Increased 75,000 points sign-up offer for Southwest credit cards

Southwest is currently offering increased sign-up offers of 75,000 points for their three consumer credit cards: the Plus, Premier, and Priority cards.  For all three version of their cards, you'll earn 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, plus an additional 35,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 6 months from account opening.  The increased 75k offers all end on February 18, 2020.


Southwest Rapid Rewards points can be redeemed directly for any revenue flight at the rate of around 1.4 cents, so the 75k sign-up offer is valued at over $1,000.  What's nice about these sign-up offers is that the qualify towards Southwest's coveted Companion Pass, which allows a companion to fly with you for free (plus taxes and fees) on any Southwest paid or award flight.  Southwest recently increased the Companion Pass qualification threshold to 125k points, but you'll only be 50k away with the sign-up offer alone (see below on how to qualify).  But which of the three cards is best for you?

Plus Credit Card

The Plus card has the lowest annual fee at $69.  The annual fee is somewhat offset by the 3,000 annual anniversary points, which is valued at around $42.

Premier Credit Card

The Premier card comes with a $99 annual fee, which is somewhat offset by the 6,000 annual anniversary points valued at around $84.

Priority Credit Card

The Priority card carries the highest annual fee at $149, which is also somewhat offset by the 7,500 annual anniversary points valued at around $105.  But the annual fee is pretty much completely covered when you factor in the $75 Southwest annual travel credit, which can be used on any Southwest flight.  The 4 upgraded boardings per year could also be really valuable as you can secure boarding in the A1-A15 group, which would all but guarantee a good seat or an emergency exit seat with extra legroom.  The only downside of the upgraded boardings is that they are based on availability on the day of travel only.



Apply for 2 credit cards to qualify for Companion Pass

These cards all fall under Chase's 5/24, so you would not qualify if you opened 5 or more consumer (non-business) credit cards with any and all institutions in the past 24 months.  Additionally, these cards are not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.

However, if you don't fall under any of these categories, you could apply for two of the cards.  Historically, Chase allows you to apply for up to 2 credit cards within a 30-day period.  So why would you want two cards?  Aside from the combined lucrative 150k sign up offer, you would qualify for Companion Pass for the entire year as the qualification threshold is 125k points!  Plus, your Companion Pass would be good for all of 2020 and the rest of 2021!


Bottom line

These are great increased sign-up offers for the three Southwest consumer credit cards.  If you qualify for the sign-up offers and want to get Southwest's legendary Companion Pass, then I can't think of a better time or opportunity to get these cards.  Your Companion Pass would be good through the end of 2021, which means that you could easily milk plenty of free companion tickets including to destinations such as Hawaii.  These increased sign-up offers all end on February 18, 2020, so you should have a window of 30+ days to apply for 2 cards.


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