You will not discover Southwest Airways fares on Google Flights, Expedia, or any third-party website the place you may ebook flights .. and that is by design: The airline desires you coming straight to its personal web site. However now there’s an exception.
This week, an astute Reddit person highlighted the truth that Southwest fares are actually bookable by means of the Chase Final Rewards Journey portal, opening a brand new avenue to ebook Southwest flights utilizing factors. With a card just like the *chase sapphire most well-liked*, now you can ebook Southwest flights at a charge of 1.25 – and a good higher charge of 1.5 cents apiece with the *chase sapphire reserve*.
Vacationers have been reserving these flights with Chase factors for years by transferring factors straight to Southwest, so this will likely appear to be a fruitless improvement. However this comes as Southwest is getting ready to make its factors much less beneficial within the New Yr, which may make this new choice to ebook by means of the Chase journey portal a tempting different to get extra bang to your buck.
There are some apparent execs and some cons to weigh, so let’s look nearer at what this implies for vacationers with a Chase Sapphire card and Southwest of their journey plans.
Utilizing Chase Factors to E-book Southwest within the Journey Portal
Earlier than we get into the mechanics of utilizing Chase factors to ebook Southwest Flights, let’s again up.
Simply what worth you get out of your Chase factors is dependent upon which Chase card you’ve gotten. Sure Chase bank card factors are price much more when redeemed by means of the Chase Final Rewards Journey Portal.
- Should you maintain the *chase sapphire most well-liked, every level you earn will likely be price 1.25 cents once you redeem them by means of the Chase Final Rewards portal.
- Small enterprise homeowners with a *chase ink most well-liked* additionally get 1.25 cents apiece when redeeming by means of the Chase portal.
- With the *chase sapphire reserve*, every level you earn will likely be price 1.5 cents when reserving journey by means of the Chase rewards portal.
Let’s do a fast instance with a $500 Southwest fare. With the Most well-liked Card, that works out to 40,000 Chase factors. Should you’ve acquired a Reserve, you can ebook the identical flight for simply 33,333 Chase factors.
Should you’ve acquired another Chase Final Rewards incomes card, just like the *freedom limitless*, you will nonetheless be capable of ebook Southwest flights by means of the portal, however you will solely be getting 1 cent per level in worth – the identical as when you cashed out your factors and booked direct.
Discovering these Southwest flights within the Chase Final Rewards Journey portal is so simple as looking out on Southwest.com – and in our expertise, the costs had been virtually all the time the identical (and even cheaper!) by means of Chase in comparison with what you discover reserving direct with the airline, with only a few exceptions.
Begin by coming into your departure, vacation spot, and dates, then let the portal pull up the accessible choices.
On this instance, Chase pulled up each a “Wanna Get Away” and a barely pricier “Wanna Get Away Plus” fare. When you select the flight that works, you will even have the choice to improve to different Southwest fare varieties like “Anytime” and “Enterprise Choose.”
When you decide a flight and a fare, you may proceed to ebook with both factors or money.
As a result of I’ve the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked Card, my Final Rewards are price 1.25 cents every in direction of the money price of this ticket. For this $362 fare, I may ebook for simply beneath 29,000 Chase factors.
It is even higher with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which will get 1.5 cents per level within the portal. That brings the associated fee right down to about 24,000 factors.
Is This a Good Deal?
Make no mistake, it is nice to have the choice to ebook these Southwest flights by means of the Chase Journey portal. Nevertheless it will not all the time be your best choice – not less than not but.
Should you as an alternative transferred your Chase factors from a Sapphire Most well-liked Card to Southwest Fast Rewards and booked an award ticket, you may presently ebook the very same flight between Nashville and Phoenix for simply over 26,000 factors and $11.20 in taxes and costs.
For vacationers with the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked, you are getting a greater deal by transferring to Southwest. However since factors from the Sapphire Reserve are price much more when reserving by way of Chase, Reserve cardholders can get higher worth reserving by means of the Chase portal.
However that math will change within the New Yr … tilting additional towards the Chase journey portal.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, every Southwest Fast Rewards level will get you simply 1.15 cents towards the bottom airfare – down from the present 1.2-cent charge. As soon as that occurs, you’d must switch much more factors to Southwest to ebook these flights.
Professionals & Cons of Reserving with Chase
The great thing about reserving by means of Chase is its simplicity, and that extends to those Southwest flights. You may even get a greater deal reserving by means of the Chase journey portal, particularly as soon as 2024 rolls round.
However there are a couple of different concerns to remember with this new improvement. Let’s begin with the positives of reserving by means of Chase.
Not like once you switch factors to Southwest for an award reserving, you will nonetheless earn Fast Rewards factors once you ebook a flight by means of the Chase journey portal, simply as when you had been reserving the flight with money straight by means of Southwest. Within the case of that $362 fare to Phoenix, you’d earn almost 2,200 Fast Rewards factors after finishing the journey. That would tilt the mathematics towards reserving by means of the Chase journey portal even additional.
Learn extra: Sure, You Nonetheless Earn Miles When You E-book With Credit score Card Factors
There is not any query that there are methods to squeeze rather more worth out of your Chase factors through the use of different Chase switch companions. Nonetheless, it is a beneficial and easy possibility. Should you’re not seeking to dive deep into the weeds of maximizing airline packages, it does not get a lot simpler than this.
However then there’s the dangerous half: The headache of adjusting a flight booked by means of a journey portal like Chase.
Lengthy earlier than different airways did away with change and cancellation charges, Southwest has allowed free change and cancellation on virtually any flight – together with award flights booked with Fast Rewards factors. Plans change? Simply cancel your ticket and get your Fast Rewards factors again immediately.
That is flexibility you merely will not get pleasure from reserving by means of the Chase journey portal. Like reserving by means of many different third-party websites, canceling a flight and getting your Chase factors again generally is a problem. In some instances, chances are you’ll wind up simply geting a journey credit score with Southwest slightly than your factors again.
And the benefit of that flexibility extends past when you must cancel.
Southwest commonly runs huge gross sales with 30% off fares or extra … and no airline makes it simpler to rebook your flights and save much more. If costs drop on a fare you booked with Southwest factors, you may rebook your ticket and pocket the distinction in factors with only a few clicks.
That is simply not an possibility with Chase – or whether it is, it is not well worth the bother. That flexibility alone is perhaps price contemplating utilizing some extra factors upfront by transferring to Southwest.
Learn extra: The right way to Rebook Your Flights & Save When Costs Drop!
Backside Line
Chase quietly added the flexibility to ebook Southwest flights on-line by means of the Chase Journey Portal.
Vacationers with the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked, Ink Most well-liked, and the Sapphire Reserve now have a brand new means to make use of their factors for Southwest flights, skipping the complicated technique of transferring factors to the airline. It will not all the time be the most effective deal to ebook this fashion … the truth is, it would by no means be.
However in some instances, it will probably prevent quite a lot of factors. And above all, it is a huge shock: Till now, the one method to ebook Southwest flights, interval, was direct by means of Southwest.