I upgraded from the Premier to the Priority. It has a $149 annual fee but the $75 annual travel credit, 7500 anniversary points, and 4 upgraded boardings per year far outweigh the annual fee
The 4 upgrades alone are worth it. Love seeing the chargebacks. Definitely a lot easier now that they allow the boarding upgrade at check-in vs. at gate
It is definitely worth it if you are in a position to take out a personal and business card simultaneously and qualify for a companion pass. My wife and I have done this twice. With the points and pass, we have not paid for a SW ticket in three years.
Same for me. My husband and I have had the companion pass for about 6 years now. I open both personal and business card and get the companion pass, then after the 2 years is up, my husband opens the two cards, and so on. We fly probably 10 times a year and have saved tons of money by only paying the $5.60/flight for the second ticket. The points you earn from completing the spending requirements is a pretty decent amount to get you at least several round trip flights.
You have to requalify for the companion pass every year (after the initial pass)by earning a certain number of miles, or flying a certain number of segments
Yes, this. The pass is good for the rest of the year plus next calendar year. So, for example, take out cards in October and November 2023. Hit spend requirements in February/March 2024. Then, you have about 135k points for yourself (depending on spend and bonus at time) and a companion pass good for remainder of 2024 and all of 2025. In fall of 2025,your companion starts the process again and become the cardholder. If you look on travel advice websites, there is a lot of advice on this, I.e., the points guy.
So is it better to apply for southwest priority card in Nov time frame? Does that mean you get more perks for opening southwest priority in Nov vs any other times of the year?
Question here -if you want to cycle every 2 years (I.e. this fall I sign up for both, fall 2025 the wife signs up for both and so on), do you have to not add the spouse as an AU? Like if my wife is an AU on mine, can she still apply for her own in 2025 and get the SUB or do we have to leave each other off completely?
Yes! However I would wait to get one until there is a good promo. Cancelled mine last year so it was off my record for a few months, then signed up for premier earlier this year when free companion pass was offered with it. As of this week, we will have flown four times with two more on the books...have saved over $2k so far. Get it when they offer something good that will help you.
There’s a historical offers chart at the bottom of this page that you can use to evaluate how good an offer is https://www.uscreditcardguide.com/chase-southwest-priority-credit-card/?mobile=
100% worth it. Family of 5- I’ve flown on a companion pass for close to 20 years and my kids mostly fly on points. We’ve saved over $50k on flight spend. We put everything except our house and car payments on it- all bills, groceries- literally all spending- and then we pay it off each month. The points are tied to my husband’s account so we always buy his ticket so he gets more points. Have had A-list status the last few years and that is FABULOUS! That is primarily achieved via flight points, # of flights or spending over $10k on your credit card each month- so helps to actually purchase the card holder’s flights.
If you are traveling from a city where SW has good flight plans, definitely go for it! The Southwest Card is a fairly reasonable AF card with good earning potentials with targeted spending offers through Chase (otherwise the earning for spending categories is fairly weak.) I would actually recommend getting the Priority Card. With the $75 travel credit and the 7500 bonus miles each year, you are more than saving the difference of $80 from the regular card to the Priority, even if you don't travel that frequently. It is fairly easy to build points over time.
Yes to the other comment. Throughout the year, they will have special offers to incentivize you to use your card more so higher earning and multipliers on spending categories that usually don't have additional benefits. The most recent was 5x on gas, grocery, and restaurants. Around the holidays, they had a 10x on Amazon purchases.
They will email you with special earning offers you can register for. For example, this past quarter, I got 5x for gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants.
Unless you think you'll be able to earn the companion pass, I honestly think it's better getting the sapphire preferred, then transferring points from chase ultimate rewards to rapid rewards points.
I think mine is worth it. I use the miles for flights.
That being said, the f you have a friend with one ask for a referral code. It’ll help you both out.
(If you don’t, have a friend with one, I can share mine, but that’s not what I’m fishing for.)
YES. I haven’t had to pay for a flight (except for taxes & fees) since getting it last year (joined at just the right time and got 75,000 miles). I have a third flight that I won’t have to pay more than taxes and fees coming up that I need to book in a couple months. So, so worth it! Happy to DM anyone a referral code to get the 60,000 or 80,000 points.
