Is The New 85,000 Southwest Bonus Offer Right For You?

Southwest launched a new whopping 85,000 bonus offer this week on all three of its personal credit cards! First, I'll tell you about the offer and then I'll tell you why you may NOT want to jump on this. 

The new offer is for 85,000 bonus Southwest points when you spend $3,000 on any of the three personal credit cards. 

• The Plus with an annual fee of $69 
• The Premier with an annual fee of $99
•  The Priority with an annual fee of $149 

Each card comes with slightly different benefits like early bird check in, FREE upgrades, $75 Southwest credit and bonus anniversary points. 

To decide on which card, you have to decide which benefits you will actually use. My favorite is the Priority card because although it has the highest annual fee, it comes with a $75 credit making the annual fee just $74 and you get four upgraded boardings per year. Love these when I forget to check in right at the 24 hour mark. 

Here comes the catch! You can only hold ONE personal credit card at a time and you can only get the bonus every 24 months. 

So with this offer, you have to decide whether or not you plan to earn the Southwest Companion Pass for 2025-26. The Companion pass is the best travel perk around. It is BOGO flights on any Southwest flight. No hidden charges, no fees, no limited availability. If there is a seat available on the plane, you can add your companion FREE. Well you do have to pay the $5.60 taxes. 

I have had the Companion Pass for the past 10 years and used it to fly to Hawaii, Cuba, Florida, New York, Washington DC, and many more. It has saved me thousands of dollars in FREE flights. 

Hyatt Kaanapali, Maui

BUT here's the catch! The best time to earn the Companion Pass is at the beginning of the year because the pass is valid for the year you earn it AND the following year. 

So if you earn the pass in January 2025, it is valid for all of 2025 and 2026. BUT if you earn the pass in September 2024, then it's good for the rest of 2024 and all of 2025. A full 6 months less! 

Make sense?

You earn the pass by collecting 135,000 Southwest points. The new 85,000 bonus offer puts you closer to earning the pass and if you read our Companion Pass plan, then you will know how to earn the pass quickly. 

And you can only earn the bonus once every 24 months. 

So timing is everything. But if you don't need the Companion Pass, this is a great offer! 

 If you decide to apply for this new offer, consider using my referral link here. 

If would like help deciding what to do with this offer or future travel, join my travel coaching program.