How to meet Southwest card spending requirements

Work backward from the deadline

Write down when you opened the card, how much you need to spend and when the offer ends. A $5,000 requirement over three months works out to about $1,667 per month. If that’s well above your normal eligible spending, look for a smaller requirement.

If you’re earning two bonuses, track each card separately. Subtract refunds and merchant credits, and include recurring charges. Chase uses net eligible purchases to decide whether you’ve met the requirement.

Use planned expenses, with the right card

Examples include groceries, insurance premiums, utilities, communications, necessary travel and upcoming business supplies. Whether a bill accepts a card, charges a fee or permits prepayment depends on the provider.

Use business cards according to their cardmember agreement. Check which expenses your business-card agreement allows before moving bills onto it.

Prepaying a necessary expense changes when cash leaves your account. Compare any convenience fee and lost flexibility with the reward value. Avoid bringing spending forward if you’d need to carry an interest-bearing balance to do it.

Paying taxes: fees differ for commercial cards

The IRS lists approved card processors and current fees. At this guide’s October 4, 2026 review, Pay1040 listed 1.75% for consumer credit cards and 2.89% for commercial cards; ACI Payments listed 1.85% and 2.95%, respectively. Minimum fees also apply. Check how the processor classifies your card and the fee shown at checkout.

On a $5,000 payment, a 2.89% fee is $144.50. That cost belongs in your Companion Pass value calculation. A wallet checkout doesn’t justify assuming that a commercial card receives a consumer-card rate.

Use the IRS page for payment-type frequency limits and restrictions. Payment limits depend on the tax type; “two per quarter per processor” isn’t a rule for every payment. Federal tax deposits also have restrictions. Check that the IRS credits your payment and that the card counts it as an eligible purchase.

What not to assume counts

Chase’s offer terms exclude items such as annual fees, interest, balance transfers, cash advances and cash-like transactions from qualifying purchases. A banking product that accepts card funding doesn’t guarantee that your issuer treats the transaction as an eligible purchase.

Gift-card purchases also require care: issuer and merchant restrictions, cash-equivalent treatment, fees, loss risk and the ability to use the balance all matter. An old Staples or Office Depot sale calendar isn’t a current offer. Check the offer and purchase rules before counting either toward your bonus.

Don’t leave the last purchase until the last day

A charge can take time to settle. Leave room for a late-posting transaction, a return or missing rewards, rather than finishing on the deadline.

If you’re aiming for January points, check that your offer’s spending deadline actually extends into January before waiting. The deadline on your application is the one you need to meet.