Free Companion Travel for Almost 2 years?!?! Yes please!

Who out there wouldn't love to be able to fly domestically with your friend, significant other, or anyone else you designate as two for the price of one...  Well that's basically what you get with the Southwest Airlines companion pass.  In a day of airlines raising their prices almost hourly this type of deal cannot be passed up.  Better yet... you can use your frequent flyer miles with the companion pass as well.  I know that with having a baby soon that we will be traveling back to Illinois to visit my wife's family A LOT... getting 2 tickets for the price of one will make those travels a little easier and A LOT cheaper!

Now for the average person to get this perk it would take either 100 one way qualifying flights or 110,000 qualifying points within a calendar year (Jan 1st - Dec 31st).  Since I don't travel for my job and I'm not willing to spend $110,000 in a year how on earth can I get this companion pass?  Well... I've got 2 words for you Personal and Business...  credit cards that is.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards Personal Card

Both the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Personal Card and Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card offer 50,000 point bonuses and the $69 annual fee is not waived the first year...  The best part though... they both count towards the 110,000 qualifying points that you need in order to get the companion pass.  That means just from the two credit card sign up bonuses alone you will be over 90% of the way towards getting that companion pass!

You may be thinking... that's great Gary but I don't own a business so I can't get a business card.  Well... you would be wrong.  People have businesses for EVERYTHING... from blogging to buying and selling things on Ebay and Craigslist.  Have you ever done that?  Well...  then there you have it.  In reality applying for a business card is just the same as a personal card.  You just say you are a sole proprietor, put in your SSN instead of a tax ID and you are good to go.  Apply away!

So you got approved for the cards... now how do you get the bonuses and that most important companion pass?  Easy... all you have to do is spend $2,000 on each card within 3 months.  I don't know about you... but with the cost of gas, food, and everything else out there we can easily spend the $2,000 per card in 3 months.  

Here is the trick on how to MAXIMIZE your travel!  If you apply today you'll have until January 16th to complete the spend requirement.  Don't put all of that $2,000 spend on your cards right away.  Since the companion pass is based on getting 110,000 qualifying points in a calendar year (Jan 1st - Dec 31st) you'll want to put some spend on your cards in October, November, and December but wait to finish putting that final bit of $2,000 spend on the cards until AFTER the 1st of the year.  The reason you do this is because the 50K bonus points will then post in January (in a new calendar year) and the companion pass will be good for the remainder of that calendar year and ALL of the next year... Meaning most of 2013 and ALL of 2014...  So basically 2 years! 

After you finish putting the $2000 on each of the cards (in January) you will have 104,000 points... just a small 6,000 points from getting that companion pass.  If you happen to have extra points in another hotel program that can transfer to Southwest (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt) then you could simply transfer the points to Southwest and boom... you'll have that magical companion pass.  You can also transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt and then from Hyatt to Southwest.  Transferring points directly from Ultimate Rewards to Southwest will NOT count so going the other route is best.  If you don't have the points that's okay.  Just start using the cards as your every day card and before you can think about it you'll have that magical companion pass.  Imagine that... every time that you and your companion want to travel somewhere you'll only be paying for 1 ticket and $10 or less in taxes... now if that's not MAXIMIZING your spend and minimizing your cost than I don't know what is!