Key takeaways
- Choosing between the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card comes down to your airline preferences and spending habits.
- Although both are good travel credit cards, the Rapid Rewards is a better choice if you’re a Southwest loyalist hoping to earn the airline’s coveted Companion Pass.
- On the other hand, the Sapphire Preferred offers greater flexibility and a wide network of transfer partners, including Southwest, and redemption options — potentially making your points more valuable.
Finding the perfect travel credit card can be difficult because of the vast number of choices out there, including different premium cards, issuers, rewards structures, co-branded cards and more.
In this battle, we’re going to take a look at the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card versus the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Both of these credit cards offer rewards for avid travelers, but the difference comes down to how you travel.
If you are loyal to the Southwest brand and their travel partners, then the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus might appeal to you more. However, if you want more flexibility in terms of redeeming your rewards and the ability to earn more rewards on more bonus categories, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card could suit you better.
While this is a simplified breakdown of these cards, it helps to look at additional card details, perks and benefits to choose the one that best fits your lifestyle. Here’s how these cards stack up against one another based on your spending habits.
Main details
| Cards | Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card points | Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card points |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome bonus | Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. | Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. |
| Rewards rate |
|
|
| Intro APR | N/A | N/A |
| Annual fee | $69 | $95 |
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred highlights
Welcome bonus winner
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Though both cards offer similar welcome bonuses, what you’ll need to spend to earn each bonus — and the bonus’s value — differs.
Though the Chase Sapphire Preferred’s bonus of 60,000 miles is slightly higher, you’ll need to spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening to earn it. That’s significantly higher than the $1,000 you’ll need to spend in the same timeframe to earn the Rapid Rewards Plus card’s 50,000-point bonus.
However, it’s worth noting that the value of the welcome bonus varies between cards. Bankrate values Southwest Rapid Rewards points at 1.5 cents each, meaning your welcome bonus of 50,000 points could be worth $750. The Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned by the Chase Sapphire Preferred, on the other hand, can be worth up to 2 cents when transferred to Ultimate Rewards travel partners. This means your welcome bonus could be worth $1,200 on average — $450 more than the average value of the welcome bonus of the Rapid Rewards Plus card.
Rewards rate winner
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The Sapphire Preferred offers bonus categories with higher rewards rates while also giving you more categories to choose from:
- 3X points on dining (including eligible delivery services), select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs)
- 5X points on travel through Chase TravelSM and Lyft Rides (Lyft offer through March 2025)
- 2X points on other travel
- 1X points on all other purchases
The Rapid Rewards Plus caps out at 2X on its bonus categories:
- Earn 2X points on Southwest purchases; Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners; local transit and commuting (including ride-shares); and internet, cable, phone and select streaming services
- 1X points on all other purchases
Southwest purchases and purchases from Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners would most likely code as travel on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, allowing them to earn the same 2X rewards rate as they do with the Rapid Rewards Plus. The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns a higher rewards rate on dining, select streaming services, online grocery purchases, travel through Chase Travel and Lyft rides.
By contrast, the only categories where the Rapid Rewards Plus earns more than the Sapphire Preferred are local transit and commuting, internet, cable and phone services and non-Lyft rideshare purchases. Some local transit and commuting purchases, such as tolls and parking garage fees, might also code as travel and earn 2X points on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but that may vary by merchant and how Chase categorizes the charge.
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The Rapid Rewards Plus card boasts a slightly lower annual fee of $69, versus the Sapphire Preferred’s $95 annual fee. However, with that lower annual fee, you might not have as many perks or earn as many rewards as you would with the Sapphire Preferred.
Foreign transaction fee winner
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Generally speaking, you’d expect travel credit cards to omit foreign transaction fees, as the Chase Sapphire Preferred does. However, the Rapid Rewards Plus card does charge a 3 percent foreign transaction fee. Southwest is mainly a domestic airline, which could explain why there’s a foreign transaction fee, but it’d be nice to rack up Rapid Rewards points overseas without incurring additional charges.
Which card earns the most?
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred spending example
Here’s a spending example of what you could earn with each card. Of course, if your spending habits are much different than this example, your rewards yield could be much different, too.
| Spending category | Annual Spending | Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card rewards | Chase Sapphire Preferred rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries purchased in-store | $2,343.50 | 2,344 | 2,344 |
| Groceries purchased online | $2,343.50 | 2,344 | 7,031 |
| Dining | $2,375.00 | 2,375 | 7,125 |
| Gas | $1,313.00 | 1,313 | 1,313 |
| Apparel & services | $1,434.00 | 1,434 | 1,434 |
| Streaming | $1,200.00 | 2,400 | 3,600 |
| Entertainment | $1,200.00 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| Internet cable and phone | $1,200.00 | 2,400 | 1,200 |
| Personal care products and services | $646.00 | 646 | 646 |
| Travel booked directly with Southwest and Rapid Rewards partners | $1,440.00 | 2,880 | 2,880 |
| Travel booked through the Chase Travel portal | $720.00 | 720 | 3,600 |
| All other travel | $720.00 | 720 | 1,440 |
| Account anniversary bonus | 3,000 | 1,694 | |
| Total | $16,935.00 | 23,776 Southwest Rapid Rewards points | 35,507 Chase Ultimate Rewards points |
*All point earnings have been rounded to the nearest whole number
In this example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred outearns the Southwest Rapid Rewards card, even without the cards’ welcome bonuses. Don’t forget Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth more on average than Southwest Rapid Rewards points when redeemed for travel — according to Bankrate’s valuations — helping the Chase Sapphire Preferred pull further ahead in value.
