Southwest CC

[disny_luvr]

I am thinking about opening a Southwest CC. DH and I both have a Disney CC, but in the years ahead we see our trips to Disney becoming less and less as we want to explore other parts of the country with our sons. Since we usually fly Southwest, I think a Southwest CC makes the most sense.

I was just on the Southwest website and it looks like right now they are offering 40,000 points if you spend $1000 in the first three months. Is that the best they offer or should I hang tight to see if a better promotion becomes available? Also, points never expire, correct? Is there anything else I should know before I apply for a card?

We are headed to Disney in August and I usually buy gift cards at Target to use throughout our trip. With mostly everything being mobile order now, I'm not sure I want to deal with the hassle of gift cards. I'd like to open this card before our trip so I can charge everything to the card and start earning points towards flights for our trip out west next summer.

Thanks for any help!

 

[starry_solo]

So, I think there is a thread devoted to SW credit cards, or maybe it's the general "I love credit cards" thread. Most say to apply for two (regular and business), connect the two, and get to 100K points quicker so that you can get the free companion pass.

 

[supersnoop]

There's often a much better deal. The best strategy is to apply for two cards and earn enough points for a companion pass.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Most say to apply for two (regular and business), connect the two, and get to 100K points quicker so that you can get the free companion pass.

You can do this?!

 

[kathy884]

I love my Southwest credit card. It's a super valuable freebie to me to be able to use points for tickets. I like to use the points for our 20 somethings who would like to travel with us, but don't know if they'll be able to get off work, might have started a new job, might have decided to go back to school and won't be able to go that week. I book a ticket with points for the inexpensive price in points, but those tickets have the flexibility to be canceled and get full points back into my account to use for anyone as late as 24 hours in advance. There are three levels of cards. Southwest is the largest carrier in my hometown, and I travel frequently enough, so there is never any issue of my not being able to use the miles. The 40,000 offer is a pretty regular one that I have seen for years. I haven't see better or worse for the individual card -- just seems to be the standard offer. There are a few levels of cards too. I went with the middle personal one (Premier). The slightly higher annual fee gives me a few more annual renewal miles that more than make up for the fee difference for me. The higher level than mine just has perks that I wouldn't use, so I didn't bother with that.

The best deals are, though, are when you first signup. Companion passes are sweet, but we have never traveled enough to quality and didn't try the two account thing (not sure that was a thing when we first got our card, but maybe I just didn't know about it). I have heard of some people getting these cards, later canceling, and waiting whatever is the appropriate time again to get them again for the freebie miles. I've never done the credit card churning thing (yeah great deal, but not something that I wanted to bother with). I have one other backup credit card, but try to put everything I charge on Southwest because Oh I love those points the the flexibility that they provide.

 

[disny_luvr]

I love my Southwest credit card. It's a super valuable freebie to me to be able to use points for tickets. I like to use the points for our 20 somethings who would like to travel with us, but don't know if they'll be able to get off work, might have started a new job, might have decided to go back to school and won't be able to go that week. I book a ticket with points for the inexpensive price in points, but those tickets have the flexibility to be canceled and get full points back into my account to use for anyone as late as 24 hours in advance. There are three levels of cards. Southwest is the largest carrier in my hometown, and I travel frequently enough, so there is never any issue of my not being able to use the miles. The 40,000 offer is a pretty regular one that I have seen for years. I haven't see better or worse for the individual card -- just seems to be the standard offer. There are a few levels of cards too. I went with the middle personal one (Premier). The slightly higher annual fee gives me a few more annual renewal miles that more than make up for the fee difference for me. The higher level than mine just has perks that I wouldn't use, so I didn't bother with that.

The best deals are, though, are when you first signup. Companion passes are sweet, but we have never traveled enough to quality and didn't try the two account thing (not sure that was a thing when we first got our card, but maybe I just didn't know about it). I have heard of some people getting these cards, later canceling, and waiting whatever is the appropriate time again to get them again for the freebie miles. I've never done the credit card churning thing (yeah great deal, but not something that I wanted to bother with). I have one other backup credit card, but try to put everything I charge on Southwest because Oh I love those points the the flexibility that they provide.

