Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

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Should you get a brand-loyal airline credit card or a more general travel rewards card? If you’re loyal to Southwest, you’ll probably consider both the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Both have advantages, so we compare them so you can make the best choice for you.

Welcome Offer

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s because with this card you can get 25% more value from your points when you use them to purchase travel through Chase Travel(SM).

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card: Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Both offers are pretty great. You have to spend less for the Southwest bonus so it’s an easier one to get. But it’s hard to overlook the value you can get from the Sapphire Preferred bonus, so we give them the win in this category.

Cash Back Rewards

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card gets you 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel(SM), 3x on dining, groceries and streaming, and 2x on all other travel purchases. You also get a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards hotel credit, a DoorDash DoorPass subscription ($0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027), 5x on Lyft, an Instacart+ subscription, and a $10 GoPuff credit each month. These rewards present a diverse array of benefits.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card offers some nice Southwest-specific rewards. You also get 2x on local rideshare, commuting, and transit, and 2x on internet, cable, and select streaming. The Southwest benefits include 6,000 anniversary points a year, two Early Bird Check-In®, and 25% off inflight purchases.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers more flexible benefits, and you can transfer your points to Southwest, or any other partner airline. Southwest points are only good for flights on Southwest. Because they’re so flexible, we give Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card the win in this category.

Here are the details of each card.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Rewards:  

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

Rewards:

Rates and Fees

Both cards have very similar annual fees: $95 (Sapphire Preferred) vs. $99 (Southwest). Neither card has foreign transaction fees, and neither card is currently offering a 0% introductory APR.

Who the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is Best For

This is a great travel card that offers flexible benefits. You can easily earn reward points, and if you transfer them to any of Chase’s travel partners, it’s possible to earn free flights or hotel stays. There are many travel reward cards out there, but not many of them offer a better bang for your buck than the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

If you get the travel bug and decide you want a more premium card, consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. The annual fee is higher, but you’ll get a suite of travel benefits that offset some of it.

Who the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is Best For

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is for loyal Southwest frequent flyers. You prefer to always fly Southwest and you can also earn rewards on purchases like transit and streaming. But most of the value comes from the travel rewards on Southwest and the 6,000 bonus point anniversary bonus.

If you also enjoy flying with Delta, you might consider the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card. It has a similar annual fee, and you can earn elevated rewards on everyday purchases like dining and groceries.

Does it Make Sense to Get Both Cards?

Maybe. You could apply for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card card specifically for the Southwest-specific perks, and use the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for dining, hotels, car rentals, and other travel. Both have reasonable annual fees, so you could apply for both and see if it makes sense for you. But it’s more likely that one will work better for you than the other.

Approval Odds

The credit score data listed below comes from publicly available information in a number of forums. The accuracy of the information cannot be verified. Keep in mind that credit card issuers consider more than an applicant’s credit score and that underwriting standards change over time.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

Both cards are issued by Chase, so they have similar credit approvals. Keep in mind Chase has the 5/24 rule, which means that if you’ve opened more than five new credit cards in the past 24 months, you likely get rejected for another card. There has been some debate as to whether Southwest cards follow this rule or not. To be on the safe side, apply for the card you really want first.