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iamlindoro

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Interesting article on /r/churning today:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/13117139/1/southwest-airlines-may-replace-chase-for-credit-cards-program--exclusive.html

Southwest allegedly considering changing bank partners on their cards.  Though it's possible/probable that they are using a rumored bank switch as leverage in their contract renegotiations with Chase, a switch to a new bank could present neat opportunities to get another couple SW signup bonuses in advance of the two years usually required between bonuses on the same card at Chase. 

bye-bye Ms. FancyPants

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I just read these words: You qualify for a Companion Pass!

WHOOHHOO!!

Now I need to work on churning for some rental car and hotel points. Anyone have any pointers or point me in the right direction??

nawhite

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I just read these words: You qualify for a Companion Pass!

WHOOHHOO!!

Now I need to work on churning for some rental car and hotel points. Anyone have any pointers or point me in the right direction??

Best all around card I've found is the Barclaycard World Arrival card which does a $440 sign up bonus and 2.222 points/$ on everything if you only redeem the points for travel purchases (flights, hotels, rental cars, etc). Paid for a rental car for a week and 2 nights in a hostel in Puerto Rico last year.

For hotels, I've had luck with the Club Carlson card. Sign up bonus was worth 85k points which is worth about 2 nights in a 3-4 star hotel. The key is, if you stay more than 1 night, the last night is free. So if you book 2 separate 2-night stays, your points now get you 4 nights instead of just 2. Unfortunately Carlson's hotels are only in very large cities (though they are better in Europe). We stayed 2 nights in Edinburgh, Scotland and 2 nights in Reykjavik, Iceland with this a couple weeks ago.

nanu

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Even more unfortunate, the last night free benefit for Club Carlson is going away very soon (a month or so).
If you have the card, you can still book now using this benefit for any future reservation, but new reservations made in May or June won't get that benefit anymore...


bye-bye Ms. FancyPants

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Thanks nawhite, I'll have to check into the Club Carlson card.

cashstasherat23

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For anyone who has not gotten the card and is looking to get it soon, I have a referral link for 50,000 points for the Premier Card. Right now it looks like bonuses are at 25,000 points, so if anyone wants the 50K, let me know.

Disclosure, I'd get 5,000 points if you sign up with my link. Also sadly, I think this is only for the Premier card at this time.

lizzzi

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For anyone interested in the IHG Rewards Club Select, read the fine print. Yes, you get one night free every year. But it can only be on the one-year anniversary date that you signed up for the card.

DSKla

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For anyone interested in the IHG Rewards Club Select, read the fine print. Yes, you get one night free every year. But it can only be on the one-year anniversary date that you signed up for the card.
Don't you also get a 70,000 point sign-up bonus? I have no idea how many nights that's worth, but I think that's in addition to the free night.

lizzzi

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You get 70,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in three months. In reviewing the best travel rewards credit cards, this wasn't considered the best, but I thought it was pretty good. It depends partly on where you are traveling (not as ideal for foreign travel), and what hotels/motels you want to stay in.

Zamboni

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^Ooh, that's an interesting tidbit!  Thank you for sharing.  My other half and I have already decided to try and get another companion pass qualification in two years (when our current pass expires), but this could make it an even better slam dunk.

I'm a huge SW airlines fan now.  So far we've got the following either under our belt or lined up using the companion pass:

Denver
Philly
NYC
Orlando (not my idea!)
Denver (again)
Washington state

And that's just Mar-early July!

Oh, and I just had to change a business flight on US Airways.  They charge a $25 "booking fee" now in addition to the other fees such as the $200 change fee and baggage fees. I wouldn't have minded so much except for a) $25 is ridiculous, b) I had to negotiate one of those obnoxious computer voice activated menus first, and b) they phone agent clearly did not speak English as a first language. He had all kinds of trouble communicating with me and I even had to spell the word "science" for him. What a long and tedious phone call; they should be sending me $25 for the extra time it took. Buh-bye, US Airways, last flight I'll take on you unless you are the only airline that goes where I need to go.

In contrast, it didn't cost me a penny in "booking fees" to call up and change my SW flight reservation coming back from Denver the night before it left (in fact they refunded some money since the new flight was cheaper), or to call and have the SW agent line up a three way flight for three people using only points and the companion pass.

