Chase's popular points-maximizing Pay Yourself Back feature is now available on Southwest credit cards, but most flyers will want to avoid it

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• If you have a Southwest credit card, you can now redeem points toward eligible purchases through Chase Pay Yourself Back.
• The current eligible categories are dining through March 31, 2023, and the card's annual fee with no end date specified.
• You'll get at most 1 cent per point in value when you redeem this way, which is less than redeeming for award flights.
• Read Insider's guide to the best airline credit cards.

The Chase Pay Yourself Back program was introduced during the pandemic as a way for cardholders to get improved value from their Chase Ultimate Rewards® points even if they weren't traveling. Even though travel has since made a comeback, the program still exists, and most recently was expanded to the Aeroplan® Credit Card - Product Name Only.

Now, Chase's Southwest credit cards have jumped on the Pay Yourself Back bandwagon. Cardholders can use Southwest points for statement credits to offset eligible purchases, but the redemption rates are mediocre at best.

Here's what to know about the new Pay Yourself Back redemption option for Southwest credit card holders, and how to decide if it makes sense for you.

We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Pay Yourself Back comes to Southwest credit cards

Chase issues five different Southwest credit cards, and they're all eligible for Pay Yourself Back. Currently, you can redeem Southwest points through this program for:

• Eligible dining purchases through March 31, 2023 (maximum $200 in statement credits)
• The card's annual fee (no end date given)

As long as the qualifying transaction was made in the past 90 days, you can redeem Southwest points to "erase" the charge through the Pay Yourself Back program. That said, the redemption values aren't great; using points toward dining purchases gets you a value of 0.8 cents apiece, and for the annual fee they're worth 1 cent each.

For example, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card - Annual Fee annual fee on my Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card - Product Name Only recently hit my account. Instead of paying Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card - Annual Fee, I could (but won't!) redeem 14,900 Southwest points to offset the charge.

Insider's points and miles valuations peg Southwest points value at 1.4 cents each, on average. So you'll almost always get a better deal when you redeem Southwest points for award flights.

However, if you're swimming in Southwest points and don't have travel plans, the new Pay Yourself Back option could save you a bit of money.

How to use Pay Yourself Back with Southwest credit cards

If you decide to go the Pay Yourself Back route with your Southwest credit card, you'll find the option online in your Chase account. Once you're on the account page for your Southwest card, find the "More" pulldown menu and select "Rewards Dashboard."

You'll then see an "Earn/Use" menu with the Pay Yourself Back option on the top left:

After clicking on Pay Yourself Back, you'll see your redemption options:

Again, you can only use Pay Yourself Back to offset eligible charges made in the last 90 days. And, at a 0.8 cent per point rate, the maximum number of points you can use to erase dining charges is 25,000 (worth $200).

Those 25,000 points could be worth around $350 in Southwest flights, so we definitely don't recommend using your points this way. But it's always good to have more redemption options in case you end up sitting on a pile of Southwest points you can't use.