Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus vs. Capital One Venture Rewards
Key takeaways
- The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card offers solid benefits for travelers who enjoy flying with Southwest Airlines.
- The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a good all-around travel card that offers flexible benefits and solid earning potential — particularly on travel purchases through Capital One Travel.
- To choose the right card for you, understand your spending habits and how each card can best meet your goals.
The best travel credit cards can help you reach your goals of worldwide wanderlust while adding perks and benefits along the way. A big part of choosing a travel card is deciding between a co-branded card tied to a loyalty program or a general credit card that earns rewards toward any type of travel.
We compare two such cards — Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card to the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card — to see how they stack up when it comes to welcome bonuses, rewards and other perks. We also compare how they differ, and how that affects which is best for you, depending on your spending and travel habits.
Main details
| Cards | Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card | Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome bonus | Earn 85,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening | Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening, plus receive a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit in your first cardholder year |
| Rewards rate |
|
|
| Variable APR | 21.49% to 28.49% | 19.99% to 29.99% |
| Annual fee | $69 | $95 |
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus vs. Capital One Venture Rewards highlights
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
-
The Venture Rewards card offers a 75,000-mile welcome bonus after spending $4,000 within three months of opening your account, plus receive a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit in your first cardholder year . These bonus miles can be worth up to $1,000 when redeemed toward travel. Plus, there’s the option to redeem miles with an impressive list of Capital One Travel partners (as opposed to the small list of travel partners for the Southwest Rapid Rewards card).
Right now, the Venture Rewards card has a higher bonus, but in times past, Southwest cards have offered Companion Passes as part of their welcome bonus. However, there’s no set schedule of when those promotions begin and end.
Yes, the Companion Pass is a pretty awesome welcome bonus — which occasionally makes the Rapid Rewards Plus card the winner in this category. But because it’s a limited-time promotion and not currently active, we gave this category to the Venture Rewards card.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
-
The Venture Rewards card earns more rewards per dollar spent than the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card in both bonus categories and general purchases. Here’s a breakdown of how the Venture Rewards card’s rewards structure works:
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all purchases
The Rapid Rewards Plus card only offers 2X points on Southwest purchases, Southwest hotel and car rental partners, local transit and commuting (including rideshares), internet, cable, phone and select streaming services. Then, you only get 1X points back on all other purchases.
Not only does the Venture Rewards card offer a better rewards structure, but you’ll also get 2X miles on all purchases — whereas the Rapid Reward Plus only offers 1X points on all other purchases. According to Bankrate’s points and miles valuations, Capital One Miles are also slightly more valuable than Southwest Rapid Rewards. So, if your goal is to rack up more rewards with everyday spending, the Venture Rewards card is an excellent choice.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
-
The Rapid Rewards Plus card boasts a slightly lower annual fee of $69, versus the Capital One Venture Rewards’ $95 annual fee. However, with that lower annual fee, you might not have as many perks or earn as many rewards as you would with the Venture Rewards card.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
-
The Venture Rewards card has no foreign transaction fees, making it a great travel companion for trips abroad. However, the Rapid Rewards Plus card does charge a 3 percent foreign transaction fee.
Which card earns the most?
When it comes to choosing a credit card, the right card for you is usually dependent on your goals for earning rewards and your personal spending habits. Both the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus and Capital One Venture cards are solid travel cards, so let’s take a look at a spending example to see how each card might benefit you.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus vs. the Capital One Venture Rewards spending example
| Spending category | Amount | Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus | Capital One Venture Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Assumes other travel is booked through Capital One Travel. | |||
| Groceries | $4,687 | 4,687 | 9,374 |
| Dining | $2,375 | 2,375 | 4,750 |
| Gas | $1,313 | 1,313 | 2,626 |
| Apparel and services | $1,434 | 1,434 | 2,868 |
| Streaming | $1,200 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| Entertainment | $1,200 | 1,200 | 2,400 |
| Internet cable and phone | $1,200 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| Personal care products and services | $646 | 646 | 1,292 |
| Southwest travel | $1,440 | 2,880 | 2,880 |
| Hotels and rental cars | $1,440 | 2,880 | 7,200* |
| Anniversary bonus | 3,000 | ||
| Total | $16,935 | 25,215 | 38,190 |
In this spending example, the Capital One Venture Rewards card earns about 34 percent more rewards than the Rapid Rewards Plus card. The 2X on all “other” spending makes a considerable difference in how much you can earn with the Venture Rewards card — which also makes it a much better card for everyday spending.
