Southwest Just Changed the Companion Pass: Here's What to Do Before December 2 ✈️

Southwest Just Changed the Companion Pass: Here's What to Do Before December 2 ✈️

Southwest announced big changes to the Companion Pass today. It's been one of the best perks in travel: a buy-one-get-one airline pass that can last up to two years. 😮

The old strategy is ending. You could open two Southwest credit cards and use their welcome bonuses to qualify for the Companion Pass. Starting January 1, 2027, those bonuses won't count. If you were thinking about going for the pass using this hack, get approved by December 2, 2026. Southwest says welcome bonuses from cards approved by then can still count, even if you hit the spending requirement in early 2027.

❌ What stops counting toward the Companion Pass in 2027

• Credit card welcome bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Anniversary points
• Bonus points from spending categories
• Hotel and rental car partner points

Already have a Companion Pass valid through December 2027? It's still valid, and you can use it just like before. ✅

🆕 How you'll earn it in 2027

The Companion Pass is now tied to a new Platinum status. Southwest is still releasing details, and we're still sorting through them, but here's what we know now:

• Platinum: 140,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) or 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year
• Cardholder boost: Southwest credit cardholders get a 10,000-TQP boost when they reach 130,000 TQPs
• New milestone reward: Three Companion Pass trips after earning 95,000 TQPs or flying 75 qualifying one-way flights. Details are still coming on this one.
• Platinum perk: An unlimited Companion Pass

New status tiers: A-List becomes Silver, A-List Preferred becomes Gold, and Platinum sits at the top.

Credit card spending now counts. Every Southwest Rapid Rewards card, including the $99 card, will earn 1 TQP per $1 spent, so you can spend your way to status. That works out to roughly $130,000 in spending with the boost. We'll keep researching faster ways to get there.

🎉 The good news

• November 2026: Redeem points on rental cars
• Spring 2027: Redeem points on Icelandair, China Airlines, and Etihad
• Late 2027: Use points to buy extra legroom seats
• By the end of 2027: The first Southwest Icon Airport lounges open
• Fall 2027: The entire fleet has Starlink WiFi 📶

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Talk to me about your next trip and I'll figure out the best way to use your points and miles, Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, 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 "LETSGO" 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. 

Greenland Is Finally Having Its Moment ❄️

If you're craving a destination that still feels genuinely undiscovered, Greenland deserves a serious look. Now that airlines are flying into Nuuk, the country is just starting to open up to tourism — and the timing to go is good.

I recently sailed through the Arctic aboard the Quark Ultramarine expedition ship, and all I can say is: wow.

A Culture Unlike Anywhere Else

Greenland has a total population of just 56,000 people, and the culture here is distinct. The indigenous Inuit make up about 90% of residents, most living along the west and south coasts. The rest of the country is dominated by a massive ice sheet, framed by towering icebergs, deep fjords, and dramatic mountains. 🏔️

Top 5 Reasons to Put Greenland on Your Radar

1. You're seeing landscapes almost no one else has.
Greenland gets a tiny fraction of the visitors that Iceland or Norway do, despite being the world's largest island. Places like the Ilulissat Icefjord (a UNESCO World Heritage site) or the fjords around Uummannaq feel truly untouched — massive icebergs calving off glaciers, with barely another traveler in sight.

2. Real Inuit culture, not a staged version of it.
With Inuit making up roughly 90% of the population, the culture here — dog sledding traditions, hunting practices, Greenlandic cuisine, the language itself — is entirely its own. Towns like Ilulissat, Sisimiut, and Tasiilaq offer genuine cultural exchange, not a performance for tourists.

3. It's more accessible than you'd think. ✈️
With the new international airport in Nuuk (opened in 2024) and expanded routes from Copenhagen, Greenland is easier to reach than it was just a couple of years ago. It's no longer strictly an expedition-cruise-only destination.

