Would a SW Companion Pass be "worth it" in this situation?

ekatiel · May 22, 2015

I am considering opening a personal and business Southwest card, plus transferring some hotel points to get to the 110,000 points needed for a companion pass. We are currently traveling (driving right now) weekly from Houston to Dallas for a food allergy treatment (oral immunotherapy) for my son. I am trying to figure out if it would be "worth it" to spend the $200 on the cards. If all goes well, we should be done with the treatment by NEXT summer/fall, so that's a full year of driving weekly to Dallas. The companion pass would give me 11 flights "free" for my son and I, and then we could probably earn enough points for a flight every couple of months if we played our cards right. So, maybe we could drive two weeks in a row and then fly one week to break up the driving. Here's the cost breakdown of flying versus driving:

Driving: 9 hour round trip (we do it in a day, as the doctor's appointment only lasts about an hour and a half).
Gas: $50-$70, depending on gas prices
Food: $15 (we bring a lunch, I let DS choose a snack item on the way there and we get fast food for dinner on the way back)
Tolls: It varies depending on traffic, but I'd say we average about $5 in tolls per trip
Parking: $3.00
Total: $73-$93, depending on gas prices

Flying: two one hour flights, plus an hour round trip to and from the airport in Houston, plus another hour round trip to and from the airport in Dallas, plus we'll have to be at the airport an hour early for each flight, so about 6 hours total travel time
Flight: $5.60 for me and $5.60 for the companion
Taxi: about $50 round trip (I could probably save a bit with Uber)
Food: $15 (I'm guessing we'll still have to eat one meal "out")
Parking at Airport: $7
Total: $84, plus the initial out lay of $200 to get the pass, divide that by 11 free flights, and we're looking at $102 ish.

So, it's not really a cost savings, but it would save on some wear and tear on my car, and perhaps my sanity. What would you guys do in this situation? This treatment is not available in Houston, so driving/flying to Dallas is our only option, and we are committed to seeing this thing through. I'm just trying to make this whole thing as cost effective and stress free as possible!

rnorwo1 · May 22, 2015

I'm not smart enough to figure all of that out... It blows my mind when people are able to figure out the cash value of points and such. But, I wanted to add another factor to consider for the "worth" of it; do you plan to travel anywhere else the remainder of the year and the following that the pass would be good for? If so, then that will lower the cost of the SW pass. DH and I each got a pass this year, and we love it, it's very easy to use and has been a huge saver for us with our three kids. We are taking a ton of vacations right now to maximize the savings, lol!

On the other hand, I would rather drive 4 1/2 hours than fly. I just find it a big hassle, but others will surely think differently, so that's a very personal decision.

My oldest son had some serious health issues a couple of years ago, and we actually had to drive to Texas Children's in Houston quite frequently (not as frequently as your drive, though!). It was a 9 hour round trip for us, also. I Do not miss that at all!! Good luck with your decision and the treatments!!

marthachick · May 23, 2015

I'm not sure if you can count transferred hotel points toward a Companion Pass. I know you can't transfer from one person's RR account to another's and it count towards CP. Be sure you find out for sure before you commit to it. Good luck! I hope it works for you.

Marionnette · May 23, 2015

marthachick said:
I'm not sure if you can count transferred hotel points toward a Companion Pass. I know you can't transfer from one person's RR account to another's and it count towards CP. Be sure you find out for sure before you commit to it. Good luck! I hope it works for you.

Some points transfer count towards Companion Pass status. I know that Diners Club, Hyatt and Marriott points all count. Points from Chase Ultimate Rewards and purchased/transferred RR points do not.

Pooh2 · May 23, 2015

Oh, wow!! I did not know that Marriott points would count toward the companion pass! Might plot a new strategy!

rnorwo1 · May 23, 2015

Pooh2 said:
Oh, wow!! I did not know that Marriott points would count toward the companion pass! Might plot a new strategy!

DH and I each applied for a Choice hotel card, you got 8k points after first puchase and another 24k after first stay, so we just took a short trip somewhere close to home, then we transferred the extra 6k (not a 1:1 ratio) points we needed after minimum spend for SW cards, and that's how we got our companion passes. We also had enough Choice points left over to stay 3 nights in a very nice Choice boutique hotel in NYC... Free flights and an almost free hotel stay, for what would have been an otherwise pretty expensive trip!

ekatiel · May 23, 2015

Marionnette said:
Some points transfer count towards Companion Pass status. I know that Diners Club, Hyatt and Marriott points all count. Points from Chase Ultimate Rewards and purchased/transferred RR points do not.

