Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card Review: Worth $69 in 2026?

Key Points

  • The Southwest Plus is the lowest-tier consumer Southwest card at a $69 annual fee, best for very occasional flyers who still want the free first checked bag and Companion Pass progress.
  • The free first checked bag for cardholder and one companion (added to all consumer Southwest cards in May 2025) is the single biggest reason to keep this card.
  • If you take more than three or four Southwest flights a year, the Premier card at $99 is almost always the better deal because of its 6,000 anniversary points.

Introduction

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus is the cheapest way into Southwest's co-branded card lineup. At $69 a year, it sits below the Premier ($99) and the Priority ($149), and most reviewers either ignore it or push you toward the higher tiers without explaining who the Plus actually fits. That's not fair to the card or to readers. Some people only fly Southwest once or twice a year. Some people just want the free checked bag without committing to a $149 fee. This Southwest Plus review walks through the math in 2026, who the card is genuinely right for, and the specific point at which you should jump up to Premier instead.

Quick Summary

Best For: Occasional Southwest flyers (one to three round trips a year) who want the free checked bag perk and slow Companion Pass progress without paying $99 or $149.

Standout Benefit: Free first checked bag for the cardholder and one companion on the same reservation, even on Wanna Get Away fares.

Biggest Drawback: Only 3,000 anniversary points each year (worth roughly $40 in Southwest flights), versus 6,000 on Premier and 7,500 on Priority.

Annual Fee: $69, charged at account opening and each cardmember anniversary. Foreign transaction fee: 3%.

Southwest Plus Overview

The Plus is issued by Chase as part of the Southwest Rapid Rewards consumer card family. It earns Rapid Rewards points, the same currency you'd earn from flying Southwest or shopping through the Rapid Rewards portal. The card has been around in some form since 2014, and Chase has refreshed it several times. The version you're considering today carries a $69 annual fee, a welcome bonus that varies by promotion, and the post-May 2025 benefits package that added free first checked bags across all consumer Southwest cards.

That last point matters more than people realize. Before May 2025, only Priority cardholders had a path to free bags through the card itself. Southwest's broader policy shift, which removed bags-fly-free as a universal perk for non-elite flyers, made the cards' bag benefit a real reason to apply. The Plus is the cheapest way to get that benefit.

Earning Structure

Here's what the Plus earns, and where the rates fall versus the Premier and Priority.

  • 2x Rapid Rewards points on Southwest purchases (flights, EarlyBird Check-In, in-flight purchases).
  • 2x points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
  • 2x points on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases booked directly through Southwest.
  • 1x points on everything else.

Premier earns the same 2x categories. Priority earns 3x on Southwest specifically. So if you're flying Southwest enough to feel the difference between 2x and 3x on flight purchases, you're probably already in Premier or Priority territory, which we'll get to in the comparison section.

The 2x rideshare and transit category is where Southwest tries to keep the card relevant for non-flying spend. It's a fine perk, but it's outclassed by general-purpose travel cards. The Chase Sapphire Preferred (apply here) earns 5x on travel booked through Chase Travel and 3x on dining, and its Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Southwest at 1:1 anyway. If you spend meaningfully on rideshare, you're better off earning Ultimate Rewards or Capital One miles and transferring as needed, not pinning yourself to one airline.

The Annual Benefits Math

This is the part most reviews skip. Here's what you get every cardmember year for your $69:

  • 3,000 anniversary points. Worth roughly $40 in Southwest flights at typical Wanna Get Away redemption rates (Southwest points are revenue-based, but $0.013 to $0.015 per point is the historical range).
  • Free first checked bag for the cardholder plus one companion on the same reservation. Each one-way trip avoids a $35 bag fee. Two round trips a year (so four one-way segments) with a companion equals roughly $280 in avoided fees, though that assumes you'd actually pay for bags.
  • 25% back on in-flight purchases (drinks, Wi-Fi).
  • Two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year, worth around $25 each at retail.

Add the anniversary points and EarlyBirds alone and you're at roughly $90 of value before you factor in any flying. Net positive on the fee, but only just. The free bag benefit is what pushes the card from break-even to genuinely worth it for occasional flyers, and it's also the part that depends entirely on how often you fly Southwest with bags.

How the Plus Compares

This is where most readers actually need help. The three Southwest consumer cards look similar on the brochure and play out very differently in practice.

Plus ($69 annual fee): 3,000 anniversary points. 2x on Southwest. Free first checked bag.

