The ever popular Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card deal for 50,000 bonus signup points is back once again. Under this promo, both the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card and the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card earn an intro bonus of 50,000 points after you spend $2,000 in your first 3 months of cardmembership.

The Plus card carries an annual fee of $69 while the Premier card has an annual fee of $99. Neither of these fees are waived under this offer.

Plus Card vs Premier Card

Comparing the two cards briefly:

Other features that both cards share include:

• Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Southwest Airlines and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
• Bags fly free – Cardmembers don’t pay extra for their first and second checked bags. Weight and size limits apply
• No change fees – Fare differences may apply
• No blackout dates, no points expiration

One of the key differentiating features of the Premier card is that it helps you earn elite status faster. You’ll earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) for every $10,000 in purchases, up to a limit of 15,000 Tier Qualifying Points earned each calendar year through credit card spending. When you hit 35,000 TQPs, you’ll earn A-List status, which confers benefits such as priority boarding and a 25% point earning bonus on each flight. At 70,000 TQPs, you earn A-List Preferred status, which confers perks such as priority boarding and a 100% point earning bonus. 110,000 TQPs earns you a companion pass for an entire year.

With Companion Pass status, you can name one designated companion who can fly free with you every time you fly on Southwest, provided they share the exact itinerary as you, and a purchaseable fare for your itinerary is still available. If you have a frequent travel companion, the Companion Pass is a great deal, as you can effectively halve your airfare.

Companion Pass

Speaking of the companion pass, one of the reasons why this particular deal is so popular is that when both cards are offering 50,000 signup bonuses, you can apply for both consecutively and nearly meet the 110,000 TQP requirement from the bonus points alone.

For more information on how stacking the Plus and Premier offers works, see this post.

What are 50,000 points worth?

At about this time last year, Southwest devalued its points program. Previously, the value of your points was fixed when you redeemed towards airfare. That is no longer the case. Point redemption ratios are now dynamic and can range anywhere from roughly 1.3 to 1.8 cents per point when redeemed towards Wanna Get Away Fares. While pricing will vary based on your itinerary, you should still be able to get least $700 in value for your points.

For more information on these cards or to apply for the 50,000 point offer, see the following link:

• 50,000 point Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus/Premier offer