The Companion Pass requires 110,000 pts per year. My 300,000+ is my accumulated amount. I had lots of Awards from the old system, so used them up first (since they had an expiration date).
When I send flowers, I use Teleflora to gain bonus points and participate in E-Rewards and some special promotions. However, most are from purchases on the SW credit card -- when available shopping through the SW site, where you get double or more points for purchases.
I charge most of my everyday expenses to the SW card, from cell phone bill, utilities, car insurance, and sometimes big purchases. When I bought a car last year, they let me put the down payment on my cc. When I remodeled my house, I was able to buy the materials that the contractor used. He got them and I paid the store, etc.
And yes, I do pay the SW card off each month to avoid any high interest fees. And we usually take at least 3 to 4 trips to WDW a year, so having the Companion Pass and using points for other flights is very nice. I can change persons selected as companions up to 4 times a year with SW. I also "monitor" flights that I have booked and change them if the point requirement decreases as SW places them on sale. Just today I changed 3 flights for November, saving over 2500 more points.
And since the points no longer expire.....if I don't need them for flights, I can use those points for Iphones, Ipads, etc. or lots and lots of gift cards.
