Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus

• The 50,000-point welcome bonus requires $1,000 in 3 months - that's roughly $333/month, which is one of the lowest spend thresholds you'll see on a travel card at any fee level, so unless your monthly spend is genuinely minimal, this one should clear without any real effort or manufactured purchases.
• The 2x on gas and groceries is capped at the first $5,000 COMBINED per anniversary year - after that it drops to 1x, so if your household is spending meaningfully in both categories, that cap can arrive faster than you'd expect, and the math on this card favors people who keep gas and grocery spend moderate and let Southwest purchases carry the earn rate.
• The 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost lands every calendar year by January 31st - it doesn't hand you a Companion Pass, it just moves the goalposts closer, and at $99/year this is quietly one of the more underrated structural perks on a sub-$100 card for anyone already in the CP chase.
• The First Checked Bag Free and Group 5 Boarding both extend to up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation - which means the savings math on the annual fee can close fast if you ever travel with family or a group, and the Rapid Rewards number just has to be on the reservation for it to apply.
• The 10% flight discount promo code arrives on your cardmember anniversary and expires after one year - it excludes Basic fares, group travel, and Southwest Vacations bookings, so it's an active perk with a clock on it, not a background benefit you can file away and forget.
• NO elevated earn rate on balance transfers beyond the first $10,000 - and that 1x only applies to balance transfers made within the first 90 days of account opening, so if you're looking at this card as a rewards card first and a balance transfer vehicle second, those two goals don't stack as cleanly as they might appear.
• The 3,000 anniversary bonus points land every year you hold the card - Rapid Rewards points aren't worth a fixed dollar amount, so actual value depends entirely on how you redeem them, but combined with the CP qualifying points boost, the card is quietly padding your Rapid Rewards balance in ways that don't require you to book a single flight to earn them.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus is the no-frills entry point into the Southwest ecosystem — $99/year gets you 50K bonus points, a free checked bag for you and your whole travel party, and 10K Companion Pass qualifying points every year to help you chase that coveted CP. Toss in Group 5 boarding, a 10% flight discount promo code annually, and 2x on Southwest purchases, and this card earns its keep for loyal Southwest flyers on a budget.