I <3 SW Airlines!

Mikhial

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I'm not as quick as some other people who got their passes in February, but I have mine now! Now I need to plan vacation for the year. On the to do list is San Francisco, Atlanta, and NY for the holidays.

dandarc

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https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/partners/credit-cards/southwest-airlines-rapid-rewards-cards/

looks like the 50K deal is officially back on for all 3 cards - have a United card I need to put 3K on fairly immediately, but seriously tempted to see if I can't get the two personal cards here as well.

dandarc

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Instant approval for the plus card, told 7-10 days on the other 2.  I really like flying southwest - 150K points would work for me, and we've got 3-4 trips by the end of 2016 just to visit my family alone.  Should I call Chase?  Might have screwed this up by getting a United card a few weeks ago to save $50 on a flight my wife is taking + 50,000 united miles, which is also through Chase.

dandarc

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Sweet - given that I have 62K of credit limit with Chase to play with, maybe they will do that!  Fucking crazy - applied for 2 cards in 2014, granted at different banks, but got 21K total credit limit on those 2 cards.  Chase has issued 31K per card for 2 cards in the last month . . .

jaymeegs

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Just returned from our first flight earned with our Chase cards and companion pass last week! 4 beautiful nights in Puerto Rico.

A huge thank you for sharing all the info!

FYI, I was declined on the second card, so my husband applied for the Plus card using MY rapid rewards number, and it worked!

Both of our cards earned bonuses towards my RR account. We'll try to do the opposite in another two years.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk


bigalsmith101

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My wife and I are flying to Cancun in 8 days, to stay for a week in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The flight from Seattle to Cancun was 30,520 points for a single ticket, though wifey is flying for free on her companion pass. Had I booked the flights earlier, I could have paid around 25k points, but I wasn't certain of the trip at the time.

The taxes for the international flights to Mexico were just shy of $170 for the both of us.

We've booked a private room in a hostel for $215 USD for the week we're staying there. Having spent a LOT of time traveling and living in hostels (more than 13 months total), I'm more than happy with this.

So far, our flights and accommodation is under $400! Hell yea!

Thus far I've used just shy of 15k points for flying from Seattle to Ontario, California on last minute flights. This saved me over $250 that I would have paid for my flights otherwise (business related.)

The flight to Mexico, combined with wifey flying for free on the companion pass, is worth over $1,000.

I still have 77,677 points in the coffer and if I swing it right, that could easily be 3 more round trip tickets to Cancun (or more flights elsewhere), worth nearly another $3k in value.

I use the Southwest Card like a new religion. (Except when I buy fuel, then I use my PenFed card and get 5% cash back!)

nanu

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My wife and I are flying to Cancun in 8 days, to stay for a week in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The flight from Seattle to Cancun was 30,520 points for a single ticket, though wifey is flying for free on her companion pass. Had I booked the flights earlier, I could have paid around 25k points, but I wasn't certain of the trip at the time.
I'm pretty sure Southwest lets you cancel trips without any fees so you would simply get the points you paid back had you needed to cancel - better to book speculatively than wait in that case. Not only that, you can book in advance and if the price drops, make a new booking and cancel the old one for an instant discount.

Disclaimer: I've never done this myself, but it should work just fine, based upon other people's experiences.

MsFrugalista

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I'm pretty sure Southwest lets you cancel trips without any fees so you would simply get the points you paid back had you needed to cancel - better to book speculatively than wait in that case. Not only that, you can book in advance and if the price drops, make a new booking and cancel the old one for an instant discount.

Disclaimer: I've never done this myself, but it should work just fine, based upon other people's experiences.

You are absolutely right, nanu. We do this all the time! I usually book as soon as the booking period opens up and then often times when there is a sale, I will change the flights when/if the price has dropped. You can cancel up to 1 hour before the flight. I suppose for international trips, you may not want to (or be able to) fork up the $100-$200 in fees for two people, but they will refund these back to you if you cancel (I forget now if it's in the form of a travel voucher or full cash credit - I have gotten both and have no problems using the travel voucher anyway).

