Southwest Companion Pass Prep

Now that we are getting close to the new year, you are probably starting to think about how you can earn a Southwest companion pass for the next two years. This is one of the best deals out there. If you can collect 110,000 Southwest miles in a calendar year, you earn a companion pass. That means anytime you fly, you can take a person with you for FREE. And the pass is good for the year you earn it and the next year. So if you earn it in January or February, that's almost 2 years of FREE companion travel.
I had the companion pass for the past 2 years and used it to fly my son to Washington DC to attend a family event with me, used it for my daughter and I to tour East Coast colleges and used it for a one day trip to San Francisco for my son and I. Great trips and saved us almost $1000 in air travel.
The easiest way to earn the companion pass is to apply for 2 Chase Southwest credit cards. They offer a personal and business card. You don't need a bona fide business to get the business card either.
If you are maxed out on Chase cards like me, you can buy a Marriott vacation package good for 110,000 Southwest points and a 7 day stay in a Marriott. It will cost you 270,000 Marriott points. You can earn these by opening a Starwood American Express card with a bonus of 25,000 points which you can transfer to Marriott for 1:3 or 75,000 points. So if you get the personal and business cards and spend the minimum spend for the bonus of $3,000, you will have 168,000 points. And if your spouse does the same thing, you will have enough points to purchase the vacation package.
If this is interesting to you, start now, but remember if the statement closes in 2016, those points post to this year and not 2017.