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tmd012

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« on: November 13, 2014, 10:48:29 AM »
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« Last Edit: November 10, 2021, 11:28:15 AM by tmd012 »

Ricky

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2014, 10:54:33 AM »
Not bad at all. I'd do it if I didn't already have too many hard inquiries :(

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2014, 11:26:33 AM »
Hehe yea I've seen a lot of talk about the Southwest Companion pass. Basically the only buy one get one virtually free in existence in the airline industry (still need to pay 9/11 security fees).
EDIT: It still works when you use your points to book a flight, so now you've doubled the value of your points!

Also, Chase is now explicit about the signup bonus - you can only receive the signup bonus if you have not received the signup bonus in the past 24 months. But since if you time it right, the companion pass lasts for a bit less than two years, that's only a couple months at most (depending on how fast you can meet the signup bonus) that you wouldn't have a companion pass.
Of course, I'm assuming that anybody who gets these cards to get the companion pass has a partner they fly with consistently. So the other solution would be for your partner to sign up for the cards as your companion pass is ending.

Rinse and repeat.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 11:49:00 AM by johnny847 »

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2014, 11:27:42 AM »
Not bad at all. I'd do it if I didn't already have too many hard inquiries :(

How many inquiries do you have that you think it's too many? I don't know how many is "too many" (I don't think anybody really knows for sure), but I was just curious what your opinion is.

TeresaB

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2014, 11:47:18 AM »
Spend $2000 in the first three months on each card to earn 50,000 bonus points each.

Then spend an additional $6,000 to get you to a total of 110,000 points which will get you the companion status.  (This can be done by transferring points from partner companies.  I will personally be transferring over Marriott points to cover this $6k spending)

Now this is important-  make sure that all points you earn is in the billing period with a closing date in January 2015 because only points in the same calendar year count towards your companion status. 

Wow, this looks fantastic.
I've never done any credit card rewards churning and I have a question. Does the bolded mean that I'd essentially have to spend $10,000 in one month (2000/card + 6000)? I can't do that....

purplepear

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #5 on: November 13, 2014, 11:57:34 AM »
So wait... how did you get the bonus if you opened up 2 cards at the same time? The website says you can't get the promotional offer if you've received a new cardmember bonus in the last 24months...

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2014, 12:00:50 PM »
Spend $2000 in the first three months on each card to earn 50,000 bonus points each.

Then spend an additional $6,000 to get you to a total of 110,000 points which will get you the companion status.  (This can be done by transferring points from partner companies.  I will personally be transferring over Marriott points to cover this $6k spending)

Now this is important-  make sure that all points you earn is in the billing period with a closing date in January 2015 because only points in the same calendar year count towards your companion status. 

Wow, this looks fantastic.
I've never done any credit card rewards churning and I have a question. Does the bolded mean that I'd essentially have to spend $10,000 in one month (2000/card + 6000)? I can't do that....
Everything I say here is assuming you want to get the companion pass in 2015 (which is definitely the way to go):

Not in one month. You need to absolutely make sure that in 2015 you reach $2000 per card in spending since account opening. You can still make purchases in 2014 to reach $2000 per card.
However, spending in 2014 to reach the $2000 per card may not count towards the companion pass, because you need 110,000 Southwest points in the same calendar year. (I say may not, because it depends how Chase awards the Southwest points, and I don't know how they do. If they award points for your purchases after your statement closes, then your Southwest points earned at 1 point per dollar spent would post to your Southwest account at statement closing. Hence you could make purchases in December 2014 and have them count towards your companion pass if your statement closes in January 2015. But, if Chase posts Southwest points to your account immediately after each transaction clears, then this won't work).

In 2015, you will need to find some way to get all the points you are short. You will be short somewhere between 6000 and 10000 points, depending on how much of your spending towards the $2000 minimum per card occurred in 2014. You can do this all on the card, fly with Southwest, get some from transfer partners (though I've heard not all transfers from partners count towards the companion pass. Make sure you look that up if you are pursuing this route), buy stuff from the Southwest shopping mall, etc

As for how to spend that much money, you can search around for manufactured spending techniques, there's a ton of them. They vary in cost and hassle, but they're basically all worth it if that's the only way you can meet the signup bonus. As to whether it is worth it to manufacture spend on an ongoing basis is a different matter entirely.

