Best Southwest Credit Cards in 2024

One of the things you’ll want to look at is which airline card perks, including the annual bonus, you’re likely to use. If you assign a dollar amount to each benefit, you can easily compare the total value of the benefits you’ll receive against the annual fee. The chart above shows one sample benefit valuation, which you can adjust based on your own preferences. In our sample valuation, the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card came out as the best consumer card option when comparing the perks to each card’s annual fee.

Another factor to consider is how many Rapid Rewards points you’ll earn from your everyday spending. The Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card have the highest earning rates on Southwest purchases, which make them a better choice for buying flights. You should also keep in mind that the two Southwest business cards have additional bonus categories. Look at the earning categories on the different cards and compare that to your own spending patterns to see which card will earn you the most points.

A-List is Southwest’s elite status program. If you fly Southwest enough to potentially earn A-List status, you should consider getting a Southwest credit card to help you toward qualifying. The two levels of A-List status are:

A-List: 20 one-way flights or 35,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TQP)

A-List Preferred: 40 one-way flights or 70,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TQP)

Four of the available Southwest credit cards offer cardholders a way to earn Tier Qualifying Points through spending. Cardholders earn 1,500 TQP for every $5,000 in purchases made on the following cards, with no cap on the amount of TQPs earned:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card
• Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card
• Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card

You’ll earn TQPs when flying based on the number of regular points you earn while flying. You can also earn 1,500 TQPs for every $5,000 spent on eligible purchases on eligible co-branded Chase Southwest credit cards.

If you’re making purchases overseas, foreign transaction fees can really add to the total cost of your trip. Thankfully, there are plenty of credit cards with no foreign transaction fees, including almost all of the Southwest co-branded credit cards.

Only the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card charges a foreign transaction fee, so you’ll want to avoid this option if you plan to use your Southwest points-earning card for overseas purchases.

You’ll want to consider what travel insurance benefits you may need. All Southwest credit cards offer solid travel protections through Visa. These include:

• Auto rental collision damage waiver (personal cards): Secondary in the U.S., primary in international destinations
• Auto rental collision damage waiver (business cards): Primary for business-related purposes
• Roadside dispatch
• Lost luggage replacement
• Baggage delay insurance
• Travel accident insurance

You’ll find even better travel protections on the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve^®. In addition to these benefits, these two cards provide Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance and Trip Delay Reimbursement, not to mention a primary Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.

We recommend you have at least a good credit score before applying for a Southwest credit card, which means a credit score of at least 660 before applying for a card.

You can only have one personal Southwest card at once. Chase won’t approve you for a new personal Southwest credit card if you’re a current cardholder of a personal Southwest card, or a previous cardholder who’s received a new bonus in the last 24 months. However, Chase will generally allow you to have both a Southwest business and personal card.

The easiest way to cancel a Southwest credit card is by calling the customer service number on the back of your credit card. The good news is that you won’t lose any points that have been transferred to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account if you cancel your Southwest credit card. Those points will still be in your Southwest account, even if your Southwest credit card is canceled. However, you should transfer points to your Rapid Rewards account before closing the card.

It can be very difficult for Southwest credit card holders to use their card before it arrives. Chase does have a program called Spend Instantly, where you can add a Chase credit card to a digital payment network (like Apple Pay or Google Pay). You can set that up in the Chase mobile app— just keep in mind that some customers have reported issues using the Spend Instantly feature.

The Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card offer four Upgraded Boardings per year, allowing you to get the best A1-A15 boarding position available. Several of the other Southwest credit cards offer a few Early Bird Check-Ins per year, allowing you access to earlier boarding than you might otherwise receive.

You have a few different options when you’re trying to apply for a credit card. One option is to apply for a card using the links on this page. You can also apply directly on Chase’s website. No matter how you apply, make sure that you’re getting the best offer currently available before you apply.

You can use your Southwest credit card anywhere Visa is accepted. However, note that the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card charges 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars foreign transaction fees. So while you could use the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card when traveling internationally, you’ll incur foreign transaction fees when doing so. The other Southwest cards don’t charge foreign transaction fees.

The Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card is the only Southwest credit card that pays for Global Entry. If you have the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card, you’ll get a statement credit of up to $100 every four years as a reimbursement for the application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS. This reimbursement isn’t offered on the other Southwest credit cards.