Earlier we did a post on the details and initial impressions of the new Chase Southwest Priority card. This is a more detailed full review and we will also answer some of the more frequently asked questions.
Card Overview
- $149 annual fee, not waived first year
- Sign up bonus (obviously subject to change). Up to 65,000 points:
- 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 within the first three months
- An additional 25,000 points after you spend a total of $15,000 within your first year of account opening
- $75 Southwest annual travel credit
- Four upgrade 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
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 2x Southwest points per $1 spent on Southwest and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases
- 1x Southwest points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Card Benefits
A lot of the benefits talk about an anniversary year. Anniversary year is defined as ‘the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account open date anniversary, and the 12 monthly billing cycles after that each year.’
$75 Southwest annual travel credit
This card gives you an annual $75 travel credit on Southwest purchases. This credit is based on your anniversary year rather than your calendar year.
Upgraded boardings and inflight purchases are excluded. I assume this is because you receive four upgraded boardings annually for free and inflight purchases get a 20% discount and it’s too difficult for the system to apply the two sets of rules.
Upgraded Boardings
Every anniversary year you will be reimbursed for the purchase of 4 upgraded boardings. Upgraded boardings are positions A1-A15. These can be purchased on the day of travel only at either the depature gate or ticket counter and aren’t always available. Price of these upgraded boardings varies based on the itinerary, I think it’s usually $30-$40.
The benefits of being in this boarding position is you may be able to get an exit row seat (and at worst you’ll get another seat you want) and you can find overhead bin space.
20% Back On In Flight Purchases
You receive 20% back (in the form of statement credits) on the in flight purchase of drinks, messaging, movies, and Wi-Fi. This will appear on your statement within 1-2 billing cycles. Authorized users also receive this benefit
Tier Credits
For every $10,000 in purchases you make you’ll earn 1,500 tier qualifying points (TQPs), you’re limited to $100,000 in spend or 15,000 TQPs. These can be used towards qualifying for A-List status (35,000 TQPs or 25 qualifying one way flights) or A-List preferred (70,000 TQPS or 50 qualifying one way flights).
F.A.Q’s
Can you product change to this product?
Yes it’s possible to product change to this product. Chase is currently offering some selected cardholders 5,000 points for doing so. More information on that here.
Does the Chase 5/24 rule apply to this card?
The Chase 5/24 rule has applied to all other Southwest cards for some time. Readers are also reporting that it applies to this new card as well (1, , .
When does the sign up bonus end?
Currently it’s marked as ending on August 22nd, 2018. I suspect after this date the sign up bonus will be lowered, thus making it harder to get the Southwest companion pass just from the sign up bonus on this card and a business card. People like to time it so their points post in January, that way you get the companion pass for the rest of that year and then the following year as well. That being said given you need to spend $15,000 to get this full bonus it’s also entirely possible they will keep this bonus long term.
Is the Chase Southwest Premier card still available?
This application page is still live. Chase is only advertising the Plus & Priority card (at least on the Priority card landing page), so they might plan to discontinue the Premier in the future.
Is the card metal?
No idea. I’m guessing no since it’s not advertised as such but metal credit cards are so common these days it’s hard to know for sure.
I have a very specific question: I am as of today 2/24 – having just recieved a personal Rapid Reward Plus Southwest Card yesterday. I want to apply for a SW Business Card to take advantage of the sign up bonus. I do currently have a SW Business Card that is active and 41 months old. I understand that I qualify to apply because I am over the 24 but there is a clause about the award of ‘family’. “If you receive the welcome bonus on any of the Southwest family of personal cards — including the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card — you’re not eligible to receive the welcome bonus on the others for 24 months. This does not apply, however, to the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card and the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.” From what I read it sounds like I am eligible and the bonus points will be awarded on the Business Card. Anyone have any experience in recieveing both bonus’s? I don’t want to pay the $199. application fee and not recieve the sign up bonus points. Please advise.
