Reaping the Rewards of Chase Rapid Rewards
As part of my What's in your wallet? series, aka the credit card churning game, I check the score on each of my credit cards when their anniversaries come around. Recently I hit my first anniversary with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card from Chase.
The Card & The Offer
Chase offers a whopping five different credit cards affiliated with Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program. Southwest is the airline I fly most frequently so it makes sense that I'd own at least one of them- though occasionally I've had two at once! But which one?
Just within the category of personal cards (vs. business cards) there are 3 choices: Plus, Premier, and Priority. This time around I picked the Priority card, the most premium of the 3 options.
As the most premium of the options this card came with the biggest signup bonus, 50,000 points after $2,000 spent in the first 3 months, plus an extra 50,000 points after a total of $12,000 spent in 12 months.
As the most premium of the options this card also came with the biggest annual fee, $149. And there was no waiver for the first year. That charge of $149 was the first thing on my card... and it did not count toward that huge $12k spending target.
Points, Perks, and Fees
Let's run the numbers.
I had no difficulty meeting that $12k spending target. In 12 months I actually charged almost $26,000 on this card. I earned about 138,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points (including the 50k+50k bonus). I value RR points at 2 cents apiece (long story) so the value of that points haul is a whopping $2,760.
Cha-fucking-ching!, amiright?
Not so fast. There's the annual fee of $149 to subtract. Then there's the opportunity cost of $520 I could've earned by placing the same charges on one of my no-fee, 2% cashback cards. Subtracting these costs reduces the value of the card to a less lofty though still impressive $2,091.
But wait, there's more! As the most premium card in the lineup this one's got some premium perks. The annual fee is partly offset by a $75 annual credit for purchases made with Southwest. I cinched that pretty quickly. Then there were $24 of misc credits I snagged. Then there was an early-boarding perk I made use of once. It's difficult to put a value on that, but let's call it $10. That's how much I would've gladly paid to upgrade my seat to the one I got. Bonuses from the card also gave me a small boost toward renewing top-tier A-List Preferred status this year. That's really hard to put a specific value on, but I'm going to go with $30 for the little bit of lift the card gave me. Altogether these perks juice the card's net value to $2,230.
$2,230. Is that good? Let me put it this way: $1,000 is a good score for a first-year card. Earning a net of over 2 grand is 💥awesome💥.
Flying for Another Year
The flip side of that high score is that next year will not be so sweet. The monster sign-up bonus is gone while the $149 annual fee remains. Still, I figure I can more than offset that fee between points and perks and eke out a positive net win of $150. I'll check back in 12 months to report the score.
The Card & The Offer
Chase offers a whopping five different credit cards affiliated with Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program. Southwest is the airline I fly most frequently so it makes sense that I'd own at least one of them- though occasionally I've had two at once! But which one?
Just within the category of personal cards (vs. business cards) there are 3 choices: Plus, Premier, and Priority. This time around I picked the Priority card, the most premium of the 3 options.
As the most premium of the options this card came with the biggest signup bonus, 50,000 points after $2,000 spent in the first 3 months, plus an extra 50,000 points after a total of $12,000 spent in 12 months.
As the most premium of the options this card also came with the biggest annual fee, $149. And there was no waiver for the first year. That charge of $149 was the first thing on my card... and it did not count toward that huge $12k spending target.
Points, Perks, and Fees
Let's run the numbers.
I had no difficulty meeting that $12k spending target. In 12 months I actually charged almost $26,000 on this card. I earned about 138,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points (including the 50k+50k bonus). I value RR points at 2 cents apiece (long story) so the value of that points haul is a whopping $2,760.
Cha-fucking-ching!, amiright?
Not so fast. There's the annual fee of $149 to subtract. Then there's the opportunity cost of $520 I could've earned by placing the same charges on one of my no-fee, 2% cashback cards. Subtracting these costs reduces the value of the card to a less lofty though still impressive $2,091.
But wait, there's more! As the most premium card in the lineup this one's got some premium perks. The annual fee is partly offset by a $75 annual credit for purchases made with Southwest. I cinched that pretty quickly. Then there were $24 of misc credits I snagged. Then there was an early-boarding perk I made use of once. It's difficult to put a value on that, but let's call it $10. That's how much I would've gladly paid to upgrade my seat to the one I got. Bonuses from the card also gave me a small boost toward renewing top-tier A-List Preferred status this year. That's really hard to put a specific value on, but I'm going to go with $30 for the little bit of lift the card gave me. Altogether these perks juice the card's net value to $2,230.
$2,230. Is that good? Let me put it this way: $1,000 is a good score for a first-year card. Earning a net of over 2 grand is 💥awesome💥.
Flying for Another Year
The flip side of that high score is that next year will not be so sweet. The monster sign-up bonus is gone while the $149 annual fee remains. Still, I figure I can more than offset that fee between points and perks and eke out a positive net win of $150. I'll check back in 12 months to report the score.