S2E1: Southwest Companion Pass - Your Ticket to a Year or More of Free Flights

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<v Speaker 1>Today we're talking about my all-time favorite deal in award travel.

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<v Speaker 1>In our household, we've had a Southwest Companion Pass continuously since 2015, and it has been one of the keys to simplifying our strategy and mental energy for travel points.

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<v Speaker 1>But there are some huge mistakes I've seen people make through the years and there are some nuances to building a companion pass strategy that I rarely see discussed Aspects that can help set you up to earn one again and again.

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<v Speaker 1>We're going to dive into all of that today so you can know if going for a companion pass makes sense for you and which strategy you want to pursue.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to season two of Points for Normal People.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Katie and I'm here because I know that travel costs add up, especially for a family, but I believe travel isn't just for the rich.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why, on Points for Normal People, I share the tips and tricks that my family has been using for over a decade to help you use your everyday expenses and credit card welcome offers to supercharge your travel points so that you can pay for entire vacations every year.

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<v Speaker 1>The first time I heard about the Southwest Companion Pass and specifically the shortcut to earning a Southwest Companion Pass just by opening two credit cards, I actually couldn't believe it.

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<v Speaker 1>It just seemed too good to be true.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I'd heard of a companion ticket or a companion fare before.

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<v Speaker 1>Alaska and Delta still offer these as perks on some of their credit cards, and those companion fares are a one-time use.

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<v Speaker 1>One time a year you can bring someone with you on your flight, essentially for free, but with Southwest it's a companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>When you earn a companion pass, you get to name a companion and that person flies with you every time you fly until your companion pass expires Every time you fly.

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<v Speaker 1>Now in my family, my mom and I can't remember who heard about this Southwest companion pass first, but we both decided to earn one for the first time the same year.

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<v Speaker 1>It did feel too good to be true, because this was 2015 and I didn't know anyone in real life that was as into points as I was starting to be.

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<v Speaker 1>But after nine years of holding a companion pass, I can assure you this isn't too good to be true.

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<v Speaker 1>It's real.

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<v Speaker 1>I can also tell you that over the past nine years, we've seen a variety of changes to earning a companion pass come to fruition, but it's one of the rare aspects of TravelPoints that has actually generally become easier to earn.

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<v Speaker 1>Just a warning here this episode is longer than normal.

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<v Speaker 1>I debated splitting this up, but I wanted to keep this section of it together.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me just start by saying I just released a whole module in my free course called Southwest Companion Pass Boot Camp and it goes into all of these details.

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<v Speaker 1>That is your best reference to refer back to and I highly highly recommend you check the show notes for that link and sign up.

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<v Speaker 1>It's free.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also go to learnkatiestraveltrickscom to sign up.

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<v Speaker 1>Go to learnkatiestraveltrickscom to sign up.

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<v Speaker 1>If you listened to the end of season one of the podcast, you know I'm currently under some very frustrating restrictions where I'm not allowed to say card names from a certain bank and this bank is the one that issues the cards that help you earn a companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>So this means for the 100% clear info you will need to go to my blog or my free course.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's start with the companion pass basics.

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<v Speaker 1>To earn a Southwest companion pass, you need to earn 135,000 Southwest rapid rewards points in a calendar year.

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<v Speaker 1>If you do that, besides all those points you just got, you will also earn a Southwest companionion Pass.

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<v Speaker 1>Once you earn that Companion Pass, for the rest of that calendar year and the next calendar year, you can name a person who will fly with you anytime you fly and pay only about $5 in fees each way.

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<v Speaker 1>First I want to break down this overall concept and then we'll jump into strategy.

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<v Speaker 1>The first part is that you have to earn 135,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points.

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<v Speaker 1>It's important to note that some earned points count towards this companion pass and some don't.

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<v Speaker 1>Southwest actually has fine print on their site that shows you if points are companion pass qualifying or not.

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<v Speaker 1>Points earned by flying on Southwest count.

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<v Speaker 1>Most people don't earn too many of these, though, unless you are a business traveler.

