Chase has increased the annual fees on their Southwest card line. The bank has revamped the benefits on these cards.
I believe all of the changes are already in effect for new card applicants, and are slated to go into effect in 2026 for existing cardholders.
Annual Fee Change
- personal Plus: $69 → $99
- personal Premier: $99 → $149
- personal Priority: $149 → $229
- business Premier: $99 → $149
- business Performance: $199 → $299
Benefits Being Removed
The following benefits are going away in 2026 (and probably will be
- $75 travel credit on the Priority card
- $500 fee credit for points transfers per year
- 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available
- Inflight WiFi credits
New Added Benefits
Benefits added on all cards:
- First checked bag free. Cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation can check their first bag at no additional cost. (Since Southwest no longer offers free checked bags for everyone, they added it as a benefit for cardholders.)
- No foreign transaction fees on all 3 cards. (That’s a new benefit on the Plus card.)
- Cardmembers and up to 8 passengers in the same reservation will board with Group 5 giving them earlier access to overhead bins.
- Seat selection within 48 hours prior to departure when available. For the Plus card it’s for a Standard seat. For the Premier and Priority and for both business cards it’s for Standard or Preferred seat.
Plus personal card:
- 2X at Gas stations and Grocery stores on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per year
- Flight Discount (excludes Basic fare): 10% promo code each year
Premier personal and business cards:
- 15% Flight Discount: Receive a 15% promo code each year on your cardmember anniversary (Excludes Basic fare).
- Earn 2 points for every $1 you spend at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year.
- Flight Discount (excludes Basic fare): 15% promo code each year
personal Priority and business Performance cards:
- Preferred Seat selection at booking when available
- Upgrade to Extra Legroom seat within 48 hours prior to departure when available
- Earn 2X at Gas stations and at Restaurants
- Earn 2,500 tier qualifying points towards A-List status for every $5,000 spent annually
What are the details of the flight discount? Can you use it for multiple people on the same reservation, and roundtrip? If so that can be worth a lot.
If you have performance business and use the $500 points transfer credits, do you earn miles for the spend?
For example, if you pay $250 (and receive $250 statement credit) to transfer 25,000 miles from P1 to P2 account, then pay another $250 (and receive $250 statement credit) to transfer 25,000 back from P2 to P1 account, do you earn 4x 500 = 2000 miles for free?
Exactly when will the benefits that are going to be removed get removed for existing card holders?
Will it be at the end of 2025?
Or will it be on 1/27/2026, when SW will starts the new seating policy?
Good lord
Blood bath
We have 4 of those dumb cards
You’re gonna need a bigger (bath)… 🦈
SW earnings were out last night – stock dropped 11% today
I’d say good, Elliott should feel the pain for this stupidity, but don’t get them bankrupt until I get to use that $1500ish non-expiring credit I have..
Yeah, unless… they purposely sabotaged it, because they hedged… is anything not corrupt these days, or am I being too cynical?
That’s so practical, wouldn’t put it past them. Those hedge funds lack all morals and ethics. I’ve invested in companies that are working on treatments for Alzheimers and Parkinsons and those scumbags short those stocks too.
Looks like I’ll keep the SWA Priority account 1 more year. Account opened 11/2022. According to email I received, new AF of $229 won’t affect my account until 2026 (email states more info to follow). So, $149 will post on 12/1 with statement closing on 12/12. So I should have one more $75 credit to use from 12/13-12/31/25. P2 still has CP thru 12/31/26 so we aren’t looking for a new CP.
Any word on relaxing the rules for new cards and SUB? I would potentially apply for priority but wouldn’t want to give up my existing card first to avoid paying for bags.
Also- the info on seat upgrades within 48 hours keeps saying on same reservation. They have said it will apply to CPs also, but with SW IT issues, I have serious doubts about that.
My sw priority cc just renewed for $149. I fly sw about 3-4 times per year. Should I keep it 1 more year since it’s quite a bit less than the updated annual fee?
I am, and you can still use the $75 credit before the end of the year and get 7,500 bonus miles. Then next year you can cancel after the 7,500 bonus miles hit again or try for retention offer.
You have to assess the benefits and costs based on your specific situation.
You still have the $75 SW credit for this year, right? That substantially offsets the annual fee along with the annual bonus points you should have recently received. Of the old versions, Priority was a no-brainer for even casual SW flyers; this is no longer than case with card refresh.
Are you eligible (more than 24 months since last SW personal bonus) and considering closing then trying to open another personal SW card? New bonus is very large and could very easily offset the increase in AF. How confident are you in getting approved? There are probably minimal DPs on how easy or hard it is to get approved depending on if card refreshes have changed how loose or strict they are on approvals now.
I likely wouldn’t do Priority version anymore since I don’t care about “Preferred” seating or the chance at getting extra legroom. But you should likely get these benefits even if you are grandfathered into the lower AF for this year. These seating benefits will only apply starting in January though when they go to assigned seats. Are your 3-4 flights between now and January or mostly in January to July 2026?
Do you care about a checked bag? If so, having CC can be very beneficial cost wise if you need to pay for the checked bag on each trip.
Run a calculation on the full cost of your trips and fees in different scenarios. This gives you the answer you seek.
Thanks for the feedback. After some thoughts, I will keep it for one more year. This is my 1st renewal, so I won’t be able to get 100k on this card. Like you said, with the $75 travel credit + 7500 points, making a no brainer for keeping. I usually don’t check in bags, but I like the benefit of preferred seating and extra legroom. I will re-evaluate next July whether to keep it for 2nd year.
Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to type up such a thorough, informative, and non-judgmental answer. This is really an example of the DoC community at its finest!
Thanks for the compliment! Just trying to help out!
So the existing cardmembers are getting until the end of 2025 to use their $75 travel credit. Curious if new signups will also get it for the remainder of the year. Unlikely, but would be an easy double dip for signups this fall.
wonder if they will wait until after 9/17 to announce the companion pass is ending
Why want happens 9/17?
That’s when the 100k SUB promotion ends for these card. Ostensibly, a lot of people will get baited into signing up to hit an easy companion pass in 2026, only to have the rug pulled from under them. I am still going to try it though! I’m ready to be violated.
That’s the $64K question.. Do they yank the CP altogether or move the goalposts to something “out there”?
“I’m ready to be violated”
Ah, a fellow churning masochist I see.