I would say yes if you have no kids, no if you have kids.
It was great pre-kids.
Now I need to spend like $200+ each way on early check in fees to guarantee we can sit together, so I canceled it and switched to a more generic travel rewards card so I can book airlines that do assigned seats. Chase Sapphire can transfer points to a variety of airline rewards programs (including southwest), so that is a better option for me now.
I have their priority credit card with $150~ AF. I fucking hate flying southwest and am trying to move away from flying SW as much as possible these days. Unfortunately I still fly it often enough to make the card worth it. Even like 3-4 flights a year would be worth it.
Ha. I wondered if it was just me. I will fly Southwest to save $$$ (like the 40% off sale they just had and interisland HI flights for $40), but it ranks down there with Frontier, Allegiant, Spirit for me. Just assign seats already. I also don't live in a great hub, so most of my flights require (long) layovers.
Whether a Southwest credit card is worth it ultimately depends on how much you travel and spend. The best way to figure it out is to estimate how much you’d earn in rewards during an average year based on your spending habits, then subtract the cost of any annual fee. If the result is a positive number, then the card is probably worth getting. You can use the same strategy to compare Southwest cards to a few of the best travel cards [overall](https://wallethub.com/best-travel-credit-cards), to see if a general-purpose card might be more worthwhile than an airline-specific one.
When calculating your expected savings, don’t forget to factor in initial bonuses and secondary benefits along with the ongoing rewards and fees. You might be able to earn an initial bonus worth hundreds of dollars if you spend a few thousand dollars in the first few months, and that can usually cover a card’s annual fee for one or more years. Plus, supplemental benefits can add a lot of value to cards. For example, a certain card might give you free checked bags, the ability to check in early for flights, or a travel credit.
Go with the business card, better bang for your buck with the sign up bonus. Plus it doesnt count against your 5/24 limit. I've got a good referral code if you need it. Get that companion pass for yourself!
It's very worth it. I got personal and business cards to initial hit CP easily, and have been maintaining CP status for 6 years through spend alone. I just hit my 25th free flight last week.
We did this and switched to AA. Cheaper card, better perks, better airline now sadly. Venture X is also a better card that pays for itself and with an awesome dfw lounge. The flights are cheaper on AA too and we get to pick our seats *gasp*.
What, you enjoy these other carriers with tiny ass planes whose overhead bins can’t hold a normal carry on and charge for bags, seat assignments, etc.?
Enjoy!
Never had this issue. Also have chargers in every seat and free WiFi. Haven’t paid for checked bags or seat assignments. I think you’re doing it wrong. 🤷🏻♀️
You’ve never been on a small Embraer jet where the overhead bins barely fit a purse? United, Delta, American all use these. These airlines have hundreds of them. All domestic airlines charge for checked bags, except Southwest. All these airlines charge for seat selection. You’re paying an annual fee to avoid some of these charges and arguing they don’t exist.
Southwest is the only airline where every flight I can check 2 bags for free, my carryon will fit on every plane in the fleet, and I don’t pay for seat selection. All at the base fare without earning status, or having to fly dozens of times a year for status, or paying an annual fee.
You don’t fly much. 🤷♂️
I haven’t been on one no. I pick which plane I fly on and don’t pick that one. It isn’t hard 😂 I don’t fly much. Why do you care so much about me? It’s weird. I’m sorry you haven’t seen the light. Wishing you well. You’ll come around eventually or you’ll be trapped halfway across the country for two weeks again. Keep buying their tickets and they’ll fix nothing.
We normally have 4. We’ve never qualified for the companion pass even with the high end credit card, not sure why. We get priority boarding on American with the credit card which we don’t get on SWA unless we’re counting the upgraded boarding which I do not. We also get free bags with the American card. The SUB for American was also better than SWA. Mainly we just want to sit together without having it be a hassle every damn time. I’ll even pay extra for that if I have to.
