BIG SCORE – 200,000 SOUTHWEST POINTS
Well, I just went to Southwest website and noticed that last year’s big 50,000 bonus offer is back! If you didn’t grab this offer last year, you should grab it now! It says “limited time” so who knows what that means. This is a direct link to southwest.com and not an affiliate link. If you get both the personal & business version of this card, you will score a BIG 100,000 Southwest points which is about $1,700 in free air travel. If you & your spouse get both the business & personal, you’ve got a really BIG SCORE, 200,000 bonus points and almost 2 Companion Passes. (charge $5,000 more on each card to reach the 110,000 points required)
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Card
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Card
CARD BENEFITS:
50,000 bonus points after first purchase
2 points per $1 on all Southwest Airlines purchases
2 points per $1 on all Rapid Rewards Hotel & Car Rental Partner purchases
1 point per $1 on everything else
6,000 point anniversary bonus – Can be redeemed for $100 Wanna Get Away Fare
Earn 1,500 Tier Qualify Points for every $10,000 in purchases
1 point per $1 in balance transfer up to 15,000 points within 90 days
Annual fee is NOT waived – Fee $99
NOTE: Benefits are the same on both the business & personal. There is a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Business Card. This card only gives 25,000 bonus points and 3,000 anniversary bonus points. It has a $69 annual fee. So be sure you are applying for the right card. Remember always to printed a copy of the actual offer for your records and documentation.
I this is a good offer as $200 in annual fees will net you approx. $1,700 in free air travel. Here is my list of the pros & cons of the Southwest program.
PROS
- 2 free checked bags w/credit card
- No change fees
- Point don’t expire unless you don’t have any activity for 24 months.
- Bonus points count towards 110,000 points needed for the Companion Pass. The Companion Pass allows you to take any person of your choice on any flight you fly for 1 year. Pretty sweet pass. So if you get both cards, and do the min. spend (2,500 x 2), you are only 5,000 points shy of the Companion Pass.
- No blackout dates
You can really stretch these points out on inexpensive tickets if you like. See examples below
EXAMPLES #1
San Francisco to Phoenix<
/div>
10, 679 points & $5.00
EXAMPLE #2
San Francisco to Las Vegas
4,980 points & $5.00
I would highly recommend this deal for families looking to travel on short flights. You can easily see that it is possible to flight short distances for between 5,000 – 10,000 points. So in theory you could have 10 roundtrip tickets costing 10,000 points each. Then if you get the Companion Pass (just spend $5,000 more on your card), you can fly one of your family members free for the year. So you are looking at 10 roundtrip family tickets plus one freebie ticket. So if you have a family of 5, you could take two trips theoretically and still have points left. Planning in advance, flying off season (Sept – March) or shoulder season (April – May) would make finding these point redemption’s possible. Just sign in to your southwest account and play around with locations and dates. You’ll see what I mean! You can really stretch these points.
CONS
Annual fees on both cards – bummer!!
No a good international carrier! Limited service & expensive fees and points.
Strictly good for domestic travel.
My recommendation for the deal.
Both husband & wife apply for the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Card & Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Card. This would net you family a huge score of 200,000 Southwest points. Also, if you aren’t both approved on both personal & business at least you’d get 100,000 or maybe 150,000. Min spend would be $5,000 per person. See my Resources page for Ways To Meet Min Spend. Not as difficult as you might think if you know some of the little tricks.
Good luck! Hope you score big! Be sure to tell me how you do! Love to hear great success stories! 2012 is starting off good! HAPPY TRAVELS!!
