Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card

Chase Southwest (SW) Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card is probably the best card for the beginner since the card user (you) has the fewest hoops to jump through to get your points.

What you need to do:

1. Spend $2,000 within three months.
2. Pay the annual fee ($99)
3. Annnnnd... that's it.

What you get:

• 50,000 Rapid Rewards points, which is approximately two round trip tickets.
• Anniversary bonus of 6,000 points every year. (which is basically the annual fee in points)

Why Rapid Rewards is great:

• No black out dates. Book a flight when you want, wherever SW flies and when there's space on the plane.
• If there's a seat available on the plane, you can use your points. SW does NOT give preferential treatment to money-using passengers.
• Perhaps the easiest reward-booking system available.
• 2x points for every dollar you spend directly with Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways.

We highly recommend this card for beginners or to those who travel in the domestic US.

 David's experience with this card

This card varies in its promotional benefits. The first time I saw it, the promo was 50,000 points after first purchase, but I had applied for two other cards recently and I didn't want to have too many inquiries. A couple months later, I checked again but the promo was now only 35,000 points. Petty change. I decided to wait.

And good thing I did! Another month or two after that, the promo was back to 50,000 after your first purchase and I hopped on it. I bought a cheeseburger. "Why yes, I would like two free round trip tickets with that."

I've redeemed about 33,000 points so far and have made:

• Two round-trip flights from LAX to SFO. I paid $10.
• One-way flight from LAX to PDX during peak winter season travel. $5.