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.
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.
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💥.
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 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💥.