That doesn’t mean the Rapid Rewards Plus is without its place. Although the card earns less than the Venture Rewards card on most everyday expenses, it does earn 2X points on Southwest purchases. And the card comes with valuable benefits when you fly with Southwest — including two free checked bags and 25 percent back on eligible in-flight purchases. It also comes with an annual anniversary bonus of 3,000 points, which closes the earnings gap slightly. So if you’re a frequent Southwest traveler, you may want to consider using this card when flying Southwest.
Why should you get the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card?
Additional benefits
One perk of a co-branded like the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus is the ability to earn points and benefits with airlines or hotels you frequent. As Southwest Airlines’ entry-level card, the Rapid Reward Plus offers basic perks and benefits:
- 25 percent back on in-flight purchases
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In upgrades each year
- Lost luggage reimbursement (up to $3,000 per passenger) and baggage delay insurance (up to $100 per day for three days)
- Extended warranty and purchase protection (terms apply)
- Annual cardmember account anniversary bonus of 3,000 bonus points
- Complimentary DoorDash DashPass (terms apply)
- Boost of 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year
Although other Southwest cards come with the opportunity to earn points toward either A-List and A-List Preferred status, the benefits available with Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus are still pretty solid — especially considering it’s an entry-level card.
Redemption options
If you are a More Rewards program member with a Rapid Rewards credit card, you can also redeem your points for international flights offered by other airlines, as well as gift cards, hotel stays, merchandise and other experiences (though redemption values vary). Southwest’s hotel and resort partners include big names like:
- Best Western Hotels and Resorts
- Choice Hotels
- Marriott Bonvoy
- MGM Rewards
- World of Hyatt
You can earn and redeem Rapid Rewards points when you book with eligible Southwest partners. Plus, you can earn up to 100,000 Rapid Rewards points each year by referring friends through Chase’s refer-a-friend program.
If you want more details on earning and redeeming points with your Rapid Rewards Plus card, check out Bankrate’s Southwest Rapid Rewards guide.
Recommended credit score
You’ll need a good or excellent credit score of 670 to 850 to qualify for this card.
Why should you get the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card?
Additional benefits
The Capital One Venture card offers cardholders access to the Capital One Travel portal. This portal includes neat features like price prediction, price watch, price drop protection, price match guarantee and “cancel for any reason” to cardholders who book accommodations through the site.
In addition to the travel portal, other noteworthy Venture Rewards card benefits include:
- Up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Lost luggage reimbursement
- 2 complimentary visits to Capital One airport lounges
- 24-hour travel assistance services, which can help you get cash if your card is lost or stolen
- Car rental insurance, extended warranty coverage, fraud coverage and travel accident insurance
- Virtual credit card numbers
- Capital One Eno assistant
- Access to exclusive events, restaurants and more
- A $50 experience credit and other benefits with Lifestyle Collection hotel stays
Redemption options
The main redemption options include booking travel through the Capital One rewards portal, receiving a statement credit for recent eligible travel purchases (within the last 90 days) or transferring miles to partner airline and hotel programs. If you don’t want to redeem your miles for travel, you can also cash them out in the form of a statement credit, check, gift cards, Amazon.com or PayPal purchases and more.
Recommended credit score
Similar to the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card, you’ll need a good or excellent credit score of 670 to 850 to qualify for this card.
The bottom line
Both the Rapid Rewards Plus and Venture Rewards are formidable competitors in the entry-level travel credit card space. If you’re a die-hard Southwest fan, the Rapid Rewards Plus card could provide value — especially if you can score the Companion Pass when it occasionally appears as part of the card’s welcome bonus. On the other hand, the Venture Rewards offers a higher rate for general spending with the option to get much more value (and earnings) for travel bookings. Overall, the card you choose will depend on how you spend and how you prefer to travel.