So wait... how did you get the bonus if you opened up 2 cards at the same time? The website says you can't get the promotional offer if you've received a new cardmember bonus in the last 24months...
It's one signup bonus per person per card every 24 months.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 12:04:20 PM by johnny847 »

purplepear

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #7 on: November 13, 2014, 12:04:39 PM »
"This new cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this consumer credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this consumer credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this consumer credit card within the last 24 months. "

Okay, now I see the "this consumer credit card" line.

Thanks for the badass tip!

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #8 on: November 13, 2014, 12:09:52 PM »
It's pretty sweet - 100k points is also like $1000 worth of Amazon gift cards (or other gift cards).  Of course, your best use is WannaGetAway flight with points -- you could probably fly two people around the country for free for quite a while with this deal.

However, make sure you really have time/desire to travel.  I got the companion pass and it was pretty wasted on me -- I think I used it twice in two years.

stachethis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2014, 12:45:20 PM »
Just so I get this straight, basic instructions are this:
1. Sign up for both cards now.
2. Make sure to spend $2000 on each card within first 3 months, but ideally time this spending to occur late in 2014 so that it posts to account in 2015. From their website:
"To qualify for your bonus points, you must make Purchases totaling $2,000 or more during the first 3 months from account opening. Government fees as low as $23 are not included. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus points to post to your Rapid Rewards account."
This will get you 100,000 points (50,000 each card) in 2015.
3. Spend enough $ or transfer enough reward points to give you 10,000 points
This will get you to 110,000 points and companion pass status for 2 freaking years!

This sound right? If so, I'm applying tonight...

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2014, 02:08:45 PM »
As far as I know transferring Marriott points counts towards the companion status but they aren't 1 for 1.  I basically going to just use these cards for all of my spending starting sometime in December and I will have to spend the $4,000 (2k for each card) by the end of January to get it in before the 3 months is up.  That is when the 100k of bonus points will hit your southwest account (plus 4k in spending points). 

Then I will transfer over my marriott points (probably 6k worth) to meet the 110k threshold.

Oh I was thinking of Chase Sapphire preferred transfers - I believe those do not count towards the companion pass. I could be totally off base though.

POINTS of ER

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #11 on: November 14, 2014, 03:38:05 AM »
basically need to sign up for 2 southwest credit cards-  I did the 2 personal credit cards, the "Plus" and the "Premiere."  I was approved for both instantly.  (Tip*  Do the 2nd one in another browser like IE instead of Chrome or use incognito mode in Chrome).  (Sucks that you will probably have to pay both annual fees)
Wow great job! I'm actually very impressed that this actually worked for the two personal cards.

This is the best timing to earn the companion pass. Since it's usually rare to see all 4 of the plus and premier business version and personal version at the 50K bonus offer.

I recently wrote a quick guide on earning the Southwest Companion Pass before they released the other cards at the 50K offer. Even touching up the quickest way about earning the 6,000 extra points by transferring chase UR to Hyatt then to Southwest. Hyatt to Southwest is 2.5 to 1 ratio. Which is far better ratio than Marriott.

Assuming you spent $2,000 on both cards, you've earned 104,000 points now. So what if you don't have any rewards card to transfer over to Southwest? The best thing you can do is buy the rest of the 6,000 points for only $220 (not $6,000). In order to do this you would simply create a Choice Hotel account and buy 20,000 points for $220 (Using your southwest card). Then transfer those 20,000 to Southwest RR for ~6,000 points 3.33 to 1 ratio. Once points post you roughly netted 6,220 points and you bought your way into the companion pass. Enjoy the pass for the next two years.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2014, 04:16:49 AM by POINTS of ER »

boarder42

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #12 on: November 14, 2014, 06:10:05 AM »
This comes around every year at this time its a fantastic deal I fly enough for work I get companion by September but for those who don't fly jump on this   but don't worry if you want it for the future I'm sure it will happen next year.

