Top 13 Questions About Applying for Southwest Personal Cards

Are you considering applying for a Southwest personal card? Good for you! It’s a great way to earn a bunch of points all at once that you can use to book FREE flights on Southwest.

These points also qualify for the 125,000 points needed to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, which lets one person fly free with you from the time you earn it until the end of the following year!

Thank you for using Go to Travel Gal affiliate links for your credit card applications (for this offer AND others), as you get the SAME OFFER, but you allow us to earn a commission to help support our free content. We SUPER appreciate you using our links!!

You’ll find them within Go to Travel Gal blog posts and articles or at TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS in the main menu of GotoTravelGal.com shown in the image below. Just click on Travel Credit Cards/Airline Cards and then you may need to click “See More Offers” at the bottom of the page a few times until you see the Southwest card you want.

 

Southwest Card Options

• Southwest Priority ($149 annual fee, 4 upgraded boarding orders, $75 credit for airfare and Early Bird, 7,500 anniversary points; my full review)
• Southwest Premier ($99 annual fee, 6,000 anniversary points)
• Southwest Plus ($69 annual fee, 3,000 anniversary points)

 

What’s the Offer?

Right now eligible individuals can apply for ANY Southwest personal card and earn up to 40,000 Southwest points. 

 

Top 13 Questions About Applying for Southwest Personal Cards

I’ve put together some of the most common questions I receive for those applying for Southwest personal cards. I figure for every person who has this question, there are plenty more who have the SAME question!

 

1. What if I was recently approved for a lower personal Southwest card offer than is now available? Can I get the new offer?

Yes, most likely. Many Go to Travel Gal readers have reached out to Chase (either by phone or through online messaging within your Chase account) to see if Chase will honor the new offer if they recently applied for a card at a lower point deal and are successful.

In fact, some are reporting Chase is honoring applications from as far back as a few months. It’s certainly worth asking!

 

2. Does being an authorized user on someone else’s Southwest personal card disqualify someone from applying for this offer?

No. If you are an authorized user on someone else’s Southwest personal card, that DOES NOT preclude you from getting a Southwest personal card in your own name.

Being an “authorized user,” however, DOES count toward Chase’s 5/24 rule, which states that they will not approve you for any new cards if you’ve OPENED 5 credit cards of ANY type in the last 24 months (Chase, Citi and AMEX business cards are excluded from the 5 total).

 

3. If I use your affiliate links to apply, do I get the same deal?

Yes, you get the EXACT SAME OFFER (no strings attached!), and in fact, you’ll know with 100% certainty that you are applying for the RIGHT deal and that you did not accidentally end up on the wrong page and apply for the wrong offer (or wrong card; I hear that one quite often, as well ;-))! Plus, you get my support if you have any questions :).

Here are the links to the offer:

• Southwest Priority ($149 annual fee, 4 upgraded boarding orders, $75 credit for airfare and Early Bird, 7,500 anniversary points; my full review)
• Southwest Premier ($99 annual fee, 6,000 anniversary points)
• Southwest Plus ($69 annual fee, 3,000 anniversary points)

 

4. I already have a personal Southwest card. Am I eligible for the current Southwest personal card offer?

You are eligible for this offer if 1) you have not earned a bonus on ANY personal Southwest card in the last 24 months and 2) you don’t currently hold a Southwest personal card.

 

5. I have a balance on my Southwest personal card that I want to close, do I need to pay it off first? What if I can’t?

Yes, you will need to pay the balance on your card in order to close it. You should also ensure all refunds/charges have completed and turn off any automatic charges. 

If you don’t have the money to pay the balance in full, but want to take advantage of this offer, you can opt to transfer the balance to a card that has a 0% interest rate for a promotional period. You don’t want to carry a balance on a high interest rate card like the Southwest cards, anyway. That is NOT a good deal!

