Which Southwest Credit Card is Right for You?

If you want to earn points towards free flights aboard Southwest Airlines, one of the easiest ways to do that is with a Southwest co-branded credit card. Now that Southwest charges for checked bags and added seat assignments, a Southwest credit card can also save you and your travel companions a lot of money if you plan to purchase one or several of those upsells.

Related: What I'm doing differently as a Southwest frequent flyer to adjust to the airline's recent changes

My husband and I have had a Southwest credit card or two (or three!) in our wallets for the better part of a decade. We have used the benefits for a LOT of free travel. In 2026, we've already been using them to save on checked bags and seat assignments.

Chase currently offers three Southwest personal credit cards in addition to two business cards. So, with five card choices available, which card should you get, assuming you should you even get one at all?

Here are my best tips for selecting the right Southwest credit card for you, so you can fly free on Southwest with your kids (or without!) on your next travel adventure.

Should You Get Any Southwest Credit Card?

Before we get to the breakdown of the individual card offerings, it's always smart to talk about who should - and shouldn't - be looking at Southwest credit cards. While my Southwest credit cards have always been worth it to me, I recognize the cards aren't right for everyone!

Don't Get a Southwest Card If....

If you don't live near an airport served by Southwest, chances are probably good that a card won't be a fit for you. Southwest's coverage map has expanded considerably in the past few years, however, so take a peek to see if airports have been added that you didn't know about. Even if Southwest has a presence at your home airport though, look carefully at the frequency of the airline's service there and the destinations it serves.

If you fly mostly overseas, Southwest probably isn't going to be a major draw for you either. Many travelers still don't know that Southwest does now fly internationally. These flights, however, are mostly to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central American destinations. There's simply no way to get to Europe or Asia or even Canada (yet!) with your Southwest Rapid Rewards points, even though the airline is starting to amass international airline partners.

Finally, don't get a Southwest credit card if you aren't paying your credit card balances in full each and every month. Travel rewards cards of any type are simply not a good fit for anyone who carries a balance - the rewards are cancelled out (and then some) by high interest rates. Don't make the common frequent flyer mile mistake of going further into debt over a few airline miles.

Do Consider a Southwest Card If...

If you travel a few times a year domestically and have the usual limitations that most regular folks with jobs and kids in school do, chances are good a Southwest card is right for you.

In fact, I think Southwest points are still some of the most valuable currencies for traveling families and regular people, even as the airline has devalued them a bit in recent years. Why? Their flexibility.

So many other airlines have serious capacity controls on their award seats. When you are looking for three or four or more seats to fly to see grandma at Christmas time, it's not likely a family can use miles for what they really want.

On Southwest, however, there are no blackouts on award seats. If there is a seat on the plane available, it can be purchased with Rapid Rewards points. Of course, you'll pay more in points for more expensive fares. But using your points on Southwest is imminently doable the vast majority of the time with a little pre-planning. For example, I've used them to fly Southwest to Hawaii during peak summer break and to get to a cruise during Easter weekend - not redemptions likely to be possible except at incredibly inflated rates on other airlines.

Related: Southwest Hawaii Flight Review from OAK to HNL

Comparing the 3 Current Personal Southwest Credit Cards

So, on to the three specific personal Southwest credit card offerings to choose from.

The three personal card products are the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card. The card names are pretty similar and the cards have some benefits similarities, so it's sometimes hard to keep them straight. Southwest has also changed the benefits on all of these cards in major ways this past year, so it's important to read the current fine print carefully.

Note that these consumer cards are subject to Chase's informal 5/24 rule. So if you get a lot of credit cards, make sure you haven't gotten 5 or more in the last 24 months from any issuer or you will be almost assuredly turned down. That count usually includes cards that your spouse or partner has gotten if they've added you as an authorized user.

Additionally, you can also only earn a single signup bonus on any of these Southwest personal cards once every 24 months. So if you've had one of these cards in the last two years, you aren't eligible for a bonus on another.

Which Southwest Personal Credit Card Is Best?

What's my advice? If I had never had a Southwest credit card at this very moment, I would undoubtedly choose the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card. But that's based on my family's travel patterns. We fly Southwest at least every other month, so we can get a lot of value out of the checked bag benefit and better seating perks.

