I'd say if you don't travel that much, you're not concerned about upgrades, and you mainly travel within the US, then that's probably a good choice for you. You'll get free checked bags and the ability to change your flights with no change fees. However, the "no blackout dates" benefit is a bit misleading. The "new" Rapid Rewards program that started last year in my opinion is not as rewarding as the old one. Most frequent travelers try to earn as many points/miles for as few dollars as possible and redeem them for the most valuable flights. In the old program, one could earn, for example, 16 credits for 8 round trip flights from Providence to Baltimore (typically around $100 roundtrip if bought far enough in advance and during one of their fare sales) for about $800 altogether. One could redeem these 16 credits for a $400 roundtrip cross country flight (around a 50% return on investment). In the new program, if you travel mostly on the lowest cost "Wanna Get Away" fares, you earn 6 points per dollar spent, and you redeem for flights at a cost of 60 points per dollar, which is almost ALWAYS a straight 10% return on investment. So if you spend $3,000 per year on Southwest flights, you will most likely earn enough for $300 worth of free travel. However, if you use the Southwest credit card wisely, you may be able to get a little more out of the program. It's been reported that the 50,000 points you earn from the credit card count as qualifying points toward a companion pass, which requires 110,000 points per year. If you spend $3,000 per year on Southwest tickets, you're already earning another 24,000 points (including the card bonus). That means if you spend $3,000 per month on other spending, you should have enough points by the end of the year to qualify for a companion pass.