New Premium Southwest Priority Card Is Live: 65,000 Points, Upgrades, Travel Credit, and More

There were some earlier rumors this year of Chase launching a premium Southwest card and today is the day it has come and gone live. If you are a Southwest flyer, definitely check out this new card below to see if it is for you. It will give you priority boarding, an annual travel credit, and an increased anniversary bonus!

New Premium Southwest Priority Credit Card Is Live

Link: New Premium Southwest Priority Card

Here is what the new Southwest Priority card has to offer:

• Earn 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Plus, earn 25,000 points after you spend a total of $15,000 within your first year from account opening.
• 2 points per $1 spent on Southwest^® and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• 7,500 anniversary points each year.
• $75 Southwest annual travel credit.
• Four Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
• 20% back on in-flight drinks, WiFi, messaging, and movies.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Earn tier qualifying points towards A-list Status
• Annual Fee: $149
• Bonus good until August 22

The Bonus

First off, the bonus, while generous, will take some spending to realize the full amount. To get the full 65,000 points, you will need to spend a total of $15,000 in the first year of card-membership. It is good that you have a year, but that first $1,000 must be spent in the first 3 months. Still, $15,000 on an airline credit card can be a tough pill for some people.

However, remember that the spending helps you to get closer to the Southwest Companion Pass. So, in reality, after meeting the spending, you would be at 80,000 Southwest points – just 30,000 points away from the Companion Pass (but you must meet that before the end of 2018 to have it qualify).

Anniversary Points

The Southwest Premier card has 6,000 points as an anniversary bonus with a $99 annual fee. That means you would essentially be paying 1.65 cents per point (about the redemption value) for those anniversary bonus points.

This new Southwest Priority card offers 7,500 points with a $149 annual fee. This equates to 2 cents per point but it gives you a lot more than the basic Premier card does so it is not just about the points.

Bonus Categories

The bonus categories are not really that great. After all, you get 3 points per dollar with the Chase Sapphire Reserve when booking in those travel categories as well.

Still, if you are a Southwest-only flyer and you want a simplistic credit card approach, this could be a help.

Other Benefits

4 Free Upgrades

The 4 upgrade certificates for priority boarding are a nice boost for your longer flights. But, remember it is based on availability so if the first 15 slots aren’t available, you won’t be able to do it.

However, if they are, they normally cost between $30 and $50 and you would now get 4 of those free in a year. I did this twice this year and found the total $80 in fees totally worth it due to what it ended up saving me. I would love a card that would give me those upgrades (though cards like the CSR would do that with the travel credit) for free!

With this benefit, I would say it is worth between $120 and $200 per year. That pretty much takes care of the annual fee right there – if you would normally pay for those upgrades.

$75 Travel Credit

Now we are approaching the area where the annual fee gets wiped out for Southwest flyers! You get an annual Southwest travel credit of $75. That brings the effective annual fee down to $74 and you get the 7,500 Southwest points as well so now you are even – and that is before the 4 upgrade certificates!

The Bad News

Here is the bad news: “The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapids Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.”

So, if you have been churning along for the Southwest Companion Pass in the last 24 months with any personal cards, you are not eligible to get this card. That is a bummer as that group of people would be the ideal target customer for a card like this.

HT: Doctor of Credit