3 Southwest credit cards are offering 75,000-point bonuses (worth over $1,000 in flights) — and the points count toward the Companion Pass

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• The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card are now offering Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card.
• Points earned with your Southwest credit card help you qualify for the Companion Pass, one of the most valuable Southwest perks. 
• With the Companion Pass, a friend or family member can tag along with you on Southwest paid or award flights for up to two years 
• Read Insider's guide to the best travel rewards credit cards.

Southwest is one of the top US airlines for travelers, and one of the most rewarding features of Southwest credit cards is their lucrative welcome bonus offers. Each card gets you a selection of travel perks, bonus categories for everyday spending, and benefits like travel insurance, with a range of annual fees. 

For a limited time, three Southwest personal credit cards (the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card,  Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card) are offering new cardholders a welcome bonus of Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. 

The welcome bonuses and points from spending on these cards all qualify toward earning Southwest's valuable Companion Pass, which allows you to bring a pal along for free on paid and award flights. By opening one of these cards now and earning the bonus, you'll be more than halfway to qualifying for the pass — and if you time it right, it can be valid for nearly two years.

Whether you're trying to earn Companion Pass or just want to earn a big stash of Southwest points for future travel, these offers are well worth considering. Here's what to know about each Southwest card to help you decide which is best for you.

We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Southwest credit card offers: Earn 75,000 points

Elevated Southwest bonuses come and go, but these are some of the best we've seen in recent years.

All three personal Southwest cards come with the same bonus: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. That's worth about Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card in flights, based on Insider's points and miles valuations.

However, each has a different annual fee and benefits, so the right card for you mostly boils down to your travel habits, and whether or not you'll use the perks that can justify a higher annual fee.

Keep in mind these aren't the highest bonuses ever offered for the Southwest cards, but they come pretty close. Previously, the highest points bonus was up to 100,000 points, but you had to hit a big minimum spending requirement to achieve it. And there have been offers to earn fewer points plus a promotional Companion Pass.

Southwest's Companion Pass can save you hundreds on airfare per year

You might be wondering what the big deal is with the Companion Pass, anyway — what makes it so valuable?

The Companion Pass is basically a nearly free airline ticket for one designated person to tag along with you on any paid or award flights on Southwest (just pay taxes and fees, usually $5.60 each way on domestic routes). It can save you hundreds in travel expenses each year (depending on where you fly and how often). 

To qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass, you'll need to earn 125,000 Southwest points in a calendar year — but this threshold will increase to 135,000 points in 2023. However, if you have a Southwest credit card, you'll receive a 10,000-point "boost" toward the Companion Pass each year (effectively negating the increase).

Once you have the Companion Pass, it's valid for the entire year you earned it, as well as all of the following calendar year. That's why timing when you earn the Companion Pass is important — for example, if you earned a Companion Pass in late 2022, it would only be valid until the end of 2023. But if you qualify in early 2023, you'll have the Companion Pass for all of 2023 and 2024 — essentially almost two years of 2-for-1 travel.

With the help of these Southwest card bonuses, you can earn more than half of the points you need to qualify for the Companion Pass. Like previous elevated Southwest offers that have come and gone, time is of the essence. But even with the assistance of a big welcome bonus, earning the remaining points for the Companion Pass takes planning and dedication. 

How to earn more qualifying points toward the Companion Pass

After earning one of the Southwest card bonuses plus points from meeting the minimum spending requirement, you'll have at least 78,000 Southwest points. That leaves 47,000 more qualifying points to earn the Companion Pass (125,000 points - 78,000 points).

Since you're only allowed to own one Southwest personal card at a time, getting another personal card isn't an option. However, you might be able to earn another welcome bonus if you can qualify for a small-business card, since you can have a personal and business Southwest card at the same time.

There are two Southwest cards for small businesses:

Keep in mind that Southwest cards are issued through Chase, which means they follow the 5/24 rule. This rule prevents you from getting approved if you've opened five or more credit cards (from any bank, but not including certain small-business cards) within the past 24 months.

While you're allowed to have one personal and one small-business Southwest card at the same time, there are other card application restrictions to keep in mind. For the Southwest personal cards, you aren't eligible if you currently have any personal Southwest card, or have received an intro bonus on one in the past 24 months. This doesn't include Southwest business cards (Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card and Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card).

And with the Southwest business cards, you won't be approved if you currently hold the card, or have received a welcome bonus for that specific card in the past 24 months. 

If you don't qualify for a Southwest business card, you'll probably have to earn points the hard way. However, not all points are eligible for the Companion Pass. 

Qualifying points for the Companion Pass:

• Flight bookings
• Points issued on Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards
• Points from Rapid Rewards partners 

Non-qualifying points for the Companion Pass:

• Purchased points
• Transferred points between Rapid Rewards members
• Transferred points from Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Converted points from hotel and car loyalty programs
• Converted points from e-Rewards, Diners Club, e-miles, and Valued Opinions
• Rapid Rewards program enrollment
• Flight bonuses
• Partner bonuses
• Tier bonuses

Compare the Southwest Rapid Rewards personal credit cards

All three personal Southwest Rapids Rewards credit cards are offering the same Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card.

The cards offer slightly different reward rates on purchases, varying travel benefits, and drastically different annual fees. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card charges the highest annual fee (Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card), and in turn, provides more perks and a larger anniversary bonus.

The best card Southwest card for you comes down to how frequently you fly, the kinds of travel benefits and features you prefer, and how much you're willing to spend. But regardless of which card you end up picking, you'll still earn the same increased bonus offer. 

Here's how the Southwest cards compare:

Southwest credit card alternatives 

If you're looking for a strong travel card, but don't care about airline-specific perks, then you might consider a card that earns transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. Certain Chase cards (such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card) allow you to transfer points to Southwest at a 1:1 ratio, as well as to 13 other airline and hotel partners. Transferred points won't count toward the Companion Pass, however.

Moreover, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is currently offering a limited-time welcome bonus of Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You can read our Chase Sapphire Reserve review for all the details.