Might be a dumb question. Would it kill my credit to...

[SDSorority]

...open a Southwest Credit Card just for the 2 free flights after first purchase, then cancel it a few months later??

 

[Bren's Mom]

No, it won't 'kill' it.

You might get an initial decrease in your score when they do the credit pull, and then possibly when the account first reports. But that will bounce back fairly quickly.

The only reason you would definitely not want to do it is if you're about to apply for large credit like a mortgage or car. In those cases you would want to wait until that's over with.

ETA: But read the fine print to be sure you don't have to KEEP the account for x months/year whatever in order to have the free credits!

 

[jls886]

Just an FYI, the rewards program has changed so you don't technically get 2 free flights anymore. You now get a certain number of points for signing up for the card. The number of points you get determines how much that is worth. Wanna Get Away fares are 60/$1 to redeem - so if you got a 30,000 point offer you are getting $500 in Wanna Get Away airfare.

Here is a link to thepointsguy.com - he has a link that is currently being offered by Southwest for 50,000 points when signing up. That is worth $833 in airfare! I think that's about the best you'll do as far as sign up promos right now.

http://thepointsguy.com/2011/07/500...-chase-southwest-premier-visa-signature-card/

 

[Anjelica]

It says you get 50000 points to use towards 2 free flights - what if you don't use all your points on the 2 free flights (because they were "cheaper) - do you still get to keep the other points and apply it towards your future trips?

 

[SDSorority]

It says you get 50000 points to use towards 2 free flights - what if you don't use all your points on the 2 free flights (because they were "cheaper) - do you still get to keep the other points and apply it towards your future trips?

I just want to take the points, get the flight, pay off the credit card, and close it.

 

[tinker&belle]

Do the points expire? I want to fly next Fall/Early Winter. If I applied and got a card would they still be good?

 

[katrina1122]

It can hurt your credit, I'd call one of the credit reporters and ask them how a quick close would hurt your particular score.

DH and I opened a business about 2 years ago by opening business credit cards, but they had to base them on our personal credit reports. Each inquiry to determine credit rating and limit affected our personal scores even though the ulitmate resort was not tied to our credit. We worked with a business credit company who walked us through the whole process of when to apply, when to transfer, when to consolidate cards and when to cancel cards so the business would be in better shape to recieve SBA Loans when the banks bother to start issueing them again, and to maintain as much of our credit scores as possible.

Some cards it didn't matter if we opened just to start a credit rating, buy something, pay it off and close it, others we had to wait upwards of 2 years so it wouldn't affect our business or us. Granted these are business credit cards, but like I said it started with our personal credit ratings. I'd call Experion or one of the others and see if it's going to affect you.

We got those cards between Apr '09 and Sept '09 and our personal credit reports still show remarks like high credit check requests and other odd things.

 

[jls886]

It says you get 50000 points to use towards 2 free flights - what if you don't use all your points on the 2 free flights (because they were "cheaper) - do you still get to keep the other points and apply it towards your future trips?

Yes, you get the 50,000 points to do what you choose with them. You can use them on a few one-ways, on two round-trips, on three round-trips...whatever you can do with 50,000 points.

Do the points expire? I want to fly next Fall/Early Winter. If I applied and got a card would they still be good?

The points do not expire as long as your account stays active. I believe you have to fly with SW at least once every couple of years to keep your account active though...but I'm not positive on the exact requirement.

 

[jls886]

I just want to take the points, get the flight, pay off the credit card, and close it.

I would do it. As long as you haven't recently done anything else that would ding your credit and you don't plan on doing anything else for the next few months, you should be fine. I opened this card last October for the exact same reason - such a great deal!

 

[Starshine]

I wonder, are you billed for the $99 annual fee right away?

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Yes you are billed the $99 fee on you first statement. My mother and I both applied for this card in order to get the points for our trip to Disneyland (we each got 30,000 points, did they increase this to 50,000?).

With our combined points and the sale Southwest had for their birthday we were able to get 9 one-way flights.

When we added together the two $99 annual fees, the security fees and the cost of the flights we had to purchase we ended up spending $700 for seven of us to fly to LAX and back from Boise.

 

[MAH4546]

Yes, it hurts your credit, and depending on your situation, it can be a bad hit.

The solution? Don't close the card. Assuming there are now annual fees, it costs nothing to keep open.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

There is an annual fee. However, each year they give you another batch of points that equals the annual fee charge so it evens out in the end.

 

[SandrA9810]

The older the card, the more it hurts your report. So a short term card like that shouldn't hurt it too much.

If you search southwest's flights, you can have them either show in points or dollars. That'll help you get an idea of how far you can go with 30,000 points.

 

[tinker&belle]

For anyone who has booked one of these flights, did what fees in cash have you had to pay? Or if you have enough points can you use points to pay for the whole thing?

 

[AllesonWonderland]

This looks like a good deal, not enough time for me to get one before Southwest opens the next round of dates though. (We may have an unexpected trip in January.) I'll check back on it for our regularly scheduled March 2013 trip though. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[tinker&belle]

So if I open a card today, and book a flight next May, can I cancel the card before the 1 year anniversary and not have to pay the next fee? Would I still be able to use my tickets if they were for September?

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

For anyone who has booked one of these flights, did what fees in cash have you had to pay? Or if you have enough points can you use points to pay for the whole thing?

You have to pay the security fee, which is different with each airport but I have always paid around $2.50-$5 per one-way flight. Also, if you want to add the early bird check-in, you have to pay for that with cash.

 

[JDUCKY]

Yes, it hurts your credit, and depending on your situation, it can be a bad hit.

The solution? Don't close the card. Assuming there are now annual fees, it costs nothing to keep open.

That's not really true.

The only way it will hurt one's credit score more than a few points is if it drops one's AAoA (Average Age of Accounts) below a certain level (say, less than 4 years or something) or if one has opened a few other new accounts recently so yet another new account shows up and can ding ya more for a while.

But, those are temporary in nature.

The closed account will remain on one's credit report for another 10 years so it will continue be part of the AAoA until it falls off.

And, since it's a $99 annual fee, closing it right after opening (after the free tickets are obtained), isn't really that bad of a thing.

 

[FourBees]

Do you have to make a minimum purchase or could you buy like a candy bar or something?