Any reason NOT to have 2 SWA RR Visa cards?

[stacielee]

Nope. All points toward companion pass have to be earned in the same calendar year. Since you opened the card in January 2013 the promo for the 50,000 points has to be completed in the first 3 months you have the card to earn the 50K bonus. At the time the bonus is in your Rapid Rewards account that will be the time you "earned" it according to Southwest. If you do another promo for the 50K points you would have to "earn" those points in the same calendar year as the first promotion to have those qualify your account for Companion Pass status. I did both of my cards in the beginning of this year and reached CP status by summer.

BTW, I plan on keeping the Premier card and cancelling the regular. Though the Premier is a $99 annual fee vs. the $69 for the regular, the premier gives you 6,000 points on your anniversary instead of 3,000.

Good explanation, but I have a question. I just got the card, so I have 3 months to spend $2000 to get the 50k miles, or until January 2014. If I am able to get another card in 2014 and get the 50k miles, will that count? Just wondering how it works if you get the 1st card towards the end of the year but actually get the 50k at the beginning of the next year for that card.

And you can do it with both the Premier, which is what I just got, and the regular?

 

[Pooh2]

I'm new, so I can't post links yet but please do a google search because there are expert blogs who explain it tons of detail. They are also up to date on the bonus offers.

SW offers two personal cards, one is a plus and one is a premier. The bonus counts do qualify towards earning a companion pass but they have to be earned in the same calendar year. And the points have to be earned by one person, which is why the credit cards both have to be in the same person's name. The companion pass is good from the moment you earn it until december of the following year. If you got the 2nd card now and completed the requirements before 12/2013, the pass would be good until 12/2014. It's one year (or more) of buy 1, get 1 free tickets.

If you decide to wait and do two credit cards in January 2014, your pass would be good until 12/2015. The points have to be earned in the same calendar year, so the card & points you got in 2013 won't count.

When you have the companion pass, can you still add on extras like "extra leg room" or "early boarding"?

 

[hsmamato2]

Not sure what you're asking, but to get the companion pass, you need to accrue 110,000 points in ONE calendar year, so if you got your first card/points in JAn 2013, you need to get them ALL before years end 2013 to qualify for the pass. When it's JAn 2014, it's a new year,and you need to start from scratch, companion pass wise. (you still have all your previous points,but they don't count towards a cp)
A cp is the best thing ever,and if you can qualify for one, go ahead and do it. And yes, you shouldn't carry a balance to do it,that goes without saying.(sorry if anyone feels sad over this statement,it's a fact)
Also a companion pass works for the year you achieve it (110,000 points) plus the WHOLE calendar year after that. So if I manage,in my account to hit that 110k by December, the cp will be usable till December 2014.

 

[stacielee]

To clarify what I was asking, I just got my card so in 2013 calendar year. I won't actually earn the 50k points until January 2014. If I am able to get another card in 2014 and earn the 50k points in 2014 as well, will both be considered in the same calendar year, 2014? Not sure since the 1st one was received in 2013...

Hope that makes more sense.

 

[Angie789]

I don't carry a balance either, but for those that do, they can feel like Hester Prynne on this board sometimes. In my opinion, as long as they understand what they are doing and are not doing this to go further into debt, there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of credit card perks while they work on reducing their debt. Just my 2 cents.

While there are certainly ways to use debt to your advantage, credit card consumer debt is not one of them. Playing the credit card game in order to get perks only makes sense if you pay off your balance AND pay on time. Paying interest or paying late penalties means your losing more than your gaining with a card like this.

It sucks for those who want to take advantage of these deals who aren't in a financially healthy place yet, but those are the breaks.

 

[bronwyn]

It has nothing to do with when you receive your card, only when the points post. The points have to be earned in one calendar year so yes, if your 50,000 bonus points do not post until January they will count toward a companion pass in 2014. This is actually the best way to maximize the companion pass because if you get the 110,000 points early in the year they will be good until the end of 2015. Just be careful not to hit your $3000 spend before December and you should be good. If you google the Million Mile Secrets blog there are some great posts explaining the entire process. We love our Southwest companion pass and that coupled with the 110,000 points can get you quite a few free flights!

 

[stacielee]

It has nothing to do with when you receive your card, only when the points post. The points have to be earned in one calendar year so yes, if your 50,000 bonus points do not post until January they will count toward a companion pass in 2014. This is actually the best way to maximize the companion pass because if you get the 110,000 points early in the year they will be good until the end of 2015. Just be careful not to hit your $3000 spend before December and you should be good. If you google the Million Mile Secrets blog there are some great posts explaining the entire process. We love our Southwest companion pass and that coupled with the 110,000 points can get you quite a few free flights!

GREAT! That's what I was hoping. Now I need to switch some auto pays to that card... once I get it! I only see it on the Chase website so I don't actually have the number yet, but should this week.

In the rules for the Companion Pass it says this: Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from revenue flights, points issued on Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Cards, and points earned from Rapid Rewards Partners. Purchased points and points earned from program enrollment, Tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and Partner bonuses do not count toward Companion Pass status.

That makes it sound like the 50k won't go towards the companion pass...

 

[hsmamato2]

currently,they still count, but as always things can change fast....millionmilessecrets .com