Chase has a Southwest card that most people won’t be aware of called the Classic card. Like other co-branded card portfolios Chase has it’s not possible to apply for this card directly, but you can downgrade to it (they also have a no annual fee United card for example). Let’s take a look at this card in our quick review.
Contents
Card Basics
- No sign up bonus (not possible to apply for this card directly)
- Annual fee of $39
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 2 points for each $1 spent on purchases made directly with Southwest Airlines, including flight, inflight, Southwest gift card, and Southwest Airlines Vacations® package purchases.
- 1 point for each $1 spent on all other purchases
Our Verdict
It’s only possible to downgrade to this card from another Chase Southwest personal card, so you really need to compare it to the other two cards they offer:
- Chase Southwest Plus:
- $69 annual fee with 3,000 anniversary points + 2x points on hotels and car rentals
- Chase Southwest Premier:
- $99 annual fee with 6,000 anniversary points + 2x points on hotels and car rentals
Cards are basically the same but you’re paying 1¢ per point to purchase 3,000/6,000 points annually. Given that Southwest points are worth more than 1¢ towards Southwest flights and the fact that you’d really only want to keep the classic card if you wanted the 2x points on Southwest flights then you’d be better off just keeping the Plus/Premier. I can’t really see any reason why you’d want to downgrade to this card, but it is an option.
View Comments (13)
I cancelled the Plus last week. Called 3 times for help with the annual fee and the reps said there was nothing they could do to help and no other card to change to.
I honestly don't think most of them know it exists? This is my first time hearing about this and I cancelled both premier and plus earlier this year...
RIP
yeah you need to specifically ask for it for it to be an option
Based on the annual fees, I think you are paying more for the anniversary points than 1 cpp.
$69/3,000 points = 2.3 cpp.
$99/6,000 points = 1.65 cpp.
The only place I see 1 cpp is the difference between the Premier and Plus fees and points: ($99-$69)/(6,000-3,000) = 1 cpp
I think you misinterpreted Will's post.
He's saying that the cards' AFs are basically the same, with a baseline AF of $39, and the choice of card simply gives you the option to purchase 3k or 6k points a year at 0.01 cpp.
Thanks =)
Makes sense, thanks!
is this card useful to convert southwest rapid rewards points to gift cards from their selection list? I know Plus or Premier will do that but not sure of Classic ... any idea?
Not sure, sorry.
If you downgrade to the no fee united card, will they let you convert back to the the annual fee card later? This would be a way to get the extra award availability in coach without always having to pay the annual fee.
Yup. You might have to wait 1 yr. in between down-/upgrades though.
The no-annual fee version also gives you access to extra award availability. I know that from my own experience.
The no-annual fee version doen NOT give you access to extra award availability. I know that from my own experience.