I love southwest

boarder42

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #13 on: November 14, 2014, 06:15:44 AM »
Also if you're under 6ft tall DONT SIT IN THE BIG LEG ROOM EXIT ROW SEATS !!!!!!

Thedudeabides

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #14 on: November 15, 2014, 07:10:56 AM »
My girlfriend and I did this last year. It's been wonderful flying for free this year. You are able to use the companion pass even if you book with points.

I can't recommend it enough!

Indio

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #15 on: November 15, 2014, 09:29:41 AM »
I'm in.
Now I have to figure out all of the friends that I can invite myself over for a few days of vacation time.

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #16 on: November 15, 2014, 11:28:20 AM »
Very tempted to make a go at this - I think my last Southwest card was over 2 years ago...

I'm skeptical that I could easily reach the 3 month spend requirement for *2* cards, though. Also, I am curious if anyone can confirm that transferring points from a hotel/airline rewards program counts toward the pass?

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #17 on: November 15, 2014, 11:52:53 AM »
Very tempted to make a go at this - I think my last Southwest card was over 2 years ago...

I'm skeptical that I could easily reach the 3 month spend requirement for *2* cards, though. Also, I am curious if anyone can confirm that transferring points from a hotel/airline rewards program counts toward the pass?

Look up manufactured spending techniques. There's a ton of them. The most common ones hinge on buying prepaid visa or mastercard gift cards (most effective is $500 for ~$5 activaiton fee), and then liquidating them through various means (usually for a nominal fee). If you can't use or aren't comfortable with any liquidation scheme you find, the worst case scenario is you've bought yourself basically infinite time to spend down the prepaid gift cards while still meeting the signup bonus (just don't lose them!).

While it's iffy whether it's worth going through the hassle of manufactured spending on a regular basis, it's always worth it to meet a signup bonus if you can't meet it through normal spending.

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #18 on: November 15, 2014, 12:36:23 PM »
I had used Amazon payments in the past to reach bonus spending requirements - but that program is shut down now I think?

I will look into pre-paid cards - might be worth it! Adds a bit of extra cost, but seems minimal.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #19 on: November 15, 2014, 12:56:51 PM »
I had used Amazon payments in the past to reach bonus spending requirements - but that program is shut down now I think?

I will look into pre-paid cards - might be worth it! Adds a bit of extra cost, but seems minimal.

Yea that's been shut down, sadly.

Note I have never used any of the following methods, but I will soon because I need to spend $2000 in 3 months for my recent credit cards:

Prepaid cards are probably the way to go. Liquidation schemes for those include
1) Using Evolve Money to pay bills you already pay. No fees. Only one bill pay per month per payee. Unfortunately credit cards are not payees on Evolve Money. And their search function to find payees kinda sucks.
2). Going to Walmart and using their bill pay to pay a credit card (ie, the one you just used to buy it) or getting a money order and depositing it at your bank. MSers are cautious of the money order one because if that happens on a continuous basis your bank may ask questions. But if you're just doing it a couple times to meet minimum spend, you'll probably be fine. Both those methods have a small fee, I forget.

Other ways to meet minimum spend (I also have not executed these):
Amex Serve (but some credit cards are charged as a cash advance, so it can be risky), Amex for Target (but this isn't available nationwide), Prepaid REDCard for Target (colloquially called the RedBird by some MSers), and Amex Campus Edition (now that I think about it, all four of those involve Amex, interesting).

I don't have the time to explain them right now, but if you do a couple quick searches you can find out more.

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #20 on: November 15, 2014, 02:26:52 PM »
Thanks for the info - it looks like Amex Serve is a great option. I might be misunderstanding it, but reading over the info on flytalk it appears I can sign up for softcard on my phone, get serve via softcard, and then load serve using the new Southwest cards up to $1500/month for no fees. I can then withdraw the money from the Serve card for free at an ATM, and pay off the Southwest balances.

I think I'm going to do it... just waiting to see if I will be approved for a new affiliate program - if I am I will try to self-refer to the card applications and get paid an affiliate income as well!

