Math Quiz: How many 2300 point flights can you obtain from an 80,000 point welcome bonus?
Well, Southwest just announced an increased welcome bonus on all 3 Southwest personal credit cards.
Currently, there is no end date mentioned, but if you’re interested, I would apply sooner rather than later.
SOUTHWEST PERSONAL CARDS
Chase offers three co-branded personal cards for Southwest Airlines and right now they have increased welcome offers. Let’s look at the details…
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card: Earn 50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Earn an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months. Annual fee: $69
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card is a perfect card if you’re just getting started with credit cards and desire an inexpensive co-brand card. It offers 3,000 Rapid Rewards (worth ~$40) on your account anniversary, which decreases your actual out-of-pocket costs on the annual fee.
Again, this is a basic card so it has limited benefits, but delivers great value even for the introductory 50,000 points.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card: Earn 50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Earn an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months. Annual fee: $99
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card is a bit more expensive with a $99 annual fee but offer an anniversary bonus of 6,000 Rapid Rewards points (~$80). Again, this is a solid card if you need some additional benefits beyond the Plus card.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card: Earn 50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Earn an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months. Annual fee: $149
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card is the most expensive but easily pays for itself if you are able to fly with Southwest at least twice per year. With this card, you get 7,500 Rapid Rewards points (~$100) each year you keep the card in addition to a $75 Southwest travel credit. If you’re doing the math, that’s more than the $149 annual fee. If you factor in the additional benefits, this card is a no-brainer if you’re a southwest fan.
FINAL STAMP
That’s right… all three cards are currently offering 80,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points after meeting a tiered spend threshold.
Recognizing that Southwest cards generally offer a 30,000 – 40,000 point welcome bonus for most of the year, this is a good offer (albeit with a rather steep $10,000 spend to obtain all of the points).
Depending on your spending habits (and your affinity to fly Southwest), this could be a good offer. Unfortunately, I don’t think this offer is as lucrative as their most recent offer that ended in September 2020.
I’m a big fan of Southwest Airlines and I recommend obtaining the Southwest cards particularly for families. Southwest points allowed my family to travel to Hawaii last year and I only paid for one person.😉
Clearly, the Southwest Rapid Rewards program shouldn’t be your focus if you’re seeking aspirational, lie-flat, international business class. But if you’re content with flying domestically (read: Hawaii), the Caribbean Islands (read: Aruba), Mexico (read: Cabo) and Central America (read: Costa Rica), it’s hard to beat Southwest.
Recognizing that flying with Southwest comes with two free checked bags, unlimited (and free) changes to award tickets, points that never expire, and we may be limited to domestic travel for some time, this may be a good time to consider these cards.
However, applying for the Southwest cards is about strategy especially if you’re interested in going for the companion pass.
Are you planning to apply for one (or more) Southwest personal cards?
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