Should You Apply For One Of The New Southwest Credit Cards?

 

Southwest has been making a lot of changes recently, no FREE checked bags, assigned seats and more. And the company just announced a refresh of its five co-branded credit cards. We will take a look at the changes, but the big news is that the refreshed personal credit cards carry a huge 100,000 bonus point offer, FREE checked bags, refundable flights and give you 5 months to spend the minimum $4,000. 

That's huge and gets you most of the way there for the best perk in the travel biz, the Southwest Companion Pass which is a BOGO on any flight anywhere Southwest flies for up to two years. Wow! 

So what's the difference between the five credit cards and which one is best for you? Let's take a look. 

Personal Credit Cards are Plus, Premier and Priority

Some of the differences between the cards include:

• 2x points on groceries or restaurants or gas stations
• Points earned on your anniversary date
• Seat selection 
• Upgrade option for more legroom 
• Qualifying points towards A List 
• Flight discount promo code 

All the cards include one FREE checked bag for you and up to 8 people on your reservation including your companion pass.  Which one is best for you? Depends on the benefits you will use and where you spend the most money, groceries, restaurants or gas stations. 

Southwest offers two business credit cards, one has a 60,000 bonus offer with a minimum spend of $3,000 and the other carries an 80,000 bonus offer with a minimum spend of $5,000. These are the regular offers and both cards only give you 3 months to meet the minimum spend. But in our travel coaching program, we show you how to use these cards to collect enough points to earn the Southwest Companion Pass. 

The business credit cards also underwent a refresh due to the changing rules at Southwest. Some of the differences between these two cards include:

• Preferred seat selection
• Upgrade option for more legroom
• Points earned on your anniversary date
• Flight discount promo code 
• Points earning power on gas stations, restaurants, hotels and flights 
• Global Entry $120 credit 
• Annual fee $149 vs $299 

Here's where it gets a bit tricky, you can hold only one personal Southwest credit card and you are only eligible for the bonus IF you have not earned a bonus in the past 24 months. Your eligibility date is the date that you earned the previous bonus NOT the date you were approved for the credit card. 

So if you earned the bonus on April 25th 2023, then you are not eligible to apply again until April 26th 2025. You can check your Southwest Airlines account points activity to determine your bonus date. 

You can hold both Southwest business credit cards at the same time, but the bonus eligibility rule is the same. Also the personal credit cards fall under the Chase 5/24 rule. 

Bottom line, the new 100,000 point bonus offer is fantastic! Lots of points, checked bags, makes every airline ticket refundable plus it gets you very close to the 135,000 points needed for the Southwest companion pass. Woohoo! 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Not ready to dive into the coaching program, download the ebook or custom tracker or book a 1:1 consulting call with me.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

 

Have You Applied Yet?

Now that summer is in full swing, you might have some fomo watching all your friends go on fab trips or you are enjoying your trip and already planning the next one. 

Either way, the new Chase Sapphire offers could help you make those vacations super affordable. We don't know when this latest offer will end so it's better not to wait. 

Chase announced three whopper deals on its Sapphire line of credit cards. We will detail these for you and help you decide if you should jump on any of these offers. We knew the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was undergoing a refresh and you can check the details here to see how you will be affected if you already hold the card. It's good! 

 

Now if you don't have a Chase Sapphire Credit Card yet or if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, there are some awesome new benefits on this card too plus a 75,000 bonus offer. Not as good as the 100,000 bonus offer that ended in May, but better than the regular 60,000 point offer. 

The new Reserve business credit card has a crazy high minimum spend of $30,000, but if you can swing it, the 200,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points bonus is outstanding. 

You can read here about why we love Chase Ultimate Reward points and their flexibility. 

