Southwest Airlines known for a low-cost carrier in the United States has been expanding non-stop (we mean that literally) since the main hub in Dallas can fly without so many restrictions. They are not only adding more direct flights but international flights to places such as Puerto Rico. Now is a great time to take the airline up on some of these bonus offers and save up miles or as they call them points for some free flights.
Read here how to earn 50,000 points worth nearly $700, A-List elite status, Upgraded Boardings with the Southwest Premier credit card.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards offers a Premier Card with a 50,000 bonus after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of opening a new account. That is for the personal card so if you double up and apply for a business card you can add another 60,000 miles to your account. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is offering 60,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points after $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
With the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card you’ll get 50,000 points after spending $2,000 within 3 months. You also have the opportunity to get 6,000 bonus points every year after your card member anniversary. If you have a balance transfer in mind you can earn up to 15,000 bonus points within 90 days. You will have a $99 annual fee with the personal and business cards that are not waived the first year as other airlines offer at this time. (more…)
Southwest Airlines has a few co-branded credit cards with Chase to choose from but one sticks out for us. Of the three personal cards, our favorite one is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card.
This card offers some exceptional perks for anyone who flies Southwest frequently or a few times a year. We have to say it is the best Southwest Airlines Visa Card to have in your wallet or at least attached to your Southwest Airlines account to book flights.
50,000 Bonus Southwest Points with the Priority Card
The Southwest Priority Card is offering a welcome bonus of 50,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $1,000 within the first three months.
Rapid Rewards is a revenue-based frequent flyer program,valued at around 1.2 cents each. So basically, the 50,000 Rapid Rewards points are worth $600+.
Earning Points With The Southwest Priority Card The Southwest Priority Card offers the following points for credit card spending:
3x points on Southwest purchases
2x points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
2x points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming
Happy Baby Companion flying A-list on Southwest Airlines flight
One of the very best values in travel is the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass. With Southwest Companion Pass you can have someone travel with you for the entire year (whether on a cash ticket or award ticket), and just pay taxes and fees for them. This is such an incredible deal, and basically doubles the value you can get from flying Southwest.
Southwest Companion Pass requires earning 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year, though you get a boost of 10,000 points toward that just for having a co-branded Southwest card.
Only certain types of points accrual qualify, including Southwest credit card spending, as well as Southwest credit card welcome bonuses. So this bonus would get you a good way toward earning Companion Pass.
Earn Southwest A-List Status
In addition to being able to earn Companion Pass through spending on the card, the Southwest Priority Card also lets you earn unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs). Specifically, you can earn 1,500 TQPs toward A-List status for every $10,000 spent on the card.
A-List is Southwest Airlines’ version of status, and offers perks like priority boarding, a 25% points bonus, same-day standby, priority check-in and security lane access, and a dedicated phone number.
A-List status requires earning 35,000 TQPs in a calendar year, so spending on a Southwest Priority Card could help you earn that. This is the only personal Southwest card that offers that feature. Whether or not that’s worth it depends on how much you’d otherwise fly with Southwest.
Major Perk: No Change fees with Southwest airlines ever!
No Foreign Transaction Fees
The Southwest Priority Card has no foreign transaction fees, so this could be a useful card for your spending abroad. This is a Visa as well, and Visas are accepted pretty widely around the globe.
Incredible Southwest Priority Card Perks
Free Drink Coupons get mailed out to Southwest airlines patrons now and then just to reach out.
The reason to get the Southwest Priority Card (beyond the welcome bonus) is because of the perks, including anniversary bonus points, upgraded boardings, a $75 annual Southwest travel credit, 25% savings on eligible inflight purchases, and more.
Let’s take a look at what you need to know about each of these perks.
On your cardmember anniversary each year you’ll receive 7,500 bonus points. For context, Southwest Rapid Rewards is a revenue-based frequent flyer program, and generally speaking you need to redeem 83 points per dollar of airfare. That means each Rapid Rewards point gets you roughly 1.2 cents toward the cost of an airline ticket.