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<v Speaker 1>Points earned from credit card spending do count if they are cards that earn Southwest points directly, and now it is these Southwest credit cards, and specifically their welcome offers, that are hands down the easiest way to earn points to help you qualify for the companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what we're going to focus the strategy on Now.

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<v Speaker 1>There are some other points you can earn, too.

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<v Speaker 1>That will help you a tiny bit, but not much.

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<v Speaker 1>If you want all the details, you can find that in my free course or in my blog post guide, but it is important to note that not all rapid rewards points you earn will count towards a companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>This includes points transferred from other bank points, specifically the ones I covered in season one that I'm not anymore allowed to name.

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<v Speaker 1>So those ones, if you transfer them to Southwest, don't count towards your companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>Points converted from hotel or car loyalty programs don't count either and purchase points don't count.

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<v Speaker 1>So you have to earn the 135,000 points, but you also have to earn them in a calendar year.

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<v Speaker 1>A calendar year means January 1st to December 31st of any given year.

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<v Speaker 1>Timing is crucial when it comes to the companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>Again, you have to earn those 135,000 points in a calendar year, so between January 31st and December 31st in order to earn your companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>When you log into Southwest's website, you'll see your companion pass tracker on your account page.

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<v Speaker 1>This resets on January 1st each year.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you earn 75,000 points in December and 75,000 points one month later, in January, you'll have a lot of points but you won't have a companion pass because you didn't earn 135,000 in the same calendar year.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm frequently asked if you have to exchange your points for a companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>The good news is that you get both.

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<v Speaker 1>You have your points and you also earn the companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>The good news is that you get both.

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<v Speaker 1>You have your points and you also earn the companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, the expiration date of your companion pass is also a little confusing at first, but this ties into why the timing of when you earn it can make such a big difference.

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<v Speaker 1>When you earn a companion pass, it is not for a fixed amount of time.

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<v Speaker 1>It varies based on when you earn it.

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<v Speaker 1>As soon as you've earned your required points, you will get a companion pass for the rest of that calendar year plus the next calendar year.

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<v Speaker 1>Earning it early in the year will give you the most time with your companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>If you earn the companion pass on January 31st, you will have it for the rest of that year and the whole next year, so almost 23 months.

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<v Speaker 1>It will expire on December 31st.

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<v Speaker 1>A companion pass always expires on December 31st, unless it's a promotional version.

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<v Speaker 1>If you earn a companion pass in December 2024, you will earn it for the rest of 2024, which is only one month, and then the whole next year, which is all of 2025.

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<v Speaker 1>But that means you'll only have it for 13 months.

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<v Speaker 1>For maximum value, you want to try to earn it as early in the year as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll teach you how in this podcast episode.

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<v Speaker 1>Like I said before, this isn't a one-time companion ticket like other airlines, like Delta or Alaska, offer with their credit cards.

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<v Speaker 1>This is a companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>You will designate a person as your companion and they can book a ticket for free anytime you're flying.

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<v Speaker 1>They can only fly for free if you are flying.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also, though, change your companion three times per year.

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<v Speaker 1>After the third change, it will be locked onto that last companion.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we generally say they will fly free, but it's important to note that your companion flies free, but will have to pay government taxes and fees.

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<v Speaker 1>Within the United States, this is just $5.60 each way.

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<v Speaker 1>If you fly to Mexico, the Caribbean or Central America, the international taxes will be higher.

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<v Speaker 1>They are often around $100 round trip.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's the basic background information of what you need to know.

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<v Speaker 1>In order to earn a companion pass, you'll have to earn 135,000 points in a calendar year.

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<v Speaker 1>You'll want to consider timing and try to earn it as early as possible in a year so that you can have it the longest.

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<v Speaker 1>Try to earn it as early as possible in a year so that you can have it the longest.

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<v Speaker 1>And the crazy thing is that earning those 135,000 points and your companion pass is as easy as opening two credit cards and timing when you earn your welcome bonus.

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<v Speaker 1>It didn't used to be that easy.

