Chase has a Southwest card that most people won’t be aware of called the Classic card. Like other co-branded card portfolios Chase has it’s not possible to apply for this card directly, but you can downgrade to it (they also have a no annual fee United card for example). Let’s take a look at this card in our quick review.
Contents
Card Basics
- No sign up bonus (not possible to apply for this card directly)
- Annual fee of $39
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 2 points for each $1 spent on purchases made directly with Southwest Airlines, including flight, inflight, Southwest gift card, and Southwest Airlines Vacations® package purchases.
- 1 point for each $1 spent on all other purchases
Our Verdict
It’s only possible to downgrade to this card from another Chase Southwest personal card, so you really need to compare it to the other two cards they offer:
- Chase Southwest Plus:
- $69Â annual fee with 3,000 anniversary points + 2x points on hotels and car rentals
- Chase Southwest Premier:
- $99 annual fee with 6,000 anniversary points + 2x points on hotels and car rentals
Cards are basically the same but you’re paying 1¢ per point to purchase 3,000/6,000 points annually. Given that Southwest points are worth more than 1¢ towards Southwest flights and the fact that you’d really only want to keep the classic card if you wanted the 2x points on Southwest flights then you’d be better off just keeping the Plus/Premier. I can’t really see any reason why you’d want to downgrade to this card, but it is an option.
