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nawhite

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #50 on: November 18, 2014, 12:06:34 PM »
I am so excited for this- I can't believe they actually let the bonus points count towards the companion pass!

One thing to keep in mind is that the bonus points do count towards companion passes, but do NOT count towards A-list.

Those cheap bastards

Doubly cheap because flights you take with points don't count either. So those 200,000 points I've earned this year, even when I took a flight with those points it didn't count towards A-list. I guess I'll just have to keep getting on the plane in the normal order and paying for my in-flight wifi on the 32 flight segments I've scammed them out of :-)

bigalsmith101

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #51 on: November 18, 2014, 01:54:26 PM »
F*ck it. I bit the bullet and made the applications today. From start to finish, it was under 5 minutes, complete with instant approval for both the Plus and Premier Personal Cards. Too easy.

I fly a lot for work, and my wife is my coworker. We get reimbursed for our flights as well. I'll be able to spent the required money in no time at all.

Just to be certain, as I've not participated in an offer like this before;

I need to be sure that the final purchase/transaction that brings me over 110,000 points occurs in January 2015 correct? NOT any sooner than that. Or else I will essentially forfeit nearly 12 additional months of the companion pass.

The cards will come in the mail soon, and I'll get to work!

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #52 on: November 18, 2014, 03:12:51 PM »
Quote
I need to be sure that the final purchase/transaction that brings me over 110,000 points occurs in January 2015 correct? NOT any sooner than that. Or else I will essentially forfeit nearly 12 additional months of the companion pass.

Yes! You need to make sure that all of the 110,000 points credit to the account in 2015 - you can do some of the spending in 2014, as long as the billing cycle ends early in 2015.

I am hoping to call customer service when I get my cards to move the billing end date to the 4th, so I will have from Dec 5th to Jan 4th to get most of the spend done, and still have the points post to rapid rewards in 2015.

nawhite

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #53 on: November 18, 2014, 06:57:00 PM »
Quote
I need to be sure that the final purchase/transaction that brings me over 110,000 points occurs in January 2015 correct? NOT any sooner than that. Or else I will essentially forfeit nearly 12 additional months of the companion pass.

Yes! You need to make sure that all of the 110,000 points credit to the account in 2015 - you can do some of the spending in 2014, as long as the billing cycle ends early in 2015.

I am hoping to call customer service when I get my cards to move the billing end date to the 4th, so I will have from Dec 5th to Jan 4th to get most of the spend done, and still have the points post to rapid rewards in 2015.

Not just the final purchase. All of your points need to be earned in 2015 otherwise they won't count towards the 110k points for the companion pass. The program is "if you earn 110k points in one calendar year, you get a companion pass good for the moment you reach 110k until the end of the following calendar year." So have 0 points on January 1st, have 110k as fast as possible (where 100k of that happen as a bonus soon after your last statement that says total spend since you got the card was greater than 2k/card) and get a companion pass good through the end of 2016.

The bit of clarification is that lets say that you put $1,999 on each card in the month of November and your December statement comes out before January 1st, then those points earned from the $3,998 wont count towards your 110k because you will have earned them in 2014, not 2015.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2014, 10:52:02 PM by nawhite »

Roland of Gilead

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #54 on: November 18, 2014, 08:28:06 PM »
I think you will owe tax on the FMV of the 100,000 points, so probably will owe tax on $2000 or so.  In our bracket that would be about $600 of federal tax.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #55 on: November 18, 2014, 08:38:59 PM »
I think you will owe tax on the FMV of the 100,000 points, so probably will owe tax on $2000 or so.  In our bracket that would be about $600 of federal tax.

Everything that I have seen on the subject has said that the IRS's position on credit card rewards is that they are a discount on all purchases applied to the card to earn the rewards.
There has been one case where Citi issued tax forms for credit cards that earned AA miles. In that scenario, you could probably argue that you can't really assign a fair market value to points, since their value differs greatly based on what flight you book. In the case of Southwest, it's a bit more clear cut because the points required for a ticket are proportional to the ticket price.

