Answer To Reader's Question Re: Southwest

A friend told me the other day that she is 35,000 points short of earning a companion pass this year. She earned the first 50,000 points by opening a Southwest credit card and then the rest she earned through spend.
So she asked me what she should do.
Even though the end of the year is not the best time to earn a companion pass, she is so close that I thought she might want to go for it.
But she has to act quickly so the points post before the end of the year or she will be starting over in Jan.
When you earn the companion pass in January, it is good for the entire year you earn it and the following year. So you are essentially getting 2 years to use the pass.
If you earn it in December, you get it for the remaining time in the year you earn and the following year. So you are essentially getting it for 1 year and a few weeks.
But the flip side is that it is better to earn it for 1 year than no years.
So I advised her to open the second personal Southwest card (Southwest offers a premier and plus card). The cards have a 40,000 bonus with $1,000 spend.
OR she could open a small business Southwest card. The current offer is 50,000 points with $2,000 minimum spend.  Any small business qualifies you for the business card. So if you sell something on Etsy or Ebay or rent your house, you can qualify by using your social security number.
It's a good idea to separate business and personal expenses anyways.