Want a free flight after your first purchase on a travel rewards credit card? Not a fan of blackout dates? Don’t like seat restrictions when redeeming rewards? How about including international travel in the rewards program?

Changes coming to Rapid Rewards

Southwest Airlines’ rewards program has always been known for its simplicity. Current members have probably heard about upcoming changes to the program.

“When you buy certain fare products you earn more points,” wrote Ryan Green, Southwest’s senior director of customer loyalty and partnerships, in a Jan. 6 blog post announcing the Rapid Rewards program’s revisions.

So with the new Rapid Rewards program, effective March 1, points, not credits, are the name of the game. Rapid Rewards members earn points for every dollar spent–including double points for every dollar spent on Southwest travel– giving loyal customers more ways to redeem and more opportunities to fly free.

For those customers that already carry the benefits of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program, existing credits are safe and secure. Qualifying credits get translated into points, which can still be used toward a free flight. Standard Award and Freedom Award rules, regulations and expiration dates remain unchanged.

Chase Southwest credit card still delivers big value

Though Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards program is changing, the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Card from Chase offers the same signature up-front perk: The very first purchase on this Chase credit card is rewarded with a free flight. Checking out all the airports Southwest Airlines serves, that one sign-up benefit can go a long way, literally.

Even better, every seat on every flight is a rewards seat. Blackout dates need not apply. If there’s a seat available, members can redeem points for it. And points don’t have an expiration date as long as the account sees some activity every 24 months. When a member is ready to travel, Southwest Airlines makes it happen.

Icing on the cake? Points can also be earned with Southwest’s partners. That means a free flight is at the fingertips of each and every member, new or existing.

Other goodies for Rapid Rewards credit card holders

With the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit card by Chase, members can now redeem points for international flights, cruises, hotel stays, car rentals, gift cards, and access to exclusive events.

There’s nothing like a moment of mental clarity in the world of airline travel.

Read what others are saying. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit card from Chase gets a five-star rating from credit card guru Curtis Arnold at CardRatings.com.

If you like the travel rewards offered by the Chase credit card, there’s no reason to wait for March 1 to apply.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:

» Airline Rewards Programs Bounce Back Despite Airline Industry Woes
» Chase Freedom Cash Rewards Card Travel Promotion
» Frequent Flyer Credit Cards Getting Worse, Stick With Cash Back Rewards
» Credit Card Issuers Cracking Down on App-O-Ramas
» Alec Baldwin wants you to fly free with Match My Miles reward from Capital One Venture
» Free $10 Bonus From Chase Freedom Card
» Will microchip-embedded cards replace the old magnetic stripe swipe?
» Chase Introduces New Rewards Program

Here are some other attractive features of the card:

• Earn 2 points/dollar spent on everyday purchase, 1 point/dollar on all else
• Earn 1 point/mile you fly on any airline
• Earn 1 point/mile friends and family fly on tickets purchased w/your card
• Get a complimentary companion ticket when you buy a qualifying ticket
• Redeem your points for flights on any airline with no blackout dates, or
• Redeem points through the ThankYou Network
• Points never expire as long as you make 1 purchase every 3 calendar years

Note that there is an annual fee ($75), but it’s waived for the first year. For more hot deals, check out this list of credit card bonus offers.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:

» Get 25,000 Bonus Miles from Citi
» Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Signup Bonus
» Get 5% Cash Back With Citi CashReturns
» Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card $100 Signup Bonus
» How to Get 18% Cash Back With the Discover More Card
» Discover Business Card $100 Signup Bonus (Again)
» Are Frequent Flyer Credit Cards a Good Deal?
» Get a 20% Cash Back Bonus From Citi

All of this begs the question of whether or not you should bother with an airline credit card. Here are some questions to ask yourself before deciding to apply for a frequent flyer credit card:

1. Do you carry a balance? This is an important point for reward cards of all flavors. If you carry a balance, you should shop around for the lowest rate, not the biggest rewards.
2. Are your children in school? If so, then you’ll be trying to book your flights during exceptionally busy times (winter break, spring break, etc.) and you probably won’t have much luck redeeming your miles.
3. Do you have elite status? If so, there might be additional reward seats available for your, making it easier to redeem your miles. Also, you might be able to avoid some of the junk fees associated with redeeming miles.
4. Are you a big spender? If you’re wealthy are charge a lot of business expenses, you can pile up miles very quickly, allowing you to circumvent blackout dates, etc.

To me, the best deals can be found amongst the cash back reward credit cards. Frequent flyer miles are widely regarded as being worth roughly $0.01/each. Given that, why not apply for something like the Amex Blue Cash Rewards card, which gives up to 5% cash back (Amex Blue Cash review). That way you can build up the cash and just buy a ticket that suits your needs. Either that, or you can choose to spend your rewards on something entirely different.

Source: NY Times

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:

» Frequent Flyer Credit Cards Getting Worse, Stick With Cash Back Rewards
» Amex Delta SkyMiles Cardholders Can Pay With Miles
» List of Frequent Flyer Credit Cards With Bonus Miles
» Credit Card Miles
» Get 25,000 Bonus Miles from Citi
» Reward Credit Cards: Ripoff or Real Deal?
» The Best of August 2008
» Earning Credit Card Miles in Unusual Ways

Click through and check it out: Credit Card Miles.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:

» Credit Card Miles
» Get 25,000 Bonus Miles from Citi
» Frequent Flyer Credit Cards Getting Worse, Stick With Cash Back Rewards
» Are Frequent Flyer Credit Cards a Good Deal?
» Amex Delta SkyMiles Cardholders Can Pay With Miles
» Earning Credit Card Miles in Unusual Ways
» Reward Credit Cards: Ripoff or Real Deal?
» Factors That Influence Your FICO Credit Score

While booking our tickets, I learned something interesting about the SkyMiles program, as well as Delta’s frequent flyer credit cards. As it turns out, Delta has introduced a program where you can “Pay With Miles” even if you don’t have enough miles for a ticket. This is actually a reasonably solid deal, as 10k miles knocks $100 off the price of your ticket.

In our case, we needed six tickets total. My wife and I had enough miles for one free ticket apiece, and I was within a few thousand miles of another free ticket. Upon learning about the ability to pay with miles (and because I’m too lazy to read the fine print myself) I clicked on the button on their website to chat with a customer service rep (CSR).

When I asked about how to go about paying with miles, I was informed that you have one of their credit cards — either the Amex Gold SkyMiles card or the Amex Platinum SkyMiles card — in order to be able to do this. Bummer.

While I’m not a huge of of airline reward cards in general, this is a nice feature of the Amex/Delta offerings. It’s also worth noting that these cards come with some pretty juicy signup bonuses that are almost enough to cover a free flight up front.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:

» List of Frequent Flyer Credit Cards With Bonus Miles
» Credit Card Bill of Rights
» Are Frequent Flyer Credit Cards a Good Deal?
» Good News for AmEx Simply Cash Cardholders
» Alec Baldwin wants you to fly free with Match My Miles reward from Capital One Venture
» Frequent Flyer Credit Cards Getting Worse, Stick With Cash Back Rewards
» Get 25,000 Bonus Miles from Citi
» Credit Card Miles