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<v Speaker 1>It used to be that two credit card welcome offers would get you most of the way there, but not quite, and then you'd have to top it off.

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<v Speaker 1>So you're earning a companion pass in a good year, that's for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, as I switch here to discussing specific strategies for earning a companion pass, I want to mention that I'm assuming in these strategies that you'll be wanting to earn a companion pass again in 24 months, so these strategies will all set you up for earning it perpetually.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, terms and conditions could change in 24 months, but from what we currently know, these are the strategy options.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to break down three main paths that you can take for your Southwest Companion Pass strategy.

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<v Speaker 1>They have a lot in common, but they have a few differences.

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<v Speaker 1>The first is a traditional two-card method to get a Companion Pass.

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<v Speaker 1>This is what you'll find taught on most websites and social media channels.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to walk through this one first, because everyone should really understand the basics of this baseline strategy before you start getting fancy.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to talk about specific cards here, because this is a little bit of a choose your own adventure situation.

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<v Speaker 1>There are two business cards and three personal cards that can help you earn a companion pass with this method, and you're just going to be pairing two of them up in order to earn your 135,000 points.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, offers on the business cards are pretty standard, but the offers on the personal cards fluctuate a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>The most important thing to understand here is that you can only hold one of the personal cards at a time, so if you already have one, you'll need to cancel it before applying again for a new welcome offer on a personal card.

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<v Speaker 1>There's also one more stipulation If you've gotten a welcome offer on any of the personal cards in the past 24 months, you can't apply for another one.

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<v Speaker 1>You have to wait until it's been 24 months since your bonus was awarded and also not be a current cardholder of a personal card.

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<v Speaker 1>Again, if you have any of the personal cards, you will need to cancel them before applying again.

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<v Speaker 1>I have linked in the show notes a flowchart that you can use to confirm your eligibility Now for all of these, you'll also need to be under 524.

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<v Speaker 1>If you don't know what 524 means.

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<v Speaker 1>You need to go back and listen to Season 1, episode 5, which is required listening if you want to continue on with travel points.

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<v Speaker 1>There isn't a right or wrong card combo with this traditional two-card method to earning a companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>But since you can only open one personal card total, your options are personal card plus a business card or both business cards.

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<v Speaker 1>The business cards generally have two different offers.

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<v Speaker 1>One usually offers 60,000 points and there's one that has a higher annual fee and offers 80,000 points.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you want to open a personal card and a business card, it just depends on the current personal offers as to which business card you then need to pair it with to earn 135,000 points.

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<v Speaker 1>But we've come to our first caveat, and it's good news.

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<v Speaker 1>When you hold any of these cards, you'll get 10,000 points added to your Southwest Companion Pass tracker each year by January 31st.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, these 10,000 points aren't points that you can redeem, they just give you a little boost towards earning your Companion Pass.

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<v Speaker 1>This means technically, you only have to earn 125,000 points, so you can be sure to calculate that.

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<v Speaker 1>And when you're calculating which offers to open to earn your 125,000 points, don't forget that you will earn at least one point per dollar spent as well.

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<v Speaker 1>So you'll end up with more than just your welcome offers.

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<v Speaker 1>I have linked in the show notes a blog post that I keep up to date on card combos to earn the companion pass based on current offers, so you can be sure to read that one too.

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<v Speaker 1>So on one level, that's fairly straightforward, right?

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<v Speaker 1>You're going to pick two cards where the welcome bonuses plus spending gives you at least 125,000 points.

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<v Speaker 1>At the most, you can pick one personal card, even though there are technically three to choose from.

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<v Speaker 1>That means you need to open one business card.

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<v Speaker 1>If you aren't sure if you qualify for a business card spoiler alert you probably do.

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<v Speaker 1>Review season one, episode 16, for a full walkthrough of this.

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<v Speaker 1>Most people understand fairly quickly that they need to open two cards to get a companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>But what trips people up every year is the timing of when to open the cards and when to earn the bonuses timing of when to open the cards and when to earn the bonuses.

