New Credit Card: Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Priority Card

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Quick Summary

  • Signup bonus of 40,000 miles after $1,000 spend in 3 months
  • Additional bonus of 25,000 miles after $15,000 total spend in 12 months (i.e. $14,000 additional spend after earning the main bonus)
  • 2x miles on Southwest and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases
  • 7,500 anniversary points each year
  • $75 annual Southwest travel credit
  • Four Upgraded Boardings per year when available
  • 20% back on in-flight drinks, WiFi, messaging, and movies
  • $149 annual fee

First of all, you can’t get this card if you’re a cardholder of any other Southwest personal cards (business cards are okay), or if you’ve received the signup bonus from any Southwest personal cards within the past 24 months.

Assuming you can get approved, though, the signup bonus is not that great. 40,000 miles after $1,000 spend is decent, but we’ve seen higher bonuses in the past with other Southwest cards. Spending $15,000 in a year to get another 25,000 miles is something I technically consider to be worth doing; however, there are plenty of other credit cards that provide similar value without having to do so much spend. So while this bonus is decent on the surface, I don’t really recommend applying for this card because much of the competition is simply better.

For a frequent Southwest flyer, the 7,500 anniversary points + $75 annual Southwest travel credit are worth more than the $149 annual fee, but only by about $20 or so. Combine that with the four upgraded boardings per year, and this card does provide some ongoing value for people who fly Southwest regularly. With that said, you would only be considering this card’s ongoing value if you were a cardholder in the first place, and, as mentioned above, I don’t really think this card is worth getting right now. Let’s wait and see if a better bonus comes along.

P.S. Note that the 2x miles on hotel and car rental purchases requires that you book through Southwest’s website, and 2x miles isn’t that much anyway. If I had this card, I would put zero spend on it after earning the bonus.

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