This is true, but there is a "work around" for Chase Ultimate Rewards Points. You can transfer them to Hyatt points, and then tranfer the Hyatt points to SW RR points, and they will "count" toward the companion pass. You lose about half your points this way-- IE-- you have to transfer something like 12,500 in order to get 6,000 RR points, but for the Companion pass, it's worth it. I think I've decided that I'm going to do it. It will be nice not to have to drive every single time, even if it doesn't really save us any money.

hsmamato2 · May 23, 2015

to OP, I think a CP is a great thing, and even if you used it half the time for your hospital visits, I would do it, plus the added bonus of having it for something 'fun' if the time comes for that.... just remember,it takes some time to achieve cp- when you get the 2 cards, you have hit the spend minimum, then you wait for points to post,etc. if you were approved RIGHT now, it would likely be another 2 months minimum before you got the pass.... (best case scenario) but it would be good thru Dec-'16.... plus in your cost calculations you are using those points you accrued to get the pass for your own flights.... is it worth it to spend around $200 for 22 flights? ummm,yes that's 9.00 per flight averaged out, and even more if you go anywhere else at all. (11 CP flights+11 Points flights for you=22) .....cost wise it's valuable thing to have a CP...stress wise.... not so sure, that depends no what you view as stressful.... if the whole applying/spending/points thing isn't stressful,then why not? at worst, you may not use it all the time, but an outlay of $200 is about the cost of one R/T flight somewhere anyway....

supersnoop · May 23, 2015

I received my companion pass about 12 days after I applied. It will depend how quickly you can meet the minimum spend requirements.

barb969 · May 23, 2015

I just applied for a Marriot card. On the web it said 50000 points after spending 10000 in 2 months. I tried but I could not get my Ipad to do it. so I called and applied. On the phone I got 70000 points after spending $2000 in 3 months and no fee for the first year. The Marriot points are worth less than Sw points but I will have plenty to qualify for the companion pass. I also applied for the SWA plus card.

hsmamato2 · May 23, 2015

supersnoop said:
I received my companion pass about 12 days after I applied. It will depend how quickly you can meet the minimum spend requirements.

You must have timed it really well :thumbsup2

b/c once you hit that spend you have to wait for the statement to close, and points to post(usually 2-3 days after the statement closes)

ekatiel · May 23, 2015

Ok, I applied for both cards. Approved for the personal card right away, and I got a "we're still deciding" on the business card, which is apparently not all that uncommon. I will call them Monday to offer more info on the business card and hopefully get approved. Once I get approved for both, I will transfer the Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt points and then turn those into SW points. And then I'll get to work charging $4k between the two cards. That shouldn't be too hard since we have a cruise payment due soon and have to pay for summer camp, too.

Madteaparty001 · May 24, 2015

Time is money, I think you made the right choice. Not only will you save sanity, but you will probably save some money on car repairs from having to drive it so much.

supersnoop · May 24, 2015

ekatiel said:
Ok, I applied for both cards. Approved for the personal card right away, and I got a "we're still deciding" on the business card, which is apparently not all that uncommon. I will call them Monday to offer more info on the business card and hopefully get approved. Once I get approved for both, I will transfer the Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt points and then turn those into SW points. And then I'll get to work charging $4k between the two cards. That shouldn't be too hard since we have a cruise payment due soon and have to pay for summer camp, too.

There are two personal cards; the "Plus" and the "Premier." You shouldn't have to apply for the business card unless you actual have a business.

ekatiel · May 24, 2015

supersnoop said:
There are two personal cards; the "Plus" and the "Premier." You shouldn't have to apply for the business card unless you actual have a business.

I'm pretty sure the plus card is not offering the 50K miles right now. From what I've read online about business cards-- anything you do on the side for extra money can be considered a business. I have written some curriculum for an online teacher training as a private contractor and have the opportunity to do more, so that's my business. All the online sites said to be honest about the business and how much money you'd made this year, so I was completely honest. We'll see if I get approved.

supersnoop · May 24, 2015

ekatiel said:
I'm pretty sure the plus card is not offering the 50K miles right now. From what I've read online about business cards-- anything you do on the side for extra money can be considered a business. I have written some curriculum for an online teacher training as a private contractor and have the opportunity to do more, so that's my business. All the online sites said to be honest about the business and how much money you'd made this year, so I was completely honest. We'll see if I get approved.

This was the first result on google: https://creditcards.chase.com/6000321

ekatiel · May 25, 2015

supersnoop said:
This was the first result on google: https://creditcards.chase.com/6000321

When I searched that didn't come up for me. Oh well, what's done is done. I wonder if it wouldn't come up b/c DH has had the plus card before?! I tried clicking all sorts of things to get the plus card offer to come up for me, and it never would. I even called the application line, but the 50K points offer was only for online apps. I also cleared my cookies thinking that was the problem, and it never came up. Hopefully you link can help someone else!!

ekatiel · May 29, 2015

Update: I was denied the business card (even after calling the reconsideration line), due to too many recent requests for credit and too low projected revenue (I was honest about how little money I expected to make!). I decided to go ahead and try for the personal plus card, thinking that I would be rejected, especially after trying for the business card. Well, I was approved immediately with no problem. It looks like my little companion and I are on our way to a companion pass. It will definitely break up some of our weekly drives to Dallas. Anyhow, for those of you considering trying to get a companion pass in this manner-- it is easier to get approved for the plus and preferred card than to try for a business card. Lesson learned!

hsmamato2 · May 30, 2015

ekatiel said:
Anyhow, for those of you considering trying to get a companion pass in this manner-- it is easier to get approved for the plus and preferred card than to try for a business card. Lesson learned!

This is true. :thumbsup2

Would a SW Companion Pass be "worth it" in this situation?

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