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #21 on: November 15, 2014, 09:15:33 PM »
How about buying those PayPal cash cards?  I've heard they are quick to freeze your account if you abuse it though

I've heard about those, but I think if you liquidate by transferring back to your bank account, they shut you down pretty quickly. If you spend it down via a Paypal debit card (but this is a business debit card) then they don't mind as much.

I haven't seen those cash cards in stores around here, so I never read too much into it.

Thanks for the info - it looks like Amex Serve is a great option. I might be misunderstanding it, but reading over the info on flytalk it appears I can sign up for softcard on my phone, get serve via softcard, and then load serve using the new Southwest cards up to $1500/month for no fees. I can then withdraw the money from the Serve card for free at an ATM, and pay off the Southwest balances.
I probably wouldn't withdraw the money at an ATM. I don't know if people have been shut down for doing that, but I don't do it because I think it would be too obvious that I'm MS'ing. I load the Serve with one of my CC's, and then use the bill pay option to pay off my other CC's (again, I don't pay off the same CC I just used to load, because I think it would be too obvious).

Dicey

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #22 on: November 16, 2014, 01:15:08 AM »
Following. I <3 SWA, so I'm totally checking this out. Thanks!

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #23 on: November 16, 2014, 02:46:13 PM »
Thank you so much tyd450!

I was looking to get into this card churning game and have been a Southwest Rewards credit card user for many years.  To my surprise, I was able to sign up for the Plus and Premier as the card I use is no longer even offered.  I wasn't paying attention to your 2 different browser recommedation.  I applied for the Premier first with no problem.  When I applied for the Plus I got a message saying that I needed to call a number to answer additional questions.  When I called he said do you realize that you were approved for the other card to which I answered yes.  Then, he said do you mind if we move $10,000 of the credit limit from your original Southwest card to this new card, and I agreed to.  I asked if the Plus was going to interfere with the Premier and he said no, that I would be getting both.

The one question I have is if I spend $2000 in December, will it be credited towards the 50,000 bonus in January, 2015, and will the $2000 count as 2000 points in December 2014 or January 2015?  I'm just trying to figure out the exact execution of the spending.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #24 on: November 16, 2014, 04:31:43 PM »
I also applied for both cards and going for gold - companion status. I just have to figure out the logistics of meeting my minimal spending requirements without spending more then normal.  I know the travel hackers out there do it all the time but this is new for me! 

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #25 on: November 16, 2014, 07:32:14 PM »
I probably wouldn't withdraw the money at an ATM. I don't know if people have been shut down for doing that, but I don't do it because I think it would be too obvious that I'm MS'ing. I load the Serve with one of my CC's, and then use the bill pay option to pay off my other CC's (again, I don't pay off the same CC I just used to load, because I think it would be too obvious).

Hmm.. how flexible is their billpay? Can I add an individual as a payee? I can't really pay off another credit card with the balance, because I will also be loading *all* of my credit card possible spending onto these new cards.  Maybe I can put spending on one card, and load money in Serve with the other, and then pay off card #1 with serve balance...

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #26 on: November 16, 2014, 07:37:42 PM »
I probably wouldn't withdraw the money at an ATM. I don't know if people have been shut down for doing that, but I don't do it because I think it would be too obvious that I'm MS'ing. I load the Serve with one of my CC's, and then use the bill pay option to pay off my other CC's (again, I don't pay off the same CC I just used to load, because I think it would be too obvious).

Hmm.. how flexible is their billpay? Can I add an individual as a payee? I can't really pay off another credit card with the balance, because I will also be loading *all* of my credit card possible spending onto these new cards.  Maybe I can put spending on one card, and load money in Serve with the other, and then pay off card #1 with serve balance...

You can, it will send a check.

You can just let the money sit in Serve, and then after meeting your minimum spend on these cards, use your other credit cards like normal and offload the Serve funds then.
But I think your approach is better - put spending on one SW card, load with other. Once you meet half the spend on both the cards, switch them and repeat.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #27 on: November 16, 2014, 08:55:36 PM »
According to the wiki on flyertalk, its not a cash advance http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1199432-serve-another-paypal-amazon-payments-533.html

But I don't know how up to date that data point is.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #28 on: November 16, 2014, 09:04:00 PM »
The serve thread of flyertalk lists Chase as one of the banks where Serve loads count as a purchase... of course, this could change at any moment.

