Delta Credit Card versus Southwest Credit Card

[hayesdvc]

For anyone that chose between the two cards for travel, what were the main reasons for your choice ?

Currently I have an offer from Delta for 60 thousand miles.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I have neither card, but I have an AAdvantage card. I can tell you the reason I chose it was because of the # of direct flights to MCO from my airport. More than SW and Delta. That's one factor to look at.

 

[Anthony1971]

Choose by which airline you fly as this is the card that will benefit you the most as they both carry fees.... 60,000 delta miles will not get you very far BTW their program is far different from southwest or JetBlue where 60,000 miles can get you multiple free R/T flights.

 

[Marionnette]

For anyone that chose between the two cards for travel, what were the main reasons for your choice ?

Currently I have an offer from Delta for 60 thousand miles.

I don't see it as an either/or consideration. I have both the SW Visa and a Citi AAdvantage card. Sometimes, American has better flights than Southwest. Plus, they partner with BA for direct flights to Europe from our local airport.

 

[HeatherC]

We have SW and love it. They have lots of flights out of our local airports...we have like five we can fly out of. We like that you can book any flight any time and they are usually on time and do not switch flight times.

Delta is famous for switching flight times so if that's a concern, may be something to think about.

We use our SW card for everything.

 

[a742246]

What I like about SW card is that they give you 6,000 points when your annual $95.00 fee is billed. 6,000 points is equal to $95 Dollars, so it feels like you don't pay a fee. I don't know about Delta.

 

[Phatscott25]

I chose the Delta Skymiles Amex because Delta has a hub at my local airport and has many more nonstop flights to many more locations than any other airline. Also, having the card allows you and anyone in your reservation (up to 9 total) free checked bags. Of course vs. the SW card that benefit is moot considering they don't charge for checked bags. From my airport (DTW) the 60,000 bonus miles would equate to 3 RT tickets to MCO (as with all airfare timing is everything but I've managed that rate on 3 occasions now with minimal effort). The other nice aspect of an Amex is all the offers that come with it. I've literally saved over $500 this past year on Disney gift cards by taking advantage of the offers.

ETA: As far as renewal/annual fee bonus is concerned, I don't believe there is a bonus with the Gold Amex but when it was time to renew they offered me an awesome deal to upgrade to the Platinum. They pushed back the steeper fee ($195) for the next 12 months and I got 35,000 bonus miles and a companion certificate (basically a domestic BOGO plane ticket) good for a year. At this point I'm unsure if I'll keep it after 12 months because $195 is a steep annual but I'm honestly leaning towards it as the renewal bonus is 20,000 miles (which count as MQM's) and another companion cert.

 

[DebbieB]

One consideration is the change/cancel policies. With SW, the points are put back into your account with no fee. With Delta, they will charge you $150 or $200 to make changes or redeposit the miles.

 

[hsmamato2]

personally if SWA flies from your airport I'd choose that- I like the fares, the change policy,everything better than Delta. And using points is super easy.

 

[Phatscott25]

I agree Delta's change fees are a pain. You'd better know the dates are certain before you book. If SWA had more flight options from my airport I would definitely choose that one as well.

 

[JKalai]

If you go with Southwest, look into possibly getting the companion pass. You'll have to apply for two SW cards and a bit of spending at the beginning of the year, but having someone fly with you for free is an awesome perk.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If you go with Southwest, look into possibly getting the companion pass. You'll have to apply for two SW cards and a bit of spending at the beginning of the year, but having someone fly with you for free is an awesome perk.

The only way to get this now is to apply for a personal Plus SWA CC and a SWA business CC. SWA discontinued the Premier personal card. SWA use to have 4 different cards for you to apply for now they only have 2 different cards. You would have to spend $5k in 3 months $2 on the person CC and $3 on the business CC to get the points.

 

[JKalai]

The only way to get this now is to apply for a personal Plus SWA CC and a SWA business CC. SWA discontinued the Premier personal card. SWA use to have 4 different cards for you to apply for now they only have 2 different cards. You would have to spend $5k in 3 months $2 on the person CC and $3 on the business CC to get the points.

Woah. I literally just applied for the personal premier two weeks ago and got my card last week.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

f

What I like about SW card is that they give you 6,000 points when your annual $95.00 fee is billed. 6,000 points is equal to $95 Dollars, so it feels like you don't pay a fee. I don't know about Delta.

SW also has a cheaper card that IIRC is $69/yr. (I locked in at $59 so I'm not 100% on the 69). It earns fewer points than the $95 card and you get fewer at each anniversary but for anyone looking for a SW card and the $95 looks like more than you want to spend, consider the less expensive card.

