Anyone get SWest credit card for free flts??

[lorivegas]

Someone posted that for a $99 fee, you can get a Southwest credit card and get points equal to 2 FREE flights, as long as you spend $2000. in the first 3 months.? Is it worth it? Then what? Do you keep the card .... ALONG with the $99 fee each year? Im not sure how this works, but the posters stated that they just got their flights and then never used the card again... is this "allowed", ( or ethical)? Im just sayin'... it seemed like a few people agreed that they did this too. I would think Swest/ chase would "catch on and STILL charge the $99.00 fee each year,until the card expires. What do you all think???

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Why not visit the web site and read the rules for this card?

If you have a cc with a yearly fee, you're charged the fee every year, whether or not you use the card.

 

[kristenrice]

Here's how it's worked for me....

I got the SWA Visa last year, but mine is the one with a $69 annual fee. I spent the $2000 on it to get the 50,000 bonus points. It was all money that I would have spent anyways (cell phone bill, electric bill, gas, etc) so the only "extra" money I spent was the $69 annual fee. FYI, they charge the annual fee within the first two billing cycles, not after the first year.

We've had the card for almost 2 years now (just paid the second annual fee) and so far, we have used the points for 6 round-trip tickets to Orlando. Our total out-of-pocket cost for those 6 tickets is $158. That's (2) $69 annual fees plus the $30 in 9/11 fees that are not covered by points. You can't beat it! If we have to cancel a trip booked with the points, they just go back into my account with no restrictions or "use by" date. If the price of our trip drops, I can just modify the reservation and the extra points are returned to my account. So easy!

There are a total of 4 different cards you can get that will give you the bonus points. Some people get multiple cards to earn the 110,000 points needed for a companion pass. That's an even better deal, but since we only fly about once a year (and we already have more credit cards than we need) there is not a great benefit for us to open another card.

 

[LisaS]

Southwest also deposits some points into your account on your card's renewal date. Originally the flight purchase value of the points received was equal to the annual fee so it was a wash. Now that they have increased the points required per dollar of flight cost from 60 to 70, I don't know if they have also increased the number of annual renewal points to compensate. I hope they have because it makes me feel better about the annual fee knowing that I get that money back in points.

ETA: OP if you decide to pursue this, make sure you double check whether the 50,000 points deal is currently available. It comes and goes.

ETA: Just checked the info on SW's website and the anniversary points have not changed. Premier card holders still get 6,000 points after paying the $99 renewal fee. That used to equal $100 in flight cost but is now worth just over $85.

 

[georgina]

The $ value per point varies some. My next flight to Orlando is $123, or would cost me 7293 points. Using the value for that flight, 6000 points is worth $101. (Oops, have to subtract the $2.50 9/11 security fee, so $98.50)

My SW CC is the only credit card I have that I will pay an annual fee for, because it is worth it to me.

To the OP, you can get the card, spend whatever is necessary to get the bonus points, and then cancel the card before the year rolls around to avoid paying a fee in future years. As long as the points have transferred to your SW rapid rewards account, you keep them.

 

[LisaS]

The $ value per point varies some. My next flight to Orlando is $123, or would cost me 7293 points. Using the value for that flight, 6000 points is worth $101. (Oops, have to subtract the $2.50 9/11 security fee, so $98.50)

As of earlier this year, Southwest uses a conversion rate of 70 points per dollar. If you look at the breakdown of your fare you will find that your flight's base price is $104.19. Airlines are required to include all fees in their displayed prices so the displayed price for that flight will include $7.81 in excise taxes, a $4 segment fee, a $4.50 passenger facility charge and the $2.50 security fee for a total of $123. For some reason when we book with points we pay only the base price and the security fee and do not pay the segment fee or passenger facility charge or the excise taxes.

The security fee is paid in cash not points so that leaves you with your base price of $104.19 which becomes 7293 points when converted at the rate of 70 points/$1. But as you point out, if you compare the points cost for a flight against the fully loaded cost in dollars (minus the security fee) we actually get a higher value for our points.

 

[Southernswthrt]

I have the card and love it! It has been totally worth it for me. I never pay for flights to WDW - and I make 2-3 trips a year with my DD. And if you're willing to fly into Tampa, you can stretch your points even farther (when they run a great sale).

 

[georgina]

As of earlier this year, Southwest uses a conversion rate of 70 points per dollar. If you look at the breakdown of your fare you will find that your flight's base price is $104.19. Airlines are required to include all fees in their displayed prices so the displayed price for that flight will include $7.81 in excise taxes, a $4 segment fee, a $4.50 passenger facility charge and the $2.50 security fee for a total of $123. For some reason when we book with points we pay only the base price and the security fee and do not pay the segment fee or passenger facility charge or the excise taxes.

The security fee is paid in cash not points so that leaves you with your base price of $104.19 which becomes 7293 points when converted at the rate of 70 points/$1. But as you point out, if you compare the points cost for a flight against the fully loaded cost in dollars (minus the security fee) we actually get a higher value for our points.