I've just applied for both cards. Curiously, the Premier got instant approval, while the Plus gave me the standard "10 day" answer response. I doubt they won't issue the card, but now I don't get to know right away - maddening!

Also downloaded Softcard, but had to order an enhanced SIM card for my phone in order to use the app? I hope they send that to me soon, so I can sign up for Serve through it (it appears that if you do this, you can load an extra $500, for a total of $1500 per month?).

Now, off to apply for the Choice hotels credit card to get the first-purchase 8000 points... guess I'm doing a mini app-o-rama tonight! Hope I don't need to apply for a mortgage is the next 6 months...

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #29 on: November 16, 2014, 09:13:17 PM »
I'm assuming they will ask me to close one of my Chase cards, and I am willing to close the Freedom card; unfortunately the "reconsideration" office is closed for the evening, so I have to wait until tomorrow.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #30 on: November 16, 2014, 09:16:03 PM »
The serve thread of flyertalk lists Chase as one of the banks where Serve loads count as a purchase... of course, this could change at any moment.

I've just applied for both cards. Curiously, the Premier got instant approval, while the Plus gave me the standard "10 day" answer response. I doubt they won't issue the card, but now I don't get to know right away - maddening!

Also downloaded Softcard, but had to order an enhanced SIM card for my phone in order to use the app? I hope they send that to me soon, so I can sign up for Serve through it (it appears that if you do this, you can load an extra $500, for a total of $1500 per month?).

Now, off to apply for the Choice hotels credit card to get the first-purchase 8000 points... guess I'm doing a mini app-o-rama tonight! Hope I don't need to apply for a mortgage is the next 6 months...
By next 6 months you mean next two years. Credit inquiries stay on your report for 2 years (although they stop affecting your score after 1).

I'm assuming they will ask me to close one of my Chase cards, and I am willing to close the Freedom card; unfortunately the "reconsideration" office is closed for the evening, so I have to wait until tomorrow.
I wouldn't close the Freedom. It's a no annual fee card. You can usually just tell them to move some of the credit line to the new card.

Why you should keep the Freedom - keep accumulating points on the Freedom from normal spending, and NEVER cash them in. Then, one day apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (or if you have it already that's great too). You can transfer your points from Freedom to Sapphire Preferred, and then to airline partners, where you basically always get a value greater than 1 cent per point that you would have gotten on the Freedom (unless you can't find "saver level" awards, then you might not get all that much more than 1 cent per point....)

kudy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #31 on: November 16, 2014, 09:19:05 PM »
Since I already have credit cards with each of the banks I'm applying to, there may be no inquiries on my credit?

Thanks for the tip about the Sapphire card, I had it a while back but closed it due to yearly fees. I wonder when I had it... I really should start keeping these in a spreadsheet.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #32 on: November 16, 2014, 09:24:39 PM »
Since I already have credit cards with each of the banks I'm applying to, there may be no inquiries on my credit?

Thanks for the tip about the Sapphire card, I had it a while back but closed it due to yearly fees. I wonder when I had it... I really should start keeping these in a spreadsheet.

There will absolutely be a credit pull from a bank when you apply for a credit card, regardless of how many you have with them already. Some banks do consolidate the inquiries into one if you apply for multiple cards with a single bank in a short time frame. But don't count on it.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #33 on: November 16, 2014, 09:48:49 PM »
I wish we had good rewards cards in Canada.  The best I used to have, was my WestJet Airmiles Mastercard.  I would get 1 air mile for every $15 spent, with oodles of bonus offers from the grocery store/online surveys, the air miles would rack up crazy fast.  And then flights across the country were super cheap, at only 1200 air miles return on non-peak and 1600 peak times.  They did away with that card 5 years ago, and now I have to pay 2800 non-peak and 3600 peak. :/

I still earn over 10,000 air miles a year, but they just don't go as far now. :(

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #34 on: November 16, 2014, 10:20:49 PM »
I just went back and looked at credit history to compile a spreadsheet of all my past cards - I've at 15 counting the 3 I just opened!

