[Rumor] Chase Will Launch Premium Southwest Card [Additional Details]

Update: This card is now live, more details here.

We now have some additional details regarding the card:

  • Launch date set for sometime in July
  • Annual fee of $150
  • Will come with a discount on inflight items
  • Comes with upgrades for A1-15 boarding
  • Sign up bonus of 70,000 points

I thought readers could use some cheering up after the launch of the pathetic Barclays Arrival Premier, devaluation of the IHG card & new restriction on Southwest cards. This comes from a normally very reliable source. Chase and Southwest have plans to launch a premium Southwest card later this year (Q3), card will come with a number of Southwest benefits and is being positioned as a premium card. Sign up bonus is set to be high enough that if paired with another 50,000 point bonus you’d have enough for a companion pass (e.g it’s 70,000 or more). This is one of the reasons the new restriction was added to Southwest cards.

 

 
    William Charles
  • On April 8, 2018, 18:04

View Comments (81)

  • Question: since the new priority card gives 40,000. + 25,000 points, how does it affect when you can reapply after 2 years? Here is what I mean:

    In order to reapply in the future so I can get a new card member bonus, I have to not have received a new cardmember bonus for 24 months. So imagine I sign up today and by August 20th I have received my cardmember bonus of 40,000 points. That should mean I could cancel and reapply around August of 2020.

    BUT - what if by June 2019 I end up spending a total of $15,000 on this card and trigger the 25,000 bonus. Does that mean I now have to wait until June of 2021 before I can reapply?

    • Does anyone know the answer to this? If you earn the 25,000 additional points 10 months later, does that mean your 2 year clock is also pushed by 10 months? So one would be delayed even more from canceling and re-acquiring this card later down the line?

  • Thanks for telling us about this! I was going to sign up for the regular card but thanks to your article I waited and it paid off!

  • Any update on this rumor? I haven't seen anything about it since this post.

      • Just wondering if you’re still hearing that this card is set for release in July? Any new information to add?

        • If we hear any updates we will be sure to update the post and repost it, haven't heard anything recently.

  • I'd appreciate insight from this community of pros. I have 67k SW points now, and I'm one card short of 5/24. Is it worth it to wait for this premium card or just get a business card now?

    • @guest_587297 To me it really depends on your end game. Are you trying to get companion pass? Do you fly Southwest alot? Or are you just starting to churn?
      Depending on your 5/24 (when you have you next CC app fall off) and your appetite for applying for credit cards, it might be fine to apply for the business card now and wait until you're below 5/24 again to apply for the premium card. If most of your 4 recent cards have all been within the past 6 months then maybe wait it out until we get more details on the premium card.
      I'm not expecting the SWA premium card to be a game changer, just because there's not much "premium" about SWA's business model (e.g. no first class, no lounges, minimal elite benefits). I could be pleasantly surprised but given there's not timeline on the card, I wouldn't personally wait around for it.

  • Assuming it will follow new rules where you can only have one personal sw card at a time? I have a premier open right now. Debating cancelling it now to make sure I can get this in July. Thoughts? Thanks!

    • I'm in the same boat. Have the Premier and Plus. Wondering what I need to do? Anniversary coming up for another fee... also, if I cancel the card immediately after the anniversary, do I get the fee back, like on other cards within a "30-60 day period"?

  • The $150 fee would be fine if it came with a corresponding number of Rapid Reward anniversary points. The card that currently has a $99 fee provides 6000 Rapid Reward anniversary points. If the $150 fee provided, say, 9000 Rapid Rewards points (this is pure speculation on my part), then I'd consider the card essentially fee-free.

    Southwest says a Rapid Reward point is worth 1.4 cents, but I actually would be willing to spend more like 1.7 cents to get a Rapid Rewards point. If you need to change or cancel a flight, Rapid Rewards are much more convenient than the Wanna Get Away fares.

    I read this post while I was waiting on hold for Southwest. I had used Rapid Rewards to book four flights for a family trip, and the price had dropped 2097 points each. (Cash price had gone down $35.) If I had booked Wanna Get Away fares with cash, the refund would have been in the form of four $35 Southwest Travel Fund credits, each of which could be used only by the person named on that ticket, and which would expire in one year. Because I had booked with Rapid Reward points, I simply called Southwest, and they refunded the points to my account. Rapid Rewards Rule!

    • I've never thought of assigning a value to the flexibility that SWA rapid rewards points give you. I always booked my speculative Southwest flights using points given the flexibility, but I never thought to quantify it. While, the points are worth ~1.3 or 1.4 cents each, they definitely have more value due to flexibility of not dealing with refunds.

      This is a good reminder!

  • "Comes with upgrades for A1-15 boarding." Any more details on that? Does this mean you get a fixed number of upgrades for free? I'm also curious if this card comes with any anniversary bonus points like their current cards do.

    Thanks for posting this info. I was getting ready to cancel my Plus card, but will now hold onto it to possibly upgrade.

    • If they gave free WiFi on the flight... any amount. I would be pretty excited for that...

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