Any other ways to earn SWA Rapid Rewards?

[pjlla]

I have the credit card, which I use regularly (but we don't keep a high limit on it). I use e-miles for RR credit. I go through the SWA RR shopping portal whenever possible (although other than Amazon I shop online very little).

I am trying to accumulate enough RR Points for two roundtrip airfares to California from Boston this September. I am anticipating that our travel dates will be opened by SWA soon and I am significantly short in RR Points.

I did transfer some RR Points from my DH's account when they had a transfer bonus in December, but that was all we had floating around in the family.

Any other ways you can suggest? Thanks in advance!................P

 

[pjlla]

I did just see the post about the credit card churning in order to get referral points and all that. While I will give it some thought, I don't honestly think I am understanding it fully and for that reason I probably won't get into it. That being said, someone in my family has recently been talking about applying for a credit card and I could definitely see the getting the Chase SWA card with a referral from me. Do I just call Chase to let the know who I referred?...............P

 

[DisneyMandC]

If you're into surveys/earning website type things, I use E-Rewards to cash out for Southwest points. I think I've heard rumors that not everyone has Southwest as an available reward though.

 

[pjlla]

If you're into surveys/earning website type things, I use E-Rewards to cash out for Southwest points. I think I've heard rumors that not everyone has Southwest as an available reward though.

I've done E-rewards for a few years with more and more disappointing results.... and I've never had the option to cash out for SWA RR Points, only cash (but of course E-rewards "cash" doesn't equal real life cash ).

Thanks for the suggestion though!.............P

 

[mfly]

I also use E-Rewards. I've found them to be much more profitable than e-miles. I've earned over 2000 points in ~2 weeks with e-rewards. Plus, when I signed up for them through Southwest, I got 500 bonus miles by going to Redemption>Southwest. You can only cash out once per 30 days for a given reward, so I'm planning on quitting after the next redemption because it's not worth my time (I needed to push myself over the edge for the Companion Pass).

I also got 700 points for registering for a QuickBooks account through the Shopping Portal - I didn't have to give any credit card info. Those points have already posted to my RR account.

If you only have one of the personal cards, you could apply for the other card (Premier or Plus), which would give you 50,000 points after meeting the minimum spend amount.

 

[jmsaj]

I saw yesterday the link for 1000 points if you did your taxes through Turbo Tax. I'm just waiting on 1 more W2 and I will take advantage of it.

 

[pjlla]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'll look into them today. Sadly, DH had already bought the TurboTax discs at Costco, so can't do that. But we have to do taxes for three (us plus DD and DS) so it is cheaper in the long run to buy the disc.

I'll look at my E-Rewards account once more to see if there is something I'm missing. And I have thought about bumping up to the next card level.... I check that today.........P

 

[pjlla]

I also use E-Rewards. I've found them to be much more profitable than e-miles. I've earned over 2000 points in ~2 weeks with e-rewards. Plus, when I signed up for them through Southwest, I got 500 bonus miles by going to Redemption>Southwest. You can only cash out once per 30 days for a given reward, so I'm planning on quitting after the next redemption because it's not worth my time (I needed to push myself over the edge for the Companion Pass).

I also got 700 points for registering for a QuickBooks account through the Shopping Portal - I didn't have to give any credit card info. Those points have already posted to my RR account.

If you only have one of the personal cards, you could apply for the other card (Premier or Plus), which would give you 50,000 points after meeting the minimum spend amount.

What exactly did you "buy" from Quickbooks? Looking now................P

 

[JessM]

I've starting renting vehicles through the SW shopping portal. The price is the same as the discount through my company and I can earn 1200-3000 RR points for each rental. I also use E-rewards.

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

I did just see the post about the credit card churning in order to get referral points and all that. While I will give it some thought, I don't honestly think I am understanding it fully and for that reason I probably won't get into it. That being said, someone in my family has recently been talking about applying for a credit card and I could definitely see the getting the Chase SWA card with a referral from me. Do I just call Chase to let the know who I referred?...............P

Referral points can give you a quick 5K points. Did you by chance receive any of the referral emails from SW or one of the post cards via mail with referral vouchers? This is mostly for the family member you are referring so they can get 50K points for sign up bonus instead of the standard 25K, but also easier for you to get the 5K referral bonus. If you don't have the referral items, log in to your chase account online and there may be a link/square box on the right side of your screen that is blue/yellow in color as says something like "50,000" in large letters. This is an embedded link for referrals and you can go that route. It is there 8 out of 10 times when I log into my account. If it's not there, log out and try logging back in. The family member can also apply via a 50K point link and you would have to call after they get and use their card and ask for a courtesy 5K for the referral "that for some reason did not show up on your account".