In other words, you can get around $90 worth of Southwest airfare with those 7,500 points, and that recoups almost two-thirds of the annual fee on an ongoing basis.
Get anniversary bonus points with the card every year
Southwest Priority Card $75 Annual Credit
The Southwest Priority Card offers a $75 credit every anniversary year. While the 7,500 point anniversary bonus only kicks in after 12 months, this credit kicks in immediately.
The way this works, the first $75 in Southwest flight purchases each cardmember year will be reimbursed. The statement credit should post as soon as the eligible charge posts to your account. Assuming you spend at least $75 per year on Southwest Airlines tickets (or even taxes and fees, if redeeming points), then this should more or less be worth face value.
Between this benefit and the 7,500 point annual bonus, we’re talking about $165 worth of value, which is more than the annual fee.
Southwest Priority Card Upgraded Boardings
Just for having the Southwest Priority Card, you get four upgraded boardings per anniversary year (starting with your first year), when available. The way this works, you’ll be reimbursed for the purchase on the day of departure of up to four upgraded boardings in positions A1-15.
The upgraded boarding fees will be reimbursed within eight weeks, though in reality generally post much faster than that. Since the price of upgraded boardings varies by flight, it’s hard to put a dollar value to this benefit.
Southwest Priority Card Drink & Wi-Fi Savings
If you pay with your Southwest Priority Card you can save 25% on inflight Wi-Fi and drink purchases. You’ll receive statement credits for the 25% within two billing cycles of your purchase (though usually much faster than that).
Southwest Priority Card Travel & Purchase Protection The Southwest Priority Card offers a variety of travel & purchase protection benefits, including:
Auto rental collision damage waiver coverage; it’s secondary within the United States, and primary internationally
Baggage delay insurance, which can reimburse you up to $100 per day for three days when your bag is delayed by at least six hours
Lost luggage reimbursement, which reimburses you up to $3,000 if your bag is damaged or lost
Travel accident insurance, with the maximum coverage ranging from $250,000-500,000, depending on the situation
Extended warranty protection, which extends your United States manufacturer warranty by a year on eligible warranties of three years or less
Purchase protection, which covers you for up to 120 days for damage or theft, up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account
The Cons of Applying for Chase Southwest Credit Cards
Chase and Southwest have some pretty strict rules when it comes to who is eligible for the card. The card is not available to anyone who currently has a Southwest Rapid Rewards personal card, or anyone who has received a welcome bonus on a Southwest Rapid Rewards personal card in the past 24 months. However, you are eligible if you have a Southwest business credit card.
This is in addition to Chase’s general application rules, including the 5/24 rule, whereby you typically won’t be approved for a Chase card if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months.
Southwest Priority Card $149 Annual Fee The Southwest Priority Card has a $149 annual fee. As a point of comparison, the other personal cards have annual fees of $69 and $99, so the annual fee on this card is a bit higher. However, as I’ll explain below, the benefits justify the premium annual fee.
No Question The Southwest Priority Card Is Worth It for You and Your Family
If you’re eligible for the Southwest Priority Card and fly Southwest with any frequency, then this card is absolutely worth it. I’d argue this card is a better value all around than the two other Southwest personal cards.
Many people love flying Southwest for the ability to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, the lack of change fees and vouchers that don’t expire, and the two free checked bags. For others, Southwest a practical airline to fly on occasion, given its massive route network. Regardless, there’s lots of value in having points and benefits on Southwest.
For the card’s $149 annual fee you’re getting a 7,500 point anniversary bonus annually, a $75 Southwest credit, and much more. Let’s look at a few other things to consider regarding this card, and Southwest cards in general.
