Need a Southwest card/points primer

[NYEmomma]

Could anyone give me the details on the Southwest card deal that you get 50,000 points? I think doing this is going to be the only way our family of 5 will be able to fly to Florida.

From what I've already learned, you have to spend $2,000 on the card in the first 3 (2?) months to get the 50,000 points. And there is a $99 annual fee.

I've only been able to find an offer for 25,000 points currently -- is the 50,000 points just a limited time thing? If so, does anyone know how often they have that offer?

Also, how soon after we earn the points are we able to redeem them? I've got the money saved for our vacation package that I can just put it on the SW card and pay it off immediately to earn the points -- I just don't want to wait too long and then not receive my points in time to get tickets (something similar happened with the Disney card -- took much longer to get our rewards in the mail than we thought it was going to take & didn't get it in time for vacation).

Anything else I need to know or am not thinking of?

Thanks!!

 

[My3kiddos]

There are 2 different Southwest cards from Chase. One has a $69 annual fee and the other is $99. The 50,000 point sign up is offered on a pretty regular basis so if I were you I would keep checking. After you spend the $2000 on the card the points are credited to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account 2-3 days after your credit card statement date. The only time it doesn't happen is if you get to the $2000 within a couple days of the statement closing date. If that's the case it will be the next month.

If you get both cards and get the bonuses on both and spend another $6k (for a total of $10k) you will qualify for the companion pass. You would have to do this before the end of the year though and the companion pass would be good through Dec 31st of next year.

 

[sydneysmom]

We have had the card now for 2 months and have just gone over the $ 2K to get the 50,000 points. Our 50K points have not posted yet but I'm thinking that what My3kiddos is the case with us... our due date is 08.20.14, so I suspect they will most likely post shortly after that. We recently flew out of Memphis airport and SW had a booth set up where they were offering the 50,000 points. You may want to call SW and ask them if you can get the offer for 50,000 that they are doing at the airport. (worth a try, anyway)

Totally off your original topic ....One other thing to keep in mind when you shop online, if you go through the Rapid Rewards shopping center link first, your online purchases will gain you even more rewards points. (so if you use the card, you get the 1 point/$1.00 spent, and if you go through Rapid Rewards shopping link, https://rapidrewardsshopping.southwest.com/ you can get a whole bunch of points. For example, I bought a Dooney Bag 2 weeks ago from Macy's. They were running a 4 points/ $ 1 spent so I wound up getting 592 rewards points added to my Southwest Rewards. And believe me, it adds up. (you can do this now without even having a SW Visa.... start racking up points to your Rapid Rewards number )

We did it for the same reason as you only we're going to Universal. It's going to give us free flights for that trip, plus with the anniversary points and the points we've put on through the shopping link and a flight we just took, we should get another 3 free flights out of it as well. We just love it. It's worth the $99 fee, in my opinion.

 

[marthachick]

We got 2 of the SW cards, one for DH & 1 for me. We purchased flooring for our house. I put $2,000 on one card, and the balance on the other card. I put the charges on the card on February 1 and the 50,000 points didn't show up until 3/10. So it may depend on where you are in the billing cycle. It didn't happen as quickly as I expected, but we weren't crunched for time. YMMV


ETA: We did the $69 card. The only difference I saw was in relation to international travel, and we don't plan on any.

 

[sydneysmom]

We got 2 of the SW cards, one for DH & 1 for me. We purchased flooring for our house. I put $2,000 on one card, and the balance on the other card. I put the charges on the card on February 1 and the 50,000 points didn't show up until 3/10. So it may depend on where you are in the billing cycle. It didn't happen as quickly as I expected, but we weren't crunched for time. YMMV


ETA: We did the $69 card. The only difference I saw was in relation to international travel, and we don't plan on any.

I think one other difference is for the $69 card you get 3,000 points on your 1 year anniversary and for the $99 card you get 6,000 points. We went w/ the $99 card for that reason alone...

 

[NYEmomma]

Thank you, thank you everyone for the info!

Just a couple more questions:
- Do the points expire?
- If I we were to get two cards, would we have to then book the plane tickets separately? I'm assuming so. I can't remember (it's been a few years since we've flown) but we won't run into any problems with our flights & getting seats together if we split our family's tickets up between the both of us?

 

[marthachick]

I think one other difference is for the $69 card you get 3,000 points on your 1 year anniversary and for the $99 card you get 6,000 points. We went w/ the $99 card for that reason alone...

Ok. I forgot that.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[My3kiddos]

Thank you, thank you everyone for the info!

Just a couple more questions:
- Do the points expire?
- If I we were to get two cards, would we have to then book the plane tickets separately? I'm assuming so. I can't remember (it's been a few years since we've flown) but we won't run into any problems with our flights & getting seats together if we split our family's tickets up between the both of us?

If you get both cards in one person's name then no. Each person can get both cards that's how you can get to the companion pass really fast. If you get a card in each person's name then yes you will have to book separately if you need to use all of those points. The points only expire if you don't earn any for 2 years.

 

[MrsDMed]

Points do not expire. It's the best card!

 

[MrsDMed]

The points do not expire. It's the best card!

 

[jimandami]

Points do not expire as long as you have some sort of activity on your account every 24 months, which is pretty easy to do. As far as getting two cards and the companion pass, it is also pretty easy to do. However, if possible, I would wait until January (I'm not sure when are travelling) because then you could get the companion pass for almost the 2 full years. If you get one this late in the year, it will only be good for 15-16 months.

