by Daniel | Last Updated May 24th, 2022
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If you travel a fair amount and would like to find a way to get more value from everything you spend your money on, then both of these following credit cards in this review are worth considering.
From a free hotel stay to four free upgrades on Southwest flights each year, having just one or both of the cards can help you save quite a lot of money over the course of a year.
In this article, I’m going to review both the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card.
Basically, I’ll go over all of the benefits and perks that come with these cards and how much value they can provide you each year.
Who are these cards good for, And why should you consider them?
Both of these cards are great for people that spend a fair amount of time traveling on Southwest Airlines or staying at IHG hotels and resorts, and with over 6,000 hotels and resorts to choose from around the world, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a nice place to stay.
With the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card, you can receive some great hotel benefits each year that include a free anniversary night and your fourth night free when redeeming points.
And with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, you can enjoy your first and second bags checked in for free on Southwest flights and 4 free upgraded boardings each year.
So if you combine the cards there is the potential to receive quite a lot of value from the benefits on offer and the ability to save quite a lot of money from your travel.
APR
Now for the next section of this review, I’ll just go over the APR, fees, and charges that are associated with these cards.
And I don’t recommend getting a cash advance or ever having a negative balance on your credit card if possible.
Always try to pay off your balance in full each month to avoid any negative effects to your credit score and any unwanted charges.
So, the APR for both of these cards are exactly the same seeing as they are both from Chase.
And for Purchases and Balance Transfers the APR is currently between 16.74% to 23.74%.
Then Balance transfers will also incur a fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever amount is more.
Getting a Cash Advance has an APR of 25.74% and a fee of either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance Again, whichever amount is more And then finally there is a Penalty APR of 29.99% for any late payments or returned payments from your bank, and each of these penalties will incur a fee of up to $40.
So as you can see, the interest rates are really quite high, as are the fees associated with a cash advance or balance transfer.
Now if you’re interested in learning how to manage your credit card and what mistakes to avoid, why not check out my video here where I cover 9 credit card mistakes that you should avoid at all costs.
Annual Fee
So now let’s take a quick look at what each of these cards costs on an annual basis, and you will see that both cards are relatively inexpensive compared to some of the top tier credit cards like the Platinum Amex.
And starting with the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card there is an annual fee of just $99, which considering the sign-up bonus and benefits is really quite good value.
Next up, with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, the annual fee is a little more at $149, but it still has some worthwhile perks that are worth considering.
Sign up Bonus
Now the sign-up for both of these cards is really quite good considering the relatively low annual fee of each card.
Starting with the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card the current sign-up bonus is 140,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of card ownership.
And with IHG Points being worth approximately 0.5 cents per point, this sign-up bonus is worth about $700, which for a card that cost just $99 a year, is really good value.
Now with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, you can currently earn 40,000 bonus points after you spend just $1,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of card ownership.
And with the Southwest points being worth about 1.4 cents per point, this sign-up bonus is worth approximately $560.
So both cards have a reasonably generous sign-up bonus that can easily cover the cost of the annual fee of both cards for a few years.
Earning points
Now for the next section of this review, I’ll go over how each card fairs in terms of points earning potential and where you can earn the most points from with each card.
And starting with the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card you will be able to earn up to 26x points for bookings at IHG Hotels and Resorts.
For travel, dining, and gas station purchases you will earn 5x points.
And then all other purchases will earn 3x points per dollar spent
Next up, with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card you will earn 3x points for all Southwest purchases.
Then from here, you can earn 2x points on hotel and car rental purchases that are partners of Rapid Rewards.
Purchases of internet, cable, phone services, and streaming services will also receive 2x points.
And then all other purchases will earn 1 point per dollar spent.
So if you tend to spend a fair amount of time traveling and staying at hotels, the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card has the potential to earn you a lot of points, which can in turn be used to get more free hotel stays.
Benefits
Now let’s take a look at what benefits come with each card and how much they are worth.
So with the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card, the most valuable benefit that comes with this card is the Anniversary Free Night, and this is available after 12 months of card ownership.
Now, this benefit can be used at any IHG hotels that have a point redemption value of 40,000 points or less, and seeing that IHG points are worth 0.5 cents per point, this free anniversary night is worth $200, which more than covers the cost of the annual fee.
Now if the hotel you want to stay at requires more than 40,000 points, it is possible to add points from your IHG rewards account to make up the difference.
Just know that this benefit will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
Next up cardholders will receive a credit of up to $100 that can be used on either TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS.
When using points to book a four-night consecutive stay at an IHG hotel, you will actually get the 4th night free, which means you will be charged the Reward Night point redemption rate for 3 nights with the 4th night costing you 0 points.
Now with this card, you will also receive IHG Rewards Platinum Elite status.
And this gives you the ability to save 20% when you purchase points with the card.
Next up, with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card you will also get some pretty nice perks.
First of all, you will receive a $75 annual travel credit that can be used on Southwest Airlines.
There is also a 7,500 point anniversary bonus that is given to you after a full year of card ownership, and this is worth about $105.
Then each year you will be reimbursed for up to 4 Upgraded Boardings which are for positions A1-A15 and can cost up to $50 per round trip upgrade, which values this befits at up to $200 per year.
And to use this benefit is quite simple, you can purchase the Upgraded Boardings at either the ticket counter or departure gate on the day of travel if they are available.
Inflight purchases that are made on Southwest flights will receive 25% back.
For every $10,000 you spend on the card you will receive 1,500 Tier-Qualifying Points that help bring you towards A-List status.
Along with all of these benefits, you will also get your 1st and 2nd bags check free on Southwest flights and No Change Fee, which means you can change your flight free of charge, but you will have to pay for any fare differences if there are any.
So as you can see, both cards offer some really great benefits that cover both air travel and hotel stays and can save you quite a lot of money each year if used correctly.
Insurance Coverage
Now for the last section of this review, I’ll go over what insurance-related coverage comes with each card, and both cards offer similar coverage with just a few differences.
So both cards offer the same Lost Luggage Reimbursement which covers up to $3,000 per passenger if their checked or carry-on luggage is lost or damaged by the carrier.
The Baggage Delay Insurance is also the same for both cards and provides up to $100 a day for 3 days if your baggage is delayed for more than 6 hours by a passenger carrier.
Purchase Protection with both cards offers up to 120 days of coverage against damage or theft of new purchases and covers up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
Then the difference between the two cards is that the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card has Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance which covers up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip if your trip is canceled or cut short.
And the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card offers Extended Warranty Protection of one extra year on US warranties that are 3 years or less
So between the two cards, there is plenty of insurance-related coverage that can help you to feel more secure when traveling.
Final Thoughts
So as you can see from this review, both of these cards offer some really good benefits and perks, whilst only costing $99 for the IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card, and $149 for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card.
In total, the IHG Rewards Premier card offers approximately $1,000 in value with its current sign-up bonus, (not including the fourth night free) and the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card offers about $940 in value, (not including the 1st and 2nd checked bags free).
So if you had both cards, it would cost you $248 for the first year of card ownership and provide you with almost $2,000 in benefits which in my opinion is really good value.
Of course, this is only valid if you fly with Southwest and stay at IHG hotels and resorts.
Now if you like these credit cards but are looking for something a little different, why not check out my review of 6 great credit cards that are offering a companion certificate here.