Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card from Chase

From the CompareCards.com Editorial Team:

Not only is Southwest one of the most popular airlines in the country and one of the few remaining carriers that still offers such perks as free baggage and low fares, but it has teamed up with Chase to offer its customers a great rewards card. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card is a newly updated version of the Southwest Airlines Rewards card, and with it you can earn robust points and then redeem them for domestic and international flights, cruises, hotel stays, car rentals, gift cards, and more.

With the newer “Plus” version of the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card you can earn 3,000 rewards points on your anniversary date. There are also no blackout dates with this card, you can accumulate points without any expiration date, and you get double points when you spend money with your card for Southwest Airlines purchases. That includes purchases with Southwest’s affiliated hotel and rental car partners.

Pay no change feees and your bags fly free. You also earn one point for each $1 of balance transfers for the first 90 days of your enrollment in the rewards program. There is a $69 annual fee for this card, but the annual bonus rewards are worth about $300 so that more than offsets your membership costs.

The Bottom-Line
For those who frequently fly on Southwest Airlines or use its travel partners for hotels or car rentals, the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card is probably the best rewards card of all. You can earn lots of extra points without having to do anything but keep the card and use it once in a while, and the terms and conditions of the rewards redemption program are really customer-friendly and flexible. There is an annual fee but the perks more than cover the cost of that charge.

The Good
The Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card gives you 3,000 points each year, and you can earn double miles on certain purchases plus a mile for every dollar spent on virtually everything else. This is an ideal card for fans of Southwest Airlines.

The Not So Good
There is a $69 annual fee and at this time there is no program to waive the fee for new card members. Also if you don’t fly Southwest then this card is not really intended to meet your needs because it is all about Southwest rewards.