Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Card Review

Who is the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus card for?

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is best for loyal Southwest travelers and frequent flyers. With reward offerings ranging from car rentals to domestic flights, this card is a travel enthusiast’s best friend. All of its services work toward building a more pleasant traveling experience.

This card is also ideal for travel enthusiasts with limited budgets. With the lowest annual fee out of the Southwest Airlines cards, this card provides many travel benefits while remaining mindful of potentially tight wallets. For the low annual price of $69, this card is very much worth its cost.

Additionally, this card is a good starting point for those who plan to travel domestically frequently. This card has upgraded counterparts that cardholders can strive to achieve. The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is a taste of the travel comfort provided by Southwest Airlines.

Rewards Rate

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card offers humble but still advantageous reward rates. These reward rates help users rapidly rack up points to use toward travel expenses. No matter what you are buying, as long as you are using the Southwest Plus card, you will be one step closer to booking that next free flight to any domestic location of your choosing.

Primarily, for every dollar spent on Southwest purchases, cardholders will earn 2x the points. Eligible products include Southwest flights, inflight food and drinks, as well as purchases from partnering car rentals. For frequent flyers, these points are super easy to earn while going about normal travels.

Furthermore, if you are not a frequent traveler or are spending your card elsewhere, you can still earn 1x the amount of points per dollar you spend. There are no limitations, as every dollar you spend, regardless of location, will earn you points toward that next free trip. This reward rate ensures that while you are staying loyal and using the Southwest Plus card, you will be rewarded.

After earning points by using this card, cardholders can redeem them for free flights, hotel stays, car rentals, a wide range of gift cards, as well as other travel necessities.

Benefits & Credits

Along with the many benefits of flying with Southwest, cardholders can gain even more perks than before. These benefits strive to ease your experience in the airport and in the air, contributing to positive flying travels. All of the perks that come with the Southwest Plus card are well worth the relatively low annual fee for an airline card.

Perhaps the most attractive perk is this card’s anniversary bonus. As long as users keep their account open, they will receive 3,000 points each anniversary year i.e. every 12 months from the date the account was opened. This is a large number of points that can be used toward car rentals, hotels, and all of the other point rewards. Similar to a birthday present, this anniversary gift is a token of appreciation for users and keeps them satisfied with their decision to choose this card. 

Although modest, all of the listed benefits are essential to a positive traveling experience. For $69 a year, these services are a great deal for any frequent traveler. Anyone who flies frequently whether on vacation or for business can reap significant value from this affordable card. For others who do not require the services of car rentals, airplanes, or hotels, this card may not be the ideal fit.

The only major drawback of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is that it's Southwest Airlines focused as the reward points are mainly redeemed via Southwest purchases. For frequent travelers, this is less of a disadvantage, but for those who do not travel as much, this might be an area of issue.

Welcome Bonus

Upon sign-up, cardholders will receive a generous welcome package. If you spend $1,000 using the card within the first three months of account opening, you will receive 40,000 points. These points can be used toward redeeming free flights, gift cards, hotel stays, and more. One round-trip flight is around 20,000 points, so depending on your location, Southwest Plus’s welcome bonus can easily buy one, maybe even two, round-trip flights. This saves cardholders immense amounts of cash.

In addition, cardholders will immediately be able to experience the benefits of Southwest airlines when they sign-up, including no flight change fees, and two free checked bags.

Annual Fee

Unfortunately, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card has an annual fee of $69. This is significantly lower than the price of its upgraded counterpart, and the perks are well worth the price. This annual fee may be a drawback to the card but it's still affordable nonetheless.

The Southwest Plus card also has a foreign transaction fee, the only Southwest Airlines credit card to do so. Its foreign transaction fee is 3%, making international travel difficult if a cardholder wishes to use their card abroad. However, by upgrading to Premier or Priority, a cardholder can avoid this foreign transaction charge in exchange for a higher annual price.

Furthermore, this card comes with a few potential late fees and return fees. If you pay your balance late or with insufficient funds, you will have to pay a fee of up to $40. However, as long as you keep up with payments, these fees should not cause worry.

Conclusion

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is an affordable way to elevate your travelling experience. Whether you are busy travelling for business or hoping to explore the world on a tight budget, this card gives you many essential benefits for a low price.