I also love the no change fee, 2 free bags pp, and if you cancel, the points simply return to your bank. Also if your price drops and you change your flight to the cheaper fare, the difference in points gets returned to your bank. I love that.

I've had the SW card for almost 10 years and while in a Chase branch last summer the rep talked us into trying the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Dh and I both signed up. It's $85/year and waived the first year. 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards Points if we spend the minimum, something like $3000 in 4 months. Another 10k UR points for adding an authorized user. We both added each other.
It earns 1 point per dollar charged, similar to the SW card but instead of having to make a SW purchase to earn double points, this earns double UR points for all travel, even airport parking fees. Also earns double points for all dining, whether it's a pizza shop or fine dining.

Instead of earning points for just SW, UR points can be converted to SW points at 1:1 ratio. Also can transfer to British Airways, Air France, I think American Airlines too. Maybe others. All at 1:1 ratio. I can also convert the points into hotel frequent stay programs with Marriott, Hyatt, and others.

I can also book travel through Chase's Ultimate Rewards website (link is on my cc account so easy to find) and pay with points for pretty much any hotel I'd be able to search for on typical 3rd party sites like Expedia, etc. I can book any Disney hotel through them and pay with points. I haven't tried it yet since I've only had this card 6 months but I was considering a long weekend in March with free flights (we have enough SW points for 2 of us to fly RT) and free Disney hotel.
IIRC, CBR was around 18k pts per night (Fri/Sat) I assume this varies with the season, just like the real price in $$ does.

Currently, between dh and I we've accrued about 160,000 UR points. We are not big spenders and don't use our cards for work at all.

We also try to go through the online shopping mall prior to online shopping so we earn more points that way too. Both SW & UR have their own malls. Of course one does not need a SW visa to be able to shop through their mall. You just need to be a Rapid Rewards member.

Just something to consider if you want more flexibility than what the SW card offers.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

The only way to get this now is to apply for a personal Plus SWA CC and a SWA business CC. SWA discontinued the Premier personal card. SWA use to have 4 different cards for you to apply for now they only have 2 different cards. You would have to spend $5k in 3 months $2 on the person CC and $3 on the business CC to get the points.

It appears to still be available but yes, not 4 cards to choose from, now 3.
https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/50KPlus?CELL=6PLT&clk=GSUBNAV-RR-AD2-CH50K170110

 

[Albort]

f
SW also has a cheaper card that IIRC is $69/yr. (I locked in at $59 so I'm not 100% on the 69). It earns fewer points than the $95 card and you get fewer at each anniversary but for anyone looking for a SW card and the $95 looks like more than you want to spend, consider the less expensive card.

I also love the no change fee, 2 free bags pp, and if you cancel, the points simply return to your bank. Also if your price drops and you change your flight to the cheaper fare, the difference in points gets returned to your bank. I love that.

I've had the SW card for almost 10 years and while in a Chase branch last summer the rep talked us into trying the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Dh and I both signed up. It's $85/year and waived the first year. 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards Points if we spend the minimum, something like $3000 in 4 months. Another 10k UR points for adding an authorized user. We both added each other.
It earns 1 point per dollar charged, similar to the SW card but instead of having to make a SW purchase to earn double points, this earns double UR points for all travel, even airport parking fees. Also earns double points for all dining, whether it's a pizza shop or fine dining.

Instead of earning points for just SW, UR points can be converted to SW points at 1:1 ratio. Also can transfer to British Airways, Air France, I think American Airlines too. Maybe others. All at 1:1 ratio. I can also convert the points into hotel frequent stay programs with Marriott, Hyatt, and others.

I can also book travel through Chase's Ultimate Rewards website (link is on my cc account so easy to find) and pay with points for pretty much any hotel I'd be able to search for on typical 3rd party sites like Expedia, etc. I can book any Disney hotel through them and pay with points. I haven't tried it yet since I've only had this card 6 months but I was considering a long weekend in March with free flights (we have enough SW points for 2 of us to fly RT) and free Disney hotel.
IIRC, CBR was around 18k pts per night (Fri/Sat) I assume this varies with the season, just like the real price in $$ does.

Currently, between dh and I we've accrued about 160,000 UR points. We are not big spenders and don't use our cards for work at all.

We also try to go through the online shopping mall prior to online shopping so we earn more points that way too. Both SW & UR have their own malls. Of course one does not need a SW visa to be able to shop through their mall. You just need to be a Rapid Rewards member.

Just something to consider if you want more flexibility than what the SW card offers.

couldnt agree more, i love chase and their cards(i have CSR, CFU, CF and Ink+). But it could be as flexible with delta as MR points can be transferred to delta.
Chase Visas for SW.
Amex for Delta.

pick your battle and proceed!