We plan on going to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico over Thanksgiving this year and I will cancel if something changes last minute. We also used each of our 2 Free nights from the Chase Hyatt signup bonus to book 4 nights at the Hyatt Ziva PV all inclusive resort (food + drinks included!) :)

bigalsmith101

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I'm pretty sure Southwest lets you cancel trips without any fees so you would simply get the points you paid back had you needed to cancel - better to book speculatively than wait in that case. Not only that, you can book in advance and if the price drops, make a new booking and cancel the old one for an instant discount.

Disclaimer: I've never done this myself, but it should work just fine, based upon other people's experiences.

Yea, I totally f'ed it up. The difference was about 7500 points. Or basically a $115 mistake. I should have booked the tickets, and used the cancellation policy to my benefit. However, I think I was not aware of the benefits of booking with points at the time (aka, the no hassle cancelation).

We're already looking forward to planning another trip with the rewards points, many months in advance, so that we can lock down the best rates. Thanks for the input :)

Dee18

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I contacted Chase about me Southwest credit card applications and discovered they were held up because another credit card I have with them  (but rarely use) had a $50,000 credit limit.  They were happy to lower the limit on that one and issue me both the premier and plus cards.  Only hitch was that I had timed the applications for a couple major expenses that I ended up having to pay before the new cards arrived.  So making the spend may require buying some gift cards for future gas and groceries.

I would love to hear hotel reviews from those of you already enjoying your companion passes!

dandarc

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So the plus card seems to be humming along just fine - 2 statements in, and both times the miles post to SW the day after the statement date.

My statement on the premier card closed July 15th and still no points.  Call chase, and their automated system says "52,519 points were transferred to your Southwest Rewards account" and will post within 4-6 days.  Granted it has only been 5 days.  Call SW - after educating the CSR that yes I do have both cards, and both accounts are open, he finds that my birth date & gender weren't entered on one of the cards.  Apparently he couldn't see that these points had been transferred.  Not sure if that has anything to do with the problem or not.  Call Chase, talk to CSR.  Hang up after being given the 6-8 week statement several times.

So I guess the play here is to wait a couple more days and then try southwest again?  Want to squeeze 5 flights out of these 110K points starting with a trip in September, 2 of which are holiday travel, so I'm getting pretty antsy here.

nawhite

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #271 on: November 22, 2015, 02:48:17 PM »
Just bumping this thread because the offers are back and you can time it to get your pass started in January so that you get two full years of free flights. A number of my friends asked about my pass so I wrote up a full description of what i used my pass for and I just added the links to the offers. http://therecklesschoice.com/2015/11/21/the-southwest-companion-pass-is-awesome/

nawhite

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #272 on: November 22, 2015, 07:55:18 PM »
Nice article. I'm planning on attempting this soon. I'm really really torn about whether to go for the business and personal card or two personal cards. I've heard of a lot of people denied by chase for the business card lately, so I'm really worried about getting denied. I don't have *much* of a business so it could be tough. Have you heard of people actually be successful telling them that they want a business card to travel for work? That would work for me, as I do travel a fair amount for work.

Eta: typo


I haven't gotten a business card in a over a year, but I definitely did the "I want to separate out my work travel expenses" line before. I'm currently applying for a new business card with a real business EIN and the process seems to be a little more involved. Need to fax some stuff but I expect to be approved. Maybe I'm counting my chickens before they hatch.

tomcatjam

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #273 on: November 22, 2015, 08:26:50 PM »
Hey all, I put together a little infographic which explains how and what you need to do to get the companion pass. It's a quick read and covers all of the basics. The companion pass is a huge boon to free travel, so I thought I would create this guide to help some others that might be new to the game. Enjoy!

http://thetravelroadmap.com/how-to-get-the-southwest-companion-pass

elaine amj

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #274 on: November 22, 2015, 10:52:06 PM »
The SW Companion Pass is awesome - we are on to our 4th yr with one. Our fave travel hack ...love that it is sooooo easy to use the points.

On another note, it sucks that Chase is being so restrictive with CCs now. After being denied a Chase CC a month ago (with excellent credit scores), we are planning to lay low for some months (although we did get a Citi credit card after getting denied by Chase).

dragoncar

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #275 on: November 23, 2015, 12:34:22 PM »
The SW Companion Pass is awesome - we are on to our 4th yr with one. Our fave travel hack ...love that it is sooooo easy to use the points.

On another note, it sucks that Chase is being so restrictive with CCs now. After being denied a Chase CC a month ago (with excellent credit scores), we are planning to lay low for some months (although we did get a Citi credit card after getting denied by Chase).

Can you elaborate?  I was going to get a sapphire preferred for the bonus and ability to Convert points to miles, but I already have like 4 chase cards.  Chase always just had the best cards.  I guess I can cancel one or two if I need to...

jorjor

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #276 on: November 23, 2015, 12:58:58 PM »
The SW Companion Pass is awesome - we are on to our 4th yr with one. Our fave travel hack ...love that it is sooooo easy to use the points.

On another note, it sucks that Chase is being so restrictive with CCs now. After being denied a Chase CC a month ago (with excellent credit scores), we are planning to lay low for some months (although we did get a Citi credit card after getting denied by Chase).

Can you elaborate?  I was going to get a sapphire preferred for the bonus and ability to Convert points to miles, but I already have like 4 chase cards.  Chase always just had the best cards.  I guess I can cancel one or two if I need to...

An anecdote here. We do all of our banking through Chase. They have our checking and savings, mortgage, and my wife's two credit cards (Freedom and Sapphire, for which I am an authorized user). I applied for the Premier and Plus cards early this month for the 50k bonus on each (had to find referrals for both for the increased bonus). The approval was immediate, to the point that the cards showed up on my Chase account literally within a few minutes after I was done applying.

iamlindoro

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #277 on: November 23, 2015, 01:11:37 PM »
The SW Companion Pass is awesome - we are on to our 4th yr with one. Our fave travel hack ...love that it is sooooo easy to use the points.

On another note, it sucks that Chase is being so restrictive with CCs now. After being denied a Chase CC a month ago (with excellent credit scores), we are planning to lay low for some months (although we did get a Citi credit card after getting denied by Chase).

Can you elaborate?  I was going to get a sapphire preferred for the bonus and ability to Convert points to miles, but I already have like 4 chase cards.  Chase always just had the best cards.  I guess I can cancel one or two if I need to...

An anecdote here. We do all of our banking through Chase. They have our checking and savings, mortgage, and my wife's two credit cards (Freedom and Sapphire, for which I am an authorized user). I applied for the Premier and Plus cards early this month for the 50k bonus on each (had to find referrals for both for the increased bonus). The approval was immediate, to the point that the cards showed up on my Chase account literally within a few minutes after I was done applying.

Last I checked, the data seemed to point to Chase only applying their new, tighter restrictions (no more than 5 cards at any bank in the past 24 months) to Chase branded cards, not the co-branded cards.  Thus, the Southwest/United/Marriott cards should still be safe to churn as usual.

Jeremy E.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #278 on: November 23, 2015, 01:26:25 PM »
I'm working on this right now, I don't quite know how to do manufactured spending yet, so I'm just trying to spend 10k by the end of this year and then I'll be able to have 110,000 points with my companion pass next year. I'm currently spending a ton on a house and just bought an electric bike and it's still hard for me trying to hit 10k, so without tons of manufactured spending or a big credit card purchase, I doubt most mustachians would be able to spend 10k in January.

jorjor

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #279 on: November 23, 2015, 02:47:28 PM »
I'm working on this right now, I don't quite know how to do manufactured spending yet, so I'm just trying to spend 10k by the end of this year and then I'll be able to have 110,000 points with my companion pass next year. I'm currently spending a ton on a house and just bought an electric bike and it's still hard for me trying to hit 10k, so without tons of manufactured spending or a big credit card purchase, I doubt most mustachians would be able to spend 10k in January.

Are you saying that you're almost to 110k points earned in this year, so you need to spend enough this year to hit the total?

Maybe you're already thinking of this, but I've seen a story where a guy tried to get spending in within the year, but he didn't the CP because the points for December didn't post until after the end of the statement period...which fell in the first couple days of the next year. Be careful about that.

Do you have a Marriott or Hilton rewards account from which you can transfer points into Southwest? Those count, but the points are discounted when you transfer.

Jeremy E.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #280 on: November 23, 2015, 02:56:13 PM »
I'm working on this right now, I don't quite know how to do manufactured spending yet, so I'm just trying to spend 10k by the end of this year and then I'll be able to have 110,000 points with my companion pass next year. I'm currently spending a ton on a house and just bought an electric bike and it's still hard for me trying to hit 10k, so without tons of manufactured spending or a big credit card purchase, I doubt most mustachians would be able to spend 10k in January.

Are you saying that you're almost to 110k points earned in this year, so you need to spend enough this year to hit the total?

Maybe you're already thinking of this, but I've seen a story where a guy tried to get spending in within the year, but he didn't the CP because the points for December didn't post until after the end of the statement period...which fell in the first couple days of the next year. Be careful about that.

Do you have a Marriott or Hilton rewards account from which you can transfer points into Southwest? Those count, but the points are discounted when you transfer.
You are correct that's what I'm saying, I got 100k points from the 2 cards and am currently at around 108k points after spending 8k on the cards so far, I guess I need to research manufactured spending tonight and get that last 2k on there like right now... so that it'll be posted this year, thanks for letting me know

nawhite

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #281 on: November 23, 2015, 03:14:31 PM »
I'm working on this right now, I don't quite know how to do manufactured spending yet, so I'm just trying to spend 10k by the end of this year and then I'll be able to have 110,000 points with my companion pass next year. I'm currently spending a ton on a house and just bought an electric bike and it's still hard for me trying to hit 10k, so without tons of manufactured spending or a big credit card purchase, I doubt most mustachians would be able to spend 10k in January.
Are you saying that you're almost to 110k points earned in this year, so you need to spend enough this year to hit the total?

Maybe you're already thinking of this, but I've seen a story where a guy tried to get spending in within the year, but he didn't the CP because the points for December didn't post until after the end of the statement period...which fell in the first couple days of the next year. Be careful about that.

Do you have a Marriott or Hilton rewards account from which you can transfer points into Southwest? Those count, but the points are discounted when you transfer.
You are correct that's what I'm saying, I got 100k points from the 2 cards and am currently at around 108k points after spending 8k on the cards so far, I guess I need to research manufactured spending tonight and get that last 2k on there like right now... so that it'll be posted this year, thanks for letting me know

It's too bad you couldn't wait until January, then you'd get a full extra year of pass status. If you finish you spending in December and get the pass in December 2015, it will expire at the end of 2016. If you get all 110,000 of the points in January 2016, it expires December 2017.

As for getting points, you need the points, you don't need the spending on the credit cards. Check out https://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/earn-with-partners . There are tons of other ways to get points. Need a rental car for Thanksgiving? Rentals booked through their site are 600 points per reservation. Buy $30 or more from 1800-flowers through that site and get 1000 points per order. Sounds like $60 in flowers and you're there.

Jeremy E.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #282 on: November 23, 2015, 03:45:12 PM »
I'm working on this right now, I don't quite know how to do manufactured spending yet, so I'm just trying to spend 10k by the end of this year and then I'll be able to have 110,000 points with my companion pass next year. I'm currently spending a ton on a house and just bought an electric bike and it's still hard for me trying to hit 10k, so without tons of manufactured spending or a big credit card purchase, I doubt most mustachians would be able to spend 10k in January.
Are you saying that you're almost to 110k points earned in this year, so you need to spend enough this year to hit the total?

Maybe you're already thinking of this, but I've seen a story where a guy tried to get spending in within the year, but he didn't the CP because the points for December didn't post until after the end of the statement period...which fell in the first couple days of the next year. Be careful about that.

Do you have a Marriott or Hilton rewards account from which you can transfer points into Southwest? Those count, but the points are discounted when you transfer.
You are correct that's what I'm saying, I got 100k points from the 2 cards and am currently at around 108k points after spending 8k on the cards so far, I guess I need to research manufactured spending tonight and get that last 2k on there like right now... so that it'll be posted this year, thanks for letting me know

It's too bad you couldn't wait until January, then you'd get a full extra year of pass status. If you finish you spending in December and get the pass in December 2015, it will expire at the end of 2016. If you get all 110,000 of the points in January 2016, it expires December 2017.

As for getting points, you need the points, you don't need the spending on the credit cards. Check out https://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/earn-with-partners . There are tons of other ways to get points. Need a rental car for Thanksgiving? Rentals booked through their site are 600 points per reservation. Buy $30 or more from 1800-flowers through that site and get 1000 points per order. Sounds like $60 in flowers and you're there.
many of the points you can earn are not eligible to be a part of the necessary 110,000 points, I'm not sure if those options are eligible but I'm guessing the flowers won't work, I'll look into it though. It does suck that it'll expire at the end of 2016, I wish I would of waited till 2016 to get these cards, but I already had 52k points before I found out about the companion pass.

dragoncar

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #283 on: November 23, 2015, 05:44:02 PM »
I'm working on this right now, I don't quite know how to do manufactured spending yet, so I'm just trying to spend 10k by the end of this year and then I'll be able to have 110,000 points with my companion pass next year. I'm currently spending a ton on a house and just bought an electric bike and it's still hard for me trying to hit 10k, so without tons of manufactured spending or a big credit card purchase, I doubt most mustachians would be able to spend 10k in January.
Are you saying that you're almost to 110k points earned in this year, so you need to spend enough this year to hit the total?

Maybe you're already thinking of this, but I've seen a story where a guy tried to get spending in within the year, but he didn't the CP because the points for December didn't post until after the end of the statement period...which fell in the first couple days of the next year. Be careful about that.

Do you have a Marriott or Hilton rewards account from which you can transfer points into Southwest? Those count, but the points are discounted when you transfer.
You are correct that's what I'm saying, I got 100k points from the 2 cards and am currently at around 108k points after spending 8k on the cards so far, I guess I need to research manufactured spending tonight and get that last 2k on there like right now... so that it'll be posted this year, thanks for letting me know

It's too bad you couldn't wait until January, then you'd get a full extra year of pass status. If you finish you spending in December and get the pass in December 2015, it will expire at the end of 2016. If you get all 110,000 of the points in January 2016, it expires December 2017.

As for getting points, you need the points, you don't need the spending on the credit cards. Check out https://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/earn-with-partners . There are tons of other ways to get points. Need a rental car for Thanksgiving? Rentals booked through their site are 600 points per reservation. Buy $30 or more from 1800-flowers through that site and get 1000 points per order. Sounds like $60 in flowers and you're there.
many of the points you can earn are not eligible to be a part of the necessary 110,000 points, I'm not sure if those options are eligible but I'm guessing the flowers won't work, I'll look into it though. It does suck that it'll expire at the end of 2016, I wish I would of waited till 2016 to get these cards, but I already had 52k points before I found out about the companion pass.

Where do you live?  For a companion pass, it might be worth a short day trip just to get the qualifying points.

Do credit card miles qualify as CP miles?  You could always guy a SW gift card if you fly a lot.  Costco gift cards are pretty good, too, if you shop there regularly.

Anyways, from the FAQ:

Quote
Do the points I earn with Partners help qualify me for a Companion Pass?
Yes. Points earned from flying Southwest Airlines, exclusive of bonuses or promotions (unless otherwise noted), as well as points earned through Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Partners, count toward qualification for Companion Pass.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2015, 05:47:12 PM by dragoncar »

Jeremy E.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #284 on: November 23, 2015, 06:19:08 PM »
I'm working on this right now, I don't quite know how to do manufactured spending yet, so I'm just trying to spend 10k by the end of this year and then I'll be able to have 110,000 points with my companion pass next year. I'm currently spending a ton on a house and just bought an electric bike and it's still hard for me trying to hit 10k, so without tons of manufactured spending or a big credit card purchase, I doubt most mustachians would be able to spend 10k in January.
Are you saying that you're almost to 110k points earned in this year, so you need to spend enough this year to hit the total?

Maybe you're already thinking of this, but I've seen a story where a guy tried to get spending in within the year, but he didn't the CP because the points for December didn't post until after the end of the statement period...which fell in the first couple days of the next year. Be careful about that.

Do you have a Marriott or Hilton rewards account from which you can transfer points into Southwest? Those count, but the points are discounted when you transfer.
You are correct that's what I'm saying, I got 100k points from the 2 cards and am currently at around 108k points after spending 8k on the cards so far, I guess I need to research manufactured spending tonight and get that last 2k on there like right now... so that it'll be posted this year, thanks for letting me know

It's too bad you couldn't wait until January, then you'd get a full extra year of pass status. If you finish you spending in December and get the pass in December 2015, it will expire at the end of 2016. If you get all 110,000 of the points in January 2016, it expires December 2017.

As for getting points, you need the points, you don't need the spending on the credit cards. Check out https://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/earn-with-partners . There are tons of other ways to get points. Need a rental car for Thanksgiving? Rentals booked through their site are 600 points per reservation. Buy $30 or more from 1800-flowers through that site and get 1000 points per order. Sounds like $60 in flowers and you're there.
many of the points you can earn are not eligible to be a part of the necessary 110,000 points, I'm not sure if those options are eligible but I'm guessing the flowers won't work, I'll look into it though. It does suck that it'll expire at the end of 2016, I wish I would of waited till 2016 to get these cards, but I already had 52k points before I found out about the companion pass.

Where do you live?  For a companion pass, it might be worth a short day trip just to get the qualifying points.

Do credit card miles qualify as CP miles?  You could always guy a SW gift card if you fly a lot.  Costco gift cards are pretty good, too, if you shop there regularly.

Anyways, from the FAQ:

Quote
Do the points I earn with Partners help qualify me for a Companion Pass?
Yes. Points earned from flying Southwest Airlines, exclusive of bonuses or promotions (unless otherwise noted), as well as points earned through Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Partners, count toward qualification for Companion Pass.
thanks for the tips, I don't fly much, I'll try to do some manufactured spending and if that doesn't work I'll buy some gift cards.

elaine amj

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #285 on: November 24, 2015, 11:57:02 AM »
Can you elaborate?  I was going to get a sapphire preferred for the bonus and ability to Convert points to miles, but I already have like 4 chase cards.  Chase always just had the best cards.  I guess I can cancel one or two if I need to...

To be honest, we have slowed down our US CC churning a tiny bit to concentrate more on Cdn cards we haven't taken advantage of. I had read that in the last few months, Chase has become much more restrictive with approving credit cards if you have applied for multiple credit cards. Since we churn cards, this became a concern. Like I said, we applied for a Chase CC a month back (I can't remember which one) and were rejected for the first time - and even appeals to reconsideration didn't work. (My DH has really good credit and we have a great relationship with Chase as we bank there). That said, shortly afterwards, his banker handed him a Chase Freedom card (plan to keep this long term as I regret cancelling it a few years ago).

Sounds like iamlindoro has done the research (which I haven't) and according to him, data points say that they are less strict with co-branded cards like Southwest, etc. It shouldn't affect newbies - I believe the tipping point is 5 cards in 24 months (and we usually apply for 5-10 cards a year). I don't know enough about this other than that Chase has made it harder. It does correspond with my plans to slow down churning for a bit. We have too many balls in the air at present and I'm starting to lose track and have let points expire, etc.

As for trying to meet a minimum spend - it's not the best way - but when in a pinch, I book a refundable vacation. I'll keep working on the spend but it does help me meet the deadline. I float the money and cancel a few months later.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #286 on: November 25, 2015, 07:11:22 PM »
I am ready to get the SW cards, but the only ones I can find are just 25,000 points.  Anyone seen anything different?

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meadow lark

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #288 on: November 25, 2015, 09:53:50 PM »
Yay! Thank you so much!

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #289 on: November 27, 2015, 01:37:50 PM »
Don't want to double post so I'll link. Today I applied for both the personal and business cards; the personal was approved, but the business one was declined. Relevant details: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/declined-on-southwest-bus-credit-card-hoping-to-get-companion-pass/msg884212/#msg884212 .

Am I screwed, or can I wait 1-3 mos and reapply? Or should I just apply for another personal card?

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #290 on: November 27, 2015, 02:08:30 PM »
Don't want to double post so I'll link. Today I applied for both the personal and business cards; the personal was approved, but the business one was declined. Relevant details: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/declined-on-southwest-bus-credit-card-hoping-to-get-companion-pass/msg884212/#msg884212 .

Am I screwed, or can I wait 1-3 mos and reapply? Or should I just apply for another personal card?

Since the reasoning behind the denial was not that they have extended you too much credit, but that you have too many inquiries with them in too short a time, applying for another personal might result in another denial (it might not). Since you're aiming for companion pass status in 2016, waiting 30 days probably won't hurt you too badly. 

Anecdotally, it seems that there is a slightly higher success rate for just applying for the Personal Premier + Plus.  It removes the viability of your business from the equation entirely.

gliderpilot567

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #291 on: November 27, 2015, 02:16:08 PM »
Thanks iamlindoro, I suspect the same. The card I obtained successfully was the Personal Premier. I'll wait a bit and apply for the Plus, even if I have to wait until January I can still do my 2k spending on the premier card (once 2016 hits) in the meantime.

