Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[DisneyRunner2009]

I'll be interested to see the prices of these flights. Theses changes, even with the tier changes on the credit card, look more and more like Delta. That's the other airline I am familiar with.

 

[eticketplease]

I'll be interested to see the prices of these flights. Theses changes, even with the tier changes on the credit card, look more and more like Delta. That's the other airline I am familiar with.

We fly SW as they are our only option for direct flights. It’s not worth the stress for some people in our party for a connection somewhere when a direct is available.
We fly other carriers when direct is not an option.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

SW Card changes are official, very disappointing: https://www.southwest.com/customer-...1032572&cbid=CB1032572#compare-consumer-cards

 

[leebee]

SW Card changes are official, very disappointing: https://www.southwest.com/customer-...1032572&cbid=CB1032572#compare-consumer-cards

I was just coming online to post this. Two free EarlyBirds are going away, making me think that EB will no longer be an option. One free bag per cardholder and members of cardholder's party, as expected, has been added. I am intrigued by this, though:


It gives me hope that, if I book basic, DH and I can get standard seats together. However, I feel it really does seal the doom of Early Bird.

 

[leebee]

Here are all the changes for Southwest Rapid Rewards cardholders:

 

[leebee]

This is a chart of how the new assigned seating policy will come into play, and it's based on the fare you choose. Standard seats are in the back of the plane. The "best" seats are the front 5 rows, as well as emergency exit seating, as these will have extra legroom. The mid-level seats are those between the extra legroom seats in the front and the exit rows. They are standard seats but further forward. SW is also going to start doing assigned boarding groups, like the legacy airlines.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

However, I feel it really does seal the doom of Early Bird.

EBCI doesn't make sense with assigned seats. The credit card holders will get group 5, which should be high enough to have overhead storage space still available.

Here are all the changes for Southwest Rapid Rewards cardholders:

Some major changes not highlighted here are the significant annual fee increases and stripping the $75 credit from the Priority card.

That one went from $149 AF with a $75 credit (essentially $75 out of pocket) to a $229 annual fee with no credit back. HUGE jump.

 

[han22735]

EBCI doesn't make sense with assigned seats. The credit card holders will get group 5, which should be high enough to have overhead storage space still available.



Some major changes not highlighted here are the significant annual fee increases and stripping the $75 credit from the Priority card.

That one went from $149 AF with a $75 credit (essentially $75 out of pocket) to a $229 annual fee with no credit back. HUGE jump.

This is the worst part of the changes. Essentially an increase of $155.

 

[pooch]

I was just coming online to post this. Two free EarlyBirds are going away, making me think that EB will no longer be an option. One free bag per cardholder and members of cardholder's party, as expected, has been added. I am intrigued by this, though:
View attachment 986726

It gives me hope that, if I book basic, DH and I can get standard seats together. However, I feel it really does seal the doom of Early Bird.

Assuming at 48 hours there are standard seats left together.

 

[eticketplease]

This is the worst part of the changes. Essentially an increase of $155.

Not to mention the other two cards offer a small rebate on tickets other than basic fares.

The only advantage I see now is being able to select seats any time of booking and then possibly upgrading 48 hours in advance where other cards have to wait until 48 hours to select a seat

 

[han22735]

Not to mention the other two cards offer a small rebate on tickets other than basic fares.

The only advantage I see now is being able to select seats any time of booking and then possibly upgrading 48 hours in advance where other cards have to wait until 48 hours to select a seat

I'm going to have to rethink having it....we only fly 1 time a year and check 2 bags...that's $140. We only fly out of Providence and Jetblue has good flights there as well...So I'll have to look into this...maybe switch to the jetblue card.

 

[pooch]

I'm going to have to rethink having it....we only fly 1 time a year and check 2 bags...that's $140. We only fly out of Providence and Jetblue has good flights there as well...So I'll have to look into this...maybe switch to the jetblue card.

DH & I grabbed JB cards a couple of months ago with a 70,000 sign on bonus each. They fly non stop from CT to FLL while SWA does not so we were able to book non stops at great times for our upcoming cruise.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I assumed when they advised a long while back that A-list wouldn't get a perk with seating until 48 hours in advance for free (Preferred does just not regular A-list) that most changes would not be good for the consumer. It's a non-perk at that point because pfft 48 hrs in advance give me a break. That was one of the reasons I mentioned a week, two weeks something like that when a poster was asking about a CC for the checked luggage that it's risky to do that at the moment when SWA is making frequent changes and we knew they were going to be updating their CC to match what new systems they would have in place.

