Southwest Credit Card

[superme80]

Do you recommend it? DH and I are thinking of opening one. Pros/Cons of it. Thanks everyone!

 

[PatMcDuck]

Look hard all over for a 50,000 point offer, if you can find one.

A DIS board tip that worked for us? DH and I each got our own cards, so 50,000 points, EACH. After 3-4 years, followed another DIS tip, and we each got our own Premier cards. Another 100,000 points.

 

[ICF]

There isn't a negative to it, as long as you plan to fly with SW.....it's a great card.

Earlier this year I opened the Premier and Plus cards both and earned the companion pass that lasts thru Dec 2018.

 

[cmoliver5]

I have the Southwest Visa and the Delta Amex. While I've been a loyal Delta flier for a long time, I won't be renewing the card. The amount of miles it takes to get pretty much anywhere from my market via Delta is not really worth it at all, i.e. 25k miles for a round trip with lousy flight times.

In contrast, it's not difficult to do a southwest round trip for 10-15k miles. When we got the card we were able to grab a 50k mile offer as well so that was a nice perk.

It'll depend on the market you are in, but I'm in Central Ohio and Southwest works great for flying out of Columbus.

 

[DizMe]

I love my SW card. As others have said, if you're a regular flyer with SW, it's a great cc. I haven't paid for a flight on SW, which is most of my flying, in years. The card I have (has the higher annual fee but more points given) has no international fees. I'm not sure about the other one, but if you plan to travel overseas, that's a perk worth having and the extra cost is offset by the extra points granted on your cc anniversary.

 

[jimandami]

Look hard all over for a 50,000 point offer, if you can find one.

A DIS board tip that worked for us? DH and I each got our own cards, so 50,000 points, EACH. After 3-4 years, followed another DIS tip, and we each got our own Premier cards. Another 100,000 points.

Technically you are better off having one spouse apply for 2 different SW cards that have the 50,000 point bonus because then its quite easy to get the additional points to earn a companion pass (110,000 required). It's especially advantageous if you apply in say, November, and meet the minimum spends in January. If you can get a few more thousand, you reach companion in say Feb or March and then it's good for almost 2 entire years! Then, when it's almost up, you have the other spouse apply for points cards. Rinse and repeat.

 

[JKalai]

Companion Pass holder here. Opened both cards in the beginning of the year and have it till Dec 2018.

I love the cards and I have never had a problem with Chase as I primarily bank with them. It's funny to see peoples reactions when they ask about what kind of deals I got on airfare and I tell them we both flew for free (minus the $5 tax which is basically free). Constantly check for deals for flights as the sales on airfare also change the point cost for flying. Canceling with points is very easy and instant through Southwest.

 

[Albort]

SW card is ideal for couples that fly together often. The only reason you would want to get a SW card is for the companion pass. If your a single person, its not really worth it. You might want to go with a general card like a Chase Sapphire Reserve/Preferred. Those also transfer to SW.

other than that, it has a terrible earning potential power...

 

[a742246]

I love the Southwest card. Both my wife and I have 2 cards each and both times were able to get the companion pass. I am not too happy with the United credit card, flights are expensive in terms of points usage.

 

[DizMe]

SW card is ideal for couples that fly together often. The only reason you would want to get a SW card is for the companion pass. If your a single person, its not really worth it. You might want to go with a general card like a Chase Sapphire Reserve/Preferred. Those also transfer to SW.

other than that, it has a terrible earning potential power...

I don't understand what you mean about the terrible earning potential. I have heard that the Sapphire card is great and am trying to understand why it might be better for me to have that one. I almost never fly any other airline than SW and since I use that card for everything, my flights are always free (it's just me flying). I know the Sapphire card is better if you need more flexibility with how you use your points but are there other benefits over SW for someone like me?

 

[mmbrad02]

How do you earn the Companion Pass?

We use a Disney Premier card exclusively for all purchases at our house, but thinking perhaps we should invest in the SW card as well, as we always fly SW to Disney. Would love to know how you get the Companion pass though.

 

[Albort]

I don't understand what you mean about the terrible earning potential. I have heard that the Sapphire card is great and am trying to understand why it might be better for me to have that one. I almost never fly any other airline than SW and since I use that card for everything, my flights are always free (it's just me flying). I know the Sapphire card is better if you need more flexibility with how you use your points but are there other benefits over SW for someone like me?

Earning potential means how quickly u can build up points. @only 2x on southwest flights and partners, 1x on everything else. If you were to use a Sapphire Reserve, you would earn 3x on travel(very generalize). those points can also be transferred to Southwest @ 1:1 ratio. I dont see any benefits for having a southwest card though. like free bags, priority check in etc... I could be wrong, someone with it should comment...

IE, i spent $2000 on travel.
Sapphire card = 6,000 points
SW card = 3,000 points.

How do you earn the Companion Pass?

We use a Disney Premier card exclusively for all purchases at our house, but thinking perhaps we should invest in the SW card as well, as we always fly SW to Disney. Would love to know how you get the Companion pass though.

companion pass is earned by earning 120,000 RR points. The trick to earn this quickly is buy signing up for 2 SW credit card, currently they are at 40,000 with $2,000 spendings(which is not the best deal out there). The goal i think is to earn it at the beginning of the year, so you get full 2 years of companion pass.(i think this is right...)

