Jane Cogli, Former Bank Teller
@janecogli
The Southwest credit card foreign transaction fee is either $0 or 3%, depending on the card. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card card’s foreign transaction fee is 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars. The other Southwest credit cards – the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card – have no foreign fee.
Southwest Rapid Rewards cards are issued by Chase Bank. All Chase credit cards with a foreign transaction fee charge 3%. All Southwest credit cards give 2 points per $1 spent on purchases made directly through Southwest Airlines, except for the Southwest Performance Business Card which offers 3 points / $1, and 1 point per $1 for all other purchases. If you earn points on a Southwest credit card with a foreign transaction fee of $0, they won’t be wiped out by a 3% charge.
Southwest credit card foreign transaction fees:
- Southwest Plus Card: 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars foreign transaction fee. $69 annual fee.
- Southwest Priority Card: $0 foreign transaction fee. $149 annual fee.
- Southwest Premier Card: $0 foreign transaction fee. $99 annual fee.
- Southwest Premier Business Card: $0 foreign transaction fee. $99 annual fee.
A Southwest credit card with no foreign transaction fee is well-suited for international travel, but only to certain locations. While Southwest doesn’t exactly operate globally, they do offer flights to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. There are over 110 destinations total. Unfortunately, Southwest is one of the few major airlines that is not part of a big airline alliance. That means their points can’t be transferred to partner airlines that could service other international destinations.
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