Your Best Southwest (or any airline) Discount Tips and Tricks?

[jen7233]

The 60k point offers went away, but they came back a few days ago. Here are the (public) links if you or anyone is interested.

Plus
https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/so...a202ee7b3f3e8d1f0INT&id=lw9MynSeamY&CELL=6PLS
Premier
https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/so...90baf2b6c0bebaaf0INT&id=lw9MynSeamY&CELL=6PLS

Thanks! I am going to check this out!

 

[Music City Mama]

I need some advice. We usually drive, but I plan on flying next summer. I was thinking about getting this credit card because I should be able to get 2 or 3 free tickets with the 60K points.

The problem is that the points wouldn't post until after 3 months (unless they award them as soon as you hit $2,000 if it's earlier than 3 months... Does anyone know?). It looks like SW will release flights for the rest of June on 10/26, but I probably won't be awarded the points until December.

If I pay in cash on 10/26, then change/cancel so I can pay with my points in December, my cash is refunded as SW credit and I have no plans to fly again within a year of that booking date (and I'm not sure I'd be able to get the same price if changing the payment method anyway -- it might be considered a new booking). I could wait until December to book the flight with points, but what if the fares are considerably more by that time?

I guess even if they're more, they'll still be "free", so it's better than paying with cash. Thoughts? Is there something I'm not thinking through?

Also, on a side note, is it better to book the flights as round-trip or two one-ways? Thanks.

 

[WVMomof3]

I need some advice. We usually drive, but I plan on flying next summer. I was thinking about getting this credit card because I should be able to get 2 or 3 free tickets with the 60K points.

The problem is that the points wouldn't post until after 3 months (unless they award them as soon as you hit $2,000 if it's earlier than 3 months... Does anyone know?). It looks like SW will release flights for the rest of June on 10/26, but I probably won't be awarded the points until December.

If I pay in cash on 10/26, then change/cancel so I can pay with my points in December, my cash is refunded as SW credit and I have no plans to fly again within a year of that booking date (and I'm not sure I'd be able to get the same price if changing the payment method anyway -- it might be considered a new booking). I could wait until December to book the flight with points, but what if the fares are considerably more by that time?

I guess even if they're more, they'll still be "free", so it's better than paying with cash. Thoughts? Is there something I'm not thinking through?

Also, on a side note, is it better to book the flights as round-trip or two one-ways? Thanks.

The points should post after the statement close of when you complete your spend. For one of my cards, I applied around the 2nd week of March, I received my card March 16th, completed my spend on March 23. My statement closed April 9th and had my bonus points the next day. My other card only had 1 week left on the statement before it closed after I received the card. I did not realize that until it closed unexpectedly, so now I ask in SM when my statement cycle is as soon as I get a new card. That one took 2 statement cycles, but still only 6 weeks after I opened and I had my bonus points.

 

[WVMomof3]

Also, I always try to book 2 one ways. I think it is easier to change should the price drop on one of the segments.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

I would suggest applying for both the plus and the premier at the same time to meet the 110,000 points needed for free companion pass. also create your "account" online at southwest so the credits from both cards go right in and you have no problems with needing to go back and "combine" your points.

 

[buckeyeguy1]

You can't mix credits with points on Southwest. You would need to put any balance on a credit card or gift card. And the credit can only be used by the person whose name the credit is in.

In a way you CAN us a credit for a ticket purchase WITH points. I used points on a flight a month ago and when I made my purchase with the points, I was able to use a credit I had available to pay towards the $5.60 9/11 security fee and the $15 earlybird check in.

In no way does this lower the "cost" of the flight in points, but it is a good way to use up a small credit.

 

[buckeyeguy1]

A discount tip:

Rapid Rewards Dining - The dining rewards are nice if you have any restaurants that are on the list that you frequent. There are a couple of mexican restaurants that we hit up once or twice a month. We get 3pts for every dollar spent there and that includes the tip. You get a sign up bonus and you also get bonus points for reviews from your visit and another after you spend X amount of dollars. You have to sign up your credit or debit card for the program through their site. I could see how some might not be comfortable with this though.

Rapid Rewards Shopping - I use this for shopping at JC Penney and a couple of other places. You get 1+pts per dollar you spend by using their links for the stores on their website. I have racked up 5,000 points or more using this program. They also give bonus points certain times of year. No credit card info needed. Just sign up and use their links.

Surveys - I have banked some serious points by doing surveys (15k+). There are three different sites you can go to that are listed on Southwest's Rapid Rewards site. On two of the sites it is pretty easy to get a sign up bonus. After that, its basically up to you how fast you want to earn. For me, they get a little old after a while. After doing some, I don't qualify for a lot of them to get rewarded. I think all three of the sites have their own currency system and you earn their currency for taking the surveys and then you can purchase Southwest Rapid Reward points with their currency. For example: say a survey you take is worth $1.00 of their currency. You save your money and then you can buy something like 1000 rewards points for $5.00 of the site currency. Or 5000 rewards points might be worth $10.00 of the site currency. You don't pay anything at all out of your pocket.

I really like it when I can buy flights with points. The best part is if the price of the flight goes down, I'm not stuck with a credit, I get back the difference in points and there is no expiration to them.

 

[Miniature Tim]

Thanks! I am going to check this out!

If you're still on the fence about this, I'd highly recommend the push over the edge to do it. My wife and I just got it earlier this year (during a 50,000 points offer) and are flying free from STL to Orlando this December, and not using all the points we got in the promotion. We use it for Gas, Groceries and an allotted amount of spending each paycheck, then immediately pay it off. She was iffy on the annual fee as well, until I showed her that 3 annual fees don't even add up to 1 round-trip ticket.

 

[Chief Powhatan]

Great posts about airline points and gift card deals.

I may have overlooked this, but I did not see a mention of Coinstar. Coinstar are the machines you see in grocery stores charging the high rates to cash out your coins. However, Coinstar has a feature where you can redeem your coins (at full value) for gift cards from a handful of businesses. Southwest is one of the participating companies. You are not getting anything discounted by cashing out your coins for a Southwest gift card, however you can bring down the cost of your flights by getting rid of a jar of change you may have sitting around the house.