If you’re looking to complement your Southwest Priority Card with a Southwest business card, consider the incredible Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (review). This card has outstanding perks, including:
A welcome bonus of 80,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $5,000 within three months
A 9,000 point anniversary bonus
Four upgraded boardings per year
Up to 365 $8 Wi-Fi credits per year on Southwest, which could get you a lot of Wi-Fi
$500 toward points transfer fees per anniversary year
A Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
The ability to earn A-List status or Companion Pass with spending
This card is the single best Southwest card because of the Wi-Fi credit, as far as I’m concerned.
How Do Southwest’s Personal Bonus Cards Compare?
In addition to the Priority Card, Chase and Southwest also have the $69 annual fee Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card and the $99 annual fee Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card. All cards have the same welcome bonuses, but the perks are significantly different.
Why do I think the $149 annual fee Priority Card is almost universally better?
Neither the Plus nor Premier offer a $75 annual Southwest credit, which should more or less be worth face value; so to do a direct comparison, that’s almost like lowering the “out of pocket” on the Priority Card from $149 to $74.
The Priority Card offers 7,500 anniversary bonus points, while the Plus offers 3,000 bonus points and the Premier offers 6,000 bonus points. Those two perks alone should show why the Priority Card is worth the annual fee by comparison, and that doesn’t even account for upgraded boardings, a better rewards structure, the ability to earn A-List status through spending, and more.
One of the most underrated credit cards and loyalty programs is Hyatt. You don’t hear as much about hotel credit cards but just like airline cards if you stay at one chain over another you definitely need one when you travel.. They can offer huge perks that more offset the annual fees, ranging from free elite status to free night certificates, all of which can get you a lot of value. You basically pay an annual fee and get a free night that includes the taxes and all making a profit plus all these other benefits.
What makes this card one of the best hotel credit cards is that it’s worth having regardless of whether you want to keep it just for the ongoing perks, or whether you want to spend money on it. Let’s take a closer look at what you need to know about this card.
Welcome Bonus: Up To 60,000 Points The World of Hyatt Credit Card is offering a welcome bonus where you can earn up to 60,000 World of Hyatt points:
Earn 30,000 World of Hyatt bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months
Earn an additional one bonus point per dollar on purchases that earn one point per dollar on up to $15,000 spent in the first six months of account opening, for an additional 30,000 points
Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card or 75,000 Bonus Points with the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. I can be rewarded,
Annual Fee But Not Really The World of Hyatt Credit Card has a $95 annual fee, and it isn’t waived for the first year. You can add additional cardmembers to your account at no extra cost. This annual fee is so worth it even if you don’t spend money on the card, since you get an anniversary free night certificate.
Earning Points With The Hyatt Credit Card The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers pretty good points earning opportunities. While this isn’t the card that I use for all of my spending, I strategically spend money on the card, and it works great for for me.
How good are the points earning rates?
4x Points At Hyatt Properties The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers 4x points for spending at Hyatt hotels and resorts. While I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card for hotel spending at most other hotel brands (as the card earns 3x points), I always use the World of Hyatt Card for spending at Hyatt hotels.
The 4x points apply at all Hyatt properties, and even at Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties that are affiliated with Hyatt.
2x Points At Restaurants The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers 2x points for restaurant spending globally, though personally this still isn’t a card I’d use for restaurants, given that other cards offer 3-5x points.
2x Points On Airline Tickets The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers 2x points on airline tickets purchased directly from airlines. Again, this isn’t the card I’d use for airline tickets, given that other cards offer 3-5x points.
2x Points On Fitness Clubs & Gym Memberships Hyatt has a focus on wellness, so one of the cool bonus categories they have is offering 2x points on fitness clubs and gym memberships. For anyone wondering, this also includes group fitness businesses, like Barry’s Bootcamp, SoulCycle, etc.
This is an area where the card’s bonus category is industry-leading, as I can’t think of any other card that offers such a good return on fitness spending.
2x Points On Local Transit & Commuting The World of Hyatt Card offers 2x points on local transit and commuting, which includes ride share services such as Lyft and Uber. Other cards still offer a better return on spending than this card does, though.
