Introduction

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus is the cheapest way into Southwest's co-branded card lineup. At $99 a year, it sits below the Premier ($149) and the Priority ($229), and most reviewers either ignore it or push you toward the higher tiers without explaining who the Plus actually fits. That's not fair to the card or to readers. Some people only fly Southwest once or twice a year. Some people just want the free checked bag without committing to a $229 fee. This Southwest Plus review walks through the math in 2026, who the card is genuinely right for, and the specific point at which you should jump up to Premier instead.

Quick Summary

Best For: Occasional Southwest flyers (one to three round trips a year) who want the free checked bag perk and slow Companion Pass progress without paying $149 or $229.

Standout Benefit: Free first checked bag for the cardholder and up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation. Chase puts the saving at up to $90 round trip ($45 per bag per trip).

Biggest Drawback: Only 3,000 anniversary points each year, versus 6,000 on Premier and 7,500 on Priority.

Annual Fee: $99, applied to your first billing statement. No foreign transaction fees.

Southwest Plus Overview

The Plus is issued by Chase as part of the Southwest Rapid Rewards consumer card family. It earns Rapid Rewards points, the same currency you'd earn from flying Southwest or shopping through the Rapid Rewards portal. Today it carries a $99 annual fee and a new cardmember offer of 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Chase says the card is available to you if you don't have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card and haven't received a new cardmember bonus within the last 24 months, and that this does not apply to Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.

The checked bag benefit matters more than people realize. Chase gives a free first checked bag to cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation, and the Plus is the lowest-fee personal Southwest card that includes it.

Earning Structure

Here's what the Plus earns, and where the rates fall versus the Premier and Priority, per Chase's card pages.

  • 2x Rapid Rewards points on Southwest Airlines purchases.
  • 2x points at gas stations and grocery stores, on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year.
  • 1x points on everything else.

Premier earns 3x on Southwest purchases and 2x at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year. Priority earns 4x on Southwest purchases and 2x at gas stations and restaurants. So if you're flying Southwest enough to feel the difference between 2x and 3x or 4x on flight purchases, you're probably already in Premier or Priority territory, which we'll get to in the comparison section.

The 2x gas and grocery category is where Southwest tries to keep the card relevant for non-flying spend. It's a fine perk, but the $5,000 cap keeps it small, and it's outclassed by general-purpose travel cards. The Chase Sapphire Preferred (apply here) earns 5x on travel booked through Chase Travel and 3x on dining, and its Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Southwest at 1:1 anyway. If you spend meaningfully outside Southwest, you're better off earning Ultimate Rewards or Capital One miles and transferring as needed, not pinning yourself to one airline.

The Annual Benefits Math

This is the part most reviews skip. Here's what Chase lists for your $99 every cardmember year:

  • 3,000 anniversary points every year on your cardmember anniversary.
  • Free first checked bag for you and up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation. Chase puts the saving at up to $90 round trip ($45 per bag per trip), though that assumes you'd actually pay for bags.
  • Complimentary Standard seat, selected within 48 hours before departure, when available.
  • 10% flight discount, a promo code each year on your cardmember anniversary (Basic fares excluded).
  • 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year.
  • Group 5 boarding for you and up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation.
  • 25% back on inflight purchases.

The anniversary points alone won't cover a $99 fee for most people. The free bag benefit is what makes the card worth it for occasional flyers, and it's also the part that depends entirely on how often you fly Southwest with bags. Say you and a companion take two round trips a year and each check a bag: at up to $45 per bag per trip, that's up to $360 in bag fees you don't pay.

How the Plus Compares

This is where most readers actually need help. The three Southwest consumer cards look similar on the brochure and play out very differently in practice.

Plus ($99 annual fee): 3,000 anniversary points. 2x on Southwest. Free first checked bag. Complimentary Standard seat within 48 hours of departure, when available. 10% anniversary flight discount. No foreign transaction fees.

Premier ($149 annual fee): 6,000 anniversary points. 3x on Southwest. Free first checked bag. Complimentary Preferred seat within 48 hours of departure, when available. 15% anniversary flight discount. 1,500 tier qualifying points (TQPs) toward A-List for every $5,000 spent. No foreign transaction fees.

Priority ($229 annual fee): 7,500 anniversary points. 4x on Southwest. Free first checked bag. Complimentary Preferred seat at booking, when available, and unlimited Extra Legroom seat upgrades within 48 hours of departure, when available. 2,500 TQPs toward A-List for every $5,000 spent. No foreign transaction fees.

