Southwest Airlines has a rewards card like most other airlines. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Signature and Rapid Rewards Visa Signature Business Cards allow you to earn Southwest Airline miles without flying. There is also a lower tier Southwest credit card which is the Visa Classic instead of Visa Signature.
For Southwest, the difference between the Visa Classic and Visa Signature is that you do not get the double Reward Dollars for every $1 earnings with Southwest flights and the partners listed below. Instead, you would just get 1 for $1. You also do not get the anniversary credits.
Southwest Credit Card Review
The schedule for earning Reward Dollars (Southwest’s version of points or miles) is that you earn double rewards, or 2 Reward Dollars for every $1 spent, on Southwest Airlines flight and Southwest giftcard purchases, and also preferred hotel and rental car partner purchases.
Earn 1 Reward Dollar for every $1 spent everywhere else.
Earn 2 Rapid Rewards credits every year on your card member anniversary.
Redeem Southwest Airline Reward Dollars Points
1,200 Reward Dollars equals 1 Rapid Rewards credit.
16 Rapid Rewards Credits equal 1 round-trip flight, but only if those 16 came within 24 consecutive months. In other words, you basically have 2 years to get 16 credits to redeem for a free flight.
The math here is more convoluted than it needs to be, but isn’t complicated.
1,200 points, or Reward Dollars = 1 credit = 1/16th of a free flight. So, the final deal is:
16 * 1,200 = $19,200 Reward Dollars for a free flight on Southwest.
Here is the Southwest Airlines Credit Card Chart Summary:
| Spend | Earn | Redeem | Cash Value |
| $1 with Southwest Airlines or partners | 2 Reward Dollars | 19,200 Reward Dollars for a free ticket | 3.125% cash back on a $300 ticket (not likely scenario) |
| $1 everywhere else | 1 Reward Dollars | 19,200 Reward Dollars for a free flight | 1.56% cash back on a $300 ticket |
Southwest Rewards Credit Card Bonus
The current bonus offer I received for signing up for a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa is 8 Bonus Credits after the first use. After that, the fine print starts to kill you. Although there are 8 Bonus Credits advertised in bold for balance transfers along with a big happy note that both bonuses add up to a FREE flight.
Unfortunately, the real deal is not that sweet. You only get ONE bonus credit for every $1,200 of balance transfer made within 90 days of opening the card. In other words, you would have to transfer $9,600 to get all 8 credits.
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Even worse, balance transfers are subject to a 3% fee on the amount transferred. You’ll pay $288 to transfer the $9,600 necessary to get that easy free flight. In other words, you would just be better off paying for your ticket.
Interest Rate and Credit Card Terms
There is a $59 annual fee. Unless you fly Southwest Airlines a ton, then you should be done evaluating this card right now. Skip it, and get a credit card with universal miles or points that you can use on Southwest or for a billing credit when you buy an airfare ticket. These days, there is simply no reason to ever pay an annual fee for a credit card.
If you are still considering the Southwest card, then you may want to review what good credit cards are like. But, if you fly every week on Southwest or something like that here is the rest of the not so good deal.
The interest rate on the Southwest credit card is PRIME + 3.25% or 13.24% as of 12/22/08. Don’t let that 13% fool you. Interest rates are at all time lows, and even a move back to low but not historic low will bump you into the 17% range.
The grace period is a pathetic “at least 20 days”.
You should pass on this offer. There is very little here as far as upside goes. Every rewards card out there offers the 1 to $1 earning tier and the double rewards won’t add up to much unless you are someone who travels a lot for their job. Even then, you could earn just as good or better rewards on an a non-branded card.
Oh, and the card is administered by First USA, which is definitely not a plus!
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Tags: Credit Cards, Reviews, rewards, Southwest Airlines
I would like to fly from Birmingham Al to Chicago Il with my 4 and 9 year old. I wanted to know if there are special rates for children? We are planning to go in November.
Airlines supposedly offer discounted airfare rates for children. However, those discounts are off of the “full-fare” rates, which are NEVER paid by regular travelers. (As a hint, full-fares are also fully refundable and require no advance purchase.) In other words, it will be cheaper to by your child a regular plane ticket than a discounted full-fare ticket.
This info is outdated. Southwest uses Chase for its cc these days. But the rest is still relevant. The cost is $69 annual fee, and it’s ridiculous, but they do offer 3000 points (about $50 worth of ticket) annually.
Ed,
Look for a new update post coming soon!
Thanks.
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I understand this cc is not a great deal but if I apply for classic card, pay $39 annual fee, use the card only once for any purchase, use their reward for one round trip, pay the card within the grace period and cancel it after some time. I get a round trip for $39. What is wrong in this? Where is the catch?
Also when I apply how do I choose CLASSIC and not signature. There is no option on the Southwest application form. It seems they may get me for $59.
Raj 7/15/10
Theoretically, this is possible. It doesn’t happen often enough for them to worry about it too much. Remember it takes 6 to 8 weeks to get your credits and you’ll only be able to pull this off once, since from then on you won’t technically be a “new customer”.
People using credit cards rewards to their full potential can and do come out ahead. That is goal of any financially savvy credit card user. However, this is rare to actually happen in real life which is why if you search long enough you can find a way to work the system.
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Thanks….! This review was my deciding factor NOT to get the CC. This is the forth site of reviews i’ve looked at and about 75% of reviews posted were negitive. Thank you for taking the time to post your experence.
Leonard 03/05/10
Glad I could help.
If you are looking for a credit card with travel rewards, check into the various cards offered that are not affiliated directly with one airline.
S- 2/26/10 Great review! You make a lot of sense and have almost ‘talked’ me out of applying for this CC…. but I suspect your post is outdated as the new offerings are for 16 RR Bonus credits after first use and up to 8 more for balance transfers.
Please consider adding the date of your review to your posts. The web retains too much outdated info and it’s nice to know when we’re looking at something current.
Thanks Again!