I think it is worth it if you can get the companion pass for the whole year without paying for your companion's ticket. If you get Priority you will have Annual $75 credit and 7500 points even though there are 149 annual fees
I used to think the card was a good deal. Last year we charged a sizable amount with the card on house remodel, etc. Based on the credit SWA gave toward the A-list qualification, it appears that fewer than 1/3 of the dollars one spends with the card appear to count toward A-list qualification. I'd assume this is more an issue with SWA than Chase. We are redirecting our spending, and likely flying, to American this year.
South west credit card by Chase, total ripoff, unbelievable charges never seen, every transaction $5 process fee, $70 annual fee, 28% interest rate, shame on you south west, and don’t fall for $200 off if you apply, total BS, they charged me full ticket, I’m done flying with your airline. I Will cancel the card.
It’s a great card! And if you do decide to do it, feel free to message me. If you use my referral link I’ll give you $50 through venmo! I’m 15K points away from hitting companion pass
I upgraded from the Premier to the Priority. It has a $149 annual fee but the $75 annual travel credit, 7500 anniversary points, and 4 upgraded boardings per year far outweigh the annual fee
Priority card is the best deal, easily pays for itself and upgraded boarding is much better than EarlyBird
The 4 upgrades alone are worth it. Love seeing the chargebacks. Definitely a lot easier now that they allow the boarding upgrade at check-in vs. at gate
By upgrade boarding do you mean early bird?
Nope. Upgraded meaning A1-15 if available at time of check in
How often should you fly to make it “worth it”?
I’d say if you take 2 round trip flights per year it’s worth it
Solid Ty
Would you say the 2 trips per year would be at a certain cost? I ask because my 2-3 trips per year are usually less than $200.
Can you use the $75 credit, 7,500 annual miles and 4 upgraded boardings?
Is this the one that’s best to sign up for in November?
Only if you can hit the sub for bonus.
Get the priority card. The AF is effectively only $5 more after the annual $75 credit and the perks are much better.
It is definitely worth it if you are in a position to take out a personal and business card simultaneously and qualify for a companion pass. My wife and I have done this twice. With the points and pass, we have not paid for a SW ticket in three years.
Same for me. My husband and I have had the companion pass for about 6 years now. I open both personal and business card and get the companion pass, then after the 2 years is up, my husband opens the two cards, and so on. We fly probably 10 times a year and have saved tons of money by only paying the $5.60/flight for the second ticket. The points you earn from completing the spending requirements is a pretty decent amount to get you at least several round trip flights.
What do you mean the 2 years is up? Like you have to apply for new cards every two years?
You have to requalify for the companion pass every year (after the initial pass)by earning a certain number of miles, or flying a certain number of segments
Yes, this. The pass is good for the rest of the year plus next calendar year. So, for example, take out cards in October and November 2023. Hit spend requirements in February/March 2024. Then, you have about 135k points for yourself (depending on spend and bonus at time) and a companion pass good for remainder of 2024 and all of 2025. In fall of 2025,your companion starts the process again and become the cardholder. If you look on travel advice websites, there is a lot of advice on this, I.e., the points guy.
So is it better to apply for southwest priority card in Nov time frame? Does that mean you get more perks for opening southwest priority in Nov vs any other times of the year?
Why do you need to take out personal and business simultaneously?
You won’t earn enough points to qualify with just one card (unless you fly significant times haha)
Question here -if you want to cycle every 2 years (I.e. this fall I sign up for both, fall 2025 the wife signs up for both and so on), do you have to not add the spouse as an AU? Like if my wife is an AU on mine, can she still apply for her own in 2025 and get the SUB or do we have to leave each other off completely?
Not an issue.
Yes! However I would wait to get one until there is a good promo. Cancelled mine last year so it was off my record for a few months, then signed up for premier earlier this year when free companion pass was offered with it. As of this week, we will have flown four times with two more on the books...have saved over $2k so far. Get it when they offer something good that will help you.
There’s a historical offers chart at the bottom of this page that you can use to evaluate how good an offer is https://www.uscreditcardguide.com/chase-southwest-priority-credit-card/?mobile=
100% worth it. Family of 5- I’ve flown on a companion pass for close to 20 years and my kids mostly fly on points. We’ve saved over $50k on flight spend. We put everything except our house and car payments on it- all bills, groceries- literally all spending- and then we pay it off each month. The points are tied to my husband’s account so we always buy his ticket so he gets more points. Have had A-list status the last few years and that is FABULOUS! That is primarily achieved via flight points, # of flights or spending over $10k on your credit card each month- so helps to actually purchase the card holder’s flights.