Love this card! It covers car rental insurance in Ireland (many CC exclude Ireland) and if you’ve rented a car in Ireland, you understand they are shady and will charge you with ‘fake’ damages! :-0
If your anniversary date is coming up and you don’t have any southwest flights coming up, can you just buy a $75 southwest gift card to get the $75 travel credit? I’d hate it to go to waste…
Thanks
Not sure, we will need to wait for DP
Bought a $75 SW gift card. It was credited the same day.
Did you just go here:
https://www.southwest.com/gift-card/create-card.html
And then buy a $75 e-Gift Card using your Chase SW RR Priority Visa
And then an offsetting credit later appeared on your CC transaction history?
I am my own datapoint. I did just what I asked above. Offsetting $75 credit appeared 3 days later. No fuss.
You guys left out the 7,500 points at each annual renewal from the post. It’s mentioned other places on your site, but should probably be included here on your “full review” page for this card. It’s a pretty huge benefit, since it’s worth roughly $100. Combine that with the $75 annual credit and you have more than made up for the annual fee.
Can u do direct deposit on the card
Hi! Sorry to post in an old news post, but
did anyone get this card? I was wondering if it comes as a Visa or Visa Signature and also if it turned out the card was metal or that encapsulated metal like the Amazon card?
Any idea if in the future the sign-up bonus would be increased or the structure would be different? I rather have something like 50k for $2k min spend of 60k for $3k
Am I missing the part about cardmember anniversary points?
I doubt it. The spending be threshold is so high to receive the whole 65,000 point bonus it would probably take most people half the year to get there. After the 15,000 points you would receive for your spend you would still be 30,000 points short. So yeah, you could still get the companion pass, but the timing it out and getting it for two years is a thing if the past for most people.
+1
As a note these points do not count towards CP,
“or every $10,000 in purchases you make you’ll earn 1,500 tier qualifying points (TQPs), you’re limited to $100,000 in spend or 15,000 TQPs. These can be used towards qualifying for A-List status (35,000 TQPs or 25 qualifying one way flights) or A-List preferred (70,000 TQPS or 50 qualifying one way flights).”
Found out directly from SW and confirmed on TPG, but apparently Anniversary points DO count towards CP.
Those are the TQP, we’re talking about the points from the sign up bonus
Yeah I was just noting it in case people thought they might count as it is confusing how they count for A List but not CP to make up the 30k gap.
So if I upgrade my Premier now (account anniversary was Feb 2018, will I get 7.5k anniversary points in Feb 2019, or July 2019?
In addition to that question, when would poster pay the $150 annual fee, and when would they get the $75 statement credit? Upgrade would not make sense if you pay the fee now since you would be paying $150 for 5k points and $75. But if you get the 5k and $75 now and then pay annual fee later it would be a better proposition
I applied for the upgrade yesterday from my Premier to the new Priority. Interested to find out whether/when they’ll charge the annual fee, because I just paid my $99 fee on 6/1 for Premier. Hoping I get to just pay the $50 difference and get all of these newer perks of the Priority.
I also just updated my Premier to the Priority yesterday. I had just paid my $99 AF for the Premier card in June. Today, I received a $99 credit on my account. So, yes, they will effectively apply the $99 to your Priority AF.
Hi Josh – Any idea as to whether they did a soft or hard pull for your upgrade?
No action on my request yet. They said it could be 4-6 business days until I hear anything…
You will receive a pro-rata refund of your $99 Premier annual fee in a week or so. In two to three billing cycles you will be charged the $149 Priority annual fee.
If you upgrade from Premier to the new Priority, are you eligible for the signup bonus or not? Also, I’m well over 5/24 so would I not be able to upgrade? TIA to anybody that can help.
If you upgrade (meaning product change) it wouldn’t matter if you’re 15/24 it’s definitely possible, but you do not get the sign up bonus only the perks that come standard with the Priority card.