Tell me about the Southwest Airlines Visa

[yesiamcrazy]

looking at the Southwest Airlines visa and the bonus sign up points. We have 8 people in the family, but usually travel with 9. Trying to figure out how to use the points, combining points for the companion pass, and could I still buy extra tickets assuming the points would not completely cover flights.

 

[Marionnette]

looking at the Southwest Airlines visa and the bonus sign up points. We have 8 people in the family, but usually travel with 9. Trying to figure out how to use the points, combining points for the companion pass, and could I still buy extra tickets assuming the points would not completely cover flights.

There are different SWA Visas. The personal regular RR plus and RR premier cards and the RR premier business card. All of them have annual fees but you get RR points on your anniversary date that almost offset the cost of the card.

Many people will get both the personal and the business cards so that they can get the bonuses for both. Those bonuses get you almost all of the way to a companion pass. The companion pass will allow the RR member to name someone who can travel with them for free when they book a flight for themselves. Timing your applications so that you achieve the required number of points early in a calendar year will ultimately result in a year of free flights for your companion. The bonus RR points can be used to book travel for anyone that you care to spend themm on.

There is no problem booking with both RR points and cash, but you have to book rewards tickets separately from the cash tickets. Cancellation rules for rewards tickets and cash tickets are different. The big difference is that when you cancel a ticket booked with RR points, you get your points restored to your account. when you cancel a cash ticket, the ticketless funds are not refunded for WTGA fares. Not only that, bu only the person for whom the original ticket was purchased can use those funds and they will expire one year following the date when the ticket was purchased. That means that travel must be completed by that date, not that you have until that anniversary date to book the new flight.

Since the RR member earns points for cash flights, it can be a good idea to book the member's flight with cash and then pay for other flights with points.

 

[LynnTH]

Just an FYI. All the cards have sign up bonuses of 60,000 points right now. So, if you got 2 cards that would get you 120,000 points and automatic Companion pass. This offer is the highest they have been and is only around for like a week or so. IF you get the cards and meet the minimum spend right away then you would have a companion pass for the rest of this year and all of next year. If you time it right and not make the minimum spend until the beginning of 2018 then your companion pass would be good for 2018 and 2019. (if you want to try this google for more info on how to do this correctly).

DH and I have gotten the SW cards many times over the years for the bonuses and have not paid for flights for our family of 4 for many years. If you have a SO - they can also do above and get 2 cards and then you would have 240,000 points and 2 companion passes. (you just need to make sure you can meet the minimum spends on this - or have one you wait and get the cards later, bonuses might be less but will still help with getting tickets for the 9 of you).

There is a Credit Card Thread you should follow. Lot of good info on bonuses and how to maximize credit cards and what to do and what not to do. You can ask any questions and the experts will help you out.

 

[GPC0321]

Good cards, and as LynnTH mentioned, the sign-up bonus right now is pretty great. I got one last year with a 50k sign-up bonus. That has covered me and my parents' 3 round-trip tickets (RDU-MCO-RDU) for December and left me with enough points for my own round-trip ticket when I take my solo trip in 2019 (unless flights are outrageously expensive for some reason).

I'll probably sign up for another one in 2019.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Just an FYI. All the cards have sign up bonuses of 60,000 points right now. So, if you got 2 cards that would get you 120,000 points and automatic Companion pass. This offer is the highest they have been and is only around for like a week or so. IF you get the cards and meet the minimum spend right away then you would have a companion pass for the rest of this year and all of next year. If you time it right and not make the minimum spend until the beginning of 2018 then your companion pass would be good for 2018 and 2019. (if you want to try this google for more info on how to do this correctly).

DH and I have gotten the SW cards many times over the years for the bonuses and have not paid for flights for our family of 4 for many years. If you have a SO - they can also do above and get 2 cards and then you would have 240,000 points and 2 companion passes. (you just need to make sure you can meet the minimum spends on this - or have one you wait and get the cards later, bonuses might be less but will still help with getting tickets for the 9 of you).

There is a Credit Card Thread you should follow. Lot of good info on bonuses and how to maximize credit cards and what to do and what not to do. You can ask any questions and the experts will help you out.

NO She would get the CP for all of 2018 and 2019 because she would get the bonus points credited in Jan 2018 if she meets the spending minimum in Dec.. Now is a great time to get the two cards and get nearly 23 months of fly one person for free. People who applied a few weeks ago are commenting on here they are mad because their closing date for their card is around Christmas and the points will be credited before the end of this year so they screwed themselves out of a whole year of the CP. So if you apply now the 90 closing date will be in the mid of Jan and give you almost 2 yrs of flying for free

 

[yesiamcrazy]

Do I have to do anything to combine the points from the two cards?

 

[PatMcDuck]

I have never figured out the companion pass thing. BUT thanks to tips here on DIS, I knew to apply for separate Southwest cards for me and my husband, so we got 50,000 points each. [not 60, ] A couple years later, we each applied for the Premier card, another 50,000 points each. We did close the regular cards. We hope to re-apply for those in another year.

We need to time our applications to times when we are spending the amount required to qualify for the points. In the past I have hit that by paying tuition, or life insurance, etc. A friend hits it by buying Disney GC for upcoming trips or DVC dues.

I recently got the JetBlue card, but wow only 30,000 points and they do not go as far as SW, plus they CHARGE I think $150 if you change or cancel a POINT reservation. UGH. Will use those points but not impressed with their program (love JetBlue in general though)/

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Do I have to do anything to combine the points from the two cards?

no. When you apply for the cc you will enter your RR acct number on each of the applications and the points will appear in that rr acct

 

[yesiamcrazy]

So If I apply now, I would for sure have a closing date in January?

