Some bad news from Chase today. New Chase Southwest restrictions will make it harder to earn signup bonuses on personal cards and get the coveted Companion Pass. Starting today, both personal Chase Southwest credit cards have new language that restricts you to just one bonus per 24 months.
Here’s what’s new in the terms:
The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapids Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.
Previously this limitation applied to each card separately. Now it only one of these two card bonuses per 24 months.
Southwest Companion Pass
Being able to get the bonus on both personal cards would usually get you the 110,000 Southwest points needed for the Companion Pass. Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card often have bonuses of 50,0000 to 60,000 points. With this new language you can only qualify for one of these card bonuses every 24 months, making it impossible to get the Companion Pass, at least through the signup bonuses alone. You have to choose one or the other.
However, Chase also offers a Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Credit Card. Business cards are not part of this 24 months restriction, as it is specifically stated in the new terms. So you can get a personal card and a business card to work your way towards the Companion Pass. So a shortcut to the Companion Pass is still available but you only have 2 cards to chose from instead of 3.
Guru’s Wrap-Up
Getting the bonus on these cards was already hard for many readers. Personal and business Southwest cards fall under the Chase 5/24 rule, so many people will not be eligible anyway. The business card however doesn’t count towards 5/24. These new Chase Southwest restrictions make it even harder. It wasn’t all that unexpected though. Chase already has the same restrictions for cards in the Sapphire family.
HT: TPG
