Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards are offering elevated welcome bonuses through July 1, 2026, with some of the highest publicly available offers these cards have seen. If earning the Southwest Companion Pass is on your radar, this is the most important window to apply we’ve seen this year.
The Current Offers at a Glance
| Card | Welcome Bonus | Minimum Spend | Timeframe | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus | 80,000 points | $1,000 | First 3 months | $99 |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier | 85,000 points | $2,000 | First 3 months | $149 |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority | 90,000 points | $3,000 | First 3 months | $229 |
These bonuses are 30,000 points higher than the standard offers, which typically run 50,000 to 60,000 points. The elevated offer started May 28, 2026, and expires July 1, 2026.
Why This Matters: The Companion Pass
Southwest’s Companion Pass is one of the most valuable benefits in domestic travel rewards. Once you accumulate 135,000 qualifying Rapid Rewards points within a calendar year, you can designate one person as your travel companion. That companion then flies with you for free on every Southwest ticket you book, for the remainder of the year and the entire following calendar year. The companion only pays taxes and fees, typically $5.60 each way for domestic flights.
Welcome bonus points count toward the Companion Pass threshold. Here’s how far each current offer gets you:
- Plus (80,000 points): 59% of the way to a Companion Pass, before earning a single rewards point from spending
- Premier (85,000 points): 63% of the way there
- Priority (90,000 points): 67% of the way there
Add in the points you’ll earn from hitting the minimum spend, and a Plus cardholder is looking at roughly 81,000 qualifying points from the card alone after meeting the $1,000 threshold. That leaves about 54,000 points to close the gap, which is achievable through regular spending, Southwest flights, or combining with a second Southwest card.
One timing consideration: the Companion Pass resets on January 1 each year. If you apply now and earn the bonus by September, your Companion Pass would be valid for the rest of 2026 and all of 2027, giving you roughly 15 to 18 months of use. That’s a meaningful return on the annual fee investment.
Which Card Is Right for You
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus ($99 annual fee)
The Plus card offers the best value per dollar of annual fee at this bonus level. With an 80,000-point welcome bonus and only a $1,000 spend requirement over 3 months, this card has the lowest barrier to earn the highest relative bonus. At an average redemption value of 1.5 cents per point, 80,000 points is worth approximately $1,200 in Southwest flights.
The Plus card is the right choice if you’re primarily interested in earning the Companion Pass or maximizing your initial points haul, and you don’t need the additional ongoing benefits of the higher-tier cards.
Apply for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier ($149 annual fee)
The Premier adds 5,000 more welcome bonus points and some incremental ongoing benefits, including 6x points on Southwest purchases (versus 2x on the Plus) and 1,500 tier qualifying points each year toward A-List status. The $2,000 spend requirement is double that of the Plus card, which is still quite achievable over three months for most cardholders.
The Premier makes sense if you fly Southwest frequently and want to progress toward A-List status, or if you’ll use the higher Southwest earning rate on your regular spending.
Apply for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier
Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority ($229 annual fee)
The Priority card carries the highest fee but also includes the most benefits: a $75 Southwest travel credit each year, 4 upgraded boarding positions annually, 20% back on in-flight purchases, and 7,500 bonus points each anniversary year. With the recent annual fee increase (Priority moved from $149 to $229 in early 2026), the break-even analysis is tighter than it used to be.
The 90,000-point welcome bonus is the largest of the three, and at 1.5 cents per point, that’s approximately $1,350 in Southwest flight value. The card’s annual $75 travel credit partially offsets the fee, and the 7,500 anniversary bonus points add recurring value. For frequent Southwest flyers who will actively use the travel credit and upgraded boarding benefits, the Priority can still justify its fee.
For someone primarily focused on the welcome bonus and Companion Pass, the Plus card at $99 is harder to beat on pure value.
Apply for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority
How Southwest Rapid Rewards Points Work
Southwest Rapid Rewards points are redeemable for flights at a transparent, fixed-value rate. Unlike programs that use complicated award charts, the number of points required for a Southwest flight moves in proportion to the cash price of the fare. A flight that costs $150 requires roughly 10,000 points; a $300 fare requires roughly 20,000 points. Points are generally worth around 1.5 cents each on domestic redemptions.
There are no blackout dates and no seat restrictions. Any seat available for cash purchase can be booked with points.
Points do not expire as long as you have qualifying Rapid Rewards account activity at least once every 24 months.
Eligibility Rules
Before applying, confirm you meet Chase’s eligibility requirements for this bonus:
- You must be a new Southwest personal cardmember, or have not received a new cardmember bonus on a Southwest personal card in the past 24 months
- These offers are for personal cards only; the Southwest business cards have separate eligibility and separate offers
- Chase’s 5/24 rule applies: if you’ve opened 5 or more credit card accounts across all issuers in the past 24 months, Chase will generally not approve this application
Bottom Line
These are the highest public welcome bonuses Chase Southwest cards have offered, running through July 1. For anyone working toward the Companion Pass in 2026, this is the most efficient window to get most of the way there in a single card application. The Plus card at $99 is the strongest value pick: the lowest spend requirement, the lowest fee, and 80,000 points that get you 59% of the way to a Companion Pass before you spend a dollar on regular purchases.
The offer expires July 1, 2026.