26

Nov

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I’m not a huge fan of Southwest Airlines, regular readers certainly know that. There’s nothing wrong with the airline, of course. It’s just that I’m a pretty regular frequent flyer, I love my elite status, so I kind of like my first class upgrades. They don’t have those on Southwest.

And my goal for frequent flyer mikes is aspirational travel, to be able to access the kinds of things that I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. Not to take a weekend trip to Florida. I’d rather pay for those tickets. So the Southwest Rapid Rewards program isn’t really my bag.

Still, Southwest offers real value to a significant portion of the traveling community. Which is why I’m giving mention to the Southwest Airlines® Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card which has a 50,000 point signup bonus. That’s worth up to $835 in travel on the airline. And certainly meets my criteria for being ‘worth’ a credit card signup.

I’m not signing up myself, but it’s valuable for many. And it’s especially valuable if you decide to also get the Southwest business Visa with its 50,000 point signup bonus as well. Why? Not just because of the $1670 in total travel that could get you. But because it also gets you most of the way to a companion pass.

When you earn 110,000 points in a year in the Southwest program you can earn a pass that allows someone to travel with you for free whenever you travel — whether you are traveling on paid tickets or on awards. Credit card signup bonus points have counted towards this amount (although that could always change in 2013; the program’s terms and conditions say that partner bonuses don’t count as qualifying points but have in the past and appear to count under the rules for ‘A’ list status — unclear to me that Southwest has the capacity to distinguish this).

In fact, if you get the cards now and wait until the beginning of January to meet your minimum spend requirements for the bonus, those points will post in 2013. And when you earn a companion pass in January 2013, it’s yours for the rest of 2013 — and 2014.

That also means your signup bonuses could effectively be doubled, worth $3340 for the two cards.

(Of course you would still need 10,000 points aside from signup bonuses to reach 110,000 earned — some of those points would be earned from your credit card spending, the rest could be transferred in from a hotel program — but points directly from Chase Ultimate Rewards don’t count though you could transfer first from,say, Chase to Hyatt to Southwest and that should do the trick.)

Another thing to consider is Southwest’s rumored expansion to Hawaii. (It seems the recently announced Southwest service to San Juan could be a precursor to that.)

I always try to disclose how my advice pairs with what I’m doing myself (or not doing), and this isn’t one I’m pursuing but it’s certainly one that could add tremendous value for a lot of people. The Southwest personal card offers referral credit to me if you use my link to sign up. The business card offer does not.

30 Comments

  1. toomanybooks said,

    Have not got a WN CC bonus since RR 2.0 started in March 2011, but I am virtually certain the 50K does not count toward A-List.
    .
    Laundering UR through Hyatt or Marriott does indeed count toward WN CP. At least until these tricks get so much attention that WN changes the rules.
    .
    I give it a few months. Just hoping we get through early 2013.

  2. Guy said,

    Seriously, Gary. This is a painfully, blatant rip off of millionmilesecrets. I just go into the FF game early this year, and I feel like I’ve come in just in time to watch greed for CC referrals take all of the major players (I count you in that group) into a dark place.

  3. Gary said,

    @Guy this is absolutely not, I assure you. And by the way I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, several recent posts were pre-written while I was on international travel. When I do use someone else’s work as a source for developing my own posts, or get the heads up about some deal from someone else’s post, I credit it — more so than most any other blogger in fact.

  4. dhammer53 said,

    Gary,

    The best part about this card is that it will allow us to travel to several cities we’ve never visited before ie Boise and Charleston. The real win here is that I’ll be able to preserve my valuable AA and UA miles for flying upfront on international trips.
    Long weekends here we come.

  5. toomanybooks said,

    Guy:

    This has been discussed on FT in the WN forum a long time and is not a secret, though thankfully has been mostly under the radar among the general public. The blogs have pretty much ignored it until earlier this year.

  6. jfhscott said,

    Gary, I’ve been contemplating a Marriott miles and nights redemption to score 120,000 WN points, and thus the companion pass. Problem is, its a companion pass on WN. Does your above discussion suggest that, notwithstanding the T&C’s, the 120000 points could count toward a list? That could actually change the calculus considerably.

