Southwest Visa; keep it?

[Princess Disney Mom]

Hi
I have the Southwest Visa and it has a $99 fee per year. I do fly southwest about two times per year. The fee is high though especially since I also have a Hilton visa with no fee. Is it worth keeping the southwest visa? They give 6000 points for the $99 each year.

 

[jimandami]

I think it depends on if you are using it to earn points for travel. If you are only getting the 6,000 points per year, then no, I wouldn't keep it. However, if you are using for bills and monthly expenditures, then paying it off each month, I would keep it. We have been averaging 3,000-4,000 points per month just using it for things we have to buy anyway, so that is a one way flight every 2 months.

 

[Melany502]

Hi
I have the Southwest Visa and it has a $99 fee per year. I do fly southwest about two times per year. The fee is high though especially since I also have a Hilton visa with no fee. Is it worth keeping the southwest visa? They give 6000 points for the $99 each year.

I plan on closing them and getting the Chase Ink. You can earn more points and they transfer 1:1 to Southwest and other airlines and hotel chains. No annual fee the first year. There are some categories that earn 5x the points and some that earn 2x

https://creditcards.chase.com/ink-business-credit-cards/rewards/ink-plus-card

I have been looking at the Barclaycard as well.

 

[Marionnette]

Hi
I have the Southwest Visa and it has a $99 fee per year. I do fly southwest about two times per year. The fee is high though especially since I also have a Hilton visa with no fee. Is it worth keeping the southwest visa? They give 6000 points for the $99 each year.

According to this article, one RR pt. is worth 1.43¢. That means that 6000 points are worth about $84.94. If the only thing that your SWA Visa is providing you with is those annual bonus points, then it certainly is not worth it to keep the card. You're losing almost $15/year with it.

 

[threeboysmom]

I plan on cancelling my card before the next annual fee is due and going back to my Disney Visa.

But my question is, what happens to my reward points when I cancel? I have about 7000 pts. and don't want to lose them, but yet I have no plans on booking airfare anytime this year.

If I cancel the card, will I still be able to access the points for booking in the future?

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

According to this article, one RR pt. is worth 1.43¢. That means that 6000 points are worth about $84.94. If the only thing that your SWA Visa is providing you with is those annual bonus points, then it certainly is not worth it to keep the card. You're losing almost $15/year with it.

Thanks !!!!

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I plan on cancelling my card before the next annual fee is due and going back to my Disney Visa. But my question is, what happens to my reward points when I cancel? I have about 7000 pts. and don't want to lose them, but yet I have no plans on booking airfare anytime this year. If I cancel the card, will I still be able to access the points for booking in the future?

The points stay in your account. You need activity every 24 months to keep the points.

 

[mm1971]

Hi
I have the Southwest Visa and it has a $99 fee per year. I do fly southwest about two times per year. The fee is high though especially since I also have a Hilton visa with no fee. Is it worth keeping the southwest visa? They give 6000 points for the $99 each year.

As a PP said, if all you do is collect the 6K points then it is not worth it. I do know that the rewards are not great, but we use it all the time and accumulated 2-3000 points a month. We are able to take vacations and not pay airfare pretty consistently. If you are not using it then I would say it is not needed and not worth paying the annual fee.

 

[emilymad]

We keep ours because it is our only card that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee. This comes in handy for us.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I'd keep it. 6000 miles plus whatever you charge can add up to a free flight or at least free one way ticket.

Or switch to the regular SWA card that is $69 a year and gives you 3K miles and do it when they offer the 50K points. YOu will get to keep the miles you currently have when you open the new card so you could have a good stock pile of points.

 

[briand1023]

With 6000 pts you can get a rt flight that would otherwise coat you a couple hundred.

 

[hsmamato2]

With 6000 pts you can get a rt flight that would otherwise coat you a couple hundred.

I agree,that's why I pay the fee. Yes, if you only get those 6000 points all year, it's approx. value is a *bit* less than the 99.00...but when you factor in other (easy) ways to get SWA points plus just using it when desired to get points plus the (sometimes) awesome sales every few weeks on SWA,plus the whole flexibility of using points to book .... yeah, it's worth it. A one way ticket to anywhere is 99.00..... and my last trip to FL I booked at approx 9,000 pts for a R/T ticket..... I feel like it's one of the few that is worth paying for...if you use those points!

 

[jls886]

I've had the same thought, but always end up deciding to keep mine.

Those 6000 points = $85.71 so almost pay the annual fee off.

