New Southwest 65,000 Bonus!

Southwest just launched a new personal credit card with a 65,000 mile sign up bonus! And the bonus counts towards the companion pass (a BOGO free pass for flights). Amazing. But, of course, there is a catch so let's break it down. 

Southwest currently offers it's Plus and Premier personal credit cards which typically come with a 40-50,000 sign up bonus with a $3,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months. 

Southwest also offers a Premier business card with a 60,000 sign up bonus and $3,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months. 

You used to be able to apply for two personal cards and the combined sign up bonus got you super close to earning a companion pass, but Southwest changed the rules and you can't do that anymore. You can still apply for the business card and a personal card as long as you are not a current cardholder of any personal Southwest credit card and have not received a sign-up bonus in the past 24 months. 

This new personal card, Southwest Priority card, offers a 40,000 sign up bonus after you spend just $1,000 in 3 months and another 25,000 bonus when you spend $15,000. You have 12 months to make the additional spend. 

The Priority card has an annual fee of $149, but comes with a $75 credit on Southwest and a 7,500-anniversary mile bonus. It also comes with 4 upgrade boarding passes which could be an important perk if you value the "A" boarding group. 

As far as the companion pass goes, the bonus from the Priority card does count, but you cannot hold another personal Southwest card or have received a sign-up bonus in the last 24 months. 

So if you are new to the game, you could open the Priority card and the business card and get super close to earning a companion pass. However, the personal cards fall under the 5/24 rule so keep that in mind. 

Remember, earn the companion pass early in the year so it will be good for that year and the entire following year. That's almost two years of BOGO travel. Woohoo!