Let's break down the offer on each card:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred - Bonus offer 75,000 points (valued at $750) with a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This is our all time favorite travel credit card. Annual fee of $95 and it comes with a $50 hotel credit when you book through the travel portal. You earn 3x points on dining, 3x on online grocery, 2x on travel, 5x on travel booked in the Chase Travel Portal and 1x on everything else. It also comes with a $120 DoorDash credit and points boost when you book in the Chase Travel Portal. 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve - Bonus offer 100,000 points (valued at $1,000) with a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This was our all time favorite premium travel credit card, but it now has an increased annual fee of $795. We still think it's a great deal, but you need to make certain that you will use the credits to make the high annual fee worth it. We detailed the credits and benefits of the new refreshed card here. 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Business - Bonus offer 200,000 points with a $30,000 minimum spend in six months. This is a brand new card and if your business can swing the spend, it's a great deal for you. You can squeeze as much as $4,000 value out of those 200,000 points. Plus annual credits on the Chase Travel Portal, DoorDash, Zip Recruiter, Edit Hotels, Google Workspace, Lyft and more. 

Another big change is the 48 month rule. You are now only eligible for a bonus on a Chase Sapphire card once in a lifetime. Chase will alert you when you apply if you are eligible or not. Even though you can technically hold two Sapphire cards at the same time now, you will not be eligible for a bonus if you already hold one.

And if you have had a Sapphire credit card before, but no longer hold the card, you can only apply for one you have never held before and get the bonus. It's similar to the Southwest credit card strategy with personal cards. Another option is to downgrade your Sapphire card to a non Sapphire and then apply for a Sapphire card you have never had before. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Not ready to dive into th coaching program, download the ebook or custom tracker or book a 1:1 consulting call with me.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Why You Should Book A Solar Eclipse Expedition Cruise Now

Seeing a Solar Eclipse is a bucket list item for sure. It only comes around a few times and is usually only visible from certain countries and even cities in the world. 

The last Solar Eclipse in April 2024 was visible from Mexico to New York and millions of people traveled to be in the path of the eclipse. The idea is to put yourself in the path of totality, a path in the center where you can experience the total eclipse. 

A Solar Eclipse is when the earth passes between the moon and the sun blocking the sun's light and casting a shadow on the earth. Totality is when the moon completely blocks the sun's light causing the sky to get dark.

I watched the Solar Eclipse 2023 from the middle of the Indian Ocean aboard the Coral Geographer small ship. It was spectacular! 

Leading up to the Solar Eclipse, University of Berkeley Professor Alex Filipenko lectured several times about how Solar Eclipse happen and why, what we could expect on the day of the eclipse and then we reflected afterwards about what we saw. Small ships tend to host an expert about the topic on board. 

The total solar eclipse itself lasted a few minutes so we had time to create shadows with a saltine cracker and a collander.   

And then afterwards, we all celebrated with a bottle of Corona, of course. 

The next total solar eclipse is expected to happen on August 12th 2026 and will be visible in Spain, Greenland, Russia, Iceland and a small portion of Portugal. I plan to be off the coast of Iceland on another small expedition ship. If you would like to  join me, let me know. 

You can plan travel to one of the countries in the path OR you can book a cruise. But you need to make these plans asap! 

The pro to a cruise is that the ship can change course if there is cloud cover or just to get the best view. 

If you want to book a Solar Eclipse 2026 cruise, you will need to make that reservation right away. There is still availability, but the ships are filling up quickly. 

Here are some of our small ship favorites:

Quark Expeditions -  is planning an Artic Solar Eclipse Cruise in 2026. There will be two experts on board the ship, the 199 passenger Ultramarine. The itinerary starts in Reykavik and visits Greenland National Park, the world's largest. There are only a few cabins left with a starting price of $16,095 per person so email me right away if this interests you. I can also include a $250 shipboard credit. 

Atlas Ocean Voyages - is offering two cruises, one in the Arctic sailing near Iceland and one in the Mediteranean sailing from Barcelona to Monte Carlo. Fares for the 7 day Mediterranean itinerary start from $5,499 per person and for the nine night Arctic cruise fares start at $8,899 per person. I can get you a $200 onboard ship credit. 

Windstar Cruises - will offer a 7 night itinerary around Iceland aboard a 312 passenger ship. The cruise will feature solar eclipse programming including guest lecturers. Fares start at $7173 per person. I can get you a $150 onboard ship credit. 

HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions) - is offering a 16 night expedition from Norway to Iceland. Prices start at $19,906 per person. I can get you a $100 onboard ship credit. 

Though I prefer the small expedition ships, there are some large ships that may offer more affordable solar eclipse cruises like Royal Caribbean or you can plan to stay on land in the eclipse path. I am a registered travel advisor, but my specialty is helping you use points and miles to make travel affordable. 

Contact me if you are interested and we can see what type of deal we can get you. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my new Ebook or custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Why You May Want To Book Refundable Hotels

 

You've done all the research and decided on the hotel you want to book. You are not booking with points through the branded website, but rather booking through a third party platform or a travel portal, it may be wise to spend a little bit more to book the refundable option. 

I have to admit that I tend to book non refundable and rely on travel insurance with my credit card to cover a major issue.

But I'm starting to rethink that position. 

Here's why. 

Recently, I booked a hotel through the Capital One Travel Portal. My plan was to pay for the hotel and then erase the purchase with points. I have some points saved and will earn 10x points on the hotel purchase. I  decline the non refundable price protection offer for $115. 

But days later, the price drops. Argh. And now I can't rebook. If I had just paid the $9 extra for the refundable rate by the hotel or the $43 by Capital One or the $115 for the cancel for any reason, I could have rebooked at the lower rate saving $50. Of course, the math has to make it worth it. 

I am relentless at booking and rebooking my Southwest flights to chip away at the points, but I realize now that I tend to lock in hotel rates and should be using the same strategy. 

It may not always pay off, but in this case, spending a bit more at the beginning could have ended in a savings. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

How I Scored A Flight To Europe for $50 And 20,000 Points

  

Number one million why I love flexible points! You have been hearing a lot about Chase Ultimate Rewards points these days because of the recently announced incredible bonus offers, but this story is about another brand of flexible points. One that you don't hear about as often and one that doesn't get enough credit. 

How I Scored A Flight To Europe for $50 And 20,000 Points 

We are talking about Avios, the loyalty points program for British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways and Finnair. But it doesn't stop there because these airlines are part of the One World Alliance that also includes partners like American Airlines, LATAM, and Vueling. 

The flexible part here is that you can transfer the points between the main four airlines depending on which one offers you the best deal. And you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Capital One points to Avios too. 

Let's look at the path I took to find this great deal of 20,000 points and $50 on a one way flight from Chicago to Madrid, Spain. 

How I Scored A Flight To Europe for $50 And 20,000 Points 

1. Start with Google Flights to see your options. We find this American Airlines red eye flight for $464 in economy. 

2. Next let's check American Airlines. Now I actually don't have any American Airlines miles and it is not a transfer partner for any flexible points, but let's check anyway. It's being offered for 27,000 miles and $5.60 so that gives us a starting point. We are looking at off peak fares.  

3. I always like to check seats.aero to see what other options may be out there. You can see 90 days out with a free account. 

4. Then I check the Chase Travel Portal and the Capital One Travel Portal to see if the flight is listed and how many points are needed or the price if I decide to buy it in the portal and earn 5x points. 

Now that the Chase Travel Portal has added the "Points Booster", it's always a good idea to look because you never know what you are going to get and it changes constantly. The Capital One Travel Portal is always one cent per point so it's usually a better place to pay cash, earn 5x points and then erase the purchase with your points. In the Chase Travel Portal, the same flight would cost 30,993 points. In the Capital One Travel Portal, the same flight would cost 46,400 points.  Big difference! 

4. American Airlines is in the One World Alliance with British Airways so we try searching there. The same flight shows up for 20,750 Avios and $213. I like the the number of points, but those taxes, Yikes. 

5. So can we do better? Since Madrid is the base for Iberia Airlines and we have a stash of Avios from the Iberia Airlines credit card bonus offer a few years ago, let's see what's happening there. 

Wow! 20,750 Avios and $51.70, now that's a deal. Remember when we mentioned that Iberia is part of the One World Alliance with American Airlines? This deal is for the same American Airlines red eye flight from Chicago to Madrid. Crazy, right?