However, even then, how could anybody truly assign the fair market value of Southwest's points? There are three tiers of tickets, and with each tier, the points are worth different amounts - 1.43 cents, 1 cent, or .83 cents per point (I'm pulling this from a website, so it may not be exactly accurate, but the fact that the points have different values across tiers of tickets is easily verifiable). And you could also decide to redeem your Southwest points for gift cards instead, at which point you get a far lower value of your points. Which of these valuations do you use?


Of course, the IRS position of credit card rewards being a discount towards spending charged to the card becomes problematic for cards such as Bank of America's Better Balance Rewards card, which only requires you to pay your bills on time (you need to charge something, but the amount doesn't matter) and earn up to $120/yr.

secondcor521

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #56 on: November 18, 2014, 08:41:26 PM »
Usually you can call them and ask them the last date by which you must achieve the spending to meet the program requirements.  I've done this many times in the past, and they're happy to look it up for you and give you an exact date.  That way there is no guesswork involved.  Usually it is 90 days or three months from the date they issue you the card and stick it in the mail to you.  So those of you getting approved now probably have until about 2/18.  But again, I'd suggest calling and asking.


Roland of Gilead

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #57 on: November 18, 2014, 08:46:02 PM »
It was my understanding that reward points for spending are not considered taxable, but signup bonus rewards are.  I think I read that was the ruling.   Some of the forms from cards mention you will get a 1099 for the bonus given.

This deal you guys are discussing though might be different.  It seems you have to spend xx dollars to get the points and they are not just a signup bonus?   That might make them non-taxable.

dragoncar

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #58 on: November 18, 2014, 09:02:00 PM »
I guess I'll just have to keep getting on the plane in the normal order and paying for my in-flight wifi on the 32 flight segments I've scammed them out of :-)

Someone I know NOT ME uses acrobat to add "a list preferred" to his boarding pass to use the flyby lane and post-a group boarding.  Their screen just flashes valid/invalid not a detailed analysts of your boarding pass.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #59 on: November 18, 2014, 09:27:58 PM »
It was my understanding that reward points for spending are not considered taxable, but signup bonus rewards are.  I think I read that was the ruling.   Some of the forms from cards mention you will get a 1099 for the bonus given.

This deal you guys are discussing though might be different.  It seems you have to spend xx dollars to get the points and they are not just a signup bonus?   That might make them non-taxable.

That is the key differentiating factor - whether you need to spend $X to get your bonus or not. It's the same rationale that is applied to bank account signup bonuses - there's no spending required to get such bank bonus, and hence it's considered taxable.



tl;dr - This whole discussion of possibly owing taxes on the sign up bonus is a red herring. Enjoy your free flights!

KiloRomeo

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #60 on: November 19, 2014, 11:17:00 AM »
I applied and got the two cards. Looking forward to spending $10k asap (seems very unmustachian).

Basically I need to spend $4k in the next 2 months and $6k asap (to get maximum companion pass time) right?

Any reason why I wouldn't just apply for a 3rd card? Get another 50k points and I only have to spend $6k total (instead of 10) and an additional yearly fee/credit hit.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #61 on: November 19, 2014, 11:18:54 AM »
I applied and got the two cards. Looking forward to spending $10k asap (seems very unmustachian).

Basically I need to spend $4k in the next 2 months and $6k asap (to get maximum companion pass time) right?

Any reason why I wouldn't just apply for a 3rd card? Get another 50k points and I only have to spend $6k total (instead of 10) and an additional yearly fee/credit hit.

Not exactly. You need to make sure you reach your $2k per card on a statement that's cut in January, or later. See above.

KiloRomeo

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #62 on: November 19, 2014, 11:41:20 AM »

Not exactly. You need to make sure you reach your $2k per card on a statement that's cut in January, or later. See above.