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #35 on: November 17, 2014, 06:26:44 AM »
Heh I am at 7 (all currently open) and I got my first credit card September of last year.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #36 on: November 17, 2014, 12:12:14 PM »
Just called and got the 2nd card approved after reconsideration... they said I have applied for too many cards in the past year, so they auto-denied it.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #37 on: November 17, 2014, 12:16:26 PM »
Just called and got the 2nd card approved after reconsideration... they said I have applied for too many cards in the past year, so they auto-denied it.

Yea I think the entire model that generates your credit score is just stupid. Who cares if you've applied for a ton of cards as long as you can show you've paid them off.

Also, there's absurd things like how my dad paid off his mortgage and his score dropped like 30 points (granted he still has a great score, since everything around 740+ will get you the best mortgage rates, from what I've read)

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #38 on: November 17, 2014, 12:48:18 PM »
Another companion pass holder here. I did this deal last year with one personal card and one business card (easier to get approved for one of each than two personal cards). I was really nervous about the timing and I didn't have any flights planned until April so I didn't finish up my spending and points earning until February.

For the last 6000 points you need to get to 110,000, I used two promotional offers to get a bunch of points. First they were offering 1000 points per bouquet of flowers you bought so I bought flowers for Mothers day and Valentines day for a few people and then I had to rent a car and got another 2400 points there.

I used the 110000 points to fly from Denver to Puerto Rico, Maine, Rochester NY, and Nashville TN with my wife. Then I got a Chase Ink Bold Business credit card for another 70,000 points which transfer 1:1 into Southwest points. Those points are taking us to Vegas, Salt Lake City, Maine and Nashville.

So overall, about $400 in annual fees and flowers for around $6500 in flights. Best credit card deal I'll ever do.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #39 on: November 17, 2014, 03:52:24 PM »
You basically need to sign up for 2 southwest credit cards-  I did the 2 personal credit cards, the "Plus" and the "Premiere."  I was approved for both instantly.  (Tip*  Do the 2nd one in another browser like IE instead of Chrome or use incognito mode in Chrome).  (Sucks that you will probably have to pay both annual fees)

After learning that you can do this with two personal cards. I decided to take the plunge and test it out myself. Over the weekend I applied, unfortunately I wasn't able to get any instant approval and both went to further review. So off to the reconsideration line I went. However, the agent on the reconsideration line told me I would need a verification department in order to proceed with this approval. It seems that they needed to verify that it was actually me who applied for these two apps and their verification department was only open on the weekdays.

So fast forward to today. I gave them a call today and answered two basic questions in regards to my chase accounts. Then the agent instantly approved both cards right on the spot. So here's looking to having the companion pass again for 2015-2016. I hope everyone is able to jump on this deal. So if you're worried about not having a "business" and applying for the business version. You can definitely jump on board for the two personal cards.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #40 on: November 17, 2014, 05:33:37 PM »
So if you're worried about not having a "business" and applying for the business version. You can definitely jump on board for the two personal cards.

Last year I applied for a "business" credit card with the business description being that I travel a lot for work and wanted a separate card to use for all of my expenses that would get reimbursed. I've gotten another card with "I just started a website". There is no verification if you say "I just started..." and have an expected revenue of <$100. They just process the business card with the underwriting they would use for you personally and call it a day.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #41 on: November 17, 2014, 07:06:56 PM »
Quote
I did the serve soft card last night.  I one of us fills it successfully lets report back to confirm it shows up as a transaction and not a cash advance ok?

Agreed. I am especially curious if not having a cash advance line of credit on the cards will hinder me loading Serve with them (neither card was approved cash advance capabilities). Some of the info I've found says that some cards authorize as a cash advance, but then settle as a purchase - and this would require a cash advance line of credit.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #42 on: November 18, 2014, 04:30:36 AM »
Last year I applied for a "business" credit card with the business description being that I travel a lot for work and wanted a separate card to use for all of my expenses that would get reimbursed. I've gotten another card with "I just started a website". There is no verification if you say "I just started..." and have an expected revenue of <$100. They just process the business card with the underwriting they would use for you personally and call it a day.