Well don't I feel silly for questioning your superior knowledge. I was just going by my bottom line. I'll stay off the transportation board. You know, there are also flights between the same airports for $129 that only take 6967 pts, so that's worth more like $111 for 6000 points!

 

[LisaS]

Well don't I feel silly for questioning your superior knowledge. I was just going by my bottom line. I'll stay off the transportation board. You know, there are also flights between the same airports for $129 that only take 6967 pts, so that's worth more like $111 for 6000 points!

Some time back I noticed the same thing you reported here -- that if you compare the cost in points and cash, the value you get from your points seems to vary from one flight to another. It bugged me that it wasn't coming out to the advertised rate of 70 points per dollar so I did a little digging to find out why. I just wanted to share what I learned -- that the exchange rate between points and dollars really is 70 points per dollar, but the fees vary depending on how many stops the flight makes and those don't factor in anyway because we only pay the security fee when we book with points.

In the example you just gave of the $129 flight available for 6967 points while a cheaper flight ($123) costs more points (7293), it's because the $129 flight is actually cheaper than the $123 flight but has higher fees. That $129 flight has a base price of $99.53, $4.66 less than the base price of the $123 flight (base price: $104.19). Everything else is taxes and fees. The excise tax is always 7.5% ($7.47) so that means there are $22 in fees: an $8 segment fee, a $9 passenger facility charge and a $5 security fee, twice as high as the previous example because this particular flight is a connecting flight with one stop. Your previous example was a non-stop so there was a $4 segment fee, $4.50 passenger facility charge and a $2.50 security fee. So the flight that costs more in dollars due to it being a connecting flight costs fewer points because the base price of the flight is $4.66 less.

 

[ITALIANANGLO69]

Ive had the Southwest plus visa($69 fee) for about 14 yrs now and love it. I also just got the new Southwest Black premier Visa($99fee) and it does offer 50000 points if you spend $2000 within 3 months.
Whats also nice is you can earn additional points for using preferred partner restaurants in your area. There is also a online shopping partners(like sears, Home Depot etc) you can bonus points with.
Over the 14 yrs ive had the card I would say i've earned at least 20+ free flights.
I would definitely recommend at least the Southwest Visa Plus version if you do a lot of monthly charging.

 

[pooch]

got a card for myself, then 1 for DH. Stopped using my Disney Visa and now put everything on the SWA Visa. I expect to have enough points to take the whole extended family (7 people) to WDW on points next year (80,000 to 90,000). I try to take advantage of every opportunity to get points - Turbo Tax - Erewards - Electric supplier - getting friends & family to sign up for RR.

Have to look into the Premier card. Wonder if I'm eligible for the bonus points if I already have a regular SWA Visa. My goal is free flights and free Dining!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Well don't I feel silly for questioning your superior knowledge. I was just going by my bottom line. I'll stay off the transportation board. You know, there are also flights between the same airports for $129 that only take 6967 pts, so that's worth more like $111 for 6000 points!

Actually, I don't think anything out of line or condescending has been said here. I'm not sure what the issue is....I think addtl info was given. Everyone is welcome here....and everyone is welcome to add info to someone else's info.

 

[davedmaine]

Someone posted that for a $99 fee, you can get a Southwest credit card and get points equal to 2 FREE flights, as long as you spend $2000. in the first 3 months.? Is it worth it? Then what? Do you keep the card .... ALONG with the $99 fee each year? Im not sure how this works, but the posters stated that they just got their flights and then never used the card again... is this "allowed", ( or ethical)? Im just sayin'... it seemed like a few people agreed that they did this too. I would think Swest/ chase would "catch on and STILL charge the $99.00 fee each year,until the card expires. What do you all think???

We love our SW card and always recommend it vs the Disney card (which I really don't see any benefit of). We charge our business expenses to it and recently qualified for a companion pass (best cc reward I've ever seen); the companion pass is a buy one ticket, get another free and will now be valid for the rest of this year and all of 2015. We travel a lot so it's going to save us a fortune.

 

[KalamityJane]

We got both cards, the 100k bonus points and the companion pass. This should really help pay for the 5 of us to fly over the next 18mo!

 

[pooch]

So if I do qualify for the 50,000 bonus points, I need to accumulate another 60,000 before the end of the year for the companion pass?

 

[Spunky946]

We have started charging everything to our card and it's totally worth it.

 

[hsmamato2]

to the OP, yes, you can open it, keep it for one year,and close before you have to pay a fee again, but why If you're thinking of only this years travel,ok....but instead, think of a few years of travel.... use the card, pay the (small) fee, accumulate lots of points, fly for free! It's almost always more than just 2 free flights, usually at least 4-6 per 50k to many places.

 

[lorivegas]

I think I might go ahead and get it since we charge everything anyway, however... now my disney card may get ignored for awhile, or my card that gives us 1 1/2 % cash back... hmmmmm??? perhaps too many cards . lol

 

[pooch]

If anyone is going yo open a swa rr visa and wouldn't mind, please PM me. Swa sent me friends & family invitations to hand out