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Chase has added eligibility restrictions to the consumer versions of its Southwest credit cards. The new eligibility criteria affect the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card(Rates & Fees). The change may make getting the Southwest Companion Pass a little more difficult going forward.
Change To Eligibility Criteria
As of April 5, 2018, you will not be eligible to open a Southwest consumer card if you meet one of the following criteria:
- You are a current cardholder of a Southwest consumer card; or
- In the last 24 months, you have received a signup bonus from a Southwest consumer credit card.
The change does not affect the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card or Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, you can still apply for these cards if you hold a consumer card. You can also apply for a consumer card if you hold either of the business cards.
What The Change Means
The change will hit those going for the Companion Pass (135,000 miles to qualify) via consumer credit card signup bonuses the hardest. Before the change, the Companion Pass was relatively easy to get once you had earned the signup bonuses and met the minimum spending requirements. This route is now effectively closed.
Since the new criteria do not apply to the Southwest business cards, you still have the option of getting the Companion Pass via credit card bonuses and spending. Consider shifting your business expenses onto the Southwest Premier Business Card (Rates & Fees) or Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and keeping your personal expenses on the Southwest Priority Card , or the Southwest Plus Card. This way you can hold and use two Southwest cards and get the benefits and signup bonuses.
Our Take
The latest change adds a new restriction to the Southwest consumer credit cards and makes earning the Companion Pass that little bit harder. Bear in mind the Southwest cards are already subject to Chase’s restrictive 5/24 policy. This change brings the cards in line with other Chase products like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) which have similar restrictions. The question now is whether Chase will extend this policy to all families with multiple cards? Only time will tell!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
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