Southwest Visa // RR Question

[egritz]

Has anyone ever cancelled a Southwest Visa card? Do you know if you get to keep any of the points? I'm thinking about signing up now and cancelling the card at the 11 month mark so that I get the sign-up bonus and essentially pay $99 for the bonus points (plus what I accrue for purchases). I just got an email with an offer to get a Southwest Visa card with 50,000 bonus miles when I spend $2,000 in the first 90 days. It has a $99 annual fee.

We are getting our first AP's this year to DL and we are planning 2-3 trips next year that we should be able to get our airfare for free using the 50,000 points. We do not plan on renewing our AP's, instead we plan on getting AP's every other year, so we still go to DL every year, but we only pay for AP's every other year (If this doesn't make sense, at the bottom of this post I will detail out how it will work).

So my thought was to get the Southwest card now, cancel it in a year and essentially get our 2 or 3 trips airfare paid for using the 50,000 bonus miles (that will cost me $99 for the annual fee).
Then in 2017 either sign up again under my name OR if it hasn't quite been the 24 months required to get another sign-up bonus, have the card in DH's name when they offer a good sign-up bonus and do the same thing for the next year that we have AP's.

Also, when I go into book a flight, will I be able to pay for DH's flight using my RR? Or do I have to transfer points to his RR and book our tickets separately?



Our AP Plan:

November 2015 - purchase AP's for myself, DH, & kids. Visit DL using the AP's with the whole family (driving) in November 2015 & October 2016. 2-3 additional "adult-only" trips for DH & I, probably in January/February, May, &/or September - these are when we would be flying.

November 2017 again visit DL & purchase AP's for the family, use them again with the family in October 2018 (again driving when with the kids), and do a couple adult-only trips in-between, where we would fly.

 

[leebee]

Your Southwest points are earned via the credit card but posted directly to your Southwest rapid rewards account, NOT held on the credit card account (like Disney VISA points are). Once you have earned your 50,000 points, you can close the card at any time. You will not lose any points because they are in your Southwest RR account, not linked to your Chase credit card.

Regarding booking, you can book your husband's flight (or anyone's) using your rapid rewards points. He will have a separate reservation/confirmation number from you; SW assigns individual confirmation numbers to everyone purchasing via points. If you cancel/change his trip, the points go back into your account. Remember that in addition to the annual fee from the credit card, you have to pay certain taxes per leg when you make the reservation. I don't think we've ever paid more than $12 or $13 per person when we do this (it changes depending on connecting flights or something). This is STILL the cheapest way to travel! Also, I don't know where you are traveling to/from, but I can usually get 3 or 4 round-trip airfares from my 50,000 points.

There is also a way to earn more points AND a companion pass. I am not 100% sure how to do this, but I do know that Chase offers two different SW Visa cards- regular and premier. If, within a year, you apply and get 50000 points per card into your RR account (so 100,000 points total) AND spend an additional $10K on the card (also within the same year, for a total of 110,000 points in a calendar year), you qualify for a companion pass. This will allow one companion to fly with you, absolutely free, for a two-year period. I haven't figured out exactly how to make this work, but I am looking into it. We certainly spend enough money via credit cards to make this happen!

 

[jimandami]

Your Southwest points are earned via the credit card but posted directly to your Southwest rapid rewards account, NOT held on the credit card account (like Disney VISA points are). Once you have earned your 50,000 points, you can close the card at any time. You will not lose any points because they are in your Southwest RR account, not linked to your Chase credit card.

Regarding booking, you can book your husband's flight (or anyone's) using your rapid rewards points. He will have a separate reservation/confirmation number from you; SW assigns individual confirmation numbers to everyone purchasing via points. If you cancel/change his trip, the points go back into your account. Remember that in addition to the annual fee from the credit card, you have to pay certain taxes per leg when you make the reservation. I don't think we've ever paid more than $12 or $13 per person when we do this (it changes depending on connecting flights or something). This is STILL the cheapest way to travel! Also, I don't know where you are traveling to/from, but I can usually get 3 or 4 round-trip airfares from my 50,000 points.

There is also a way to earn more points AND a companion pass. I am not 100% sure how to do this, but I do know that Chase offers two different SW Visa cards- regular and premier. If, within a year, you apply and get 50000 points per card into your RR account (so 100,000 points total) AND spend an additional $10K on the card (also within the same year, for a total of 110,000 points in a calendar year), you qualify for a companion pass. This will allow one companion to fly with you, absolutely free, for a two-year period. I haven't figured out exactly how to make this work, but I am looking into it. We certainly spend enough money via credit cards to make this happen!

As far as the companion pass, it's pretty easy. You just apply for both the regular and premier or a regular/premier and a business card within about 2-3 weeks of one another. As long as the offer is 50,000 points each, you would get 104,000 with the bonuses and the $2000 spending for each. You then only need 6000 more points to reach 110,000. There are many ways to earn points aside from just spending money on the card (although we get 3-4,000 each month that way and just pay it off). E-rewards surveys are very easy to do and I have received 12,000 RR points from them since last Feb. SW also has a shopping portal where you can earn points pretty easily. It might be a little tough to do before November 2015 for the OP, though, because you have to spend the money and wait for billing cycles and such.

 

[hsmamato2]

to the original question.... yes it can be done. But be careful....so many people thought of this 'idea' that the card has been overused,and over applied for..... well guess what? chase bank now severely limits the number of cc applications it will approve,esp. for people who have a history of canceling/reapplying,etc. What I'm saying is you can do it, but you may not get another card approved in the future. Applying for cards is always a changing thing,and Chase is getting more stringent with this sort of plan. (FWIW,I have done this in the past, but be aware,and have EXCELLENT credit)
For Nov.2015, it will be TIGHT to get it done by then and book flights. And yes, you can book for your whole family using your RR account. (and the points you accrue from that card go into your RR account,so you keep those even without a cc)

 

[egritz]

Thanks for the responses. I don't need the points for November, we are driving then. I'd need the points for the adult only trips next year (earliest possible trip I'd need them for is January or February).
I too have excellent credit, only debt is mortgage and a car loan that will be paid off in November. We have several CC's and pay them all off monthly. We have no plans for needing any big loans, so closing the card creating a hit on my credit isn't a big deal. But good to know about the warning. I wouldn't reapply for myself until the 3rd round of AP's... which would be 4 years from now in 2019 (Which would mean the account will have been closed for 3 years...and who knows what sort of sign-up bonus would even be offered then).

What about purchasing the flights for my husband using the 50,000 rewards points rather than the companion pass? Is that possible? I was trying to "test" it out, but I don't have enough RR in my account to go through the process far enough to test purchasing his ticket (along with mine) using RR.

 

[leebee]

You can use your rapid rewards points to book flights for anyone you want. I have used them for my husband, my daughter, my daughter's boyfriend, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law... you get the idea!