  7. nknight said,

    Personally, I don’t read “millionmilesecret’s” blog. At least I don’t think. I scan many, but consider this blog my main source for info. So, from wherever it comest, thanks for posting it here. I’ll do a little research, but I’ve never found a SW flight (from CLE) useful when needing to pay … I’ll have to check from an award angle. My May Hawaii trip is already booked, but we’ll need a follow-up in the coming 2-3 years!

    This is a Chase card? I’m a bit overbooked with them right now.

    Again, personally, I wish the whiners complaining about other blogs posting things first would, then, go to the other blogs and just clam up. I see tons of duplication while scanning … I mean, how much new material is there, really, to share between dozens of authors? Read what you want, skip the rest, but having to waste my time even starting a worthless comment like this is, well, a waste of time. I know. I’m being minorly hypocritical here, but I’ve ready tons of these comments by now, and this is the first time I’ve barked.

    Thanks, Gary, for keeping us up to date in a convenient, centrally-located “place”.

  8. Gary said,

    @jfhscott – the Southwest rules clearly indicate that partner activity won’t count for A-List. Most of what I’ve read suggests the credit card signup bonuses will. I haven’t seen suggestions on whether Marriott transfers will. My writing here is based on my understandings gleaned over time from others, rather than from personal experience as I am not a Southwest customer, I have not been on one of their planes since 1993 (and haven’t been on Airtran since 2004).

  9. toomanybooks said,

    Gary:

    I really really think you are confusing WN Tier Qualifying Points (for A-List and A-List Preferred, earned through flying, 1500 per $10K spend on the Premier CC, and very rare bonuses) with Companion Pass qualifying points. Totally different counters. Very important distinction.

    Details in the FAQ at FT in the WN forum if anyone cares to check.

    There are 3 kinds of WN points, which causes a lot of confusion.

  10. toomanybooks said,

    Sorry, meant to add the transfers from Marriott and Hyatt count for Companion Pass (for now) but not for A-List.

  11. Lively said,

    I’m getting weary of the winers also. If you pick up a copy of today’s LA Times and the NY Times, you’re gonna find a lot of the same thing covered. Why? It’s because that’s the news! ViewFromtheWing is a great blog and I appreciate his time in writing his blog.

  12. TravelBloggerBuzz said,

    Looks to me it’s time for a blog to focus on WN, what do you say toomanybooks? ;-)
    I am flying WN to FTU on Thursday and have a bunch of drink coupons to use, woohoo!
    I have flown WN twice now (not paid), pretty good experiences I must admit…other than that weird boarding process:-)

  13. chiyu said,

    Hi, Gary
    According to SW website: “Companion Pass status is based on taking 100 qualifying one-way flights or earning 110,000 Qualifying Points in a calendar year.” I have already applied and reached the min spending requirement of the lower annual fee ($69) one, waiting for the points to be posted, and if I applied for the premium one, and then the points post on January. Would it still be possible for me to earn the companion pass?

  14. gregorygrady said,

    Gary,

    I already asked you this, but if you’re going to put in a shameless credit card plug, will you please put [Shameless Credit Card Plug] in the posting title? That way I know to skip it.

  15. Walt K said,

    @gregorygrady,

    If you’re going to leave banal comments, can you please put [banal comment] at the top. That way I know to skip it.

  16. Gary said,

    @gregorygrady please skip this blog altogether, i am certainly not going to do anything to accommodate your preferences at this point. Thanks!

  17. Stephanie O said,

    Thank you for posting this! I’m new to this game and don’t read very many blogs about it. I’d previously heard about the big Southwest bonus, but didn’t know about the companion pass at all. Also, since I’m new, I tend to mull things over so it’s nice to see them discussed in full so I can really consider how to use the deals.

    Quick question – When I signed up for my first couple cards, I was sad to learn that I can’t get them in my name (we got them in DH’s name only). I’m the stay-at-home parent in our house, and I don’t have any outside income. Any ideas how to get around the problem that they won’t issue a card without an income? Does anyone else have some experience with this problem?