1 point/$1 spent = 1.43% back on your spending if you use your points to purchase SW flights. Yes, there are a few cards out there that do 2% or 5% bonuses (usually rotating categories per quarter), but they are normally capped for spending at about $1500. I spend more than that per month so I would max out my bonuses quickly and then go back to the normal 1% for the rest of my purchases that month or quarter. So for me, knowing that I get 1.43% back on ALL purchases is worth not having to play games to figure out which categories are best that quarter. Some people feel differently, that is just my personal opinion.

Plus, no foreign transaction fees. I don't use that often, but when I do it is great to have.

I don't travel as much as I used to, but I enjoy having free flights when I do. And I am pretty loyal to SW unless there is some crazy reason not to fly them for a certain trip, so I know I will use my points.

 

[georgina]

It's the only card I have that I pay a fee for. We fly SW a lot with a DD in college far away, so I rack up points to use on her flights. I think it depends on how much you fly. I got a Chase Marriott rewards for the bonus but plan to cancel it before my one free year is up.

 

[swilshire]

With 6000 pts you can get a rt flight that would otherwise coat you a couple hundred.

Wish I could find one of those. The flights I have booked range from 10K - 13K or more each way. I once found a great sale under 10K one way, but that was before the points were devalued.

Sheila

 

[puffkin]

I keep mine. I use it for everything so we rack up 2000-3000 points a month. I just look at the annual fee as a prepayment on future airfare. Booking with points is soooo much better than cash though so I actually prefer it.

We rack up points like crazy. We haven't paid OOP for flights outside of the annual fee in years. We fly at least 2x a year. My husband has opened the card in his name 2x now, had it a few months then cancelled. He has earned the 50,000 points each time. We are ready to do that again because we are getting low on points. My mom has done it once as well and transferred me the points. If you have good credit, it really doesn't ding you at all. I keep mine open though all the time as our primary card though.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You don't have to have the $99 card.
We have this SWA cc which is only $69/yr though it was $59 when we got it so we're locked into that annually.


We use it to pay for everything except our mortgage & dh's truck payment. We earn sooo many free flights per year it's well worth the $59.

All 4 of us flew RT to MCO last Sept.
All 4 of us are flying one way to LAS (for AZ/UT) in August
2 out of 4 of us are returning from LAS
3 of us are flying one way to MCO in Sept.

only $2.50 each way pp.

 

[hsmamato2]

As a PP said, if all you do is collect the 6K points then it is not worth it. I do know that the rewards are not great, but we use it all the time and accumulated 2-3000 points a month. We are able to take vacations and not pay airfare pretty consistently. If you are not using it then I would say it is not needed and not worth paying the annual fee.

are you kidding? the rewards are pretty great.... now, that 99 fee = about 85.00 in flights straight up....but factor in sales (always happening) easy rebooking of points travel (all the time) the SHOPPING PORTAL (at least 2x the points per dollar,up to 30x) the companion pass(should you choose to get it) and ALL that free and cheap travel....it's not worth 99.00??? I don't remember the last time I was able to fly my family of 4 anywhere for 99.00...... the value is in the use,and accumulation of those precious points... It's not my only card, but it's a main way to travel as far as domestic and rewards are concerned for me.... I'm still amazed at the goodness of the SWA program.... and don't get me started on hotels,car rentals,etc etc that are linked......( I stayed onsite at Universal for 2 nights for FREE using some points,those rooms are at least 250.00 per night)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

are you kidding? the rewards are pretty great.... now, that 99 fee = about 85.00 in flights straight up....but factor in sales (always happening) easy rebooking of points travel (all the time) the SHOPPING PORTAL (at least 2x the points per dollar,up to 30x) the companion pass(should you choose to get it) and ALL that free and cheap travel....it's not worth 99.00??? I don't remember the last time I was able to fly my family of 4 anywhere for 99.00...... the value is in the use,and accumulation of those precious points... It's not my only card, but it's a main way to travel as far as domestic and rewards are concerned for me.... I'm still amazed at the goodness of the SWA program.... and don't get me started on hotels,car rentals,etc etc that are linked......( I stayed onsite at Universal for 2 nights for FREE using some points,those rooms are at least 250.00 per night)

Please reread the pp. she said if you're only getting it for the 6,000 bonus points then it's not worth it. Of course if you use it to the max then it is.

 

[hsmamato2]

Well, I read it...and what pp said is true.... I wasn't targeting pp specifically, just the words 'the rewards aren't that great' I still think that even if you just keep it,and get the bonus, it is still a good deal...just b/c of the deals that come around regularly that make those points worth much more than daily average....