Earn 1x Points On Other Purchases For categories in which you can’t earn 2-4x points, the World of Hyatt Card offers one World of Hyatt point per dollar spent. Generally speaking there are better cards for everyday spending.
No Foreign Transaction Fees The World of Hyatt Credit Card has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s an excellent card for purchases abroad. That’s especially true when staying at Hyatts abroad, as well as for dining and commuting outside the US.
Contactless Pay The World of Hyatt Credit Card features contactless pay technology. This means you can pay using your card without even swiping it whenever you see the contactless pay symbol.
World Of Hyatt Credit Card Benefits The area where the World of Hyatt Credit Card really excels is when it comes to the benefits it offers. In my opinion, these benefits more than justify the annual fee, regardless of whether you’re spending nothing on the card, or are spending a significant amount.
The first three benefits below are perks that you get just for having the card, while the two after that can be earned for putting spending on the card.
Free Night Every Year Just for having the World of Hyatt Credit Card you get a Category 1-4 free night certificate on your account anniversary every year. This will be issued shortly after your anniversary and is valid for 12 months.
Categories 1-4 cover a majority of Hyatt’s properties, and I’ve consistently been able to redeem this for hotels that retail for $250+ per night. This alone justifies the annual fee on the card.
Complimentary Discoverist Status You receive Hyatt’s entry-level Discoverist status for as long as you have the World of Hyatt Card. The status will post for the primary cardmember shortly after you are approved. Discoverist status comes with the following benefits:
Upgrade to a preferred room, when available 2 PM check-out, when available Premium internet Daily bottled water
Five Elite Nights Towards Status Annually Just for having the World of Hyatt Card you receive five elite qualifying nights towards status annually. You will receive these within eight weeks of being approved for the card (though usually much faster), and in subsequent years they will post within eight weeks of January 1.
This will be useful if you’re hoping to earn Hyatt’s Explorist status, Globalist status, and/or Milestone Rewards. Ordinarily, Explorist requires 30 elite nights and Globalist requires 60 elite nights, however for 2021 elite requirements have been cut in half, so you need just 15 elite nights for Explorist, or 30 elite nights for Globalist.
A Second Free Night When You Spend $15,000 While you receive a Category 1-4 free night certificate annually just for having the card, you can earn a second one if you spend $15,000 on the card in a year.
Currently you earn this based on spending that amount in a cardmember year (which consists of 12 statements following when you opened your card), while starting on January 1, 2022, you’ll earn it based on spending that amount in a calendar year (which consists of January 1 through December 31).
Two Elite Nights For Every $5,000 Spent In addition to the five elite nights you get just for having the card, you earn a further two elite qualifying nights for every $5,000 you spend on the card. This means that in theory, you could spend your way all the way to Explorist or Globalist status, if you wanted to.
Reaching the $5,000 threshold has nothing to do with the calendar or cardmember year — the counter simply resets every time you spend $5,000, and then you start earning towards your next two elite nights.
Further Promotions While there’s no guarantee this will continue to be offered in future years, historically Hyatt has offered additional promotions for those with the World of Hyatt Card, particularly when redeeming points. For example, in the past we’ve seen World of Hyatt offer summer promotions, whereby card members can earn a partial refund on award nights.
Chase Offers One of the great features of Chase cards is access to Chase Offers, which provides savings on purchases with all kinds of retailers. The program has saved me a significant amount of money. For example, once in a while we see Chase Offers deals for 10% savings on Hyatt hotel stays.
Secondary Car Rental Coverage The World of Hyatt Card offers auto rental collision damage waiver coverage. Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card.
Coverage is provided for theft and collision damage for most cars in the United States and abroad. Do note that in the US, the coverage is secondary to your personal insurance, though.
