135k miles combined, you’d blow past 135k needed for the year you hit the spend threshold to earn the bonus, and you’d have that pass all the way through next year.
This current offer is just straight up giving you Companion Pass through 2/28/24
What miles counts towards the Companion Pass?
*If you transfer points from Chase to Southwest – they do not count towards Companion Pass
The following do count:
- 6x points whenever you fly
- All the credit cards shown up above earn miles that count towards Companion Pass
- The anniversary points count as well
- As do referral points
- Make sure your get drop you referrals on our Chase Refer-a-friend page
- The Southwest shopping portal + Dining Portal purchases count toward Companion Pass
Did you know there is a Southwest Shopping Portal where you can buy the stuff you may ordinarily buy online but earn Southwest points? Usually I’d advocate for using other shopping portals with higher rates of return, but when you’re aiming at the Companion Pass it will help you get there quicker and start saving on flights. You can go here
You can also reference this nifty chart to see where else you can earn Companion Pass qualifying miles.
How much are Southwest Points worth?
On average, I would say that Southwest Points rattle around 1.3 to 1.6c. You can see in this example that the wanna get away price is $168 or 10,527 points. That is roughly 1.6c. However, you can see the Business Select fare of $691 would cost you 51,309 or roughly 1.35c a point. That range puts 30k Southwest Points worth $390 to $480. At least twice the annual fee, not including the Companion Pass.
Don’t forget that the Companion Pass works on flights purchased with points. So the fare listed below that costs 10,527 points would actually fly two people.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Don’t forget that you can shore up your Southwest balance by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards 1:1 – this could be quite good value when flying with a Companion Pass. However, remember that these transfers don’t count toward earning your Companion Pass, they are only redeemable for flights.
Go here to see our favorite Chase Ultimate Reward earning credits cards.
Important Eligibility Info – Southwest Family restrictions
This is a strategy that Chase employs with their Sapphire cards as well, but with a little twist. While you can apply for and get approved for another Southwest personal credit card there are some rule you should be aware of:
- These cards all fall under Chase’s 5/24 rule – meaning if you have added more than 5 new credit cards in the last 24 months you won’t be approved. These are specific to your personal credit report, so most business credit cards don’t count.
- If you have received a Southwest bonus on ANY personal card in the last 24 months, you wont’ be eligible.
- If you’re currently holding a personal Chase Southwest card, you would be ineligible as well
If you’re under 5/24 and you haven’t received a personal SWA credit card bonus in the last 24 months, you should be good go to as long as you’re approved.
Overall
This is an increased Companion Pass offer for Southwest cards across the board – sometimes we have seen a 100k offer in the past as well.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash , Ink Business Unlimited you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
45 Comments