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dragoncar

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #350 on: December 18, 2015, 02:53:34 PM »

Sounds good, does anyone know if early bird check in is worth it? $12.50 per passenger each way, and comes with,
Automatic Check-In
Better Boarding Position
Earlier Access to Overhead Bins

No. If you can't find a seat you like just ask some people politely if they wouldn't mind switching seats with you.

Wut

Anyways doesn't A-list auto-check you in?

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #351 on: December 18, 2015, 03:01:28 PM »

Sounds good, does anyone know if early bird check in is worth it? $12.50 per passenger each way, and comes with,
Automatic Check-In
Better Boarding Position
Earlier Access to Overhead Bins

No. If you can't find a seat you like just ask some people politely if they wouldn't mind switching seats with you.

Wut

Anyways doesn't A-list auto-check you in?

I'm not sure what the confusion is? I'm saying there's no need to get access to a better boarding position if you can get a seat you want by asking nicely.

dragoncar

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #352 on: December 18, 2015, 03:49:20 PM »

Sounds good, does anyone know if early bird check in is worth it? $12.50 per passenger each way, and comes with,
Automatic Check-In
Better Boarding Position
Earlier Access to Overhead Bins

No. If you can't find a seat you like just ask some people politely if they wouldn't mind switching seats with you.

Wut

Anyways doesn't A-list auto-check you in?

I'm not sure what the confusion is? I'm saying there's no need to get access to a better boarding position if you can get a seat you want by asking nicely.

Wut

bye-bye Ms. FancyPants

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #353 on: December 19, 2015, 05:13:24 PM »
I have a 50,000 bonus point referral code for the premier card ($2000 in 3 months, but it looks like the $99 annual fee is paid upfront maybe?). PM me if interested.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #354 on: January 04, 2016, 12:15:16 AM »
Sounds good, does anyone know if early bird check in is worth it? $12.50 per passenger each way, and comes with,
Automatic Check-In
Better Boarding Position
Earlier Access to Overhead Bins

It isn't worth it. If you set up an alarm about 24 hours and 5 minutes before your departure time. You  have enough time to log into your SW account and wait a couple minutes until the 24 hour mark hits and then simply check in. You can't check in until 24 hours before if you don't have the early bird. By doing this I've always gotten A boarding. With A boarding your easily beating a majority of the crowd.

jorjor

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #355 on: January 04, 2016, 08:43:38 AM »
I scheduled some bill payments for January 1st and hit the spending limit on both cards. Billing cycle ends mid-month. I won't let out a cheer until those bonus points hit the account.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #356 on: January 04, 2016, 10:31:11 AM »
A word of caution - I applied for personal and business cards on Dec 7th and received them on the 16th.  I did not call to change the closing date on either card because, I thought, how could it possibly be in December.  I was wrong!  One closing date was Dec 18 and the other was Dec 27.  I lost about $100 in companion pass spending on the former when it closed in Dec, but managed to push the latter to January.  Luckily!

The annual fee just hit on both cards, ouch (I normally never pay annual fees).

gliderpilot567

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #357 on: January 07, 2016, 01:17:06 PM »
We applied for and were approved for personal (husband) and business (me) cards.  We will get the cards in 1-2 weeks.  There shouldn't be any issue with spending at the end of December, right (the first payment due date is 1/24, but the closing dates are unknown)?

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

I am hoping that this works for us too, but it really sounds to good to be true.  Did both of your points just show up in your RR account?  We also signed up for both cards with my RR #.

We did this too. We now hold two different Premier personal credit cards with different names and account numbers but the same RR number embossed on them. In a month or so I will report back here and see where the points end up getting posted to.

It's an experiment... I'll take one for the team, if it doesn't work and my companion pass dreams are shattered, it won't break my heart. We'll still end up with a buttload of SW points.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #358 on: January 08, 2016, 10:07:00 AM »
We applied for and were approved for personal (husband) and business (me) cards.  We will get the cards in 1-2 weeks.  There shouldn't be any issue with spending at the end of December, right (the first payment due date is 1/24, but the closing dates are unknown)?

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

I am hoping that this works for us too, but it really sounds to good to be true.  Did both of your points just show up in your RR account?  We also signed up for both cards with my RR #.