Thanks, I figure the statements associated for the cards I just applied for will likely end in Jan but I'll double check.

Any reason why I wouldn't get a 3rd card?

bigalsmith101

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #63 on: November 22, 2014, 07:21:01 PM »
I got a notice via email that my two cards should arrive in 5-7 business days. Awesome. Just wish they were here yesterday when I spent $575 on business. Damn.

But, it looks like I scored a temporary contract for the next 4-5 weeks and when they arrive, I'll be able to to push all of my expenses onto the cards. Should amount to about $1k/week in business expenses and another $500-$600 in personal expenses. Perfect timing for this.

Just got to make sure the purchases fall in the statement ending in January!

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #64 on: November 22, 2014, 07:37:02 PM »
I'm still waiting on my new SIM card for the softcard app to work... no indication when that will get here, or if it even shipped. That's okay though, because I don't have the cards yet, and I probably won't start loading spending onto them until after December 3rd (my intended billing cycle end date). tyd450, did you change your billing cycle end dates at all?

mustachemayhem

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #65 on: November 22, 2014, 08:38:16 PM »
I just applied and was approved for plus and premier personal cards. Looks like you can also earn an easy 500 points For subscribing to the Rapid Rewards Report and the Rapid Rewards email update. I would do it in January.

https://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/emails

boarder42

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #66 on: November 23, 2014, 07:13:13 AM »
and the points rightfully shouldnt count towards Alist.  coming from a guy who flies 40 times a year, you dont need A list status for your 3-5 free round trips you fly.  you can check in on time or pay for early bird and get to the airport earlier to clog up the security line bc you never travel and dont know how to go thru security.  and dont be one of those people who bitches at us when we walk past you on the way in... fly 20-40 times a year and you can do it too. 

Self-employed-swami

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #67 on: November 23, 2014, 09:22:47 AM »
and the points rightfully shouldnt count towards Alist.  coming from a guy who flies 40 times a year, you dont need A list status for your 3-5 free round trips you fly.  you can check in on time or pay for early bird and get to the airport earlier to clog up the security line bc you never travel and dont know how to go thru security.  and dont be one of those people who bitches at us when we walk past you on the way in... fly 20-40 times a year and you can do it too.

I'm sorry that you have to even spend time in the same airspace as us lowly few-times-a-year flyer-plebs.

Seriously though, that came off as super elitist.  And I fly from some pretty small regional airports, filled with people who haven't flown for years, and I still don't feel like you.

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #68 on: November 23, 2014, 11:24:08 AM »
Kudy who is your cell provider?  Are you close to a store.  When I was with Verizon I could just walk in to a store and get a new sim on the spot for free.

I'm with T-Mobile - there's a store not too far away; might be worth dropping in there if I don't get the SIM that supposedly is on it's way before I need it.

A few ideas I have for spending:

  • Pre-pay my 6 months of auto insurance (usually it takes 1/6th each month)
  • Buy garden seeds for the spring
  • Pre-buy household goods I'll need over the next 2 months
  • Grocery store gift card

Rainbow9

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #69 on: November 23, 2014, 01:08:59 PM »
Hi All,

Long time reader, first time forum participant.  Just now getting interested in the churning game and I think I am completely misunderstanding how to make this work.  I am specifically interested in the Companion Pass status.  From what I reading below from the SW site and card terms, Bonus points do not count 1 for 1 toward reaching Tier Qualifying Status which is what is needed for Companion Pass.  Am I misunderstanding this or is obtaining free flights for a companion for over a year really this easy to obtain?

From FAQ on Tier system SW site: 

To qualify for a Companion Pass, you will need to earn 110,000 points from any combination of Southwest Airlines flights and Rapid Rewards Partners per calendar year, or fly 100 Southwest Airlines one-way qualifying flights per calendar year.