I personally got this card in 2024 and would be keeping it in 2026 but for the fact that many of the benefits overlap with my Southwest A-List status and a Southwest business card (more on that below) I also am holding on to for now. I'll likely return to it again in future years the next time I'm eligible for a new welcome bonus or if I'm no longer A-List.

Why does this card work well for a frequent Southwest traveler like me? I occasionally check bags for my family of 4. On a single roundtrip, that's worth $280 ($35 x 8) if we all check bags - more than the annual fee.

But even if we don't ever check a bag, we get the value in seat assignments. A family of 4 that wants to pre-book seats together on a roundtrip can expect to pay an extra $30 or more each way. That the minimum price difference between buying a Choice fare which includes a seat assignment instead of a Basic fare which doesn't. That's $240 in seat fees - again, more than the annual fee of the Priority card.

For this reason, I really recommend this card to families with young kids who want the certainty of seat assignments all together at the time of booking. (Yes, Southwest says it will endeavor to seat kids 12 and under with one adult, but there's no guarantee and that's not the whole family together.)

If you are a more infrequently flying family who is simply looking to add to your points balance in anticipation of a couple of big trips, however, these benefits might not be as valuable. This is especially true if you don't regularly check bags or you have older kids where seating isn't as vital.

In that case, I'd recommend the card with the lowest annual fee - the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card.

In fact, we just got this card for my husband a few months ago after he had taken a few years off from having a Southwest card. Even though I currently have TWO Southwest cards (one personal and one business), he sometimes flies solo for work or books travel separately.

So that leaves behind the card in the middle. I can't really make much of a case for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card. For the $50 extra in annual fees vs. the Plus card, you still don't get seating certainty at the time of booking. The card does give you 3000 additional Rapid Rewards points at your anniversary renewal date (3000 with Plus vs. 6000 with Premier) but I value those at only about $40 (about 1.3 cents per point). At that point, you are better off just getting the Priority card and the much better seating benefit.

So to summarize:

What About Southwest Business Credit Cards?

All the cards detailed so far in this post are personal consumer credit cards. Chase has two Southwest business credit card offerings too. I personally have one of the business cards and definitely think that anyone who owns a small business of their own - like me - should consider these cards.

The two business credit card offerings are:

Which Southwest Business Credit Card Is Best?

Personally, as a frequent Southwest business traveler, I prefer (and personally have in my wallet) the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card because of the improved earning possibilities and better seating benefits. If you are getting a travel rewards business card, you are probably a frequent traveler already so this is the better card for the vast majority of folks in that market.

But most travelers won't be choosing between the two business cards. Rather, they'll be choosing between a business or a personal card.

With the 2025 changes to the co-branded Southwest card portfolio, it doesn't really make sense to keep and hold BOTH a business and personal card. Why? Because the benefits like free checked bags and seat assignments overlap substantially. I really don't think Chase and Southwest did enough to diversify the card offerings here.

Arguably, the only real difference between the Performance Business and the Priority personal card is a Global Entry credit you can use only once every 4 years and a few extra anniversary points. You'll pay $70 extra in annual fees for that. And there is essentially zero difference between the Premier Business and Premier personal card (the differences are so minor that they probably matter to less than 1% of Southwest travelers).

I personally kept and held both a business and personal card before, but now I'll be consolidating down to just one before my next annual fee is due. So while it may be smart to get both a business and a personal card to get two welcome offers, it isn't smart to keep both long term when annual fees are due.

(Remember - if you are eligible for a business card as well as a personal card, getting both is a pretty easy path to qualifying for a Southwest Companion Pass. While you can't "double dip" by getting two personal cards at the same time, you can definitely get one business card and one personal card around the same time.)

So my advice? Consider these business cards mostly for welcome offers. But for the vast majority of travelers, the personal cards are the ones to keep longer term because most of the same benefits are available at a lower annual fee.

More Southwest Travel Tips

Want to learn more about flying Southwest Airlines? Check out these related articles:

• The Complete Guide to Flying Southwest with Kids
• How to Maximize a Southwest Fare Sale
• The Complete Guide to Southwest Hawaii Flights

Disclosure: I was a paid #SouthwestStorytellers ambassador for Southwest Airlines in 2018. This particular post, however, is not written in conjunction with that partnership and is not endorsed or approved by Southwest Airlines. It has been updated since that time independent of that relationship.