The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is the entry-level Chase Southwest card and has the lowest annual fee of the three. Get 2X points on Southwest flights and 3,000 points per card anniversary in exchange for your annual fee each year, plus:

• 2X points on local transit and commuting purchases, including rideshares (like Uber and Lyft)
• 2X points on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
• 2 EarlyBird Check-Ins per year (Worth $15-$25 each)

Note: Our rewards calculator and Estimated Rewards Values assume all of your "Airfare" is on Southwest and is therefore counted at 2x points. If you also fly another carrier, you will only earn 1x points for those purchases.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is the mid-level personal Southwest card with a modest annual fee. Get 6,000 points per card anniversary and 3x points on Southwest flights.

• 3X points on Southwest purchases (up from 2X)
• 2X points on local transit and commuting purchases, including rideshares (like Uber and Lyft)
• 2X points on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
• 2 EarlyBird Check-Ins per year (Worth $15-$25 each)

Note: Our rewards calculator and Estimated Rewards Values assume all of your "Airfare" is on Southwest and is therefore counted at 3x points. If you also fly another carrier, you will only earn 1x points for those purchases.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is a premium-level Southwest card comes with extra benefits for loyal Southwest flyers. Get 7,500 points, a $75 Southwest credit, and 4 upgraded boarding positions each card anniversary.

• 3X points on Southwest purchases
• 2X points on local transit and commuting purchases, including rideshares (like Uber and Lyft)
• 2X points on internet, cable, phone, and select streaming
• Unlimited Tier Qualifying points (TQPs) towards A-List status - 1,500 Tier qualifying points for every $10,000 that you spend on the card
• 7,500 Rapid Rewards points each year on your card anniversary. Based on our 1.4 cent value, those points along are worth $105 toward Southwest Airlines flights.
• A $75 annual Southwest travel credit. Just charge your Southwest flight to your credit card and Chase will automatically reimburse you. The credit renews every year after your card anniversary date.
• 4 Upgraded Boardings per year. Southwest is a first-come, first-served system for boarding. The earlier you check in, the better your boarding position. But upgraded boardings allow you to skip the cattle car process, automatically giving you an A1-A15 position. Normally, you need to pay for these boarding spots, but the card will reimburse you for the first four that you purchase.
• No foreign transaction fees. You won’t pay any foreign transaction fees when you use the card to make purchases abroad.
• 20% back on all inflight purchases. That includes WiFi, as well.

Note: Our rewards calculator and Estimated Rewards Values assume all of your "Airfare" is on Southwest and is therefore counted at 3x points. If you also fly another carrier, you will only earn 1x points for those purchases.

• You'll get 1 Star per $1 when digitally loading your Starbucks Card with your Starbucks Rewards Visa Credit Card (except for money added at the register), and 2 Stars per $1 spent when that Starbucks Card is used to pay at Starbucks stores.
• Then earn 1 Star per $2 spent (0.5 Stars per dollar) at grocery stores, as well as on local transit and commuting, and on internet, cable and phone service.
• Finally, earn 1 Star per $4 spent (0.25 cents per dollar) on everything else.

This card is best suited for those that generally buy expensive Starbucks beverages. Consider that even if you used this card most at grocery stores (where you earn double Stars), you would earn 0.5 Stars per dollar. That means spending $300 to earn enough Stars for a free beverage (150 Stars).

A 2% Cash Back card would earn $6 for $300 in spend. Therefore, on the grocery / internet / cable / phone/ commuting bonus categories, you still need to redeem on average for an item worth more than $6 to come out ahead.

Using this card for non-bonus categories wouldn't make much sense, as you'd need to redeem 150 Stars for, on average, a beverage of $12 or more (not very realistic).

The best value will, obviously, come from spend on Starbucks Card reloads, where you'll earn 1 Star per dollar. For those purchases, your redemption breakeven on 150 Stars is just $3.

NOTE: If you used the rewards calculator tool, the system is not able to factor in the bonus earned for Starbucks card reloads (1 Star per dollar spent) and therefore Starbucks spend is calculated incorrectly at the default rate of 1 Star per $4.

This is the no-fee version of the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card, with somewhat reduced benefits in exchange for not having an annual fee.

The IHG credit card is best suited for spend at IHG properties where it earns IHG points at the rate of 5x IHG points per dollar (vs. 10x IHG points with the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card).

This card still gives you the 4th Night Free on an Award Stay benefit which is one of the best reasons to have either IHG credit card, although you do give up many other features of the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card which does have an annual fee.

IHG Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card Earn Rates

• 5X per dollar spent at IHG properties
• 3X points per dollar on utilities
• 3X points per dollar on cable, Internet, and phone
• 3X points per dollar on select streaming services
• 3X points per dollar for dining
• 3X points per dollar for gas stations
• 2X points on all other eligible spend

Additional IHG Rewards Club Traveler benefits:

• The fourth reward night free whenever you redeem for 4 or more nights.
• Earn 10,000 bonus points when you spend $10,000 in a calendar year.
• No foreign transaction fees