Here are some great balance transfer cards I recommend, though you should opt for the Capital One card if you want to apply soon for a Chase Southwest card. If you apply for the Chase card, Chase will not approve you for another of their cards for 30 days (and the offer will be gone by then).

• Capital One Quicksilver – 0% APR on balance transfers for 15 months; then 15.49-25.49% after that; 3% balance transfer fee though that can be offset by its $150 cashback offer after you spend $500 on the card in the first 3 months
• Chase Freedom Unlimited – 0% APR on balance transfers for 15 months; then 16.49-25.24% after that; 3% balance transfer fee, though, that can be offset by its $150 cashback offer after you spend $500 on the card in the first 3 months 

 

6. If I want to apply for 1 Southwest personal card and 1 Southwest business card to earn all the points I need to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, how long should I wait between applications?

You should wait 30 days between applications, because Chase will NOT approve you for more than 1 of their cards every 30 days. This also includes other cards like Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Ink Business Preferred.

 

7. Can I apply for a personal card and my spouse also apply for a personal card and have them count toward ONE Southwest Companion Pass?

No, all qualifying points for the Southwest Companion Pass must go into ONE PERSON’s account. And you cannot transfer them to that person and have them qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass either.

You should have the SAME person apply for BOTH cards. All bonus points will go into THEIR Southwest Rapid Rewards account and qualify for THEIR Southwest Companion Pass.

 

8. Can my spouse apply for a card and have the points go into MY Rapid Rewards account?

No, the bonus Southwest points must go into the Southwest Rapid Rewards account of the person named on the card.

 

9. If I get a business card, do those points go into my same Rapid Rewards account?

Yes, they do. Both personal card Southwest points and business card Southwest points go into your SAME Southwest Rapid Rewards account. You will be asked for your Rapid Rewards number during the credit card applications.

 

10. Can I spend the entire minimum spend right away and get the full bonus points?

Yes, in fact if you can do so without going into debt, this would be a great way to quickly get your points, and more quickly get your Southwest Companion Pass!

 

11. Does closing cards affect your credit score?

It can, yes, but usually minimally. Part of your credit rating is based on the length of time credit has been extended to you. Closing cards (unless they are new and therefore have not added to your “length of credit”) does affect the “length of time,” but so long as you have some cards that you hold over the long haul, you should not see a significant change.

I have found that the most important factors when it comes to credit is your debt-to-credit ratio (ie the amount of credit extended to you compared with the debt you have; you always want your debt to be 1/3 or less of the credit extended to you, aside from mortgages), as well as paying bills on time. Usually if these two things are in order you will maintain a great credit score. 

Here are my tips for how to improve your credit score in a hurry to apply for travel credit cards.

 

12. I took advantage of a tiered bonus offer on a Southwest personal card where I earned two different amounts of points after reaching two minimum spend thresholds. Does Chase consider the last “bonus” you received as the second tiered bonus?

Yes, the second tier of the bonus would be considered the last time you received a “bonus” on any Southwest personal card, and you are not eligible for a bonus on any Southwest personal card until 24 months from that date. This was confirmed with a Chase spokesperson.

 

13. If I am not eligible for a Southwest personal card offer right now, what other options do I have?

You could have a spouse or other traveling companion apply for the offer, earn a Southwest Companion Pass in 2 steps and bring YOU as THEIR companion.

Or you could apply for 2 Southwest business cards (so long as you have not earned a bonus on each card in the last 24 months) to earn ALL 125,000 points you need to qualify for a Southwest Companion Pass.

Business card options include:

• Southwest Performance Business card (70,000-100,000-point bonus; $199 annual fee; Read my FULL review of this card.)
• Southwest Premier Business (60,000-point bonus; $99 annual fee) 

 

More Questions?

Got more questions about the offer or how it helps you earn the Southwest Companion Pass specific to your situation? Please email them to me at lyn AT gototravelgal.com and I’ll be happy to help!

 

Thanks again for using the links in this post or in the TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS links in the main menu of GotoTravelGal.com above for your card applications to help support our free content!