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<v Speaker 1>To do this, to figure this out, we have to work backwards, since we want our points to be earned as early in the year as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>To absolutely maximize this, we'd want to earn them in January.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, to be clear, this timeline I'm walking through is to absolutely maximize this.

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<v Speaker 1>If you'd rather keep it easy, because you're a normal person who doesn't wanna worry about messing this up, you should just wait until January 1st and apply for two cards and earn your bonuses.

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<v Speaker 1>You'll earn your companion pass probably in March or sooner if you meet the spend sooner and you won't have any stress.

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<v Speaker 1>But for the maximizers who are listening, let's say you want to earn a companion pass in January.

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<v Speaker 1>That means you'll want to hit your bonus spending before your January statement closes.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually, let me take a minute to define what it means when I say statement close date, because this is one of those terms that many people aren't familiar with.

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<v Speaker 1>I think most people understand what your payment due date is for your credit card because that's pretty clear on the bank website or on the monthly statement.

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<v Speaker 1>Statement close date is different than payment due date.

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<v Speaker 1>It's literally just the day the bank issues your monthly statement to you.

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<v Speaker 1>For a checking account, your statement generally follows a calendar month, so you'll get a statement that shows all of your activity from January 1st to January 31st, and January 31st is the close date, because any activity that starts on February 1st will go on to your next statement.

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<v Speaker 1>Credit cards do not follow calendar months for when the statement is issued.

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<v Speaker 1>So you might get a credit card statement on the 15th of every month and it shows you December 15th to January 14th, and then any activity after January 15th will show on your next statement.

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<v Speaker 1>So statement close date just means the date your statement is issued to you.

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<v Speaker 1>The statement close date is a really important date when it comes to earning your companion pass.

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<v Speaker 1>That's because this bank issues your Southwest points to you whenever your statement closes after you've done your required spending, for the bonus Points don't get issued between statements.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's say your statement closes on the 15th of every month.

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<v Speaker 1>The close date, by the way, is changeable.

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<v Speaker 1>In the free course I have a whole lesson on how to change it for your Southwest Companion Pass.

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<v Speaker 1>So if your statement closes on January 15th, that means you'll want to have completed the spending on both of your Southwest cards before January 15th so that your bonus will be earned when that January 15th statement closes.

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<v Speaker 1>But remember how you have to earn all of your points in a calendar year.

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<v Speaker 1>This means you absolutely cannot earn your bonus in December.

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<v Speaker 1>So you have to be extremely careful that you don't get close to your required spending before your December statement closes.

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<v Speaker 1>In this example, we're saying it would be December 15th, but you're going to have to check your own statements it could be December 2nd or December 31st.

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<v Speaker 1>I recommend you don't even get to within $750 of your minimum spend requirements, because we've seen people had points awarded early when they were within $500 of their spending requirements.

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<v Speaker 1>It's also important to mention that sometimes if you make a purchase and then return it, that purchase amount will still count towards the minimum spend and the return won't get deducted from it.

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<v Speaker 1>You have to be meticulous with your accounting if you're trying to maximize this.

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<v Speaker 1>Again.

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<v Speaker 1>If you don't want to be meticulous, just wait till January 1st to apply, all right.

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<v Speaker 1>So those are my disclaimers.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's get back to the timeline.

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<v Speaker 1>You want to earn a companion pass in January, so we're going to count back three months, which puts the earliest you can apply for the cards as October.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we counted back three months because these cards give you three months to complete the minimum spend requirements.

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<v Speaker 1>So October and usually I say about mid-October is the earliest you'd want to apply.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes, like right now, there are elevated offers on the personal cards that are ending in mid to early October and you can take advantage of these if you are willing to be meticulous with your accounting.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're opening a card closer to October 1st, you will absolutely need to be tracking your statement close date, because you cannot come within $750 of your minimum spend requirement before your December statement closes.

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<v Speaker 1>But you'll also have to be closely tracking when your 90 days are up, when you have to have your spending done by.

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<v Speaker 1>So figure out what the date is that you need to complete your spending.

