# Great time to go for the Southwest Airlines companion pass!



## akp (Feb 28, 2013)

The bonus offer on each of the four Southwest Airlines Visa cards issued by Chase (Rapid Rewards Premier, Rapid Rewards Premier Business, Rapid Rewards Plus, Rapid Rewards Plus Business) is up to 50,000 bonus points after $2000 spend in the first 3 months.

(The 50,000 offer comes and goes.)

If you're a frequent Southwest flyer, this is a perfect opportunity to go for the Companion Pass.  

If you are able to get one personal and one business Southwest card, you will earn 104,000 points (100k in bonuses, 4k for the spend required to unlock the bonuses.)

After earning only 6000 more points (by spending $6000, or by earning them shopping at the Southwest online shopping portal), you'll have the 110,000 required to earn the companion pass, and you'll keep the companion pass for all of 2013 and 2014.

The companion pass is good on paid flights AND flights purchased with points.  So you'd have 110k points to burn AND have be able to take your designated companion with you for free.  (plus $2.50 per segment.)

If you have one version of the personal card already, word on the street is that you won't get the bonus for the other version.  I have not tried it personally so I can't report.

I'm not a candidate for this because we only fly southwest once a year these days, but if you're a big Southwest flyer, give it a go.

Note that generally Chase doesn't approve two PERSONAL applications at the same time, but one business and one personal is not a problem.  If you're not approved immediately, give them a call for reconsideration.

Anita


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## Egret1986 (Mar 1, 2013)

*Great heads-up!*

Thanks!  Sounds great!


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## rickandcindy23 (Mar 1, 2013)

Wow!  I think I will do it.  I have the Capital One Venture Card and love it for the 2% cash back, but we don't need to travel to get that cash back.  

We love Southwest and get great deals, especially when we fly on weekdays.


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## akp (Mar 1, 2013)

Hi, Cindy,

The Cap One card is a great one for everyday spend.

If you get the Southwest ones, just spend enough on them to unlock the bonus, then put them away and go back to using the Cap One.  The Southwest cards are ones I suggest you get for the bonus, not to actually use 

Anita


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## feckman (Mar 1, 2013)

Outstanding - thanks for posting.  I'm already a Chase Southwest premier cardholder which I use for my small business.  We've had this card for a couple years and we have no problem earning the Companion Pass every year.  It's a fantastic program that allows us to travel very frequently.  It'll be even better if/when Southwest adds Hawaii to their destinations!

I just applied for a business account and was approved right away.  50K more points is a great bonus.  That said, the OP mentioned possible issues getting the bonus points by trying to get two different versions of the personal card.  I didn't see any restrictions on getting them with one personal card and one business card, but now I'm worried that I may have issues.

Does anyone know if this may be a problem or if we should be okay with the two cards?

Many thanks!


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## akp (Mar 1, 2013)

feckman said:


> Outstanding - thanks for posting.  I'm already a Chase Southwest premier cardholder which I use for my small business.  We've had this card for a couple years and we have no problem earning the Companion Pass every year.  It's a fantastic program that allows us to travel very frequently.  It'll be even better if/when Southwest adds Hawaii to their destinations!
> 
> I just applied for a business account and was approved right away.  50K more points is a great bonus.  That said, the OP mentioned possible issues getting the bonus points by trying to get two different versions of the personal card.  I didn't see any restrictions on getting them with one personal card and one business card, but now I'm worried that I may have issues.
> 
> ...



You should have no trouble getting a bonus for a business card if you already hold the personal card.  

Anita


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## slomac (Mar 8, 2013)

What are the annual fees on these cards.  Do you have to pay the first year or is that waived?


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## akp (Mar 8, 2013)

The fees are not waived the first year.

The premier cards have a $99 annual fee, and the plus cards have a $69 annual fee.

Anita


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 17, 2013)

Southwest is offering the 50K miles again, and you can get these for both personal and business.


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## Dori (Jun 17, 2013)

This is killing me! We are staunch SW fliers, and drive from Toronto to Buffalo  to travel with them. Chase will not issue us a card beacuse we are Canadian. I have explained to them that we own a vacation home in Florida, have a bank account down there and spend 3-4 months during the winter.

Because we don't have a SSN, they won't approve us. 

Dori


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## khalil (Jun 30, 2013)

Because we don't have a SSN, they won't approve us. 

Dori[/QUOTE]

Hi

What does SSN stand for ?
Just curious to know.

Thanks


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## sjsharkie (Jun 30, 2013)

SSN = social security number

Ryan

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta


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## khalil (Jun 30, 2013)

sjsharkie said:


> SSN = social security number
> 
> Ryan
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta



Thank you for the info. Much appreciated.


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## Myxdvz (Jul 2, 2013)

Dori said:


> Because we don't have a SSN, they won't approve us.
> 
> Dori



Welcome to America!  SSN is what the banks use to pull up your credit history and assess your "credit risk".  No SSN, no credit history == HIGH risk.

In their mind, what's to stop you from racking up credit, and then going back to Canada -- where they have no authority or leverage to collect? 

If you're in the US, have SSN and a credit history to protect, it is very difficult to run from creditors without filing for bankruptcy or ruining your credit.  Ruined credit = no more credit cards, can't buy car, can't buy house  -- sometimes it may even affect job applications...  essentially you'll be living via cash/check/debit cards.


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## mlefferts (Jul 4, 2013)

Dori said:


> This is killing me! We are staunch SW fliers, and drive from Toronto to Buffalo  to travel with them. Chase will not issue us a card beacuse we are Canadian. I have explained to them that we own a vacation home in Florida, have a bank account down there and spend 3-4 months during the winter.
> 
> Because we don't have a SSN, they won't approve us.
> 
> Dori



 If you own a vacation home in fl, you could apply to be dual citizen and get a SSN. Not sure of how much of a hassle that would be, but might be worth it, and not just for the card.


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