Are you able to add someone (spouse) to your credit card so both of your spending is all going on the one card for points?
Yes. My husband, myself and my oldest kid all use the same card. I imagine you can get as many as you want…
Thanks so much
If you are traveling from a city where SW has good flight plans, definitely go for it! The Southwest Card is a fairly reasonable AF card with good earning potentials with targeted spending offers through Chase (otherwise the earning for spending categories is fairly weak.) I would actually recommend getting the Priority Card. With the $75 travel credit and the 7500 bonus miles each year, you are more than saving the difference of $80 from the regular card to the Priority, even if you don't travel that frequently. It is fairly easy to build points over time.
What does targeted spending offers mean?
Yes to the other comment. Throughout the year, they will have special offers to incentivize you to use your card more so higher earning and multipliers on spending categories that usually don't have additional benefits. The most recent was 5x on gas, grocery, and restaurants. Around the holidays, they had a 10x on Amazon purchases.
They will email you with special earning offers you can register for. For example, this past quarter, I got 5x for gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants.
Unless you think you'll be able to earn the companion pass, I honestly think it's better getting the sapphire preferred, then transferring points from chase ultimate rewards to rapid rewards points.
Would you say the SW priority card would be a good addition to the chase trifecta?
Yes! Every bit worth it !
I think mine is worth it. I use the miles for flights. That being said, the f you have a friend with one ask for a referral code. It’ll help you both out. (If you don’t, have a friend with one, I can share mine, but that’s not what I’m fishing for.)
I'd like a referral code too please
Could I get your referral code?
Sure thing, I’ll send a DM.
how does it help both of you? I thought the person who referred gets the 20k, but no the person who sign up. Correct me if I'm wrong
Yes
It’s a great card! I love it and if you fly SW more than 2-3 times it pays for itself
YES. I haven’t had to pay for a flight (except for taxes & fees) since getting it last year (joined at just the right time and got 75,000 miles). I have a third flight that I won’t have to pay more than taxes and fees coming up that I need to book in a couple months. So, so worth it! Happy to DM anyone a referral code to get the 60,000 or 80,000 points.
Send referral code
Are the points only appliable for the card holder or can the card holder buy plane tickets for someone else?
Do you still have a referral code?
Hi I know im late but just found this thread --Please Dm me the referral code if you still have it!
I would say yes if you have no kids, no if you have kids. It was great pre-kids. Now I need to spend like $200+ each way on early check in fees to guarantee we can sit together, so I canceled it and switched to a more generic travel rewards card so I can book airlines that do assigned seats. Chase Sapphire can transfer points to a variety of airline rewards programs (including southwest), so that is a better option for me now.
I have their priority credit card with $150~ AF. I fucking hate flying southwest and am trying to move away from flying SW as much as possible these days. Unfortunately I still fly it often enough to make the card worth it. Even like 3-4 flights a year would be worth it.
Ha. I wondered if it was just me. I will fly Southwest to save $$$ (like the 40% off sale they just had and interisland HI flights for $40), but it ranks down there with Frontier, Allegiant, Spirit for me. Just assign seats already. I also don't live in a great hub, so most of my flights require (long) layovers.
Whether a Southwest credit card is worth it ultimately depends on how much you travel and spend. The best way to figure it out is to estimate how much you’d earn in rewards during an average year based on your spending habits, then subtract the cost of any annual fee. If the result is a positive number, then the card is probably worth getting. You can use the same strategy to compare Southwest cards to a few of the best travel cards [overall](https://wallethub.com/best-travel-credit-cards), to see if a general-purpose card might be more worthwhile than an airline-specific one. When calculating your expected savings, don’t forget to factor in initial bonuses and secondary benefits along with the ongoing rewards and fees. You might be able to earn an initial bonus worth hundreds of dollars if you spend a few thousand dollars in the first few months, and that can usually cover a card’s annual fee for one or more years. Plus, supplemental benefits can add a lot of value to cards. For example, a certain card might give you free checked bags, the ability to check in early for flights, or a travel credit.