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<v Speaker 1>That will give you a window where you have to wait and hold back and then all of a sudden, you have to rush and hold back and then all of a sudden, you have to rush to complete it.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, the order of opening cards and the spacing of opening them isn't particularly important.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just the timing of when your bonuses post.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people open two cards on the same day.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people space them out by 30 days.

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<v Speaker 1>The only truly important factor with spacing the cards is, if you happen to be at 424, you absolutely need to open the business card first, so that you will still be under 524 when it's time to open the personal card.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, so that's the overview of the traditional method.

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<v Speaker 1>You're going to open two cards total.

00:19:32.057 --> 00:19:37.750
<v Speaker 1>The combo is up to you whether you do a personal plus a business card or two business cards.

00:19:37.750 --> 00:19:41.779
<v Speaker 1>The earliest you can open them is early October.

00:19:41.779 --> 00:19:47.699
<v Speaker 1>If you choose to open them in early October, you need to be meticulous in your accounting.

00:19:47.699 --> 00:19:54.378
<v Speaker 1>You cannot get within $750 of your minimum spend before your December statements close.

00:19:54.378 --> 00:20:04.165
<v Speaker 1>You also have to finish all of your spending between when your December statement closes and the 90-day mark after you open your cards.

00:20:04.165 --> 00:20:10.122
<v Speaker 1>Or again, just keep it easy and open your two cards after January 1st and don't fuss about dates.

00:20:10.122 --> 00:20:12.066
<v Speaker 1>That's the traditional method.

00:20:12.066 --> 00:20:19.836
<v Speaker 1>And again, I have a detailed, up-to-date guide on my blog about the current offers and how you can use them to earn a companion pass.

00:20:19.836 --> 00:20:28.006
<v Speaker 1>Check out those timelines in the show notes, because it's way easier for me to change a blog post when offers change than a podcast episode.

00:20:28.006 --> 00:20:32.819
<v Speaker 1>If you're on my newsletter list, you'll also be notified as these offers change.

00:20:33.500 --> 00:20:38.513
<v Speaker 1>If you're in a two-player household and you want to earn one Southwest companion pass at a time, you'll just do this traditional household.

00:20:38.513 --> 00:20:44.988
<v Speaker 1>And you want to earn one Southwest Companion Pass at a time, you'll just do this traditional method and you'll just flip-flop who is the one earning the Companion Pass.

00:20:44.988 --> 00:20:46.601
<v Speaker 1>This is what my parents do.

00:20:46.601 --> 00:20:52.788
<v Speaker 1>The very first time you're earning a Companion Pass, I'd ask that you use my affiliate links to open those credit cards.

00:20:52.788 --> 00:21:14.624
<v Speaker 1>It costs you $0 and helps me keep all my guides, courses and resources free, but after that you'll be able to refer back and forth in your household because these cards are pretty unique and offer family referrals, so you can actually refer from any of the Southwest cards personal or business to any of the Southwest cards, personal or business.

00:21:14.624 --> 00:21:23.758
<v Speaker 1>Now, if you are in a single player household but want to earn a Southwest companion pass perpetually, you'll need to have a slight modification.

00:21:23.758 --> 00:21:32.663
<v Speaker 1>I've detailed these modifications in that Southwest companion pass bootcamp module of my free course, but I'm going to give the highlights here as well.

00:21:32.663 --> 00:21:38.567
<v Speaker 1>Keep in mind that this is somewhat of an educated guess based on the offers we've seen for the past three years.

00:21:38.567 --> 00:21:42.704
<v Speaker 1>These offers could change, which means this strategy might change.

00:21:43.675 --> 00:21:50.669
<v Speaker 1>The exact timing on when you're eligible to earn a bonus on a Southwest card again is what makes this specific strategy different.

00:21:50.669 --> 00:22:01.104
<v Speaker 1>As I said before, as of now all of the Southwest cards require you to wait 24 months after you've earned the welcome bonus before you could apply for them again.

00:22:01.104 --> 00:22:10.273
<v Speaker 1>Let's say you apply for a personal card in October 2024, and then you earn the welcome bonus on January 15th 2025.

