The renewal notice for our Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card showed up, which meant it was time for the annual ritual: decide whether to keep it for another year…or finally cut it loose.
If you want the full breakdown of the card’s benefits, perks, and drawbacks, you can read my full review of the Southwest Plus Card. This post is more about whether it still makes sense for us to keep it.
Originally, I assumed this card would be a short-term relationship.
We signed up when there was a great welcome offer (including a limited-time Companion Pass), and my plan was simple: earn the bonus, enjoy the perk, then cancel once the annual fee came due.
But Southwest isn’t the same airline it was even a year ago.
Between the airline’s broader changes and the refresh to the Southwest credit card lineup, the “keeper vs. cancel” math looks different now. Different enough that we’re keeping the Plus card…
…and we’re strongly leaning toward getting rid of our Priority card instead.
The Annual Fee Is Still $69 (For Now)
Let’s start with the biggest reason this decision was easy this year: our renewal fee was still $69.
Yes, I know — the published guidance has been pretty clear that existing cardholders will see the annual fee increase on their 2026 cardmember anniversary. AwardWallet put it that way (“begins with your 2026 cardmember anniversary”), and Frequent Miler echoed the same idea for accounts opened before 7/24/25.
But “2026 anniversary” still depends on when your anniversary falls, and in our case, Chase billed us the legacy $69 renewal fee this time around.
Am I going to complain about getting one more year at the old price? Absolutely not.
At $69, the Plus card sits in a sweet spot: a low annual fee, useful (if lighter) perks, and just enough Southwest value for the way we expect to fly now that we don’t have a Companion Pass.
My Original Plan Was To Cancel…Until Southwest Changed
When we got the card, the “limited-time Companion Pass” offer was the whole point. Once that perk ended, I assumed we’d go back to our normal pattern: fly Southwest occasionally, and only need one co-brand card with the airline. And for a long time, that card was the Priority card.
But Southwest isn’t the same airline it was when we signed up. As the airline shifts toward a more traditional model, the credit cards matter more than they used to—and the Plus card has turned into a simple way to keep a few useful perks without paying for a premium bundle.
That means we don’t need every benefit…we just want the ones that still move the needle.
Why The Plus Card Still Works For Us
At $69 (or even $99 when the new annual fee takes effect), the Plus card is the rare airline card that can still justify its annual fee even if you’re not a frequent flyer.
Here’s why we’re keeping it:
- It’s cheap (for now). $69 is still in the “easy to justify” range if you get even modest value out of the benefits.
- Anniversary points help offset the fee. The Plus card includes anniversary points each year, which helps soften the sting of the annual fee.
- It keeps us in the Southwest ecosystem. Even if we fly fewer Southwest trips in the next year, it’s nice to keep a card that makes occasional Southwest flying more rewarding (and potentially more comfortable, depending on how Southwest’s new experience shakes out).
- It matches our new Southwest reality. Without the Companion Pass, we’re not planning our travel around Southwest the same way. So a lighter set of benefits is fine.
In other words, we can live with the reduced benefits because we’re going to need them less often.
Why We’re Considering Dropping The Priority Card Instead
Here’s the part that surprised me: after Southwest and Chase refreshed the lineup, the “top” card became less appealing for us (even though it can still be a great fit for the right traveler).
The Priority card comes with a much higher annual fee and a bigger bundle of perks. That can be a solid deal if you’re flying Southwest often enough to consistently use them.
But without a Companion Pass, we’re realistically going to fly Southwest fewer times per year. And when your Southwest travel drops from “regular” to “occasional,” the math changes fast—because those premium benefits go from “automatic value” to “nice if we remember to use them.”
At that point, you’re not really paying for benefits you use…you’re paying for benefits you might use.
So instead of paying more just to “keep all the things,” we’d rather keep the Plus card and accept that we’re not going to maximize Southwest perks the way we did back in the old Southwest days—when the experience was simpler, bags were free, and seat assignments weren’t part of the equation.
Who This Strategy Makes Sense For
I don’t think the Plus card is the best Southwest card for everyone. But I do think it’s a great “low-commitment” option for a specific type of traveler:
- You fly Southwest a few times a year, not every month
- You don’t currently have a Companion Pass
- You want some cardholder perks, but you don’t need the premium bundle
If you’re a frequent Southwest flyer, the Priority card might still be the better deal. But if Southwest is now more of an “occasional airline” for you, the Plus card can be the right amount of Southwest without overpaying for perks you won’t fully use.
Final Thought
I originally planned to cancel the Southwest Plus card as soon as the annual fee came due. But Southwest’s changes—and the way the credit cards now fit into that new Southwest world—made this card more useful than I expected.
We’ll fly Southwest less this year, but we can live with the lighter benefits…and we’d rather keep a low-fee card that still adds value than pay for a premium card we won’t fully use.
(And if/when our renewal jumps to $99, I’ll re-run the numbers then. Because that’s what we do.)
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