BY: VS.
First of all, I currently live in the north suburbs of Chicago (closer to O’Hare International Airport). And I want to premise this post by saying that I absolutely HATE that Southwest Airlines flights are located at Chicago Midway International Airport (about a 45-50 minute drive from my home depending on traffic) as opposed to O’Hare (about 15 minutes away). I needed to get that out of the way.
BUT, other than that, I love mostly everything about Southwest Airlines! (And, no, they are not paying me to say this) They have great perks like free checked bags (up to 2 per person), a flexible cancellation policy, free (basically unlimited) snacks and soft drinks, free in-flight entertainment, and more! And, of course, they provide great customer service!
Southwest also has various programs (called Rapid Rewards) that allow you to accelerate your earning on points. One particularly notable is the Rapid Rewards Dining Program, which allows you to earn points when you dine in at specific restaurants enrolled in the program.
Please note: It is similar to other dining programs like Yelp Cash Back and Uber Rewards so you need to make sure that they don’t overlap. For example, you cannot simultaneously enroll in Rapid Rewards Dining and Yelp Cash Back. One of them will reject you.
Disclaimer: Also, keep in mind, that this isn’t me telling you that you should be irresponsible with your money, go out, and dine more. It is simply to say that IF you are going to dine out anyways, then one option would be to dine at a location that is enrolled in a dining program so that you can earn points toward flights.
Southwest also partners with others to allow you to earn points. For example, if you sign up with NRG to power your home, then you can earn 10,000 points pretty quickly if you follow their guidelines. They also partner with various rental car companies, hotels, online retailers and more!
Not only did I sign up for their credit card so that I could take advantage of all of these cool perks, I also did it for this specific reason – Companion Pass.
COMPANION PASS:
This program really caught my attention when I heard it on the Biggerpockets Money Podcast. It is a program that allows you to bring a companion to travel with you for free! The rule is that if you can earn 110,000 points within a one year period through qualified purchases, flights, and earnings, then you are eligible to bring a partner with you to fly at no additional cost! (For more details, visit the Rapid Rewards Website)
One incredible tip I received from the podcast is that if you open up a personal credit card (premier, plus, etc), then you can earn a whole bunch of points (usually 40,000-50,000 points) after spending a certain amount of money (usually $1,000) in a certain period of time (usually 4 months). Then, if you choose to open up a business credit card right after and do the same thing, you can earn 60,000 points. And thus, you’d be able to get to 110,000 points pretty quickly!
Bottom line is, if you strategize on how to get to the 110,000 points, then you will be able to get a 2 for 1 deal on eligible flights!
Truthfully, I haven’t hit that 110,000 mark yet, but my wife and I are trying to get creative on how we can get there.
If you are interested in signing up for the credit cards, please use my link to do so! And feel free to share if you have any great ideas to share on how we can rack up 110,000 points pretty quickly.
Isn't Gee So Lovely 