NO She would get the CP for all of 2018 and 2019 because she would get the bonus points credited in Jan 2018 if she meets the spending minimum in Dec.. Now is a great time to get the two cards and get nearly 23 months of fly one person for free. People who applied a few weeks ago are commenting on here they are mad because their closing date for their card is around Christmas and the points will be credited before the end of this year so they screwed themselves out of a whole year of the CP. So if you apply now the 90 closing date will be in the mid of Jan and give you almost 2 yrs of flying for free

 

[yesiamcrazy]

And can I apply for both personal cards at the same time?

 

[ICF]

And can I apply for both personal cards at the same time?

Probably....but that would be one big spend threshold you had to meet in 3 months.

What I did was apply in Nov for one card...hit the spend limit in Jan and got the bonus points then on card 1.

Once that happened in Jan, I applied for the 2nd personal card -- hit that spend a couple months later.

So -- by April I had my 110K pts for the companion pass. Giving me the benefits for the balance of 2017 and all of 2018.

 

[Wish Upon A Starbucks]

Thanks for all this info. I just applied for both cards to get enough miles for the CP. once I have that, can I use my miles to book mine then get my husbands free with the CP? Or do I have to pay cash for mine? Seems to good to be true....thanks for inspiring me to do this, I've been thinking about it for a year!

 

[LynnTH]

Thanks for all this info. I just applied for both cards to get enough miles for the CP. once I have that, can I use my miles to book mine then get my husbands free with the CP? Or do I have to pay cash for mine? Seems to good to be true....thanks for inspiring me to do this, I've been thinking about it for a year!

Nope you can use points for your booking then just go online and add him to the flight. (one thing that is nice. I always book "Wanna get away fares" but those fares do not need to be available to book the companion - just has to have any seat available). So, I had booked a couple trips before I got the companion pass and then went back after getting it and cancelling my daughter off and then adding her as a companion. It is also better to book your tickets as 1 way tickets. So much easier to change that way. My flights have gone down in points a few times and very easy to change and get the points credited back to my account.

 

[wdwfan51]

Sorry if this has already been asked but can I do a balance transfer from another card to the Southwest card to get to the miles? Thinking of getting a second card to try for the companion pass but don't think I can reach the amount, but I could if I transfer the balance of our air conditioner from one card to this new card. Thanks.

 

[tlg588]

How long do you have to wait after canceling a card before applying for a new one!

 

[barb969]

I called Southwest last night and was told the 60,000 points offer is good until Oct. 3.

 

[tb1972]

There are different SWA Visas. The personal regular RR plus and RR premier cards and the RR premier business card. All of them have annual fees but you get RR points on your anniversary date that almost offset the cost of the card.

Many people will get both the personal and the business cards so that they can get the bonuses for both. Those bonuses get you almost all of the way to a companion pass. The companion pass will allow the RR member to name someone who can travel with them for free when they book a flight for themselves. Timing your applications so that you achieve the required number of points early in a calendar year will ultimately result in a year of free flights for your companion. The bonus RR points can be used to book travel for anyone that you care to spend themm on.

There is no problem booking with both RR points and cash, but you have to book rewards tickets separately from the cash tickets. Cancellation rules for rewards tickets and cash tickets are different. The big difference is that when you cancel a ticket booked with RR points, you get your points restored to your account. when you cancel a cash ticket, the ticketless funds are not refunded for WTGA fares. Not only that, bu only the person for whom the original ticket was purchased can use those funds and they will expire one year following the date when the ticket was purchased. That means that travel must be completed by that date, not that you have until that anniversary date to book the new flight.

Since the RR member earns points for cash flights, it can be a good idea to book the member's flight with cash and then pay for other flights with points.

DH and I have had the joint RR card for years. I'm wondering if we split up and obtain two cards, can Chase split up the credit limit? I don't want to have the large credit limits on each card.

Is it normal for people to cancel and re apply for SW cards annually just to receive the points? This would seem like a hassle and I'm not sure it's a good idea for maintaining a high credit score which is important to me.

 

[Marionnette]

DH and I have had the joint RR card for years. I'm wondering if we split up and obtain two cards, can Chase split up the credit limit? I don't want to have the large credit limits on each card.

Is it normal for people to cancel and re apply for SW cards annually just to receive the points? This would seem like a hassle and I'm not sure it's a good idea for maintaining a high credit score which is important to me.

I don't cancel and re-apply for CCs, although some people do it regularly with no problems. I don't think it negatively impacts your credit score in the long run as long as you're starting with an excellent rating to begin with. Most people who qualify for these offers tend to have very good to excellent credit anyway.

 

[dbavis]

Sorry if this has already been asked but can I do a balance transfer from another card to the Southwest card to get to the miles? Thinking of getting a second card to try for the companion pass but don't think I can reach the amount, but I could if I transfer the balance of our air conditioner from one card to this new card. Thanks.

no

 

[aliceindisneyland]

DH and I have had the joint RR card for years. I'm wondering if we split up and obtain two cards, can Chase split up the credit limit? I don't want to have the large credit limits on each card.

Is it normal for people to cancel and re apply for SW cards annually just to receive the points? This would seem like a hassle and I'm not sure it's a good idea for maintaining a high credit score which is important to me.

You can always ask them to reduce your credit limit, I have done that so I could increase my credit limit on a zero percent card I opened. No issue, done immediately.
I only have primary cardholder plus authorized user accounts, no joint accounts, so I am not sure how "splitting" credit limit between two joint cardholders would work.