The interesting comparison is Plus versus Premier: $99 against $149 a year. For the higher fee, you get 6,000 anniversary points instead of 3,000, 3x instead of 2x on Southwest, a Preferred seat instead of a Standard one, a 15% rather than 10% flight discount, and TQPs that count toward A-List. Premier wins for most people who fly Southwest more than a few times a year. The Plus only makes sense if your annual Southwest flying genuinely doesn't cross that threshold and you're just holding the card for the bag perk and slow Companion Pass progress.

International travel isn't a reason to skip the Plus: Chase lists no foreign transaction fees on all three personal cards.

The Companion Pass Angle

Southwest's Companion Pass is the program's headline benefit. Earn 135,000 qualifying points or fly 100 qualifying one-way segments in a calendar year and a designated companion flies free with you (you pay only taxes and fees) for the rest of that year and all of the next.

All three consumer cards earn points that count toward the Companion Pass threshold, including the welcome bonus and points earned on spending. Rapid Rewards members can't pool or combine points, and Southwest doesn't count points transferred between members, so a spouse's welcome bonus counts only toward the spouse's own Companion Pass.

The Plus gets you to Companion Pass slower than Premier or Priority because the earning rate on Southwest is 2x rather than 3x or 4x. All three cards get the same 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year. If Companion Pass is your specific goal, you almost certainly want Premier or Priority instead. Timing matters: card points count toward the pass only in the calendar year they post to your billing statement and Rapid Rewards account, and the pass lasts for the rest of the year you earn it plus all of the next, so points that post early in a year give the pass the most time.

The Plus is fine if you already earned Companion Pass through a Premier or Priority card and are looking to downgrade to keep the bag benefit and a small annual point haul. That's a real use case.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • The lowest annual fee in the Southwest consumer card lineup at $99, which keeps the keep-or-cancel decision simple for occasional flyers.
  • Free first checked bag for the cardholder plus up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation is the same bag benefit you get on the $229 Priority.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Counts toward Southwest's Companion Pass, which is one of the most valuable airline benefits in the U.S. market.

Cons

  • 3,000 anniversary points is a thin offering at this fee. Premier gives 6,000 for $149 a year, which is the better deal for regular Southwest flyers.
  • The 2x gas and grocery category stops at $5,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year.
  • The complimentary seat is a Standard seat within 48 hours of departure, versus a Preferred seat on Premier (within 48 hours) and Priority (at booking).
  • 2x on Southwest flights, versus 3x on Premier and 4x on Priority, means heavy Southwest spenders are leaving points on the table.

Who Should Get the Southwest Plus

Great fit for:

  • Travelers who fly Southwest one to three times a year, want the bag benefit, and don't want to pay $149 or more annually.
  • Existing Premier or Priority cardholders considering a product change to keep a Southwest card without the higher fee, especially after Companion Pass is already earned.
  • Couples who want a low-fee Southwest card for the second traveler, keeping in mind that each person's points count only toward their own Companion Pass.

Not ideal for:

  • Anyone flying Southwest four or more times a year (Premier's 3x on Southwest and 6,000 anniversary points pull ahead).
  • Anyone who spends heavily outside gas and groceries; the 1x base rate is weak.
  • Anyone whose primary travel goal is flexible points; the Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture earns points that transfer to multiple programs, including Southwest at 1:1 from Chase.

Final Verdict

The Southwest Plus is a fine card for the specific person it fits: someone who flies Southwest occasionally, wants the free checked bag, and doesn't want to pay $149 a year. At $99, the anniversary points alone won't cover the fee; the bag benefit has to do the work. It's not generous, but it's not a trap either. The trap, if there is one, is choosing Plus over Premier when you actually fly Southwest enough that 3x earning, 6,000 anniversary points and TQP earning would more than cover the Premier's higher fee. If you're flying Southwest several times a year, Premier is the better answer. If you're flying once or none, you might not need a Southwest card at all, and a flexible-points card would serve you better.

Updated October 1, 2026: Corrected the three cards' annual fees ($99, $149, $229), the Plus's earning, benefits and welcome offer, and its foreign transaction fee (Chase lists none), from Chase's card pages. Also corrected which points count toward the Companion Pass, from Southwest's Rapid Rewards terms.

Sources

  1. Chase: Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card page (read 2026-10-01)
  2. Chase: Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier card page (read 2026-10-01)
  3. Chase: Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card page (read 2026-10-01)
  4. Chase: Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards (read 2026-10-01)
  5. Southwest Airlines: Rapid Rewards terms and conditions, Companion Pass section (read 2026-10-01)

This article contains affiliate links. If you apply through our links, we may earn a commission at no cost to you, which helps us continue sharing points and miles strategies with the community.

Add The Points Party as a preferred source on Google