 

[TnTWalter]

and just got the card...but it doesn't say anywhere in my paperwork about the 50,000 points. I printed the screen where i applied that said 50k points after spending $2k in 3 months....did you guys get paperwork that stated this? or is this typical?

Trish

 

[jimandami]

and just got the card...but it doesn't say anywhere in my paperwork about the 50,000 points. I printed the screen where i applied that said 50k points after spending $2k in 3 months....did you guys get paperwork that stated this? or is this typical? Trish

Definitely typical.

 

[NYEmomma]

OK... I apparently need a breakdown on this companion pass thing. I haven't heard of it aside from the fact that I know it's a pass for a companion to fly for free with the purchase of a ticket. Could anyone fill me in a little more?? DH flies occasionally for work and they book their own flights & get reimbursed, so he'll probably start using this card for that once we get it. It sounds pretty tempting to be able to fly with him for free on a business trip occasionally!

Also, how can I get two cards in just my name??

 

[sydneysmom]

and just got the card...but it doesn't say anywhere in my paperwork about the 50,000 points. I printed the screen where i applied that said 50k points after spending $2k in 3 months....did you guys get paperwork that stated this? or is this typical?

Trish

it's typical...... I panicked that I wasn't going to get the 50,000 points so much that I emailed Chase (through the website) and made them confirm I was set to get the 50,000 points after I spent $2K in 3 months. I also asked them to give me the exact date by which I had to get there. (I know, I'm kind of odd...) but I had to know... I didn't want to miss it by a day or something! But I saved all of those emails. We're in our 2nd month of having the card and we've hit the $2K, so I'm hoping that after our month closes, those points will hit.

 

[jimandami]

OK... I apparently need a breakdown on this companion pass thing. I haven't heard of it aside from the fact that I know it's a pass for a companion to fly for free with the purchase of a ticket. Could anyone fill me in a little more?? DH flies occasionally for work and they book their own flights & get reimbursed, so he'll probably start using this card for that once we get it. It sounds pretty tempting to be able to fly with him for free on a business trip occasionally!

Also, how can I get two cards in just my name??

You qualify for a companion pass if you earn 110,000 RR points in a calendar year. You can do this either by flying a bunch or by earning them with your SW rewards Visa. The fastest way for most people is to apply for 2 separate SW cards in their name (ex: the $69 card and the $99 card or in my case, the $99 card and the business card). You get 50,000 points for each and then only need 10,000 more, which is pretty easy since you would automatically get an additional 4,000 for spending your $2,000 on each card. The companion pass entitles one person to fly free with you for the remainder of that year, as well as the entire following year. You can change your companion 3 times in the period of time you have the pass. Does that help?

 

[KKB]

I got both the plus ($69/yr) & premium ($99/yr), and put EVERYTHING on it to get over the 10K (then paid those babies right off! So 50K for each card (charging $2K each in 3 months) + $6K more charged.
I reached companion status the beginning of August.
Already have DD as companion for Sept. trip to TCU for family weekend & to WDW for dance team nationals in Feb. And I used points to pay for WDW (TCU was already booked).
DH & I are headed to Vegas in March & will certainly do a trip as a couple next summer--would love to do Caribbean, but we shall see.
Will also use for DD's college visits the next year...trying to figure how to get the most out of this while not totally breaking my budget with extra trips! (none extra yet, really)
Hoping to get DH the 2 cards at the end of next year so we can get 2 years of companion passes...we shall see.

 

[NYEmomma]

You qualify for a companion pass if you earn 110,000 RR points in a calendar year. You can do this either by flying a bunch or by earning them with your SW rewards Visa. The fastest way for most people is to apply for 2 separate SW cards in their name (ex: the $69 card and the $99 card or in my case, the $99 card and the business card). You get 50,000 points for each and then only need 10,000 more, which is pretty easy since you would automatically get an additional 4,000 for spending your $2,000 on each card. The companion pass entitles one person to fly free with you for the remainder of that year, as well as the entire following year. You can change your companion 3 times in the period of time you have the pass. Does that help?

Holy cow, this is ingenious. So the 110,000 points is per NAME, not per card (so like you said I could get both cards and already have 100,000 towards that 110,000 needed)? Hmm... interesting. Shall have to talk to DH about this one!

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Could anyone give me the details on the Southwest card deal that you get 50,000 points? I think doing this is going to be the only way our family of 5 will be able to fly to Florida.

From what I've already learned, you have to spend $2,000 on the card in the first 3 (2?) months to get the 50,000 points. And there is a $99 annual fee.

I've only been able to find an offer for 25,000 points currently -- is the 50,000 points just a limited time thing? If so, does anyone know how often they have that offer?

Also, how soon after we earn the points are we able to redeem them? I've got the money saved for our vacation package that I can just put it on the SW card and pay it off immediately to earn the points -- I just don't want to wait too long and then not receive my points in time to get tickets (something similar happened with the Disney card -- took much longer to get our rewards in the mail than we thought it was going to take & didn't get it in time for vacation).

Anything else I need to know or am not thinking of?

Thanks!!

One small thing I've discovered is that Wyndham Rewards (for hotels like Ramada and HoJo) has a terrible rewards program, but you can set your points to go to Southwest Rapid Rewards. I figure that's a better add-on to my 50k points than trying to stay like 20 nights to get 1 free!

 

[ceecee]

Holy cow, this is ingenious. So the 110,000 points is per NAME, not per card (so like you said I could get both cards and already have 100,000 towards that 110,000 needed)? Hmm... interesting. Shall have to talk to DH about this one!

I have the PLUS SW card and got the bonus, used most of it for a San Diego flight. So would it be better for me to apply for the Premium or should DH apply for his own?