I did not realize that points go back into your account if you cancel a flight. Do points ever expire? The card I’m looking at has a $69 annual fee. Is that the lower level card?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I used to have the SW cc and I swore nothing in the world would ever make me give it up. That was until I just happen to be inside a Chase branch (who carries the SW card) and dh and I were each offered a 50,000 point bonus to try the Chase Sapphire Preferred. We were about to put a small addition on our home and we knew we'd have no problem reaching the minimum spend requirement and paying it right off. Once I tried it, I was hooked.
What I like about it vs. the SW card is that with the CSP you earn double points for any dining or travel. That includes everything from take out to airport parking, taxi, my train tickets to work, etc. Not just flights. I couldn't remember the last time I earned double points with the SW card. It rarely happened because we fly with points so often and it was rare that we actually used the card to buy anything substantial from SW which is the only purchase that earns double points with the SW card. It is nice to be able to book flights with SW points. If the price drops and I "change" the flight to the same flight again at lower price, the points difference gets refunded back to my account.
What's nice about the CSP card is that if we wanted to we could always transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points directly into our SW RR account at a 1:1 ratio so we don't lose anything by making the transfer. I could also use points to book travel (flights, hotels, rental cars) directly through Chase. When you book travel through Chase, points are worth 25% more. Also one can transfer points directly into a hotels loyalty program such as Hilton or Hyatt and many others. The travel partners change occasionally. There used to be several airline programs we could transfer points into such as American and British Airways. I haven't done that yet but some day maybe.
Once my points started piling up with covid, I used their Pay Yourself Back program to redeem points for a statement credit. It was at an extra 50% bonus but now points are worth an extra 25% for this program. With things opening up again I will start saving points for future travel.

To me, it's a very versatile card that out earns the SW card.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

That signup bonus goes up to 60,000 or even 70,000 on occasion. And I think the highest level Priority card is worth it. You get a $75 annual credit plus more anniversary points, which more than covers the annual fee.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I used to have the SW cc and I swore nothing in the world would ever make me give it up. That was until I just happen to be inside a Chase branch (who carries the SW card) and dh and I were each offered a 50,000 point bonus to try the Chase Sapphire Preferred. We were about to put a small addition on our home and we knew we'd have no problem reaching the minimum spend requirement and paying it right off. Once I tried it, I was hooked.
What I like about it vs. the SW card is that with the CSP you earn double points for any dining or travel. That includes everything from take out to airport parking, taxi, my train tickets to work, etc. Not just flights. I couldn't remember the last time I earned double points with the SW card. It rarely happened because we fly with points so often and it was rare that we actually used the card to buy anything substantial from SW which is the only purchase that earns double points with the SW card. It is nice to be able to book flights with SW points. If the price drops and I "change" the flight to the same flight again at lower price, the points difference gets refunded back to my account.
What's nice about the CSP card is that if we wanted to we could always transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points directly into our SW RR account at a 1:1 ratio so we don't lose anything by making the transfer. I could also use points to book travel (flights, hotels, rental cars) directly through Chase. When you book travel through Chase, points are worth 25% more. Also one can transfer points directly into a hotels loyalty program such as Hilton or Hyatt and many others. The travel partners change occasionally. There used to be several airline programs we could transfer points into such as American and British Airways. I haven't done that yet but some day maybe.
Once my points started piling up with covid, I used their Pay Yourself Back program to redeem points for a statement credit. It was at an extra 50% bonus but now points are worth an extra 25% for this program. With things opening up again I will start saving points for future travel.

To me, it's a very versatile card that out earns the SW card.

Wells Fargo Propel out-earns both for travel, with no annual fee.

Sapphire and Southwest are good for the initial signup bonus if you're churning, but I don't see a compelling reason to carry either one long-term.

Wells Fargo Propel for travel and dining, American Express Blue Cash Preferred for Groceries, and Citi Double Cash for everything else will out earn any other combination out there.

 

[AgentMama]

So, I think there is a thread devoted to SW credit cards, or maybe it's the general "I love credit cards" thread. Most say to apply for two (regular and business), connect the two, and get to 100K points quicker so that you can get the free companion pass.

Companion Pass is 125k now not 100k. They raised it right before COVID.

 

[kinkin201]

You should sign up in an airport at a SW kiosk, they typically offer more initial bonus points. I've had my SW card since '14 and love it. I don't use it as much now since I have an AMEX as well but I love flying SW so I won't give it up.

 

[kathy884]

I did not realize that points go back into your account if you cancel a flight. Do points ever expire? The card I’m looking at has a $69 annual fee. Is that the lower level card?