Short of easy bonus points like these, you really need to determine if it's worth the effort/cost in accumulating points versus just paying cash. Sometimes it can be better to use what you have for points to purchase as many flights as possible and pay cash for the others. There are deals to be had on SW gift cards that, depending on the point cost of your specific flight, can actually be a better deal versus paying to accumulate points and almost always better than transferring or buying points (unless your extremely close on points and only need a few).

Also, I couldn't tell from your initial post, but it may be an option for two SW cards for your DH at the 50K sign up bonus which would give you a shot a companion pass and at least 110K points.

 

[bjscheel]

I think I signed up for e-Rewards through Southwest (or was invited to by SW?), so maybe if you sign up elsewhere, SW isn't an option. I usually earn 1200-2400 points a month with e-Rewards, so it really helps.

I never remember to do the RR shopping stuff.

 

[Albort]

what about another credit card with bonus points?

 

[davper]

I think I signed up for e-Rewards through Southwest (or was invited to by SW?), so maybe if you sign up elsewhere, SW isn't an option. I usually earn 1200-2400 points a month with e-Rewards, so it really helps.

I never remember to do the RR shopping stuff.

https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/partners/specialty/erewards.html

 

[rnorwo1]

Referral points can give you a quick 5K points. Did you by chance receive any of the referral emails from SW or one of the post cards via mail with referral vouchers? This is mostly for the family member you are referring so they can get 50K points for sign up bonus instead of the standard 25K, but also easier for you to get the 5K referral bonus. If you don't have the referral items, log in to your chase account online and there may be a link/square box on the right side of your screen that is blue/yellow in color as says something like "50,000" in large letters. This is an embedded link for referrals and you can go that route. It is there 8 out of 10 times when I log into my account. If it's not there, log out and try logging back in. The family member can also apply via a 50K point link and you would have to call after they get and use their card and ask for a courtesy 5K for the referral "that for some reason did not show up on your account".

Short of easy bonus points like these, you really need to determine if it's worth the effort/cost in accumulating points versus just paying cash. Sometimes it can be better to use what you have for points to purchase as many flights as possible and pay cash for the others. There are deals to be had on SW gift cards that, depending on the point cost of your specific flight, can actually be a better deal versus paying to accumulate points and almost always better than transferring or buying points (unless your extremely close on points and only need a few).

Also, I couldn't tell from your initial post, but it may be an option for two SW cards for your DH at the 50K sign up bonus which would give you a shot a companion pass and at least 110K points.

Can you explain some ways that you can get deals on the gift cards?

 

[jaccceee]

Walmart.com has lots of food and household items cheap. I buy every time Rapid Reward Southwest Shopping portal offers Walmart @4pts/$. Pros: The points post quick, free shipping over $50, shop in PJs, Classico Spicy Red Pepper Sauce@$2.16, Frosted Cheerios@$2.98, 4 pk Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup@$3.67, 3 pk Trident White Gum@$2.24, Wet Ones Antibaterial Wipes@$2.28, Charmin Mega Rolls(18)@$17.98

Also, while testing boundaries of Discover Deals, I "mistakenly" got the 5% cashback for purchase of $50 gift card. Results may vary.

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

Can you explain some ways that you can get deals on the gift cards?

Just like obtaining discount Disney gift cards, SW gift cards can be obtained in the same ways. If you have a grocery store with a fuel perks program available to you, that yields the biggest discount for me using a 6% cash back at grocery credit card. Since Target and eBay both sell SW gift cards, you can also utilize that strategy. SW cards are also sold via the resellers, but many times buying the Target gift card from the reseller will give you a better discount, but it depends on what's being offered at the time.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

You can shop online using the SWA RR shopping portal. They did have a special for a $12 for a 3 month wallstreet journal subscription you could get 1000 miles. Not bad for $12

 

[DisneyMandC]

I think I signed up for e-Rewards through Southwest (or was invited to by SW?), so maybe if you sign up elsewhere, SW isn't an option. I usually earn 1200-2400 points a month with e-Rewards, so it really helps.

I never remember to do the RR shopping stuff.

I wonder if that's how I signed up for it. Honestly it was so long ago I can't even remember.

 

[rnorwo1]

Just like obtaining discount Disney gift cards, SW gift cards can be obtained in the same ways. If you have a grocery store with a fuel perks program available to you, that yields the biggest discount for me using a 6% cash back at grocery credit card. Since Target and eBay both sell SW gift cards, you can also utilize that strategy. SW cards are also sold via the resellers, but many times buying the Target gift card from the reseller will give you a better discount, but it depends on what's being offered at the time.

Thanks!

 

[Alexle2007]

You can shop online using the SWA RR shopping portal. They did have a special for a $12 for a 3 month wallstreet journal subscription you could get 1000 miles. Not bad for $12

When do the points post to SW? When your billing cycle closes or close to when the transaction is complete? I am getting ready to make my 1st purchase since UnderArmour points are doubled. Spend $50 and that's 400 points.