One thing that hasn’t yet been mentioned is the anniversary bonus that each card offers, which is also factored into the spending example above. The Rapid Rewards Plus has a 3,000-point annual account anniversary bonus, while the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a 10 percent annual bonus. You’ll earn bonus points on 10 percent of your total spend the previous account anniversary year, calculated at a rate of 1 point per dollar spent. For example, $25,000 of spending would get you 2,500 bonus points at the end of the year.
Why you should get the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
Additional benefits
You can’t really talk about a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card without mentioning the potential to score the coveted Southwest Companion Pass. In essence, the Companion Pass allows you to bring along a travel buddy free of airline charges (though they still need to pay taxes and fees), each time you buy or redeem points for a Southwest flight. Typically, you can earn the pass by earning 135,000 qualifying points or taking 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year.
Southwest Rapid Rewards cardmembers can earn one boost of 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each calendar year and can earn additional points through qualifying spending on their Rapid Rewards credit card., including earning the welcome bonus. This is in addition to traditional ways of earning qualifying points, like flying with Southwest. The Companion Pass can be a game changer for Southwest flyers who frequently travel with another person, and the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card becomes a lot more valuable if it makes the difference between getting the Companion Pass or not.
The Rapid Rewards Plus offers some general travel benefits like the lost luggage reimbursement of up to $3,000 per passenger and baggage delay insurance up to $100 per day for three days. Cardholders also get Southwest-specific perks like two EarlyBird check-ins each year and 25 percent back on in-flight purchases.
The Rapid Rewards Plus card also offers extended warranty protection of up to a year when you use your card to buy items with eligible U.S. manufacturer’s warranties of three years or less. Also, purchase protection covers your purchases for up to 120 days against theft or damage, up to $500 per event and up to $50,000 per account.
And finally, you’ll get a complimentary year of DashPass membership through DoorDash, which grants you $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible DoorDash and Caviar orders (though you must activate this benefit by December 31, 2024 to qualify).
Redemption options
Although you don’t get the same flexibility as you would with Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Sapphire Preferred card, you can use your points for more than just airfare.
In addition to Southwest flights, you can redeem your points for gift cards, merchandise, hotels, experiences, statement credits for eligible transactions on your Rapid Rewards credit card and more.
Recommended credit score
You’ll need a good to excellent score (670 to 850) to qualify for this card.
Why you should get the Chase Sapphire Preferred
Additional benefits
The Chase Sapphire Preferred boasts a long list of travel benefits and protections:
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance of up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip. This covers prepaid, non-refundable travel costs like flights, hotels or site-seeing tours if your trip is canceled or cut short by a covered reason.
- Baggage delay insurance of up to $100 per day for five days, which covers any essential purchases needed (such as clothing, toothpaste, shampoo) for baggage delays of six hours or more.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver for rentals purchased entirely with your Sapphire Preferred card when you decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver. This coverage is primary and provides reimbursement for damages caused by theft or collision of the rental car.
- Trip delay reimbursement of up to $500 per ticket for unreimbursed expenses (like food or lodging) when your travel on a common carrier is delayed by more than 12 hours or overnight
- 24/7 travel and emergency assistance services for the Sapphire Preferred cardholder, their spouse and any children under 22. While this service can provide advice and referrals, the cardholder is responsible for any costs incurred.
Additional card perks include:
- Up to $50 in annual statement credits for hotels purchased through Chase Travel.
- Complimentary one year DoorDash DashPass membership (must activate by Dec. 31, 2024)
- Purchase protection for new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft, up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
- Extended warranty protection on eligible purchases with warranties of three years or less
If fully utilized, the value of the credits and benefits of the Sapphire Preferred can cover a good portion of the annual fee.
Redemption options
You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a number of hotel and airline travel partners, including to Southwest Rapid Rewards, at a 1:1 ratio, which may allow you to take advantage of redemption options worth up to 2.0 cents per point, on average. And, if you redeem your points for travel through the Chase Travel portal, you’ll get a flat value of 1.25 cents per point.
You can also redeem your points for cash back, general statement credits, statement credits for specific purchases via Pay Yourself Back, gift cards, merchandise (including Apple product purchases), pay with points on Amazon and PayPal, and Chase Experience events and more. Different redemption options may give you different values for your points.
Recommended credit score
You’ll need a good to excellent score (670 to 850) to qualify for this card.
The bottom line
Getting the right credit card can be a great path to travel discounts, perks and benefits — but not all travel cards offer the same benefits for the same type of traveler. In this case, if you’re a die-hard Southwest fan with a buddy who shares the same affinity, this card wins out, mainly for the potential to earn qualifying points towards a Southwest Companion Pass, plus extra Southwest perks here and there.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has a slightly higher annual fee, a wider range of redemption options for points and annual credits that help offset the annual fee — plus more travel protections and no foreign transaction fees. These characteristics make it ideal for international travelers looking for a wider range of travel benefits and greater flexibility in redeeming rewards.
All said, your final choice between these cards will come down to the kind of traveler you are — which is up to you to decide.
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