Credit cards are ideal for reducing travel fares and making great savings from the reward points earned after every purchase. If you fly frequently, you can go for a specialized travel credit card like the Southwest Credit Card. If you do not take measures to curb them, travel costs can have a degrading effect on your business revenue.
A Southwest Credit Card is one of the best credit cards that you can opt for to avail of amazing rebates on airfare. They provide you with a deluge of reward points if you are a new customer and your expenditure exceeds a certain limit. Nevertheless, you should take a look at credit card eligibility before applying for such cards.
Eligibility Criteria
The best way to be clear about the eligibility criteria is to go through the company’s website carefully. You can even call the customer care executives if you have any queries regarding any issue. Nonetheless, these are the most common factors that you should consider before applying for a credit card.
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Credit Score:
Not surprisingly, credit scores are as important with Southwest Credit Cards as they are with any credit card. Ideally, a credit score in the mid-700s could give you a fair shot at procuring this credit card. However, you should not lose heart if your credit score is close to the 700s. It is not uncommon to get a Southwest Credit Card approved with a credit score to the tune of 650. In such cases, you will need manual approval. This procedure is the same that small businesses need to go through to get their cards approved. In many cases, you will need to put across collateral to earn the trust of the credit card issuer.
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Annual Income:
Your annual income is definitely an important consideration as far as credit card eligibility is concerned. Typically, Southwest Credit Cards allow you a credit limit of 10-15% of your annual income. So, the more your income, the greater meaning the credit limit holds. It does not make sense to get the credit limit exhausted pretty quickly, and having to spend the entire money to repay the credit. In other words, it defeats the purpose of getting a credit card like the Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard approved. There are instances of people getting a credit card approved with a somewhat impoverished limit of Rs. 1 lakh. But the idea is to apply for a credit card with an annual income that fetches you at least an Rs.4-5 lakh limit so that you do not exhaust the credit quickly. Also, depending on your income, your credit card type will also vary between a Visa Signature and a Visa Premium.
- A number of Credit Cards: If you are not applying for a business credit card, do not apply for too many credit cards. Not only does it make timely payments difficult, but it also causes a technical problem. Southwest Credit Cards go by the 5/24 rule. This rule says that you cannot have more than 5 credit cards issued in the last two years, and be eligible for a Southwest Credit Card.
- The number of Southwest Credit Cards: Although the terms and conditions do not explicitly say so, it is better not to possess more than one Southwest Credit Card. You can have one personal card and one business card. However, if you do not have a steady flow of income on the former, it is better to get rid of it. If you have a card that you do not use much and you apply for a new card, you will lose the benefits of a sign-up bonus meant for new customers.
The Final Suggestions
These are the basic guidelines that you can follow while maintaining a Southwest Credit Card. Keep a good credit score, do not unnecessarily apply for too many cards, and apply with a decent annual income. If you need to keep more than one Southwest Credit Card, you can opt for a companion card, rather than two individual cards.