Yeah the points going back into the account is so sweet plus the fact that you can use the points for anyone (doesn't have to be you like frequent flyer miles or even a family member). I'm not sure about expiration. It's never come up for me. You could call Southwest to find out about the fine points. And yes that $69 is the lower level card (Plus Card -- It's a good one). I had that for many years and loved it. Upgraded to the premier a few years ago after doing the math. An incentive for me to upgrade is that we were traveling to Mexico and Canada the same year and I wanted a card with no foreign transaction fee and the next level card Premier has that. It's really easy to book Southwest flights with point too (same way you book with cash. Just sign on to your account and when booking hit points instead of $s.

Here is a link that compares the three SW level cards, I see that the

https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/so...q7n_wGPC06cnCNwLOPYaAklrEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

That signup bonus goes up to 60,000 or even 70,000 on occasion. And I think the highest level Priority card is worth it. You get a $75 annual credit plus more anniversary points, which more than covers the annual fee.

I see what you mean CaptainAmerica, That highest level over the middle for $51 extra in dollars gives you a $75 SW credit and some more bonus points. That's not a big enough incentive for me to switch (too much of a bother to me), but I have to agree that I would come out ahead with that over what I have by a little.

 

[Best Aunt]

When I'm at the airport waiting to board a plane, and it seems like 8 groups get to board before regular customers, and one of those groups is people with the airline's credit card -- I always swear that I'm going to consider getting that credit card.

I don't think the Southwest card lets you board before other people, but I haven't paid attention because Southwest doesn't fly from our airport.

For some people, using a credit card to build up frequent flyer miles may have seemed like a great idea... unti the Pandemic hit. When you're not flying, you might be wishing that you were getting cash back instead.

 

[Dakota731]

I thought getting a SW card was a great idea last year, but it’s been an epic fail. Their flights are so expensive this year that we ended up booking with another airline. So I’ll end up paying two annual fees for a card that I won’t be able to redeem points on for another year or two.

 

[lsutigers03]

I did not realize that points go back into your account if you cancel a flight. Do points ever expire? The card I’m looking at has a $69 annual fee. Is that the lower level card?

Rapid Reward points don't expire and yes the $69 card is the lowest.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

No SWA points to not expire.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Companion Pass is 125k now not 100k. They raised it right before COVID.

No. It was 125k back in 2018 when dh and I got one. Back then Chase was ok with people getting bonuses on 2 different SW cards. So we both got the 2 non-business cards for a bonus of 60k each, giving us 120k. Then the points earned from the required spending helped to get us to 125k. We applied for both cards on the same day so it counted as 1 inquiry on our credit reports.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I thought getting a SW card was a great idea last year, but it’s been an epic fail. Their flights are so expensive this year that we ended up booking with another airline. So I’ll end up paying two annual fees for a card that I won’t be able to redeem points on for another year or two.

I don't even mind that some of them are expensive; what bothers me is the terrible flight options. We used to have plenty of non stop flights from Philly to Orlando or Tampa and now there are very few. We looked into going to a gulf coast beach, flying into TPA. This normally is a 2 hour flight. The shortest duration we could get on certain days of the week were 4-5 hours with a connection. Some connect in Chicago which is really an insane route to fly down the east coast. Unless we stayed for an entire week, which we didn't really want to do, we had a choice of flying home at 6am or 10am and long connections for both. Combined with the outrageous hotel prices now, making me prefer to stay as long as possible after check out. Not paying $500/nt and have to leave in the wee hours.

Dh got the CP as a bonus for getting a SW cc back in Feb but we are not getting so much use out of it as we expected. I decided to keep my week off and I've been getting a lot done around the house.

 

[kathy884]

Southwest has been expanding service in St. Louis and is our largest carrier. I've also found flight prices on Southwest to be pretty competitive in our market, so for me this the SW card is my go to card. (Love those points and still end up paying cash for SW flights too. Save point for those who aren't so sure about their schedules, but are hoping to travel. Use points for others in the family too if I have enough built up.)

 

[disny_luvr]

That signup bonus goes up to 60,000 or even 70,000 on occasion. And I think the highest level Priority card is worth it. You get a $75 annual credit plus more anniversary points, which more than covers the annual fee.

I just checked today and the bonus is 65,000 if you sign up by sometime in mid-July.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly - If I sign up for the Priority card which has a $149 annual fee, I'd only be paying $74 yearly since I'd receive an annual credit of $75, correct?