And guess what? We look for the return flight and snag that one for just 16,000 Avios and $100 taxes. That's how we do it here at Almost FREE Family Travel. 

So if you just got your Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 bonus, this could be one way to use those points. Click here to read about other ways. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

 Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Avios 

20,000 $50 Chicago to Madrid 

16,000 $131 Madrid to Chicago 

Iberia Avios 

Book Fast! Mini Southwest Companion Pass Offer

 

If you don't have your Southwest Companion Pass yet, you can snag a mini by just booking one round trip or two one way flights by Friday. 

To get the pass for up to two years, you need to earn 135,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year, but sometimes Southwest offers these mini passes. 

The companion pass is one of the best travel perks in travel because it is a BOGO on any flight that Southwest flies. 

Book Fast! Mini Southwest Companion Pass Offer 

I have saved thousands of dollars by having the Southwest Companion Pass. You can read about how I used the pass for college trips, family trips, friend trips and more. 

By the way, Southwest flies to Costa Rica, Belize, Cabo and Hawaii. 

Here is how to receive your promotional Companion Pass®:

1. Register now, then purchase one qualifying round trip or two qualifying one-way flights by 6/27/25.

2. Travel by 8/31/25 (perfect for summer travel.)

3. Companion flies free with you 9/8-11/15/2025.

*Terms apply. Not valid on Basic fares. Does not include taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way.

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

How Does The New Chase "Points Boost" Work

 

Part of the new refreshed Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card is the "Points Boost" bonus in the travel portal. The "Points Boost" is replacing the fixed bonus 1:1.5. But we noticed that the points boost is also live in the portal for existing Chase Sapphire Preferred card holders where the fixed bonus was 1:1.25 points. Reserve card holders as of June 22nd 2025 will still have the fixed bonus through October 25th 2025. In theory, you should be offered the better bonus offer.

So how does it work? It went live today and here's what we found. 

When you click on the travel portal and enter your search criteria, the first thing you see is a banner with "Points Boost" offers applied. I entered a search for hotels near Seattle Tacoma Airport in my Chase Sapphire Preferred account. These two hotels were offered to me with the points boost bonus which appears to be approximately  1.5 value of points. 

When you open the map view, you see little rocket icons next to the hotels where the points boost has been applied. I was happy to see that the majority seem to have the rocket icon. I clicked on the $169 to see the offer. The portal points out that the boost has increased this offer to better than the usual 1:1.25 value. 

Then I clicked on the travel portal in my Chase Sapphire Reserve account and entered the same search for hotels near Seattle Tacoma Airport to see the difference. 

Here's what it gave me:

It returned the same banner, but this time with point booster offers on Edit hotels in the area. The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with a $500 credit ($250 every 6 months) for Edit hotels booked in the portal so that makes sense and can help you decide whether to use your credit or points.  

When I open the map, there are less options near the airport, but the $169 hotel is on there. 

But you can see the points boost offers are better than when I accessed the portal with the Sapphire Preferred. The boost does not appear to be a full 2x though. 

Points boost promised up to 2x. 

I also tried searching for flights. The points booster showed up primarily for business and first class flights in a banner across the top. 

On a different search, the banner offered me a variety of fares with the points boost. Again, first or business was offered at a better points boost than the economy plus fare on the same flight and the price difference was only $6. 

If I scrolled down though, some flights had points booster rocket icons next to various fare rates, but I couldn't figure out why some flights were targeted for a boost. Again, you can see on this search that the points needed for the first class fare end up being less than economy even though the flight is priced higher. 

At this point, you might want to check any reservations you already have booked to see if you get a better offer and can rebook. Just be careful if the original reservation is non refundable or offers you a credit. 

We will have to wait and see how the points booster evolves.

If you want to apply for the new refreshed Chase Sapphire Reserve, use this link to get the 100,000 bonus points and $500 travel credit.  

If you want to apply for the 75,000 bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, use this link. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities.