Last Call for a Southwest Credit Card Offer that May Be of Value for Some

Frank McBride • March 31, 2025

An offer that ends today (March 31st) may be worthwhile for Southwest flyers

Southwest Airlines is undergoing some significant changes, and these changes will certainly have an impact on the value that the points and miles community can get from participation in its Rapid Rewards program in the future. In the past, I have held Southwest credit cards (both personal and business) and, for one year, obtained a coveted Companion Pass. I liked the Southwest vibe when on their flights but always dreaded the prospect of being stuck in the “B” (or even “C”) boarding groups. The ability to check two bags for free came in handy for the Optimi-son when he was in college.

Going forward, it seems that Southwest will be less distinct. They are moving to assigned seating like other airlines and passengers will pay to check bags (unless they are elite flyers or hold Southwest credit cards).

The current Southwest credit card offer reflects an airline in transition. Although Southwest will shift to assigned seating, the current cards offer “EarlyBird Check-In” or “Upgraded Boarding” which gives passengers a better chance of getting a desirable seat. Of course, as Southwest shifts to assigned seating, these benefits will become irrelevant.

There are three versions of the personal card in this offer and, from what I can see, the key differences are how many bonus points you are awarded on your cardmember anniversary (from 3,000 to 7,500) and the annual fee (from $69 to $149). The sign-up bonus is 30,000 Southwest points if you spend $4,000 within the first three months for all three cards. Among some popular points and miles websites, the consensus value of a Southwest point is about 1.3 cents so this offer might have a value of about $400.

The other key component of this offer is that it comes with Southwest’s popular Companion Pass if you spend $4,000 which allows you to add a companion to your itinerary for just the cost of taxes and fees. Usually, you must accumulate 135,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points to get a Companion Pass so this is a great shortcut. Although you must designate one travel partner for the Companion Pass, you are allowed to change this partner (but you can have only one designated travel companion at a time).

The last day of this offer is March 31st.

The catch is that the Companion Pass that comes with this offer is only good through the end of February, 2026 so you have 11 months to put enough spending on the card to get the Pass ($4,000), make your flight reservations, and complete the travel. A key consideration is how much value you can get by using the Companion Pass to travel with one designated person. At the very least, using the Companion Pass with the 30,000-point bonus will effectively double the value of the point bonus to $800.

From my perspective, this offer could be of value for someone who has access to a decent stash of Southwest points (or a realistic opportunity to get them very soon) and can quickly take advantage of the short timeline for using the Companion Pass.

Possible scenarios where this soon-to-expire offer might be of value include:

You already have some Southwest miles, and you want to use them for travel with a partner in the next 11 months.
You want to travel with Southwest in the next 11 months and you have a significant number of Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points that can be transferred to your Southwest account.
You can combine the bonus you might get with this offer with a bonus you get from a Southwest Rapid Rewards business credit card. The current bonus offer for the business card is 80,000 miles if you spend $5,000 in the first three months.

Like many credit card offers, this offer is not for everyone but has a place for some travelers. If you have a travel partner in mind and would like to fly to destinations served by Southwest in the next 11 months, this could be a useful deal. At the same time, you might not be able to fully utilize the Companion Pass or feel constrained to fly Southwest in the near term to get value from the Pass. Furthermore, as Southwest transitions and starts to look more like other major domestic airlines, some benefits of these cards will disappear and the benefits that might replace them (if any) are unknown.

Going forward, I do not know how Southwest credit cards will fit into the Travel Rewards Optimizer plans we create for our clients. As this offer is (very) short-lived, I believe we will soon learn what credit card offers Southwest is rolling out to replace these cards. I will keep you posted.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

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