 

[mmbrad02]

So can you apply the same RR account number to all the cards you open? Is that how they accumulate so quickly?

 

[bjscheel]

So can you apply the same RR account number to all the cards you open? Is that how they accumulate so quickly?

Yeah, if they are in your name. I.E. I have a RR account and all SW cards in my name go with that account. But I can't put points from DH's SW card in my RR account, they have to go in his.

When we first got them, we got one in each name. After DH's bonus points were in, I cancelled his card and decided to concentrate on putting all the points in my account. We got another one in my name later and with the bonus and spending, we did qualify for companion pass one year even without getting two bonuses at once. DH has his own business so we spend a few thousand a month on them. Yes, ideally we should have applied for two in my name at once but I think we tried it and were declined and I didn't pursue it.

I LOVE flying on points. We flew free for 4 years straight (4 of us/once a year). We didn't fly this year, and likely won't next year due to school schedules, so when we fly again in 2019 we are going to have tons of points. I currently have 183,000. We may never pay to fly again...

The best part about flying on points is that if your fares go down or you want to change things around, your points just go back in your account. We only fly once a year so we would never get a credit used up if we had bought with cash and then fares went down.

I also do e-Rewards to earn points by doing surveys. I earn 1200-2400 per month. Over a year's time that a round trip ticket's worth.

 

[ChattaDIS]

Much better cards out there unless you can earn enough points to earn the companion pass by getting the 110k points in a calendar year. I would recommend cards like chase sapphire preferred or reserve. You can transfer their points straight to sw and they earn better than the sw card and have the same or better sign on bonus.

 

[ChattaDIS]

Earning potential means how quickly u can build up points. @only 2x on southwest flights and partners, 1x on everything else. If you were to use a Sapphire Reserve, you would earn 3x on travel(very generalize). those points can also be transferred to Southwest @ 1:1 ratio. I dont see any benefits for having a southwest card though. like free bags, priority check in etc... I could be wrong, someone with it should comment...

IE, i spent $2000 on travel.
Sapphire card = 6,000 points
SW card = 3,000 points.

I would also add that you get a greater value from sapphire cards on dining 2-3x and if you get the freedom you can leverage the quarterly 5x point categories.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

There isn't a negative to it, as long as you plan to fly with SW.....it's a great card.

Earlier this year I opened the Premier and Plus cards both and earned the companion pass that lasts thru Dec 2018.

Don't forget the 10x points back to school promo going on till Aug 16th shopping via their portal. Bagged a new push mower and some tools and got the 2,000 for 550 plus 4x on top of that. That's basically 14x back.

https://rapidrewardsshopping.southw...ed=link&strm=&cam=BTS&cont=PrtnrLndPage&end=1

The wife and I both have each card, so we got two companion passes which works out with two kids. The annual fee is negated by the anniversary points that we use.
We booked a room on Southwest Hotels for our DC stay at got 30,000 points which more than gave us back our points that we used to fly to BWI on. We have several long weekends planned for the next year and a half.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

Chase Sapphire is also offering 10x points for up to $250 via their portal at Walmart.com when you sign up for Chase Pay. Since the Wife and I both have a CSR, that's 5,000 points for 500 bucks we already spend at Walmart on groceries here in Northwest Arkansas. Just have to do it online instead.

 

[DizMe]

Don't forget the 10x points back to school promo going on till Aug 16th shopping via their portal. Bagged a new push mower and some tools and got the 2,000 for 550 plus 4x on top of that. That's basically 14x back.

https://rapidrewardsshopping.southw...ed=link&strm=&cam=BTS&cont=PrtnrLndPage&end=1

The wife and I both have each card, so we got two companion passes which works out with two kids. The annual fee is negated by the anniversary points that we use.
We booked a room on Southwest Hotels for our DC stay at got 30,000 points which more than gave us back our points that we used to fly to BWI on. We have several long weekends planned for the next year and a half.

This is very similar to how I use the card except that I don't have a companion pass, which is too bad! I get 6000 anniversary points and book hotels plus use the shopping portal for X back. But I really don't know how to compare all of that to, say, the Sapphire to figure out which is better.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

This is very similar to how I use the card except that I don't have a companion pass, which is too bad! I get 6000 anniversary points and book hotels plus use the shopping portal for X back. But I really don't know how to compare all of that to, say, the Sapphire to figure out which is better.

here's what I have, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Freedom, both personal Southwest cards. I've had the Freedom forever and like that 5x bonuses. The Freedom Unlimited isn't for me. I've sold some stuff on ebay and plan to sell some more, so I'm thinking of getting the Business Ink with the 80,000point sign up bonus that I can transfer over to my CSR for greater redemption rate.

That back to school thing with southwest and sears worked well, What I didn't do was first get a sears gift card and then got back through the portal for another 4x points. Sears went down to 1x on 8-1I was going back for some more tool toys.