Premier ($99 annual fee): 6,000 anniversary points. 2x on Southwest. Free first checked bag. No foreign transaction fees. Earns tier qualifying points toward A-List status (1,500 TQPs per $10,000 spent, capped at 15,000 TQPs annually).

Priority ($149 annual fee): 7,500 anniversary points. 3x on Southwest. Free first checked bag. $75 annual Southwest travel credit. Four upgraded boardings per year (worth $30 to $80 each). No foreign transaction fees.

The interesting comparison is Plus versus Premier, because the fee gap is only $30. For that $30, you get an extra 3,000 anniversary points (roughly $40 of value), no foreign transaction fees, and TQPs that count toward A-List. Premier wins for almost everyone who flies Southwest more than twice a year. The Plus only makes sense if your annual Southwest flying genuinely doesn't cross that threshold and you're just holding the card for the bag perk and slow Companion Pass progress.

If you're someone who flies internationally even occasionally, the Plus is also a poor wallet fit because of the 3% foreign transaction fee. Pair it with a no-FTX card like the Capital One Venture (apply here) and you've solved the problem, but at that point you're carrying two annual fees, and the Plus's $69 fee starts to feel less like a bargain.

The Companion Pass Angle

Southwest's Companion Pass is the program's headline benefit. Earn 135,000 qualifying points or fly 100 qualifying one-way segments in a calendar year and a designated companion flies free with you (you pay only taxes and fees) for the rest of that year and all of the next.

All three consumer cards earn points that count toward the Companion Pass threshold, including the welcome bonus (which is often the fastest way to get there for couples, since one big bonus on each spouse's card can cover most of the 135,000). Anniversary points also count. So do points earned on spending.

The Plus gets you to Companion Pass slower than Premier or Priority because the anniversary points are smaller and the earning rate on Southwest is 2x rather than 3x. If Companion Pass is your specific goal, you almost certainly want Premier or Priority instead, ideally combined with a strategic application timing (apply in October or November so the welcome bonus posts in January and gives you a full two-year Companion Pass window).

The Plus is fine if you already earned Companion Pass through a Premier or Priority card and are looking to downgrade to keep the bag benefit and a small annual point haul. That's a real use case, and one Chase allows: you can usually product-change between Southwest consumer cards after holding the original for a year.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • The lowest annual fee in the Southwest consumer card lineup at $69, which keeps the keep-or-cancel decision simple for occasional flyers.
  • Free first checked bag for the cardholder plus one companion is the same benefit you get on the $149 Priority, just without the other extras.
  • Counts toward Southwest's Companion Pass, which is one of the most valuable airline benefits in the U.S. market.

Cons

  • 3,000 anniversary points is a thin offering at this fee. Premier doubles it for $30 more, which is the better deal in most cases.
  • 3% foreign transaction fee makes the card a poor companion for any international travel. Premier and Priority have no FTX.
  • 2x on Southwest flights, versus 3x on Priority, means heavy Southwest spenders are leaving points on the table.

Who Should Get the Southwest Plus

Great fit for:

  • Travelers who fly Southwest one to three times a year, want the bag benefit, and don't want to pay $99 or more annually.
  • Existing Premier or Priority cardholders considering a product change to keep a Southwest card without the higher fee, especially after Companion Pass is already earned.
  • Couples working toward Companion Pass who want a low-fee second card on the other spouse's account to stack welcome bonuses.

Not ideal for:

  • Anyone flying Southwest four or more times a year (Premier wins on anniversary points alone).
  • International travelers (the 3% foreign transaction fee is disqualifying).
  • Anyone whose primary travel goal is flexible points; the Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture earns points that transfer to multiple programs, including Southwest at 1:1 from Chase.

Final Verdict

The Southwest Plus is a fine card for the specific person it fits: someone who flies Southwest occasionally, wants the free checked bag, and doesn't want to pay $99 a year. The math at $69 works out to a small net positive once you count the anniversary points, EarlyBird credits, and any bag fees you'd otherwise pay. It's not generous, but it's not a trap either. The trap, if there is one, is choosing Plus over Premier when you actually fly Southwest enough that the extra 3,000 anniversary points and TQP earning would more than cover the $30 fee difference. If you're flying Southwest twice or more per year, Premier is the better answer. If you're flying once or none, you might not need a Southwest card at all, and a flexible-points card would serve you better.

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