From FAQ SW site on earning points:
Tier Qualifying Points are earned from revenue flights or through the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Card from Chase. Points earned via Rapid Rewards Partners-with the exception of the Rapid Rewards Premier Card from Chase-purchased points, Bonus Points, or points earned via a promotion are not Tier Qualifying Points and do not count toward tier qualification.

Condensed From the Offer Details of the Personal Premier Card:

Earning Points
You will earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) for each $10,000 of eligible Net Purchases. TQPs are used solely towards elite status qualification. Maximum TQP accumulation is 15,000 points per Year, which equates to $100,000 in Net Purchases. There is no maximum number of points that you can accumulate on Net Purchases. (“Year” means, for your first year as a cardmember, the period beginning with your Enrollment Date through your billing cycle with a December closing date of that same year. For each year thereafter, “Year” means the twelve billing cycle period beginning the day after your billing cycle with a December closing date through your billing cycle with a December closing date of the next year.)

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #70 on: November 23, 2014, 02:57:44 PM »
As I understand it, "elite" status is in no way tied to the companion pass. You should be able to get a companion pass with the credit card bonus points, but you cannot obtain A-list status.

monkeymind

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #71 on: November 23, 2014, 04:11:07 PM »
Ok, that's it, I'm jumping in the pool too! 

We've been thinking about getting in the game, and this offer makes it easy to finally take the leap.  I applied for the Plus and Premier cards and received approval for both immediately. 

Thanks, tyd450, for posting about the offer! I'm sure I'll be thinking another thank you when we're taking those free flights!

bye-bye Ms. FancyPants

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #72 on: November 23, 2014, 07:05:45 PM »

FYI on 2 things:   

1.  The softcard version of the serve card allows $500 per day $1500 per month of credit card loading but I was worried at first because when you go to load it on the serve website it shows you the $200/$1000 limit...  But you do in fact have the $500/$1500 it just doesn't make it clear.  I had no problem loading $500 today.

2.  After I loaded the $500 I checked chase.com to see what happened.  It reduced my available cash advance limit by $500.  I heard that it initially does this but then it posts as a valid transaction... not a cash advance-  so don't panic if this happens to you as well.

Thanks for sharing the tips tyd450!

johnny847

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Zamboni

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #74 on: November 24, 2014, 08:38:44 AM »
I'm in!  Got approved for the Premier and Plus cards.  Thank you for posting!

flashpacker

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #75 on: November 24, 2014, 10:28:54 AM »
I just got approved for the Premier card.  Got "pending" message but called reconsideration the next day and was put on hold for <1 min and they came back and said approved.  They didn't ask any questions.  I'll probably try a business card for the 2nd card as I only got the Chase Sapphire about 6 weeks ago (which is my only other Chase card), so 3 personal cards in the space of 2 months might seem a bit suspect.

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #76 on: November 24, 2014, 06:53:27 PM »
Received my cards today. Activated them, and moved the closing dates to the 3rd, so my spending from December 4th - January 3rd should all credit in 2015. If I can swing it, I will get all $4k of the spend into that one month.

I'm not sure how the Serve card measures a month, but I might be able to work it so that I put 2 months worth of Serve loading (via softcard, total of $3k) onto the same Chase billing cycle. Planning to use Serve to pay mortgage and 1 other bill that I can't use credit cards for.

I *think* I will receive my new SIM card tomorrow so that I can sign up for softcard/serve - I was notified about a UPS delivery scheduled for tomorrow, and I am not expecting anything else.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #77 on: November 24, 2014, 08:37:08 PM »
Received my cards today. Activated them, and moved the closing dates to the 3rd, so my spending from December 4th - January 3rd should all credit in 2015. If I can swing it, I will get all $4k of the spend into that one month.

I'm not sure how the Serve card measures a month, but I might be able to work it so that I put 2 months worth of Serve loading (via softcard, total of $3k) onto the same Chase billing cycle. Planning to use Serve to pay mortgage and 1 other bill that I can't use credit cards for.

