Southwest Credit Card Rules, Eligibility, and Credit Score

Chase and Southwest Airlines have now partnered on five different co-branded credit cards, all of which are popular among frequent travelers. Some of the most attractive features of these credit cards are the excellent bonuses that they offer, which can help you quickly qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass, a benefit that can save you thousands of dollars per year if used correctly.

Every credit card from Southwest, both business and personal, offers lucrative rewards that can easily make up for the annual fees some of them charge. However, the eligibility rules for these cards can be somewhat difficult to understand.

So, let’s go over the details of what you need to qualify for Southwest credit cards and reap the benefits of their rewards program.

Southwest Personal Credit Card Eligibility

Southwest has more strict eligibility restrictions for its personal credit cards than its business credit cards. Here are the restrictions:

• You can’t apply for a Southwest personal card if you already currently have any Southwest personal card.
• You can’t apply for a Southwest personal card if you’ve received a new cardmember bonus on any Southwest personal card in the past 24 months.

To clarify, even if you’ve had a Southwest personal card in the past, you can still apply for a new one as long as you don’t hold a Southwest personal card that is currently active and you haven’t received a new cardmember bonus for a Southwest personal card in the last two years.

Having a Southwest business card doesn’t affect your eligibility for a Southwest personal card in any way.

Southwest Business Credit Card Eligibility

The eligibility restrictions for Southwest business cards are less strict than for Southwest personal cards. However, you should be aware of a couple of things before applying:

• You can’t apply for a Southwest business card if you already have that exact same card.
• You can’t apply for a Southwest business card if you’ve received a new cardmember bonus on that exact same card in the past 24 months.

Applying for a Southwest personal card doesn’t affect your eligibility for a Southwest business card other than taking up one of your 5/24 slots.

So, if you already hold the Southwest Premier Business Credit Card and received a new cardmember bonus within the last two years, you can still qualify for the Southwest Performance Business Credit Card or any of the consumer cards.

Under these rules, we’d recommend applying for both Southwest Premier Business Credit Card and the Southwest Performance Business Credit Card. If you receive both welcome offers, it may be enough to immediately qualify you for the Southwest Companion Pass.

Southwest Airlines Credit Card Offerings

Chase offers five co-branded Southwest credit cards: three personal cards and two business cards. Here are your options:

Personal cards:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card ($69 annual fee)
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card ($99 annual fee)
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card ($149 annual fee)

The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by 10XTravel.com. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Business cards:

• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card ($99 annual fee)
• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card ($199 annual fee)

Eligibility rules are the same across all Southwest personal cards and the same across all Southwest business cards. So, if you’re applying for the Performance Business Card, the requirements are the same as applying for the Premier Business Card, for example.

Chase Credit Card Application Restrictions

Whether you’re applying for a Southwest business card or personal card, there are some restrictions that apply to almost every credit card that Chase offers.

The following restrictions apply to all Southwest cards:

• Chase has the 5/24 rule, which means that you won’t be approved for a new Chase credit card if you’ve opened five or more new credit card accounts in the past two years. Business cards from most banks (except Capital One and Discover) don’t count toward the 5/24 rule. For instance, if you’ve opened four personal cards and a Chase business card in the past 24 months, you can still qualify for another Chase business card. But, if you’ve opened five personal cards in the past 24 months, you cannot qualify for a Chase business card.
• Chase typically won’t let you open more than two Chase personal credit cards or more than one Chase business credit card in a 30-day period.

These rules are not set-in-stone laws but rather general guidelines. If you don’t comply with the 5/24 rule or you’ve already applied for two Chase personal cards in the last 30 days, there’s still a slim chance you could be approved.

Credit Score Requirements

There’s no exact credit score threshold for qualifying for a Southwest card. Generally, you should be approved if you have a credit rating in the “good” or “excellent” ranges.

If your credit score is 700 or lower, you have a much smaller chance of being approved for a Southwest card. However, people with credit scores below 700 have been approved before. Conversely, while people with credit scores of 740 or higher have a far better chance of being approved for a Southwest card, people in that range have been denied before as well.

There are many factors other than credit score that Chase and Southwest consider when reviewing your application, including your income, your past relationship with Chase and your general credit history.

Bottom Line

Although the eligibility requirements for Southwest credit cards can be slightly confusing, all five offerings have attractive bonuses. The most important things to understand are that those who already hold a personal Southwest card can’t get another personal Southwest card whereas Southwest business card holders are still eligible for the other business card.