Awhile back I wrote about my husband’s uncle applying for two Southwest cards in order to get a Companion Pass. Everything was set and on track. Well, just last week he called me with the bad news. Apparently, he accidentally met the minimum spending on one of the cards in December of 2015 instead of January 2016. Why does it matter? You have to earn 110,000 points in one calendar year, so he missed out on this amazing perk. Check my post and relevant links to find out more on Companion Pass and why it’s such an amazing deal for family.
He was so distraught over it and said he even saw a blog post on this very topic with a stock photo image. The guy was screaming and holding his head. He said he could identify because that’s exactly how he felt when he found out about the goof.
Me: Was the stock photo model black or white?
Him: White. Why?
Me: No reason.
Those darn photo stock images I always poke fun at! Say what you like, but they sure seem to resonate with people. To be clear, I’m not making fun of bloggers who use them. To me, this hobby is a study in absurdity. My blog is a study in absurdity. I mean, a stay-at-home mom teaching others about frequent flyer miles? This is a bizarre world that will mess with your head, a parallel universe of sorts. And most of you haven’t even been around when well-to-do white-collar professionals were dumpster diving for Wendy’s cups. Nope, no joke. I wish there was a stock photo image for that!
Anyway, the good news is, my relative can try to apply for another personal Southwest card version later this year. They don’t plan to fly till the end of 2016 so it won’t really matter whether he gets Companion Pass now or a bit later.
This is a good time for you to consider it as well. Check out this question from one of my readers:
“My wife was just accepted for the Southwest Premier card from Chase. She has had 3-4 new cards this past year. We are really trying to get her the Southwest Companion Pass so that she can take one of our children with her when she goes to see her mother 3-4 times a year. (Context: Her mother’s husband recently died, so we want her to be with her mother rather frequently.) Should she apply for the Southwest Business Premier card? She is self-employed out of the home, so I don’t even know if that counts as a business (for business CC purposes).”
I definitely think applying for business version of the card is the best and easiest strategy for this person. There are no guarantees, of course, but you’ll never know unless you try. If the application goes to pending, my recommendation is to just wait it out. As I’ve mentioned several times lately, Chase is becoming very strict with approvals. Calling and speaking to a CSR doesn’t usually help and in fact, seems to do the opposite.
Right now, all three versions of Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa come with 50,000 points sign-up bonus. You can find working links in this Flyertalk thread. As far as I know, the Plus version requires a referral and there is a dedicated thread where folks will be more than happy to send you one. If you are looking to apply for Premier version (comes with $99 annual fee), I can send you my relative’s referral link. I don’t get any kickback from it, but if you don’t care who gets commission, shoot me an email or leave a comment.
A nice thing about going after Companion Pass right now is that you don’t have to worry about timing issues and feeling this way:
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
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