For years, the Southwest Plus Card was the one you kept because it was cheap—not because it was especially good.
It was the lowest-tier personal Southwest card, with a lower annual fee than the Premier or Priority versions, but also fewer reasons to get excited about it. You got anniversary points, a small Companion Pass boost, and not much else.
If you wanted real benefits, the Priority card was usually the better play.
That’s why my recent decision to keep the Plus card and drop the Priority card might seem a little backwards.
But Southwest and Chase have changed enough things that the Plus card is no longer just the “cheap” option. It’s now a card that can actually make sense to keep.
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Annual Fee
$99
That still makes the Plus card the least expensive of Southwest’s personal cards. And for a long time, that was really its biggest selling point.
Now, though, Chase has added enough benefits that the card feels like more than just the low-fee option.
Sign-Up Bonus
New cardholders can currently earn:
50,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
That’s a solid and relatively easy-to-earn bonus, although welcome offers can always change.
Chase also puts the following restrictions on applications for this bonus:
This product is available to you if you do not have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.
This card is also subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule.
Earning Points
Cardholders earn Rapid Rewards points in the following categories:
- 2X points on Southwest purchases
- 2X points at gas stations and grocery stores on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year
- 1X point on all other purchases
Let’s be honest: this is not a card you keep for everyday spending.
The bonus categories are fine, but there are plenty of cards that will do better for non-Southwest purchases. If you’re putting spending on this card, it’s probably because you want Southwest points or because you’re working on a welcome bonus.
The real reason to keep the Plus card now is the benefits.
Card Benefits
This is where the Plus card has become much more interesting.
For years, the benefits were pretty thin. But Southwest’s changes to baggage and seating have made the card’s perks much more relevant than they used to be.
First Checked Bag Free
The biggest change is that the Southwest Plus Card now includes a free first checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation.
Back when Southwest gave everyone free checked bags, this benefit would have sounded pointless.
Now it doesn’t.
If you check bags even a couple of times a year, this perk can go a long way toward justifying the annual fee.
Seat Selection & Boarding
The Plus card also includes:
- Complimentary Standard seat selection within 48 hours of departure, when available
- Group 5 boarding for the cardholder and up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation
- 10% flight promo code each year on your cardmember anniversary, excluding Basic fares
None of these benefits is individually huge. But taken together, they make the Plus card feel much more like a real airline card than it used to.
That’s a pretty meaningful shift.
Other Ongoing Benefits
The card also comes with:
- 3,000 anniversary points each year
- 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each calendar year
- 25% back on in-flight purchases such as drinks, snacks and Wi-Fi
- No foreign transaction fees
The anniversary points have always helped offset part of the annual fee, and the Companion Pass boost is nice for anyone working toward that goal.
The no foreign transaction fee piece is also worth mentioning, since this card used to charge them. That won’t matter to everyone, but it does make the card less of an annoyance to carry abroad.
Redeeming Southwest Rapid Rewards Points
The points you earn are posted directly to your Rapid Rewards account. Southwest no longer publishes a fixed value for points, but they generally track the cash price of the ticket.
That makes the program relatively easy to understand, even if it’s not always the most exciting.
Southwest points still offer several advantages:
- No blackout dates
- Point prices tied to cash fares
- No change fees
- Fully refundable award tickets
If you fly Southwest regularly, that simplicity can be a real plus.
Final Thoughts
The Southwest Plus Card used to feel like the card you kept because it was cheap. Now, it feels more like the card you might keep because it actually makes sense.
It’s still not a premium card, and it’s still not one I’d use for lots of everyday spending. But between the free checked bag, seat selection, Group 5 boarding, anniversary points and Companion Pass boost, there’s finally enough here to make the annual fee easier to justify.
That doesn’t mean it’s the right card for everyone. If you want the strongest Southwest benefits, the Priority card may still be worth paying more for.
But if you want a lower-cost Southwest card that now comes with some genuinely useful perks, the Plus card looks a lot better than it used to.
And that’s exactly why I was comfortable keeping it.
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