I'm not sure what we'll do for us on the CC. We have the Premier (got that back in 2015) but really don't use it for traveling. When my husband was with his prior company all company travel was paid for by his corporate CC thus it didn't get used on SWA sadly. It used to be used for traveling when we only had the Amex because both were no foreign transaction fee and Visa is more accepted but for a long while have mostly just been me purchasing things as an authorized user as the primary usage of the card.

Since getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve we've used that for travel and as much as it pains me we plan on keeping it even with the massive increase on the annual fee, it was already hard for me to stomach it before they raised it. With my husband's current company they allow them to use their personal CC for work travel and they will pay them back for it. My husband still primarily uses the Chase Sapphire Reserve for booking flights on SWA because overall it's a better CC where the points earned have been able to be used more broadly when we travel (like for flights on other airlines and hotels with Hyatt). BUT the plus with SWA CC is that we have me as an authorized user without an additional fee...not sure if they are changing that with SWA. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve it costs extra to add one and thus we haven't done it.

 

[disfanforlife]

If DH is flying alone on points no he doesn’t get a free bag even if you paid with your SW card.

8 people plus you the card holder will receive one free bag if you are all on the same reservation.

It doesn’t matter if you pay for the entire flight, the taxes or don’t pay anything with the card. What matters is that someone holds the card and that someone is on the reservation.

I assume DH is on the reservation with you for this trip. If so you can modify and get points back but your free bag allowance will drop from 2 to 1 each.

He is not on the reservation - I book separate one way trips for each of us. So I guess I will need to rebook for both of us together on one reservation. Thank you.

 

[eticketplease]

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve it costs extra to add one and thus we haven't done it.

What we did is call and tell them our card was not swiping and the sent us a new card. Yes it had the owners name on it but most places nowadays you swipe it yourself and even with restaurants they never say anything.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

What we did is call and tell them our card was not swiping and the sent us a new card. Yes it had the owners name on it but most places nowadays you swipe it yourself and even with restaurants they never say anything.

I've never been one to use someone else's card, regardless of it being my spouse, parent or otherwise as normally it's against the terms and conditions but if that method works for you and Chase hasn't brought it up to you as an issue especially after reporting a card won't swipe in order to gain an additional card then perhaps that method may work for someone else

 

[eticketplease]

I've never been one to use someone else's card, regardless of it being my spouse, parent or otherwise as normally it's against the terms and conditions but if that method works for you and Chase hasn't brought it up to you as an issue especially after reporting a card won't swipe in order to gain an additional card then perhaps that method may work for someone else

It was mainly for emergencies. One time my pop socket had gotten stuck to the card so it would no longer swipe but the chip and tap to pay still worked that is when when we asked for another card.

It doesn't matter as much anymore though as Chase Freedom Flex and and Chase Freedom Unlimited and the Preferred all give 3x on dining now and are combinable with the CSR and dining was what we do the most damage with.

 

[winnieofpooh]

We're planning on 3 trips next year, and with our home airport being BWI we really don't have better options than SW. I may sign us up for one of the CC's with the bonus being 100k points. Those also go towards companion pass eligibility? It would be really nice to get the sign-on points, plus getting free checked bags, plus potentially being able to hack our way into a companion pass for next year as well. With two kids we typically check 2 bags each time we fly, so just in those savings alone we'll break even on the card, even if we just check one bag each time.

 

[eticketplease]

We're planning on 3 trips next year, and with our home airport being BWI we really don't have better options than SW. I may sign us up for one of the CC's with the bonus being 100k points. Those also go towards companion pass eligibility? It would be really nice to get the sign-on points, plus getting free checked bags, plus potentially being able to hack our way into a companion pass for next year as well. With two kids we typically check 2 bags each time we fly, so just in those savings alone we'll break even on the card, even if we just check one bag each time.

Yes the points will qualify for the CP. Remember you have 5 months to hit the $4,000 Spend. If you had the card that would be 12/24/25.

You want to try and get those 100K miles to hit in January 2026 as this way you would have the CP for 2026 & 2027 after getting to 135K miles. You would have the 10K bonus from holding the card plus 100K bonus giving you 110K towards the required 135K. Through in the spend that you make in January 2026 to hit the bonus and you are looking at under 25K to get the CP for almost 2 years.

 

[winnieofpooh]

Yes the points will qualify for the CP. Remember you have 5 months to hit the $4,000 Spend. If you had the card that would be 12/24/25.

You want to try and get those 100K miles to hit in January 2026 as this way you would have the CP for 2026 & 2027 after getting to 135K miles. You would have the 10K bonus from holding the card plus 100K bonus giving you 110K towards the required 135K. Through in the spend that you make in January 2026 to hit the bonus and you are looking at under 25K to get the CP for almost 2 years.

Does that 10k bonus hit when you get the card? I was under the impression that would come on the anniversary which wouldn’t be super helpful if I wanted to get the almost-full 2 years of CP