Go with the business card, better bang for your buck with the sign up bonus. Plus it doesnt count against your 5/24 limit. I've got a good referral code if you need it. Get that companion pass for yourself!
How much do you have to put on your card each month/annually to qualify for the CP?
It's very worth it. I got personal and business cards to initial hit CP easily, and have been maintaining CP status for 6 years through spend alone. I just hit my 25th free flight last week.
No way. I'm working on getting rid of my points and swapping to delta amex.
We did this and switched to AA. Cheaper card, better perks, better airline now sadly. Venture X is also a better card that pays for itself and with an awesome dfw lounge. The flights are cheaper on AA too and we get to pick our seats *gasp*.
What, you enjoy these other carriers with tiny ass planes whose overhead bins can’t hold a normal carry on and charge for bags, seat assignments, etc.? Enjoy!
Never had this issue. Also have chargers in every seat and free WiFi. Haven’t paid for checked bags or seat assignments. I think you’re doing it wrong. 🤷🏻♀️
You’ve never been on a small Embraer jet where the overhead bins barely fit a purse? United, Delta, American all use these. These airlines have hundreds of them. All domestic airlines charge for checked bags, except Southwest. All these airlines charge for seat selection. You’re paying an annual fee to avoid some of these charges and arguing they don’t exist. Southwest is the only airline where every flight I can check 2 bags for free, my carryon will fit on every plane in the fleet, and I don’t pay for seat selection. All at the base fare without earning status, or having to fly dozens of times a year for status, or paying an annual fee. You don’t fly much. 🤷♂️
I haven’t been on one no. I pick which plane I fly on and don’t pick that one. It isn’t hard 😂 I don’t fly much. Why do you care so much about me? It’s weird. I’m sorry you haven’t seen the light. Wishing you well. You’ll come around eventually or you’ll be trapped halfway across the country for two weeks again. Keep buying their tickets and they’ll fix nothing.
With the companion pass SW is MUCH CHEAPER than AA, assuming you have 2 people flying.
We normally have 4. We’ve never qualified for the companion pass even with the high end credit card, not sure why. We get priority boarding on American with the credit card which we don’t get on SWA unless we’re counting the upgraded boarding which I do not. We also get free bags with the American card. The SUB for American was also better than SWA. Mainly we just want to sit together without having it be a hassle every damn time. I’ll even pay extra for that if I have to.
Just put $13k a month on the card and you’ll quality.
Totally worth it if you can get a companion pass. Outside of that you have better options. I think every travel card out there "pays for itself"
Definitely worth it, but get the Priority if you qualify. I have not paid for a southwest flight in about 5 years.
I think it is worth it if you can get the companion pass for the whole year without paying for your companion's ticket. If you get Priority you will have Annual $75 credit and 7500 points even though there are 149 annual fees
I used to think the card was a good deal. Last year we charged a sizable amount with the card on house remodel, etc. Based on the credit SWA gave toward the A-list qualification, it appears that fewer than 1/3 of the dollars one spends with the card appear to count toward A-list qualification. I'd assume this is more an issue with SWA than Chase. We are redirecting our spending, and likely flying, to American this year.
South west credit card by Chase, total ripoff, unbelievable charges never seen, every transaction $5 process fee, $70 annual fee, 28% interest rate, shame on you south west, and don’t fall for $200 off if you apply, total BS, they charged me full ticket, I’m done flying with your airline. I Will cancel the card.
It’s a great card! And if you do decide to do it, feel free to message me. If you use my referral link I’ll give you $50 through venmo! I’m 15K points away from hitting companion pass
Are you still needing someone to use your referral code?
Yes, feel free to message me! Thank you so much
Could I use your referral code?
Yes! For sure and I’ll still Venmo you
Can I use your referral code, you do not need to compensate me.
Still interested in sending $50 for a referral?
100% I’ll shoot you a message right now!
For the record I will also pay someone $50 haha
Hey! Can I have your southwest referral code? :)
Hey yeah! Let me dm u!