00:22:10.273 --> 00:22:20.478
<v Speaker 1>If you want to apply for another Southwest personal card, you're going to have to wait until January 16th two years later, so in 2027, to be able to apply.

00:22:20.478 --> 00:22:22.571
<v Speaker 1>That means in one-player mode.

00:22:22.571 --> 00:22:30.817
<v Speaker 1>Over time, your application date would keep getting pushed back further and further out of the more ideal timing of earning a companion pass early in the year.

00:22:31.424 --> 00:22:43.394
<v Speaker 1>If you're in a two player household and you flip flop who opens the cards for the companion pass, this doesn't matter, because each individual will only be applying for a set of Southwest cards about every 45 months.

00:22:43.394 --> 00:22:47.035
<v Speaker 1>But in a single player household you need a different strategy.

00:22:47.035 --> 00:22:51.974
<v Speaker 1>This is also true in a household where only one person can open business cards.

00:22:51.974 --> 00:23:04.234
<v Speaker 1>If this is you, what I recommend for setting yourself up for perpetual companion pass in one player mode is for that person to focus first on opening both business cards.

00:23:04.234 --> 00:23:07.520
<v Speaker 1>You're going to follow the traditional method, but you don't get to choose your own adventure.

00:23:07.520 --> 00:23:09.057
<v Speaker 1>You're going to follow the traditional method, but you don't get to choose your own adventure.

00:23:09.057 --> 00:23:11.619
<v Speaker 1>You just have to open both business cards.

00:23:12.099 --> 00:23:25.759
<v Speaker 1>Like with all the plans, it is essential that the card bonuses don't post until January, as your companion pass is coming close to expiring after the almost two years you're actually going to wait and let it expire.

00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:32.440
<v Speaker 1>You won't be eligible for any of the business card offers until 24 months have passed since you earned your bonus.

00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:35.288
<v Speaker 1>So you will have some dead time here.

00:23:35.288 --> 00:23:41.530
<v Speaker 1>But here's what I recommend you will still be eligible for a personal card, but you're going to wait.

00:23:41.530 --> 00:23:51.857
<v Speaker 1>For the past three years at least, the personal cards have run a unique promotional offer that seems to be starting in mid to late January or early February.

00:23:51.857 --> 00:24:02.392
<v Speaker 1>This offer has been that you earn a shortened promotional companion pass, which is typically good through the following February and a certain number of points.

00:24:02.392 --> 00:24:04.512
<v Speaker 1>Usually it's been about 30,000 points.

00:24:04.512 --> 00:24:14.767
<v Speaker 1>Assuming this offer keeps returning at this time, you can open this personal card and get this offer to earn a one-year promotional companion pass.

00:24:14.767 --> 00:24:21.750
<v Speaker 1>Then, when the next fall rolls around and it's about to expire, you'll be back to being eligible for the business cards again.

00:24:21.750 --> 00:24:28.615
<v Speaker 1>So that means you'll just start back up with the two business card method no earlier than October 15th.

00:24:28.615 --> 00:24:35.349
<v Speaker 1>Again, I have a timeline for this in my companion pass bootcamp module of the free course so you can see it spelled out.

00:24:35.349 --> 00:24:44.913
<v Speaker 1>But that's one way to keep earning it perpetually in one player mode by strategizing with the offers we've seen, and that helps you minimize their downtime.

00:24:44.913 --> 00:25:00.211
<v Speaker 1>Without it, if that promotional companion pass, that one year offer, doesn't materialize in two years you'd still have the option to get the personal card with a standard bonus and then just wait till it's been 24 months since you earned one of the business card bonuses.

00:25:00.211 --> 00:25:02.760
<v Speaker 1>You'd cancel that business card and then reapply.

00:25:02.760 --> 00:25:07.951
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so that's the traditional method and then also the modifications for one player mode.

00:25:08.412 --> 00:25:22.109
<v Speaker 1>There is also a very specific method I recommend for families who want to earn two companion passes at a time, because if you're trying to earn two companion passes, you don't need to just do the traditional method times two.