I *think* I will receive my new SIM card tomorrow so that I can sign up for softcard/serve - I was notified about a UPS delivery scheduled for tomorrow, and I am not expecting anything else.
Serve card measures a month as a calendar month. Which is kinda funny because they also send you statements on a ~30 day cycle.

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #78 on: November 24, 2014, 10:17:41 PM »
Quote
Serve card measures a month as a calendar month. Which is kinda funny because they also send you statements on a ~30 day cycle.

Awesome! That means I should hopefully be able to load 1500 in December, and at least 1000 at the beginning of January... I don't know if statement closing date means charges from that date are part of the statement, or on the next statement?

Quote
Thanks for the tip on changing the closing dates... I just called and did the same!  Just curious, are your new closing dates showing online?  Mine all still say not available.

My closing dates aren't showing online - I was told by the rep today that it might not update until a statement closes.

bigalsmith101

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #79 on: November 24, 2014, 10:58:18 PM »

Received my cards today. Activated them, and moved the closing dates to the 3rd, so my spending from December 4th - January 3rd should all credit in 2015. If I can swing it, I will get all $4k of the spend into that one month.

I'm not sure how the Serve card measures a month, but I might be able to work it so that I put 2 months worth of Serve loading (via softcard, total of $3k) onto the same Chase billing cycle. Planning to use Serve to pay mortgage and 1 other bill that I can't use credit cards for.

I *think* I will receive my new SIM card tomorrow so that I can sign up for softcard/serve - I was notified about a UPS delivery scheduled for tomorrow, and I am not expecting anything else.

Thanks for the tip on changing the closing dates... I just called and did the same!  Just curious, are your new closing dates showing online?  Mine all still say not available.

I got my two cards today and activated them immediately. Called into the service reps and asked about my billing cycle. It's slated for the first statement to roll in on Dec. 9th. I'm going to see if I can move it up to Dec. 3rd as I start a 4-5 week contract on that date and will have about $4-$5k in expenses in that first month.

flashpacker

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #80 on: November 26, 2014, 01:14:30 PM »
Just wanted to add a data point here. I applied for one personal (premier type) and one business. Got approved for the personal and denied for the business (after calling reconsideration). However, I tried the second personal card  (plus type) and was approved.  No questions on either of the personal recon calls, other than confirming my address.  I actually called recon twice for the business card and on the second call asked if having been denied for the business card would mean I'd likely be denied for the 2nd personal card. They said no that would not be a reason for a decline. Reasons given for the decline of the business card were that I've only had a US credit history for a year, and that my business revenue wasn't high and they didn't consider I needed a separate business card. However they were fine with the idea of needing multiple personal cards to separate business expenses for different businesses.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #81 on: November 27, 2014, 10:47:27 PM »
So apparently, it is possible to get 6000 points (the amount of points you'll be short after meeting your minimum spend) with just four orders of food that are at least $30 each.
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2014/11/27/how-to-feed-the-hungry-and-fly-for-free/

This may work in your favor if you don't have any other good way to get 6000 points. Manufactured spending techniques would probably still be better though - buying prepaid Visa or Mastercard gift cards at a 1% fee (4.95 for $500 cards) would mean that buying $6000 worth of those would cost you only $60, half of what the orders of food would cost. Then again, you do need to asses how much you actually value the food you would buy in the above scheme.

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #82 on: November 29, 2014, 05:40:43 PM »
Finally got signed up for Amex Serve via Softcard this evening... now to wait until after the next billing cycle begins!

KiloRomeo

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #83 on: December 01, 2014, 09:07:58 AM »
Cards are locked and loaded!

Before I start researching Serve I have a quick questions. My payment due date (is this the close date?) is 1/8/2015. That means any spending from now until then should count towards 2015 right?

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #84 on: December 04, 2014, 10:53:02 AM »
I just remembered - there's also the "redbird" http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2014/10/11/redcard-changes-everything/

You can load $5000 a month fee free onto this at Targets. And then offload with bill pay, ATM withdrawal, etc (the same ways as the Amex Serve).

