It’s one thing to write about whether a credit card is still worth keeping. It’s another thing to make the decision and actually cancel it.
When I evaluate whether to keep or ditch a card, I try to be transparent about what I ultimately do with my own account. After all, it’s easy to explain why a card might not be worth its annual fee when it’s still sitting safely in your wallet.
This time, I followed through.
When the $229 annual fee posted to my Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, I canceled the card. Here are the reasons why.
This Wasn’t A Sudden Decision
I’ve been questioning the value of the Southwest Priority card since Chase and Southwest overhauled the card and increased its annual fee.
Under the previous benefit structure, the card was an easy keeper. The $75 Southwest travel credit, 7,500 anniversary points and four Upgraded Boardings went a long way toward offsetting the old $149 annual fee.
Even if we only flew Southwest a few times each year, it wasn’t difficult to get enough value from the card to justify keeping it.
That changed when the annual fee increased to $229 and several of the card’s benefits were redesigned around Southwest’s new assigned-seating system.
When I first looked at the changes, I wrote that the Southwest Priority card was no longer an automatic winner. At the time, I wasn’t ready to say for certain that I would cancel it. I wanted to see how the new benefits worked and how Southwest fit into our future travel plans.
Several months later, the answer was becoming clearer.
We Already Have The Southwest Plus Card
We originally signed up for the Southwest Plus card because of a promotional Companion Pass offer. My plan was to keep the Priority card and cancel the Plus card once its annual fee came due.
Instead, Southwest’s changes flipped that decision.
When the Plus card renewed, I decided it made more sense to keep the Southwest Plus card and consider dropping the Priority card.
The Plus card gives us the Southwest benefits we’re most likely to use, including free checked bags and access to standard seat selection within 48 hours of departure, when available. It also includes anniversary points and the Companion Pass qualifying point boost.
For someone who flies Southwest occasionally, that covers most of what we need.
The Priority card provides better seating benefits, including standard or preferred seat selection at booking and earlier access to Extra Legroom seats. Those can be useful, but they weren’t worth paying an additional $130 each year for the way we expect to fly Southwest.
We’re Not Flying Southwest Enough
There was a time when Southwest occupied a much larger role in our travel plans. The combination of reasonable fares, two free checked bags and an easy boarding process made it one of the first airlines we checked for many trips.
Southwest is changing, and so are our travel patterns.
Without a Companion Pass, we’re less likely to plan trips around Southwest. We’ll still fly the airline when the schedule and price make sense, but it has become one option among several instead of the default choice.
That makes it harder to justify paying $229 for benefits tied to an airline we may use only a few times a year.
The Priority card could still be a worthwhile choice for someone who flies Southwest regularly and values choosing a better seat at booking. That just isn’t us right now.
The Annual Fee Made The Decision Real
I had already reached most of these conclusions before the annual fee appeared. Still, there’s a difference between thinking you’ll cancel a card and seeing a $229 charge on your statement.
That was the moment when I had to make the actual decision.
Letting the annual fee post didn’t mean I was stuck paying it. Chase generally gives cardholders 30 days after an annual fee is billed to cancel or downgrade the card and receive a full refund. After that window, Chase typically doesn’t provide a prorated refund for the unused portion of the cardmember year.
That means there’s usually no reason to cancel a Chase card months before renewal just because you’re unsure about keeping it. You can continue using the card and wait until the new annual fee appears before making the final decision.
However, once the fee posts, the clock is running.
I could have kept the card and told myself we would find enough uses for the seating benefits. Maybe we would book several Southwest flights. Maybe we would appreciate having earlier access to Extra Legroom seats. Maybe something would happen that made the card more valuable than expected.
But paying an annual fee based on what we might use is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.
I also could have asked Chase about downgrading the card instead of closing it. That can make sense when there’s another card in the same family that better fits your needs, while also preserving the account history and credit line.
In this case, a downgrade didn’t solve anything. We already have the Southwest Plus card, so switching the Priority card to another Southwest personal card would have left us with two cards with overlapping benefits.
So I canceled the Priority card within Chase’s refund window and received a refund of the $229 annual fee.
Final Thought
Canceling the Southwest Priority card doesn’t mean it’s a bad card. For a frequent Southwest traveler who values selecting a seat at booking, checking bags and wanting a head start on Extra Legroom seating, the benefits may justify the $229 annual fee.
But that’s not how we currently use Southwest.
I had already written that the card was no longer an automatic keeper. I later explained why we were keeping the Plus card and were leaning toward dropping the Priority card.
Once the $229 charge appeared, it was time to stop leaning and make the decision.
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