00:25:22.109 --> 00:25:30.067
<v Speaker 1>There's actually a way to leverage referral bonuses and open a total of three cards to earn two passes.

00:25:30.067 --> 00:25:37.387
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to tell you right now that the three card, two pass method is going to require some mental focus.

00:25:37.387 --> 00:25:51.075
<v Speaker 1>It's not hard per se, but it is hard for me to create a definitive podcast episode on this, because it has some choose your own adventure aspects when it comes to that and current offers.

00:25:51.075 --> 00:26:05.352
<v Speaker 1>But the good news is is that I do have a detailed lesson in the bootcamp module and a YouTube video, and I go into the details of current strategy based on current offers in my Southwest timeline blog post.

00:26:05.352 --> 00:26:15.665
<v Speaker 1>So I'm going to cover more of the general principles of this strategy here in this episode and then I'm going to require you to research current offers on your own.

00:26:15.665 --> 00:26:25.815
<v Speaker 1>Yes, you're going to use a little bit of brainpower here on this one, but you're earning two companion passes with only three cards, so I promise you can do it.

00:26:26.316 --> 00:26:43.955
<v Speaker 1>The key difference with the two pass method is that the first person is going to earn his or her companion pass by opening just one card with a welcome offer of 80,000 points or higher, and then get the rest of his or her points by referring the second person to two cards.

00:26:43.955 --> 00:26:54.009
<v Speaker 1>The referral points per card had been at 20,000 points for a while and currently is at 25,000 points per card, though we don't know if that's just a promotional rate or what it will stick at.

00:26:54.009 --> 00:26:59.128
<v Speaker 1>It used to be 10,000 points, so it's currently way better than it used to be.

00:26:59.128 --> 00:27:04.188
<v Speaker 1>As long as the referral points are 20,000 points per card, this strategy works.

00:27:04.188 --> 00:27:14.161
<v Speaker 1>The reason this works for player one is that they will earn 80,000 points plus typically 5,000 points for the spending, so that's 85,000 points.

00:27:14.161 --> 00:27:25.929
<v Speaker 1>If they then earn two 20,000 point referrals, they now have 40,000 referral points, so 80 plus 5 plus 40 is 125,000 points they've earned.

00:27:25.929 --> 00:27:37.636
<v Speaker 1>They will also get their 10,000 point boost on their tracker for holding a Southwest card, so that will all add up to 135,000 points and a companion pass.

00:27:37.636 --> 00:27:47.337
<v Speaker 1>That's what player one does in the three card two pass method and then in this scenario the player two is just essentially following the two-card method.

00:27:47.337 --> 00:27:52.017
<v Speaker 1>I think that shell of a plan should make sense if you've been tracking with this episode.

00:27:52.705 --> 00:27:56.696
<v Speaker 1>Here are the important nuances of this three-card two-pass method.

00:27:56.696 --> 00:27:58.811
<v Speaker 1>First of all, timing.

00:27:58.811 --> 00:28:11.880
<v Speaker 1>Player 1 needs to not only make sure they earn their welcome bonus in January or later, but also that those referral points from referring player two don't post until January at the earliest.

00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:17.914
<v Speaker 1>That means the earliest possible date to refer would be after their December statement closes.

00:28:17.914 --> 00:28:28.227
<v Speaker 1>Second of all, if you want to do this perpetually, you have to give some thought to which card everyone is opening and how the 24-month rules will restrict you in the future.

00:28:29.009 --> 00:28:35.368
<v Speaker 1>There is a business card that has an 80,000 point offer and that's the card I typically recommend that player one starts with.

00:28:35.368 --> 00:28:41.327
<v Speaker 1>But, as I record, there is also an 85,000 point offer on the personal cards, which ends soon.

00:28:41.327 --> 00:28:44.315
<v Speaker 1>This would also be a good way to start this method.

00:28:44.315 --> 00:28:52.551
<v Speaker 1>Whatever card player one starts with, they won't be able to get again for more than 24 months, so they will just need to keep that in mind.

00:28:52.551 --> 00:28:55.611
<v Speaker 1>The cards player two picks matter too.