  18. Albert said,

    @gregorygrady i have no issues with posts like these. i do, however, have a problem with posts that include inferior credit card bonuses, which this is not one of them. not everyone follows all blogs – this is the first i have heard of such a way to take advantage of the SW perks.

  19. Gary said,

    @Stephanie O – your situation is an artifact of Dodd Frank financial reform legislation, it used to be that your joint income could be listed on your application but the government changed those rules. It’s had the effect of denying credit to stay at home moms and making them reliant on husbands, a return to the 50s. It was entirely predictable (and indeed was predicted) but now that it’s happened there’s some move to change the rules again, so in a year or so we might see a return to the old method…

  20. Jon said,

    @Gary – that is true. Though legally, a spouse is entitled to half of what the other spouse earns. I’m not an accountant or a lawyer, though it seems to me that little harm can be done if a stay at home mom lists her income as half of her husband’s income.

  21. Dan said,

    Stephanie,

    I am 100% serious when I tell you this: They don’t actually ask you to verify your income ;)

  22. MarcC said,

    @Gary – Another thing you might want to point out is that SW Rapid Rewards Awards are extremely refundable. You can cancel your trip the day before, or even not show up for the flight and call in for credit I believe, and you will get all your points refunded and the $2.50 per flight tax refunded to your card. So, that makes it $3,340 of fully refundable/changable travel at discount travel price. SW points are much more flexible than SW fare credits from changed paid flights because the prior have no expiration and get returned to your general points balance not a bunch of confusing credit codes with various expirations and amounts. And yes, it does count for companion pass, but not elite status.

  23. Don said,

    Is the Business Card offer working for anyone else? It takes me to an “offer not found” page and the Chase website doesn’t have any mention of the WN Business Card, just the two personal cards.

  24. mile ho said,

    Again, as others have stated – the points you get from WN Chase CC sign-ups DO NOT count for A list qualifying. Geesh…

  25. Dina said,

    I actually did this earlier this year. It seems t o have worked fine. I had 1000 points from other stays and 100,000 from two sw credit cards and my husband is now the companion. We’re flying round trip from NY to Orlando for 4 people and still have over 60,000 miles left for other flights.

  26. UAPhil said,

    For what it’s worth – I recently qualified for Companion Pass based totally on credit card bonuses and spend (I didn’t take any WN revenue flights this year – only award flights, which don’t earn points). I have over 110,000 Companion Pass points, but only 6,000 A-List Tier Qualifying Points (probably 1500 points per $10,000 of cc spend).

    Note, also, that the 6,000 point annual bonus (that de facto reimburses your $99 annual fee) counts toward CP status.

  27. Glenn said,

    @Chiyu,

    As I understand it the companion pass miles have to be earned in the same calendar year. So if you already earned the 50,000 points for the first card in 2012, and don’t earn the other 60,000 until 2013 that won’t cut it.

    Gary–you might want to highlight this in an update. If you apply for this Southwest card in 2012 make sure you don’t earn any miles in 2012 if you’re going to go for the companion pass in 2013.

  28. Mooper said,

    Instead of transferring from Marriott, you could consider purchasing $1,000 in Marriott Gift Cards and using the 12,000 Southwest bonus points (no transfer required) to put you over the top. Details in this MilePoint thread I maintain: http://goo.gl/fDKKL

  29. Cu said,

    Thanks for the post Gary, even though I don’t need this card I passed your link to friends who live where SW is big.
    I get riled up when reading replies likes @guy, who’s been in a year and thinks you would rip something from MMS who’s only been blogging a few months vs the years you’ve been doing it. I’m sure MMS/MP learn most from reading your info as it’s always so concise. BTW your response was a class act (another reason I read your blog).

  30. joe said,

    I’m about to apply for business and personal – but am confused about one thing: do i need to wait till January 1 to START earning/charging on the credit cards, in order for them to be counted as counted toward the 110,000? Or would you just lose the points value of whatever you charge between now and December 31st that’s going toward your spend requirements? So, it’s as long as you don’t reach your spend requirements till after January 1, so that your bonus miles don’t credit till then? Sorry for the rambling note!

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