Best Credit Cards for Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

The Best Card Finder ranks cards by calculated net value (rewards + benefits − fees) based on your spending. For best results, filter first, then enter your spend.

Step 1: Filter down to the cards you actually want. Select if you want to view personal, business cards, or both. Then select one of the filters:

• Card category (travel, airline, hotel, cash back)
• Network (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover)
• Issuer / bank (Chase, American Express, Capital One, and others)
• Rewards program (filter by a specific points or miles program)

You'll then have a few additional options:

• Annual fee slider (limit results by yearly fee)
• No foreign transaction fees toggle (use to only see cards with no FTF)

Important — when you filter by a rewards program: the tool returns every card that earns that program's currency, including co-branded cards AND transferable-points cards (e.g. Chase Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Miles) whose points transfer to that program. Sign-up bonuses and earn rates are automatically converted using each program's transfer ratio so cards are directly comparable.

Step 2: Set calculator options.

• Use Cards Above — restrict ranking to your filtered cards (faster) or include the full database (slower).
• Include intro bonuses — toggle on to see Year 1 vs Year 2 value separately.
• Authorized users — add to include per-user fees.
• Calculate FTF — include foreign transaction fees on foreign spend.

Step 3: Enter your spend. Add categories manually or use the Personal/Business presets. There are 300+ categories available; the more accurately you map your spend, the more accurate the ranking.

Step 4: Get results. Cards rank by estimated net value. Sort by total rewards or multi-year value. Click Show Calculations on any card to see the full Year 1 / Year 2 breakdown. Compare to push up to 10 cards side-by-side to the Credit Card Rewards Calculator for a deeper dive.

Most "best credit card" tools are editorial picks dressed up as quizzes — a small panel of curated cards, ranked by an editor's preferences, with a few questions that route you to one of them. 

The Best Credit Card Finder takes a different approach: it ranks every card in the database by calculated estimated value based on your actual spending, your point valuations, and the benefits you'll actually use.

Specifically, this tool:

• Ranks every applicable card, not just featured picks. When you filter by category, issuer, network, or loyalty program, the tool returns every matching card sorted by calculated value. There are no "featured" or "sponsored" cards inserted into rankings.
• Automatically converts transfer-partner cards when filtering by a program. If you select Delta SkyMiles, for example, the tool shows both co-branded Delta cards and transferable-points cards (Chase Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou, Capital One Miles, Bilt Rewards), with sign-up bonuses and earn rates converted using each program's transfer ratio. This means a card that earns 60,000 AMEX points (which transfer 1:1 to Delta) shows up directly comparable to a card that earns 60,000 Delta SkyMiles.
• Tracks 200+ cards including issuers other tools skip. Major issuers like Chase, AMEX, Capital One, and Citi are fully covered alongside cards from smaller banks (Barclays, Bilt, Wells Fargo, US Bank, regional credit unions, and others). For cards we don't track, you can manually enter intro bonuses for one-on-one comparison.
• Lets you customize cards to your situation. Free account holders can override default values for any card — change the assumed point valuation, set custom benefit values (do you actually use that $300 travel credit?), adjust intro bonus availability, or tweak any other assumption. Customizations carry across every calculator on the site.
• Calculates multi-year value, not just first-year hype. Results show Year 1 (with intro bonus and any first-year fee waivers), Year 2 (ongoing value), and a 2–3 year combined total. This separates cards that look great in Year 1 from cards that hold up long-term.
• Includes authorized user fees, foreign transaction fees, and intro bonus toggles in the calculation. Every cost component is configurable so the ranking reflects your actual situation, not a marketing scenario.

The Best Card Finder is built around one goal: rank cards based on expected value for your real spending, not hype or cherry-picked scenarios.

Point and mile valuations (real-world redemption model)

At The Point Calculator, valuations are based on real, repeatable redemption examples—not one perfect “unicorn” booking. I map out common ways points can be redeemed (travel, cash, portals, partners, gift cards, and more), then price real examples and calculate value per point.

When a redemption has a clear cash equivalent, the core calculation is:

Point Value = (Cash Price − Taxes & Fees) ÷ Points Required

Because point values can shift due to dynamic pricing, award availability, seasonality, and partner pricing, I often publish a low–high range based on multiple realistic scenarios while avoiding one-off outliers.

Built for flexibility (you can override assumptions)

Calculators pre-fill with site-wide valuations as a starting point, but valuations are user-configurable. When you select an airline or hotel rewards program, the calculator accepts a custom valuation that overrides the default — useful when you redeem differently than the average. Logged-in users can also save personal valuations across every calculator on the site, including the Best Credit Card Finder.

Updates and regional accuracy

Valuations are reviewed multiple times per year, with quicker updates when major program changes materially affect real redemption value. Since The Point Calculator supports the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia, values may vary by region due to local currencies, redemption rules, transfer partners, and transfer ratios. 

Best Card Finder: how “net value” is calculated

Cards are ranked using the settings you choose before running results. A simplified version of the math looks like this:

• Year 1 Net Value = (Intro Bonus Value) + (Rewards Earned Value) + (Perks/Benefits Value) − (Year 1 Fees)
• Year 2 Net Value = (Rewards Earned Value) + (Perks/Benefits Value) − (Ongoing Fees)

Fees may include:

• annual fees (including first-year vs ongoing differences)
• authorized user fees (if you add users)
• foreign transaction fees (if you enable FTF calculations and enter foreign spend)

Intro bonus coverage note

Intro offers change frequently, and with hundreds of cards across regions, an offer can occasionally be missing or outdated. If you want the cleanest comparison, turn intro bonuses off and compare ongoing value only.