BUT, you can only get these at select places across the country (which is why I forgot to mention this, as I can't get one in my area). Also, you cannot register your Redbird if you have a Serve account.

purplepear

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #85 on: December 04, 2014, 11:58:03 AM »
Can anyone verify that Amex Softcard works on a Republic Wireless Moto X?

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #86 on: December 04, 2014, 12:13:04 PM »
Can anyone verify that Amex Softcard works on a Republic Wireless Moto X?
The Softcard app will only run on phones running on AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #87 on: December 04, 2014, 02:50:14 PM »
I just remembered - there's also the "redbird" http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2014/10/11/redcard-changes-everything/

You can load $5000 a month fee free onto this at Targets. And then offload with bill pay, ATM withdrawal, etc (the same ways as the Amex Serve).

BUT, you can only get these at select places across the country (which is why I forgot to mention this, as I can't get one in my area). Also, you cannot register your Redbird if you have a Serve account.

I think I may get this once IL targets have them available.  Is it true they charge no fees at all?  I think serve charges you a fee if you don't load it in a month right?  Once I am done with the spending on these cards I probably won't do it as much so I will most likely cancel Serve.

2nd question- I go up to WI for work occasionally and they have the Red Bird cards there, if I pick one up in a WI store do you think I can load them in IL targets even though they don't sell them yet?
This flyertalk thread has more detail: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1618018-prepaid-redcard-target.html
There's no mention of any fees on the wiki.
The wiki claims you can load at any Target, even ones that don't sell them.

secondcor521

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #88 on: December 04, 2014, 06:10:57 PM »
I'm a little late to the party, but I applied for the personal and business plus accounts to minimize annual fees.  Instant approval for the personal, but deferred on the business card.  Called reconsideration and was turned down for reasons related to me having done a bunch of this type of stuff in the past.

What do y'all think:  Call reconsideration a second time and hope for a nicer rep?  Apply for the personal premier card?  Bag it and just get the 50K miles from the one card?

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #89 on: December 04, 2014, 06:38:08 PM »
Got my premier card today! Still waiting on the plus card, but at least I can take my premier card on my business trip this weekend and start racking up some points! Billing period closes January 21, so I am pretty happy that it seems I timed this just right-we will see if I can figure out some MS to get that $4K in 3 months. This is my first time trying something like this, but hoping that it goes well.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #90 on: December 04, 2014, 08:24:55 PM »
I'm a little late to the party, but I applied for the personal and business plus accounts to minimize annual fees.  Instant approval for the personal, but deferred on the business card.  Called reconsideration and was turned down for reasons related to me having done a bunch of this type of stuff in the past.

What do y'all think:  Call reconsideration a second time and hope for a nicer rep?  Apply for the personal premier card?  Bag it and just get the 50K miles from the one card?

i think we need more detail as to why they declined you

did you do this today?  I thought I heard that the promotion was over.

I applied maybe a week ago and spoke with retention about two days ago I think.  You're right, though, the promotion is gone, so I guess I'm just going to get the 50K miles and call it good.

They declined me because of a pattern of only keeping credit card accounts open for a year or two, as well as zero business income the previous two years.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #91 on: December 04, 2014, 08:27:53 PM »
They declined me because of a pattern of only keeping credit card accounts open for a year or two, as well as zero business income the previous two years.
Emphasis mine - I'm pretty sure the latter is more problematic than the former since you applied for the business card. Chase now explicitly states that you only qualify for a signup bonus for a particular card if you have not received it in the last two years (ie, you can received a signup bonus again if you wait two years).

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #92 on: December 07, 2014, 09:55:13 AM »
Status update - I received and activated my Serve card, and my first $10 test ran through the Southwest card as a "Sale." Waiting for my next transaction of $500 to move from pending to sale before I run more, but it looks hopeful that I'll be able to do at least 2k on the Serve card.