We did this too. We now hold two different Premier personal credit cards with different names and account numbers but the same RR number embossed on them. In a month or so I will report back here and see where the points end up getting posted to.

It's an experiment... I'll take one for the team, if it doesn't work and my companion pass dreams are shattered, it won't break my heart. We'll still end up with a buttload of SW points.

I can report back at the end of January whether this worked for us.  We hit the spending mins on both cards yesterday.

jorjor

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #359 on: January 12, 2016, 10:19:39 AM »
Plus points (the one I was worried more about) have posted. Premier will post at the end of the billing cycle coming up. I did some spend in the December billing cycle so we will be about 7,500 short. Will probably transfer through Hyatt to get the rest (either 15k Hyatt = 7,200 + some spend before the next cycle or 20k Hyatt - 9,600 SW).

For those who have gotten the CP before, how long after hitting 110,000 was the CP active? The first time we would possibly use it is late March, and any delay would determine whether we transfer 15k points and wait a billing cycle or 20k points to get it as soon as we can. We'll have to transfer from Chase through Hyatt (direct Chase to SW doesn't count for CP, but Hyatt transfers do).

Bruinguy

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #360 on: January 12, 2016, 12:47:49 PM »
For those who have gotten the CP before, how long after hitting 110,000 was the CP active?

We did this last year.  As I recall, once the points hit the account at Southwest, it was pretty quick.  We may have called a couple of days after we went over to set it up.  However, I don't recall how long it took for the credit card points to post to the Southwest account after the end of each month.

jorjor

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #361 on: January 12, 2016, 01:07:29 PM »
For those who have gotten the CP before, how long after hitting 110,000 was the CP active?

We did this last year.  As I recall, once the points hit the account at Southwest, it was pretty quick.  We may have called a couple of days after we went over to set it up.  However, I don't recall how long it took for the credit card points to post to the Southwest account after the end of each month.

Mine post quickly after the billing cycle ends. The only potential delays are:

- Time for Hyatt transfer points to post,
- and/or time to wait until end of next billing cycle,
- plus the time to wait between hitting 110,000 points and getting the CP activated.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #362 on: January 12, 2016, 02:25:24 PM »
We applied for and were approved for personal (husband) and business (me) cards.  We will get the cards in 1-2 weeks.  There shouldn't be any issue with spending at the end of December, right (the first payment due date is 1/24, but the closing dates are unknown)?

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

I am hoping that this works for us too, but it really sounds to good to be true.  Did both of your points just show up in your RR account?  We also signed up for both cards with my RR #.

We did this too. We now hold two different Premier personal credit cards with different names and account numbers but the same RR number embossed on them. In a month or so I will report back here and see where the points end up getting posted to.

It's an experiment... I'll take one for the team, if it doesn't work and my companion pass dreams are shattered, it won't break my heart. We'll still end up with a buttload of SW points.

I can report back at the end of January whether this worked for us.  We hit the spending mins on both cards yesterday.

How long should it take the points to hit my RR account after the statement date (1/11 in my case)? I thought it was the next day usually.  We are waiting on my husband's points to hit my RR account, so holding our breath...

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #363 on: January 12, 2016, 02:46:49 PM »
We applied for and were approved for personal (husband) and business (me) cards.  We will get the cards in 1-2 weeks.  There shouldn't be any issue with spending at the end of December, right (the first payment due date is 1/24, but the closing dates are unknown)?

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

I am hoping that this works for us too, but it really sounds to good to be true.  Did both of your points just show up in your RR account?  We also signed up for both cards with my RR #.

We did this too. We now hold two different Premier personal credit cards with different names and account numbers but the same RR number embossed on them. In a month or so I will report back here and see where the points end up getting posted to.

It's an experiment... I'll take one for the team, if it doesn't work and my companion pass dreams are shattered, it won't break my heart. We'll still end up with a buttload of SW points.

I can report back at the end of January whether this worked for us.  We hit the spending mins on both cards yesterday.

How long should it take the points to hit my RR account after the statement date (1/11 in my case)? I thought it was the next day usually.  We are waiting on my husband's points to hit my RR account, so holding our breath...

Mine took two days to post

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #364 on: January 13, 2016, 07:03:46 AM »
We don't have my husband's miles in my RR account yet, two days out from close.  It's not looking good.

jorjor

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #365 on: January 13, 2016, 07:14:43 AM »
Mine have been posting the day after the statement ends. Both bonuses have posted.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #366 on: January 13, 2016, 07:35:23 AM »
Mine have been posting the day after the statement ends. Both bonuses have posted.

My points have appeared in my RR account immediately, but not my husband's.  I'm referring to the discussion of spouses having separate cards opened under the same RR account number.  Apparently some couples have been able to do this and have both sets of points post to one spouse's RR account.  A glitch maybe? 

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

UPDATE: No luck!  Bonus points, etc, went to separate accounts.  So not much hope of CP anytime soon unless someone has a 50K offer link for the Plus card (I already had the Premier too recently)??
« Last Edit: January 13, 2016, 08:06:22 AM by jezebel »

Jeremy E.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #367 on: January 18, 2016, 11:09:47 AM »
Can I cancel my Chase Southwest cards and maintain the miles on my rapid rewards account?

MsFrugalista

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #368 on: January 18, 2016, 11:11:10 AM »
Can I cancel my Chase Southwest cards and maintain the miles on my rapid rewards account?

Yes

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #369 on: January 18, 2016, 01:06:46 PM »

UPDATE: No luck!  Bonus points, etc, went to separate accounts.  So not much hope of CP anytime soon unless someone has a 50K offer link for the Plus card (I already had the Premier too recently)??

Try asking for a referral in the comments here.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #370 on: January 22, 2016, 05:38:39 PM »
Saw this posted over at slickdeals.

http://slickdeals.net/f/7319392-two-roundtrip-flights-w-southwest-airlines-credit-cards-50k-points-w-2000-spent-in-first-3-months?v=1

100k points is worth at least 4 flights ( or two round trips) and companion status means your designated companion can fly with you for free (unlimited)

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)

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.  Once you earn your 110,000 points and gain Companion status in January of 2015 you not only get it for the rest of 2015 BUT FOR ALL OF 2016 TOO

This is awesome timing for us personally because my wife and I want to go visit some family and friends around the country-  So for the next two years I can book my flights using the 110k points we earn and then she just flies for free as my companion.

That's a pretty decent offer. I am a fellow master credit carder also.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #371 on: January 23, 2016, 07:46:28 AM »
I am currently waiting for my Plus card and Marriott card to arrive in the mail to finish off the companion pass.  Chase takes sooo long to send cards.

nanu

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #372 on: January 23, 2016, 09:52:56 AM »
I am currently waiting for my Plus card and Marriott card to arrive in the mail to finish off the companion pass.  Chase takes sooo long to send cards.
My last Chase card (about 1.5 months ago) I called them up right after getting approved and asked them to expedite it because I want to use the card on an upcoming trip (which was true) and wanted to make sure it arrives before I leave. They happily did, and I got the card only a few days later.

jorjor

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #373 on: January 26, 2016, 07:24:28 AM »
It was nice waking up this morning to see "Congrats! You've earned Companion Pass"

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #374 on: February 02, 2016, 09:31:34 AM »
Thought I would add my experience here since I just finished.

Applied for Premier Business with 50k link on 10/6/15. Told to call to give more info which I did the next day, got approved over the phone.

After hanging up the phone, I immediately applied for Premier Personal with 50k linkon 10/7/15. Automatically approved.

Closing date on statements was the 20th and 21st, respectively. I left it alone.

On 12/28/15 (after both had closed for the cycle), charged planned expenses on card to get 5k in spending total (2k on one, 3k on the other).

Statements closed on 1/20/16 and 1/21/16, spending points and bonus points added to RR account on 1/22 and 1/23, bringing balance to 105k towards companion pass.

Transferred some leftover points from Hyatt account on 1/24. Hyatt points processed on 2/2. point total goes over 110k.

I didn't get an email about the companion Pass, but when I logged into RR, I saw the full chart (all points earned for pass valid through 12/2017) and was able to click and add my companion's info.

Super psyched to take this baby out for a spin.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #375 on: February 02, 2016, 09:59:14 AM »
Congrats!  I can't wait to make it.  Got just over 54K on the business card in Jan and finished the Plus spend (~52K), closes on 2/11.  Just started on a Marriott card, from which we will transfer points for 5K on SW to finish the companion.

Anyone tried trading out a previously booked ticket after achieving the companion?  I'm flying with my sister at the end of May - already booked with points.  If I get the companion pass before then, I'd essentially like a refund of the points for her ticket and get her on as a companion.

gliderpilot567

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #376 on: February 02, 2016, 10:05:31 AM »
Congrats! As for me, I will not get the companion pass before the end of the year... update, we tried what had worked for some people (open two personal accounts, one in my name one in wife's, but put same RR number on each) however Chase figured it out, correlated them by RR number, and we were denied the second 50k. I later (2 months after opening my own personal Premier card) tried opening a Premier business card in my name, was instructed to call for more information, after about 30 minutes on the phone with them I was denied. Apparently my eBay income of $4500/year isn't high enough to qualify as a real business, haha.

Not all is lost, I travel quite a bit for work and often on Southwest, so I might rack up enough points this year to actually hit 110k. Routine spending alone on the card will only get us another 20k or so during the remainder of the year. And worst case, the 60k-ish points in my account now will still redeem me a good handful of free trips.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #377 on: February 02, 2016, 11:37:16 AM »
Congrats! As for me, I will not get the companion pass before the end of the year... update, we tried what had worked for some people (open two personal accounts, one in my name one in wife's, but put same RR number on each) however Chase figured it out, correlated them by RR number, and we were denied the second 50k. I later (2 months after opening my own personal Premier card) tried opening a Premier business card in my name, was instructed to call for more information, after about 30 minutes on the phone with them I was denied. Apparently my eBay income of $4500/year isn't high enough to qualify as a real business, haha.

We had a similar experience with the husband and wife accounts that did not get pooled under the same RR account.  But I dealt with this setback by opening a Plus personal card.  Have you considered that?

BigRed

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #378 on: February 03, 2016, 02:50:32 PM »
So, with the Plus card not offering 50k right now, what's the best way to accomplish this right now?  I have a 50k Premier card offer, is the best way to get a Marriott card and transfer from there?  Wait for the Plus card to have a 50k bonus again?

iamlindoro

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #379 on: February 03, 2016, 03:10:16 PM »
So, with the Plus card not offering 50k right now, what's the best way to accomplish this right now?  I have a 50k Premier card offer, is the best way to get a Marriott card and transfer from there?  Wait for the Plus card to have a 50k bonus again?

Assuming nothing has changed, 50K is still available on the Plus card so long as you get a referral code.  Look upthread for some links on where you can request one.

Karsh

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #380 on: February 05, 2016, 11:59:12 AM »
Anyone tried trading out a previously booked ticket after achieving the companion?  I'm flying with my sister at the end of May - already booked with points.  If I get the companion pass before then, I'd essentially like a refund of the points for her ticket and get her on as a companion.

I just got companion pass status yesterday and I can confirm this is possible. Chase goofed and didn't post one of my bonuses on my January statement, so I had to book my wife's ticket with points for some travel later this month. You'll have the option to add your companion onto your ticket even if it's already booked. Just call them to have the other ticket canceled and you should be able to get them to apply the security fee to the companion ticket without having to deal with doing a new charge on your card and getting a refund.

Just be aware that there's a limited number of times that you can change who your companion is, so if you're not planning on traveling with your sister a lot over the next two years, you might weigh that against the points you'd save on this specific trip.

I feel like I need to dress up as the Doctor on our trips together from now on.

charis

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #381 on: February 05, 2016, 02:33:51 PM »
Anyone tried trading out a previously booked ticket after achieving the companion?  I'm flying with my sister at the end of May - already booked with points.  If I get the companion pass before then, I'd essentially like a refund of the points for her ticket and get her on as a companion.

I just got companion pass status yesterday and I can confirm this is possible. Chase goofed and didn't post one of my bonuses on my January statement, so I had to book my wife's ticket with points for some travel later this month. You'll have the option to add your companion onto your ticket even if it's already booked. Just call them to have the other ticket canceled and you should be able to get them to apply the security fee to the companion ticket without having to deal with doing a new charge on your card and getting a refund.

Just be aware that there's a limited number of times that you can change who your companion is, so if you're not planning on traveling with your sister a lot over the next two years, you might weigh that against the points you'd save on this specific trip.

I feel like I need to dress up as the Doctor on our trips together from now on.

You make a good point.  Since that post, I've decided to trade my son's ticket out for the companion pass, as it would be more likely that I travel with him in the future.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #382 on: February 05, 2016, 04:05:45 PM »
I love booking with points, it is one way to make your ticket refundable in any situation. You just cancel and get your points back!

You also get the taxes and fees back!

warehouse

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #383 on: February 06, 2016, 08:55:11 PM »
Just got the companion pass good through 12/31/2017! I have 120k + points in my account, a good year of travel ahead!! I owe this thread to even knowing about this perk, thanks all!

I can send email links for the Premier Personal 50k bonus point offer if anyone is in need!

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #384 on: February 19, 2016, 01:11:18 PM »
We hit our goal of 110,000 miles and got our companion pass a couple of weeks ago valid for the next 22 months!
It was our first foray into credit card travel stuff and it was relatively straightforward. 

We had one minor hiccup with paying one of the credit cards.  I set up autopay on the business card but realized a couple days after the 1st payment was due that autopay defaults to only paying the minimum instead of the full balance.  I paid off the entire balance 2 days after the bill was actually due, although since we paid the minimum there was no late fee. 

I thought we were done and we'd maybe pay a little bit of interest for the 2 days we were late.  But we got two separate interest charges totaling ~$80, one the next month and one the following month.  Having never carried a balance on our card, it was a bit of a shock to see the interest charges and didn't fully understand why they were there, especially for the month after I fixed the issue.  Ends up if you don't pay off your balance, they charge us interest for the remaining balance for 2 consecutive months ($3000 bal * 16% * 2/12 of the year = $80).  Here I would have assumed that we would have been charged $3000 bal * 16% * 2/365 of the year = $2.63).  Things a mustachian wouldn't know, I suppose.

Anyway, we called the CC company and were able to get them to refund both interest charges, so we're happy about that.  But it was a bit eye-opening to see how CCs worked and easier to understand why it's difficult to get out of CC debt.     



johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #385 on: February 19, 2016, 02:59:23 PM »
We hit our goal of 110,000 miles and got our companion pass a couple of weeks ago valid for the next 22 months!
It was our first foray into credit card travel stuff and it was relatively straightforward. 

We had one minor hiccup with paying one of the credit cards.  I set up autopay on the business card but realized a couple days after the 1st payment was due that autopay defaults to only paying the minimum instead of the full balance.  I paid off the entire balance 2 days after the bill was actually due, although since we paid the minimum there was no late fee. 

I thought we were done and we'd maybe pay a little bit of interest for the 2 days we were late.  But we got two separate interest charges totaling ~$80, one the next month and one the following month.  Having never carried a balance on our card, it was a bit of a shock to see the interest charges and didn't fully understand why they were there, especially for the month after I fixed the issue.  Ends up if you don't pay off your balance, they charge us interest for the remaining balance for 2 consecutive months ($3000 bal * 16% * 2/12 of the year = $80).  Here I would have assumed that we would have been charged $3000 bal * 16% * 2/365 of the year = $2.63).  Things a mustachian wouldn't know, I suppose.

Anyway, we called the CC company and were able to get them to refund both interest charges, so we're happy about that.  But it was a bit eye-opening to see how CCs worked and easier to understand why it's difficult to get out of CC debt.   

Pretty sure it's actually worse than that. I'm sure it varies by the bank, but I remember (I can't find this post now because I forget which blog it was) a blogger saying that he messed up and scheduled a payment for $5 less than his $5k statement balance. He thought the interest he was charged (and later refunded after calling in) was really high.
During the grace period which occurs after your statement closes, they still internally calculate the interest accrued on that balance. If you make a payment for your full balance by the payment due date, they waive all of that internally calculated interest. However, even if you make some payments, if you do not pay your balance in full by the payment due date, you're charged all of the interest. On the full statement balance. Not any remaining balance after your partial payments.

ETA: Looks like I'm either remembering it wrong or the blogger was wrong. Probably the former. But either way, carrying a balance sucks, especially because it eliminates the grace period for the following month.
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/grace-period-avoid-paying-interest.php
« Last Edit: February 19, 2016, 03:12:02 PM by johnny847 »

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #386 on: February 22, 2016, 01:51:23 PM »
For those looking for referrals, my wife has both the Premier and Plus cards. Currently, they she only has 50K referrals for the Premier card (which is still better than the 25K currently being offered by Chase). I'll post again if I notice referrals for the Plus card. In the meantime, feel free to message me if you'd like a Premier referral, or if you'd just like me to check on the Plus availability status.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #387 on: February 22, 2016, 01:58:49 PM »
I'm so close to the CP that I had a dream about it last night.  Have Marriott points arriving tomorrow to top it off.  I might take a points churning break after this :)

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #388 on: February 22, 2016, 04:11:20 PM »
I might take a points churning break after this :)

I totally get that. I had my CP for 2 years and used it to the fullest http://therecklesschoice.com/2015/11/21/the-southwest-companion-pass-is-awesome/ but now I'm kinda burned out on all that travel. I tried to get excited about some of the cash back cards but the sign up bonuses are only in the $100-$200 range and thus are much less worth my time. Give me a year off and I'll probably come back I think.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #389 on: February 23, 2016, 07:11:03 PM »
I'm looking for 50k links for both the Premier and Plus cards, if anyone has one send it my way, I'll be trying to sign up for both in the next month before Chase starts their 5/24 rule.

Also, has anyone been approved for a business card with your social security number (no bus. ID) and not had to call in?  The one time I tried for a Chase business card I had to call in and they grilled me, and finally denied the app.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #390 on: February 23, 2016, 11:28:23 PM »
Pretty sure it's actually worse than that. I'm sure it varies by the bank, but I remember (I can't find this post now because I forget which blog it was) a blogger saying that he messed up and scheduled a payment for $5 less than his $5k statement balance. He thought the interest he was charged (and later refunded after calling in) was really high.
During the grace period which occurs after your statement closes, they still internally calculate the interest accrued on that balance. If you make a payment for your full balance by the payment due date, they waive all of that internally calculated interest. However, even if you make some payments, if you do not pay your balance in full by the payment due date, you're charged all of the interest. On the full statement balance. Not any remaining balance after your partial payments.

ETA: Looks like I'm either remembering it wrong or the blogger was wrong. Probably the former. But either way, carrying a balance sucks, especially because it eliminates the grace period for the following month.
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/grace-period-avoid-paying-interest.php

I so appreciated this reminder. I had to pay my card in full this month because I've been carrying a 0% interest balance transfer balance, but interest is accrued on new purchases regardless, unless the entire card balance is paid in full. I made a new purchase knowing I'd need to pay in full by the end of the month but forgot that my closing date was the 22nd, not the 30th! Fortunately this thread reminded me and now problem solved, no interest accrued and card is paid off. :)

Haha you're welcome!

ETA: It's why people who like to play the balance transfer game never make any purchases with these cards.

johnny847

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #391 on: February 23, 2016, 11:30:17 PM »
I'm looking for 50k links for both the Premier and Plus cards, if anyone has one send it my way, I'll be trying to sign up for both in the next month before Chase starts their 5/24 rule.

Also, has anyone been approved for a business card with your social security number (no bus. ID) and not had to call in?  The one time I tried for a Chase business card I had to call in and they grilled me, and finally denied the app.

The general advice I've heard for business cc's with Chase is to not call in--unless you receive a denial letter in the mail (at that point, you have nothing to lose).

I've been approved by Chase for 2 business cc's now, but I have a EIN.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #392 on: February 24, 2016, 02:18:27 AM »
I'm looking for 50k links for both the Premier and Plus cards, if anyone has one send it my way, I'll be trying to sign up for both in the next month before Chase starts their 5/24 rule.

Also, has anyone been approved for a business card with your social security number (no bus. ID) and not had to call in?  The one time I tried for a Chase business card I had to call in and they grilled me, and finally denied the app.

The general advice I've heard for business cc's with Chase is to not call in--unless you receive a denial letter in the mail (at that point, you have nothing to lose).

I've been approved by Chase for 2 business cc's now, but I have a EIN.

I called in multiple times with business cards with Chase (for myself and wife), did get grilled, was accepted I think 5 our of 6 times or something like that (one denial IIRC?).

We have no EIN, just using our SSNs.

The trick is to have good answers.  :)
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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #393 on: February 24, 2016, 07:15:30 AM »
I'm looking for 50k links for both the Premier and Plus cards, if anyone has one send it my way, I'll be trying to sign up for both in the next month before Chase starts their 5/24 rule.

Also, has anyone been approved for a business card with your social security number (no bus. ID) and not had to call in?  The one time I tried for a Chase business card I had to call in and they grilled me, and finally denied the app.

The general advice I've heard for business cc's with Chase is to not call in--unless you receive a denial letter in the mail (at that point, you have nothing to lose).

I've been approved by Chase for 2 business cc's now, but I have a EIN.

I called in multiple times with business cards with Chase (for myself and wife), did get grilled, was accepted I think 5 our of 6 times or something like that (one denial IIRC?).

We have no EIN, just using our SSNs.

The trick is to have good answers.  :)

As yes. This general advice comes from churners, who often try to skirt the rules on what constitutes a business.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #394 on: February 24, 2016, 07:52:30 AM »
As yes. This general advice comes from churners, who often try to skirt the rules on what constitutes a business.

Not a big fan of what you're insinuating about me, but if you don't think my 15 rental properties counts as a business, feel free to ask the IRS, or multiple companies who have granted me credit based on it, and presumably disagree with you.  :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #395 on: February 24, 2016, 08:09:38 AM »
As yes. This general advice comes from churners, who often try to skirt the rules on what constitutes a business.

Not a big fan of what you're insinuating about me, but if you don't think my 15 rental properties counts as a business, feel free to ask the IRS, or multiple companies who have granted me credit based on it, and presumably disagree with you.  :)

What? That was a huge misinterpretation. I was insinuating that most of the churners who frequent flyertalk and the like, who came up with that advice, are skirting the rules. Not that you are trying to skirt the rules. I am well aware that you have numerous rental properties (didn't realize it was high as 15 though!)

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #396 on: February 24, 2016, 08:15:17 AM »
Okay.  It seemed you were quoting my advice and saying it's common advice that people who skirt stuff use, therefore I was that type.  My mistake.  :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #397 on: February 29, 2016, 09:03:10 AM »
I closed my Chase SW business card the other day and the rep told me that I "wouldn't lose" my RR points if I still had an open SW card.  I assume that it's BS to keep me from closing my other card - the RR are already in my account.  Just to confirm, no one has lost points after closing the credit card, right?

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #398 on: February 29, 2016, 09:10:22 AM »
I closed my Chase SW business card the other day and the rep told me that I "wouldn't lose" my RR points if I still had an open SW card.  I assume that it's BS to keep me from closing my other card - the RR are already in my account.  Just to confirm, no one has lost points after closing the credit card, right?

Correct, once you earn the bonus, they don't have control over them.  There are some limited cases where they can "claw back" points (buying a bunch of stuff to hit the signon bonus, then returning it all as soon as the bonus is awarded), but if we are talking about a card that you have had for some time, they can't do anything to your points, as they don't run that program.

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Re: Southwest 100,000 bonus points + 2 years of Companion Status badass offer
« Reply #399 on: February 29, 2016, 09:13:09 AM »
I closed my Chase SW business card the other day and the rep told me that I "wouldn't lose" my RR points if I still had an open SW card.  I assume that it's BS to keep me from closing my other card - the RR are already in my account.  Just to confirm, no one has lost points after closing the credit card, right?

No, if they're in your SW account, you're good (CCs that have the points tied to the card can lose them if the card is closed, but that's not the case here).  The rep might have meant that the points won't expire if you have an open card and use it, because then you'll earn points from using it, which renews all your points' expiration to two years out from the last time you used/earned points.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!