I agree, you can definitely apply and get granted for multiple business cards as long as you have a rational explanation. Just as you mentioned explanations like new business, accounting reasons, etc. are all legitimate reasons. I've gotten some business apps pushed through right after I applied and they didn't question anything about my business. The two personal cards was more of a test for myself and the two inquiries will be consider as one pull from Chase since I did them the same day. The chase analyst even confirmed this when I called the recon department since they pull from the same credit bureau for each app.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #43 on: November 18, 2014, 06:10:50 AM »
I am new to cr card churning  , could somebody explain how to time the billing cycle for this offer. If i apply now (Nov-2014), i'll have 90 days from the day i activate my card to complete the min spend req of 4k on two cards ? is there a specific day of the month that the card needs to be activated to get the correct billing cycle ? Also to get the other 6k points for companion pass - can i transfer accumalated points from existing chase or other bank acc i have as the 6k spending seems tough.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #44 on: November 18, 2014, 08:20:09 AM »
I am new to cr card churning  , could somebody explain how to time the billing cycle for this offer. If i apply now (Nov-2014), i'll have 90 days from the day i activate my card to complete the min spend req of 4k on two cards ? is there a specific day of the month that the card needs to be activated to get the correct billing cycle ? Also to get the other 6k points for companion pass - can i transfer accumalated points from existing chase or other bank acc i have as the 6k spending seems tough.

It's a lot simpler than you think. Apply in November, the card will show up sometime in late December. Finish your 4k in spending by the end of February and you'll be fine.

For the 6k points, points transferred from other cards usually don't count but Southwest runs promotions all the time for other ways to earn points. I talked about 2 promotions I used earlier.

Another companion pass holder here. I did this deal last year with one personal card and one business card (easier to get approved for one of each than two personal cards). I was really nervous about the timing and I didn't have any flights planned until April so I didn't finish up my spending and points earning until February.

For the last 6000 points you need to get to 110,000, I used two promotional offers to get a bunch of points. First they were offering 1000 points per bouquet of flowers you bought so I bought flowers for Mothers day and Valentines day for a few people and then I had to rent a car and got another 2400 points there.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #45 on: November 18, 2014, 09:19:01 AM »
Does anyone know if it's fine to add someone else to your account and still rack up the points? It'll be much easier for me + boyfriend to spend $4K in 3 months than just me by myself.

(I haven't ever added someone to my account before, so I'm not sure how that works.)

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #46 on: November 18, 2014, 09:21:40 AM »
Does anyone know if it's fine to add someone else to your account and still rack up the points? It'll be much easier for me + boyfriend to spend $4K in 3 months than just me by myself.

(I haven't ever added someone to my account before, so I'm not sure how that works.)

Yup. If you add an authorized user, all the charges are still posted to your account and earn points. You are still legally liable for all charges (and the authorized user has no liability whatsoever).

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #47 on: November 18, 2014, 10:14:28 AM »
tyd450 - yeah you're probably right, mine usually show up about 2 weeks after I apply but if you get denied the first time and then have to call in to appeal it probably will be middle of December until you get the card and your first billing cycle starts. Either way, finish your spending by the end of February and you will probably be fine.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #48 on: November 18, 2014, 10:53:28 AM »
I also did this last year and it's the best thing ever.  Southwest flies to a couple places in Mexico and the Caribbean now, too, and international flights are expected to expand even more (since they bought AirTran a couple years ago, who has planes that can fly over oceans).

Something I haven't seen mentioned - the best way to get the most use of this is for business travel, if your company allows it.  I can book a paid SW flight for work and earn the miles from it, my boyfriend can tag along with the companion pass for free, and our hotel is paid for by work where I'm also earning hotel loyalty points.

Not sure if one of the earlier questions has been answered confidently yet or not - yes, the points are transferred a day or two after the billing statement ends.  So, if it ends 1/2, your points will show up in SW around 1/3-1/5.  It will take about a day for the actual companion pass to show up in your account.  I called and bugged them about it and they put it in for me the day the points credited.

Even more fun: SW will start targeting you for free drink coupons in the mail!

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #49 on: November 18, 2014, 11:01:51 AM »
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.