There is currently a 50,000 point sign-on bonus for the Southwest Premier Rapid Rewards Visa Card, one of my favorite cards for frugal travel.

I have had this credit card for years and I highly recommend it! Now is the best time of year to get the card if you are interested in earning Companion Pass starting in early 2017. If you ever fly on Southwest, consider getting this card because:

1. The sign-on bonus is worth about $850 in airfare. This alone is a huge reason to get this card! My husband and I took two round-trip flights to Florida  on these points and still had some left over.

On one of our many Southwest flights

2. Though there is an annual fee of $99, you get 6,000 points deposited into your account each year on your card member anniversary. These points are worth over $100 in airfare so really there is no fee, as long as you fly occasionally on Southwest. Points never expire so you can even save them up for a big trip that is years away.

3. Using points to book flights is so much better than paying for your flights! Southwest has an amazing refund/change policy and you can change your flight up to the last minute without any loss of points or penalty. Even better, if the cost (in points) of the flight drops after you book your flight, you can just re-book on Southwest.com they will credit your account with the difference in points. So there is basically no risk to booking with points. I hate the sinking feeling I get in my stomach when I pay for flights with other airlines, knowing that my money is pretty much gone if my plans change!

Note that the spending requirement to earn the bonus points is $2,000 in the first three months of card ownership. I find this is easy to do just by buying our groceries and paying a few bills with the card for a few months! I then pay the bill off at the end of each month. Of course, only consider signing-up for this card if you can handle the responsibility of credit and have a history of paying bills on time.

Do you have a Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa? Please leave a comment below!