Protection With Trip Delays, Lost Luggage, And More The World of Hyatt Card offers a variety of other protection when traveling, including:
Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption Insurance — be reimbursed up to $5,000 per trip when your trip is canceled or cut short due to sickness, severe weather, etc. Trip Delay Reimbursement — if your flight is delayed by more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket Lost Luggage Reimbursement — be reimbursed up to $3,000 per passenger if you or your immediate family member check or carry on luggage that is damaged or lost by an airline Baggage Delay Insurance — be reimbursed up to $100 per day for five days for essential purchases when your bag is delayed by over six hours Make sure you check your cardmember agreement for all of the details, since there are terms & conditions.
Redeeming World Of Hyatt Points The best value for redeeming World of Hyatt points is using the free night award chart. The great thing is that you earn elite nights for your stay even if you’re redeeming points or using a free night certificate.
Hyatt’s award chart looks as follows:
There’s value to be had at all levels of the chart. As a general rule of thumb, I try to redeem at properties where I’m getting more than two cents of value per point. That’s because personally I value World of Hyatt points at ~1.5 cents each.
In other words, I’d redeem points at a Category 1 hotel when the paid rate is $100+, I’d redeem points at a Category 7 hotel when the paid rate is $600+, etc.
Is The World Of Hyatt Credit Card Worth It? Let me answer this very simply — if you’re eligible for the card and have any interest in staying at Hyatt properties then yes, the World of Hyatt Credit Card is absolutely worth it. This is a card I personally have, and that I wholeheartedly recommend.
How Much Do You Have To Spend For Globalist Status? I’ve had some people ask if it’s worth spending your way to Globalist status with this credit card. Hyatt Globalist status ordinarily requires 60 elite qualifying nights, though in 2021 it only requires 30 elite nights.
Historically you’d need to spend $140,000 on the card to earn Globalist status (you get five elite nights just for having the card, plus spending $140,000 would earn you 56 elite nights). However, in 2021 you don’t need to spend nearly as much:
You get five elite nights towards status just for having the card Then you’d then only need 25 more elite nights, which you could earn with $65,000 of spending While that’s not half bad, personally that’s not the approach I’d take, though. I think the better approach is to better mix-and-match spending. After all, what’s the value in Globalist status if you’re not actually planning on staying at Hyatts with any frequency?
Is Hyatt Globalist Status Worth It? Globalist status is my favorite top-tier hotel status, and it comes with all kinds of awesome perks. Just to share some of the benefits:
Unlimited complimentary suite upgrades, when available
Four confirmed suite upgrades, each of which can be used to confirm a suite upgrade at the time of booking for a stay of up to seven nights, when available
Complimentary breakfast and/or club lounge access
Guaranteed 4PM late check-out, except at resorts
An additional Category 1-4 and Category 1-7 free night certificate
Guest of Honor, where you can redeem your points for a friend or family member, and they get your status
Waived resort/destination fees on all stays, and free parking on award stays
However, do note that some of these benefits are tied to Milestone Rewards, and those in some cases still require earning 60 elite nights.
Room service breakfast & a suite at the Park Hyatt Paris thanks to my status Other Options For Earning Hyatt Points While the World of Hyatt Card is awesome, I’d note that it’s not the only way to earn World of Hyatt points. You can also transfer over points from Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio, which is one of my favorite uses of those points. There could be value in using:Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt
How Does The World Of Hyatt Business Card Compare? The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review) was recently introduced, and it’s a new business card issued by Chase and Hyatt. This could be a good option for any small business looking to earn Hyatt points or status. Here are some key aspects of the card:
It offers a huge welcome bonus of 75,000 World of Hyatt points after spending $7,500 within three months, which is better than on the personal card
It has a $199 annual fee, which is more than twice as much as on the personal card
It offers up to $100 in Hyatt credits every anniversary year; receive a $50 statement credit twice when you spend $50 at a Hyatt with the card
It offers five elite nights towards status for every $10,000 spent in a calendar year
It offers Discoverist status for as long as you have the card, for you and five employees
If you spend $50,000 on the card in a calendar year, you can receive 10% back on subsequent award redemptions, up to 20,000 points back per year
Personally I think the personal card is generally more rewarding, though the business version of the card earns you elite nights at an accelerated rate.