I'll plan to use these cards mostly for churning... and even if I don't end up with the companion pass, the 50k points from the premier card is still a real nice couple of free round trips.

gliderpilot567

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #292 on: November 27, 2015, 02:30:39 PM »
Just returned from our first flight earned with our Chase cards and companion pass last week! 4 beautiful nights in Puerto Rico.

A huge thank you for sharing all the info!

FYI, I was declined on the second card, so my husband applied for the Plus card using MY rapid rewards number, and it worked!

Both of our cards earned bonuses towards my RR account. We'll try to do the opposite in another two years.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

Interesting, I wonder if that will still work? I got declined on the business card but got the Personal Premier. if I can have my wife open one in her name but use my own RR number we might be all set.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #293 on: November 27, 2015, 04:59:54 PM »
Just returned from our first flight earned with our Chase cards and companion pass last week! 4 beautiful nights in Puerto Rico.

A huge thank you for sharing all the info!

FYI, I was declined on the second card, so my husband applied for the Plus card using MY rapid rewards number, and it worked!

Both of our cards earned bonuses towards my RR account. We'll try to do the opposite in another two years.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

Interesting, I wonder if that will still work? I got declined on the business card but got the Personal Premier. if I can have my wife open one in her name but use my own RR number we might be all set.

That won't work.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #294 on: November 28, 2015, 08:47:54 PM »
My application for the Sapphire Preferred went to further review.  They asked me to call and verify details, but it was a bit odd since they asked me what my mortgage payments are (I was like, it's with Chase so hopefully you know... maybe it's more of an identity verification).  Anyways, hopefully I get it...

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #295 on: December 01, 2015, 08:58:26 AM »
had the premeir for over 2 years now.  going to cancel as i just go the plus and double dip on it for 2016 and 2017 companion.  any idea how long i should wait before i reapply for the premier after canceling?

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #296 on: December 01, 2015, 03:32:29 PM »
We just got our two chase southwest credit cards!  Yeah!  One business and one personal, both Premier.    My wife called and got our billing cycle to end on 12/8.  My understanding is that if we want all the miles to show up in 2016, we should wait until 12/9 to start using the credit card, is that correct?  Since the next billing cycle should end on january 8th or so, everything purchased on or after 12/9 will accrue rewards in 2016. 


Just double checking that rewards accrue at the end of the billing cycle, not after the CC bill is paid?


we're excited to get started with our $10,000 spend, but don't want to jump the gun too early.  Fortunately (for the rewards), but unfortunately (for our mustachian reputation), it won't be that hard for us to put $10000 on these two credit cards over the course of 2-3 months.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #297 on: December 01, 2015, 03:59:21 PM »
We just got our two chase southwest credit cards!  Yeah!  One business and one personal, both Premier.    My wife called and got our billing cycle to end on 12/8.  My understanding is that if we want all the miles to show up in 2016, we should wait until 12/9 to start using the credit card, is that correct?  Since the next billing cycle should end on january 8th or so, everything purchased on or after 12/9 will accrue rewards in 2016. 

Correct.  Wait for them to generate a statement, then start spending.

Just double checking that rewards accrue at the end of the billing cycle, not after the CC bill is paid?

Confirmed, this is correct.

CCCA

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #298 on: December 01, 2015, 04:59:26 PM »
We just got our two chase southwest credit cards!  Yeah!  One business and one personal, both Premier.    My wife called and got our billing cycle to end on 12/8.  My understanding is that if we want all the miles to show up in 2016, we should wait until 12/9 to start using the credit card, is that correct?  Since the next billing cycle should end on january 8th or so, everything purchased on or after 12/9 will accrue rewards in 2016. 

Correct.  Wait for them to generate a statement, then start spending.

Just double checking that rewards accrue at the end of the billing cycle, not after the CC bill is paid?

Confirmed, this is correct.


Great, Thanks for the verification! 

meadow lark

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #299 on: December 01, 2015, 08:15:30 PM »
Okay, DW just got approved for the personal card!  She will apply for the business card in January or so, after we hit our spend.  this is so fun!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!