I've dropped $300 or so in normal spending onto the 2nd card... waiting until closer to the end of the month to see what else I need to do to get to the full 4k spend.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #93 on: December 07, 2014, 03:18:28 PM »
Status update - I received and activated my Serve card, and my first $10 test ran through the Southwest card as a "Sale." Waiting for my next transaction of $500 to move from pending to sale before I run more, but it looks hopeful that I'll be able to do at least 2k on the Serve card.

I've dropped $300 or so in normal spending onto the 2nd card... waiting until closer to the end of the month to see what else I need to do to get to the full 4k spend.
If all else fails, first buy store gift cards to places you normally shop at. You can also buy $500 prepaid Visa or Mastercard gift cards for usually ~1% fee. You can load these onto your Serve at Walmart, or just spend them down (but in doing so, you give up credit card rewards for the card you would've used for these purchases).

And in reality, it can be advantageous to just buy the Visa or MC gc's for a fee and put your normal spending on your normal credit cards, IF your normal cards have a high enough bonus category:
Suppose you have a card X that earns 5% in some category, whether it's a rotating category on Chase, Discover, or Citi, or it's 5% on groceries/gas/bookstores on Sallie Mae Mastercard. Every dollar you put on X earns 5%, but effectively incurs a 1% fee because that's how much you'd pay to manufacture spend on your Southwest card. Also, every dollar on the Southwest card earns 1 Southwest point, which is valued at 1.43 cents towards "Wanna Get Away" (economy class) fares (well, it's actually a little bit more complicated than that because Southwest doesn't charge you most of the taxes and fees when you book with points...but I'm going to ignore that for simplicity). So putting a dollar on X earns 5%, but has an opportunity cost of 2.43%. You're still coming out ahead by putting your spending on X as opposed to your Southwest card.
Now, that's all fine mathematically, but if you don't have a Walmart nearby to liquidate your Visa or MC gc's onto a Serve, then I'd just put all your spending on your Southwest card, unless you want to go through the hassle of spending down the Visa or MC gc.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #94 on: December 08, 2014, 01:43:42 PM »
Yes! My two backup spending plans are:

  • pay for 6 months of car insurance up front, instead of monthly
  • Buy a large grocery store gift card for my own use in the future

Another update: have loaded serve card successfully for $1,000 so far, all "Sale" transactions and not cash advances.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #95 on: December 08, 2014, 05:20:50 PM »
I rec'd my redcard and went to Target to load with my SW card. It kept declining - I called Chase to let them know I would be making a large transaction (thinking it might be declining d/t fraud alert or something). Tried to load again with $500 and still a no go. Not sure what gives. Gonna go back tomorrow and try $400. Boo!

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #96 on: December 08, 2014, 07:21:48 PM »
Good luck Ms. FancyPants - I was considering trying the REDcard after I complete the spend for these new cards; please keep us updated on whether you can get it to work! Did you make sure to register the new permanent card online before trying to load it?

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #97 on: December 08, 2014, 08:19:30 PM »
Good luck Ms. FancyPants - I was considering trying the REDcard after I complete the spend for these new cards; please keep us updated on whether you can get it to work! Did you make sure to register the new permanent card online before trying to load it?

Yes, the permanent card has been activated/registered. Its weird, as I had no problem loading the card with $500 upon purchase :/ Fingers crossed it was just a glitch and nothing has changed. To be continued ....

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #98 on: December 17, 2014, 03:02:17 PM »
Am I crazy for being afraid to reach the $2k spend before the start of the new year? I have this irrational fear that they might credit the points early or something.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #99 on: December 18, 2014, 04:40:07 PM »
Am I crazy for being afraid to reach the $2k spend before the start of the new year? I have this irrational fear that they might credit the points early or something.

It's after statement close.

I would wait, it's just two weeks.

/shrug
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