Receive an award rebate with the Hyatt Business Card World Of Hyatt Credit Card Summary The World of Hyatt Credit Card is exceptional. It’s a card I have, and also a card I spend at least $15,000 on per year.
The card is worth having even if you don’t plan on putting spending on it — you get an anniversary free night certificate you can use at a hotel that costs significantly more than the annual fee, you get complimentary Discoverist status, and you get five elite nights towards a higher status tier.
Beyond that it can be worth putting spending on the card, thanks to the unique bonus categories (4x points on Hyatt stays and 2x points on fitness and gyms), as well as the additional elite nights and second free night certificate.
Card Eligibility and the Chase 5/24 Rule The welcome bonus on the World of Hyatt Card isn’t available to those who currently have any Hyatt credit card, or have received the new cardmember bonus on any Hyatt credit card in the past 24 months. Chase’s general card application rules apply. Chase has what’s known as the 5/24 rule. This means that if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months you typically won’t be approved for a Chase card. If you do apply for this card, make sure you’re under that limit. See this post to learn how to check your 5/24 status.
You can score a Free BOGO (Buy One, Get One) Free BBQ Chicken, Supreme, Veggie & Jalapeno or Pepperoni pizzas every wednesday. Click here to download the Schlotzsky’s Rewards app. Use the promo code D.j2007738 and scan the barcode on your receipt and we will both receive 10 bonus points and be rewarded instantly with a free sandwich.
You can get chicken, turkey, pepperoni or veggie pizzas on regular or flat bread. We ordered the chicken on flatbread as seen below (with tons of hot sauce added by us):
Free Original Sandwich at Schlotzsky’s
Join Schlotzsky’s Lotz4Me Rewards and immediately receive a coupon for a FREE Original Sandwich. You’ll have 30 days to use the coupon. You will also receive $7 off after your 7th visit, plus exclusive insider news and other special offers. A FREE birthday meal coupon for one of Schlotzsky’s fresh, oven-toasted sandwiches is just one of the treats you’ll receive.
Get FREE Stuff on T-Mobile Tuesdays! You will be able to access this promotion using their Android or iOS app. Non-T-Mobile customers may also be able to access this promotion here: amoe.t-mobiletuesdays.com.
Each Tuesday, T-Mobile releases a number of freebies and deals for their customers. This week they are as follows:
Tropical SMOOTHIE Cafe: Free 24 oz Smoothie
Forever 21: 40% off regular price items
PlayKids+: 4 free months of PlayKids+
10 cents off per Gallon at Shell Stations – TIP – combine that with the extra 25 cents off per gallon offer on Wednesday December 20th offered in the Fuel Rewards app. 10-35 cents off per gallon at Shell Gas Stations through Fuel Rewards Program. See below to increase it up to 65 cents a gallon!!
The no-brainer in this week’s gifts for T-Mobile customers is $0.35 off a gallon of gas at Shell, up to 20 gallons. The biggest prize if you ask us is that they are giving away free Gas! This is $0.25 off per gallon at Shell. Make sure to sign-up for the Fuel Rewards program here (to extend this to up to 65 cents a gallon savings) for the Free Shell Gas and the promo code will automatically open in your app after you redeem it in the T-Mobile Tuesdays App.
T-Mobile is known for doing things a little differently to other carriers, and its rewards program is much the same. When T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced that the company will give all customers a weekly gift, one share of stock, and free in-flight Wi-Fi we were grateful.
Southwest Airlines known for a low-cost carrier in the United States has been expanding non-stop (we mean that literally) since the main hub in Dallas can fly without so many restrictions. They are not only adding more direct flights but international flights to places such as Puerto Rico. Now is a great time to take the airline up on some of these bonus offers and save up miles or as they call them points for some free flights.
