Best Southwest Credit Cards for 2024

Southwest Airlines is a popular choice among travelers because of its wide selection of routes, its customer service, and how it has eliminated common airline fees. If you pick up one of the best Southwest credit cards, you could start booking your flights in points instead of cash.

There are several credit cards available for frequent flyers with Southwest. The airline has its own cobranded airline credit cards with Chase that are perfect if you want special Southwest benefits. Or you could go with a more flexible travel rewards card if you also plan to redeem points with other airlines and hotels. Here are the top options to check out if you're interested in a Southwest credit card.

Southwest Airlines credit card benefits

The benefits of having a Southwest Airlines credit card include:

• Earning travel points to redeem for Southwest flights
• Earning 3x points or 2x points on Southwest purchases
• Receiving bonus anniversary points every card membership year
• Earning qualifying points toward a Southwest Companion Pass and tier-qualifying points toward A-List status
• Complimentary travel protections, including lost luggage reimbursement and baggage delay insurance
• Extra travel perks, such as 25% back on in-flight purchases with Southwest and free Upgraded Boardings when available

Since there are multiple Southwest cards, the exact benefits depend on which card you have. If you're trying to decide on one, you can use The Ascent's compare credit cards tool to see the features that different Southwest credit cards offer side by side.

RELATED: How Much Are Southwest Points Worth?

How to pick the best Southwest credit card

To pick the best Southwest credit card, review your card options and compare their features. Select the Southwest card with features that best fit your travel and spending habits.

Since there are so many top credit cards with all kinds of perks, it can be challenging to figure out which one to choose. Here are a few specific questions you can ask yourself to pick the right credit card.

Do you want a Southwest Airlines credit card or a more general travel credit card?

Southwest offers multiple airline credit cards with Chase. These cards earn Southwest points and have benefits with the airline, so they work well for frequent Southwest flyers. They're also a great way to earn a Southwest Companion Pass, which allows you to pick a travel companion to fly with you free of charge (except taxes and fees).

There are also more general travel credit cards, such as the cards in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program. They earn rewards you can use with various airlines and hotels, including Southwest, and they have their own travel benefits. These are a good choice if you want a more versatile travel card that lets you book different types of travel.

How often do you travel?

Travel cards are available at every price point. There are travel credit cards with no annual fee, travel cards in the $50 to $150 range, and travel cards with annual fees of $400 or more.

The number of trips you take is a good gauge of how much to spend on a credit card's annual fee. If you travel once or twice per year, it probably makes sense to pick a card costing $100 or less. If you're traveling every two or three months, then you may want the benefits a more expensive card offers.

Which credit card offers the most value?

When in doubt, it can help to come up with a rough estimate of how much money you'd save with different credit cards. Start by adding up the value of all the card's benefits, such as:

• Sign-up bonus
• Spending credits it offers
• Any regular bonuses it offers
• Rewards points (you can compare the number of points it earns to your regular spending to calculate a value for these)
• Extra travel perks

Take that value and subtract the card's annual fee. This will give you an estimate of its value for the first year. You can take out the value of the sign-up bonus to estimate its value in subsequent years, since you only get the sign-up bonus once as a new cardholder.

What credit score do I need to get a Southwest credit card?

You normally need a credit score of 670 or higher to get a Southwest credit card. Southwest credit cards are aimed at consumers with good credit. It's possible to get approved with a lower credit score, as your credit score isn't the only thing that matters, but it's less likely.

Our travel credit cards methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate travel credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria Includes rewards systems and bonus categories, rewards redemption flexibility, and sign-up bonuses.

Our highest-rated travel credit cards have:

• Rewards system and bonus categories (the earn rate of flat-rate rewards, or tiered spending categories)
• Rewards redemption flexibility and points programs (booking travel, transfer partners, statement credit, etc.)
• Sign-up bonuses that can drastically boost card value in the first year
• Perks that can offset annual fees like airport lounge access, travel credits, and TSA PreCheck reimbursement

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best travel card recommendations. Our aim is to maintain a balanced best-of list featuring top-scoring travel credit cards from reputable brands.

Ordering within lists is influenced by advertiser compensation, including featured placements at the top of a given list, but our product recommendations are NEVER influenced by advertisers. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.