Chase currently offers 4 different Southwest Airlines credit cards. There are 2 personal (Plus and Premier) cards, and 2 business (also Plus and Premier) cards.
The normal sign up bonus for these cards is 25,000 Rapid Rewards (RR) points. Quite frequently, some or all of these cards come with a 50,000 point bonus. Since 60 RR points = $1 (in “Wanna Get Away” fares), that makes 25,000 points worth $416.67 and 50,000 points worth $833.33.
Since these cards look and sound similar, I wanted to provide a visual comparison as seen below.
| Card | Bonus | Annual Fee | Annual Bonus Points | Foreign Trans. Fee | Points Earning | Tier point benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plus Personal | 25000 points is common 50000 point offer comes and goes | $69 Not waived first year | 3000 | 3% | - 1 point per $1 spent - 2 points per $1 on Southwest & Airtran tickets, hotel, and car rental purchases on Southwest.com | None |
| Premier Personal | 25000 points is common 50000 point offer comes and goes | $99 Not waived first year | 6000 | None | - 1 point per $1 spent - 2 points per $1 on Southwest & Airtran tickets, hotel, and car rental purchases on Southwest.com | Earn up to 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points toward A-List and A-List Preferred status for every $10,000 you spend on the card (maximum of 15,000 Tier Qualifying Points annually). |
| Plus Business | 25000 points is common 50000 point offer comes and goes | $69 Not waived first year | 3000 | 3% | - 1 point per $1 spent - 2 points per $1 on Southwest & Airtran tickets, hotel, and car rental purchases on Southwest.com | None |
| Premier Business | 25000 points is common 50000 point offer comes and goes | $99 Not waived first year | 6000 | None | - 1 point per $1 spent - 2 points per $1 on Southwest & Airtran tickets, hotel, and car rental purchases on Southwest.com | Earn up to 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points toward A-List and A-List Preferred status for every $10,000 you spend on the card (maximum of 15,000 Tier Qualifying Points annually). |
Summary:
From the table above, you can see that none of the cards waive the annual fee. Although the Plus cards may be initially worth the lower annual fee of $69 to get the sign up bonus, they are not worth it for the longterm since they only offer a 3000 point annual bonus (worth $50 in “Wanna Get Away” fares). The Premier cards have the higher annual fee of $99, but the 6000 point annual bonus (worth $100 in “Wanna Get Away” fares) makes them worth the annual fee. The Premier cards have the marginal benefit of no foreign transaction fees and the option to earn Rapid Rewards Tier Qualifying points which may or may not be useful for everyone.
Strategy and options:
- Since the cards frequently come with the 50,000 point bonus, you should not settle for the 25,000 point bonus.
- Applying for a personal and business card (assuming a 50,000 point bonus) at the same time can yield 100,000 points which can get you closer to earning the valuable Southwest Companion Pass (which requires 110,000) points. Of course, Chase and Southwest can change this anytime so that these bonus points do not count towards the Companion Pass.
- Get the Plus card first, get the bonus, and cancel before the annual fee is due. You could then apply for a Premier card.
- If you have one of the Premier cards, don’t cancel it since it’s worth the annual fee, especially if you value flying Southwest. Additionally, you can also save it for bargaining power with Chase in case you get denied for a different card from Chase.