00:28:55.611 --> 00:28:58.758
<v Speaker 1>If you're concerned with peak efficiency for timeline.

00:28:58.758 --> 00:29:07.753
<v Speaker 1>Ideally player two would open the 60,000 point business offer plus an elevated personal offer, if such an offer exists, in December.

00:29:07.753 --> 00:29:14.097
<v Speaker 1>That's because in two years player two will likely want to open the 80,000 point business card.

00:29:14.097 --> 00:29:18.457
<v Speaker 1>So ideally that person wants to save that one for down the road.

00:29:18.457 --> 00:29:19.220
<v Speaker 1>Again.

00:29:19.220 --> 00:29:28.708
<v Speaker 1>It's impossible to really predict offers in the future, so all of this long-term planning is based on my educated guesses based on previous historic offers.

00:29:29.349 --> 00:29:31.477
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for sticking with me in this episode.

00:29:31.477 --> 00:29:35.429
<v Speaker 1>I know it's long, but I wanted to keep it all in one episode.

00:29:35.429 --> 00:29:55.171
<v Speaker 1>I want to mention one more nuance and then I'll move on to action steps I mentioned in the modifications for one-player mode that we have seen an offer on the personal cards appear in late January the past few years sometimes mid-January that offers a promotional companion pass that's good for about a year plus 30,000 points.

00:29:55.171 --> 00:30:01.134
<v Speaker 1>This is a decent offer for a quick companion pass, but it won't give you as many points, which is why I don't prefer it.

00:30:01.134 --> 00:30:08.957
<v Speaker 1>And it's important to note that if you're doing any of these methods that rely on you getting two cards, this offer can really mess you up.

00:30:08.957 --> 00:30:18.002
<v Speaker 1>That's because typically you need more than 30,000 points of earning to top off your earning and get the full 135,000 points on your tracker.

00:30:18.002 --> 00:30:25.816
<v Speaker 1>Because of that, I recommend that, whatever timeline you're following, that you aim to open your personal card no later than January 5th.

00:30:25.816 --> 00:30:33.557
<v Speaker 1>We've never seen the offer switch over that early and that way you know you have an offer that works for the two-card or the three-card method.

00:30:34.286 --> 00:30:35.951
<v Speaker 1>Let's talk action steps now.

00:30:35.951 --> 00:30:42.896
<v Speaker 1>If you're planning to earn a companion pass, first you should confirm your eligibility for both the business and the personal cards.

00:30:42.896 --> 00:30:46.752
<v Speaker 1>I have a flowchart linked in the show notes that will help you walk through that.

00:30:46.752 --> 00:30:50.281
<v Speaker 1>Next you need to pick one of these three methods to follow.

00:30:50.281 --> 00:30:57.317
<v Speaker 1>You'll either be following the traditional two-card method, single-player mode or three-card two-pass method?

00:30:58.405 --> 00:31:03.657
<v Speaker 1>Sign up for my free course and, at the very least, review the lesson on the method you've picked.

00:31:03.657 --> 00:31:05.953
<v Speaker 1>You want to get this right.

00:31:05.953 --> 00:31:12.875
<v Speaker 1>It's worth devoting an extra hour of your time to sitting down and making sure you really understand this.

00:31:12.875 --> 00:31:23.492
<v Speaker 1>Last, go to the timeline page on my blog to check current offers for Southwest and decide which offers you will pursue and on what date you wish to apply.

00:31:23.492 --> 00:31:28.165
<v Speaker 1>Set up reminders for yourself on your calendar for the application date.

00:31:28.165 --> 00:31:33.397
<v Speaker 1>Then count 90 days and mark it very clearly when you have to complete your spending buy.

00:31:33.397 --> 00:31:41.691
<v Speaker 1>In the next few episodes, I will be discussing more on how to maximize Southwest points, so you'll want to follow along for those as well.

00:31:41.691 --> 00:31:44.458
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for spending time with me today.

00:31:44.458 --> 00:31:49.817
<v Speaker 1>I look forward to seeing you next time, where we will continue to unlock these secrets of travel points together.