Southwest Visa 50,000 offer - worth it? Use points for family airfare?

[Hezzy04]

Did I miss this offer, or am I looking in the wrong place? I can only find an offer for 25,000 points.

 

[Kalliope]

Another thing is you can get the card and the bonus points then cancel. After 24 months you are eligible to receive the bonus points again if you sign up again. I also check every day when I have a flight booked with points and if it goes down in points change flights with no fee saving the points. I have not paid for a Southwest flight in three years!!!

Since you've already paid the fee charged on your first bill, you may as well keep the card at least a year. I received my Premier signature SW card today and the $99 fee already shows up on my statement.

 

[mymankeith]

Do the points expire, or once you get them you always have them? If you cancel the card, do you still have your unused points? Thanks.

 

[canyoncam]

Did I miss this offer, or am I looking in the wrong place? I can only find an offer for 25,000 points.

It is not always the same offer. If you have the time keep looking as it usually is 50,000 about every other month or maybe every three months.

Since you've already paid the fee charged on your first bill, you may as well keep the card at least a year. I received my Premier signature SW card today and the $99 fee already shows up on my statement.

True it is on you very first billing. I keep mine for a year making sure to cancel it a month before the next few would be billed. The 24 months counts from when the bonus points post to your Southwest account itself.

 

[canyoncam]

Do the points expire, or once you get them you always have them? If you cancel the card, do you still have your unused points? Thanks.

The points go to your Southwest account which is completly separate from the credit card account. These points never expire as long as you either use some, gift some, are gifted some, or earn some by paying for and completing a flight. If it is more than 24 months since any of these activities then they would expire.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hey! I love the budget board because I stumble across great info like this!

Anyhow, the companion pass sounds great but that's a whole lot of miles to rack up! If the 50k bonus miles for signing up and minimum spend in the first 3 months count, would I be better off waiting till after the first of the year to apply? Because isn't it 110K miles per calendar year? So if I sign up now, I'd have to earn 110K miles between now and December 31st to get it right? And I'm not sure how we could rack up 110K miles with just our normal spending in a year's time. If I'm missing something please let me know. Thanks!

 

[jimandami]

Hey! I love the budget board because I stumble across great info like this!

Anyhow, the companion pass sounds great but that's a whole lot of miles to rack up! If the 50k bonus miles for signing up and minimum spend in the first 3 months count, would I be better off waiting till after the first of the year to apply? Because isn't it 110K miles per calendar year? So if I sign up now, I'd have to earn 110K miles between now and December 31st to get it right? And I'm not sure how we could rack up 110K miles with just our normal spending in a year's time. If I'm missing something please let me know. Thanks!

Most people apply for 2 separate cards with the 50,000 offer, which gives you a minimum of 104,000 (if the offer is for $2,000 spending) so you only need to earn 6,000 more, which is fairly easy to do. As far as when to apply, I would probably wait until closer to Nov or December so that earn you points in 2016. This gives you a CP for all of 2016 and 2017.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Most people apply for 2 separate cards with the 50,000 offer, which gives you a minimum of 104,000 (if the offer is for $2,000 spending) so you only need to earn 6,000 more, which is fairly easy to do. As far as when to apply, I would probably wait until closer to Nov or December so that earn you points in 2016. This gives you a CP for all of 2016 and 2017.

So I can apply for both and then combine my points into one account?!

 

[jimandami]

So I can apply for both and then combine my points into one account?!

Yes. Last year, I applied for the personal Premier and the Business plus within about 2 months of one another. I earned my companion pass pretty easily. We continue to use the personal premier for all expenses. This year, I applied for the personal plus card and received another 50,000 bonus points. I need another 12,000 for my CP for next year, which should be done in about 3-4 months. As long as you have good credit and put in the same RR account number, the companion pass is pretty easy to get. I would recommend waiting at least a few weeks between applications though.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

I got the Southwest Visa last year with the 50,000 points...and we don't really need to fly anywhere! So I cashed in for $500 in Best Western gift cards and $50 in Target gift cards! Less the $99 fee, that's $450 in free money for Disneyland!