4. An incredible range of experiences packed into one trip.
Dog sledding and ice fishing in winter. Whale watching, hiking, and midnight sun in summer. Northern Lights in the shoulder season. A single itinerary can include glacier hikes, fjord boat trips, and visits to Inuit settlements.

5. A trip with real substance.
Today's travelers want more than a photo backdrop — they want to learn something. Greenland's ice sheet, its role in the climate story, and its indigenous communities give this trip a depth that goes well beyond the scenery.

Planning Your Route

You can fly directly into Nuuk on the west coast, but the more remote east side is best reached by expedition ship — most of which depart from Iceland. I'd highly recommend building in some time in Iceland too. You can read about my trip here.

The 2029 Arctic season (June/July-September) opens soon. If this has you curious, reach out and I'll get you on the list for early-bird pricing. 🧊

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 "LETSGO" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can pay a travel planning fee and we will find all the best points and miles deals for your trip! 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.

Stack Two Chase Sapphire Reserve Hotel Credits for $500 Off One Stay 🏨

A client asked me this past week about the Edit credit and the Hotel credit on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. These two are confusing, to say the least. But with a $795 annual fee, you need to use the credits to get real value out of this card. 💡

The good news is there's a sweet spot where you can use both credits on the same reservation. Let's look at each credit on its own first, then the sweet spot.

1. The Edit Credit ✨

• Up to $500 per year, as two $250 credits
• Book in the Chase Travel Portal to use them
• Applies only to "Edit" hotels
• "Edit" hotels usually come with daily breakfast for two and a $100 property credit
• Two-night minimum, prepaid
• Each $250 credit applies to a separate qualifying stay, and you can use them anytime during the calendar year

2. The Hotel Credit 🛎️

• One-time $250 credit, available in 2026 only
• Book in the Chase Travel Portal
• Two-night minimum, prepaid
• Works at select brands: IHG, Montage, Pendry, Omni, Virgin Hotels, Minor Hotels, and Pan Pacific
• Qualifying hotels are labeled in the portal like this.

The sweet spot: use both on one reservation 🎯 

Some hotels are in both The Edit and one of the select brands. Book one of those for two nights or more, and both credits apply to the same stay. You can see the list here.

That's $500 off the hotel purchase. If you haven't used your $300 travel credit yet, stack it on top for a whopping $800 discount. 

And the ultimate sweet spot is to find with a points boost too. So you can use points to pay the balance. 

Now that makes this card worth it. 🎉

More ways to make the fee worth it 💸

• Use the StubHub and dining credits and you're ahead $600
• Use the monthly DoorDash credit, which increases to $35 per month starting October 1st, and you're really talking savings

⏰ Heads up: the one-time Hotel credit expires December 31, 2026, so plan your stay soon.

The current bonus offer is 75,000 points for a $4,000 minimum spend. This card carries a $795 annual fee so it may be best to talk to me before you apply. But if you choose to apply for this card, please use my referral link. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Talk to me about your next trip and I'll figure out the best way to use your points and miles, Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, 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 "LETSGO" 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. 

Expedition Ship: A Personal Narrative

When the captain heard the forecast called for clouds over the solar eclipse, he threw the entire itinerary out the window. Instead of heading north along Greenland's eastern coast, he turned the ship south chasing clear skies.

That's the beauty of small expedition ship travel — the ship is nimble, and the itinerary bends to the moment.

Life Aboard the Quark Ultramarine

I recently spent two weeks aboard the Quark Ultramarine, a state-of-the-art ship carrying two helicopters, 181 guests, and 100 crew. A few years ago, I traveled on another expedition ship along the Australia coast and to Indonesia, you can read about that voyage here. 

Every stateroom comes with heated bathroom floors, two armoires, large windows, and a couch — rooms on the upper floors even have balconies. Polar and Antarctic expeditions include a parka that's yours to keep, plus muck boots and a dry suit for use throughout the voyage. 🧥

Dining & Service

There are two restaurants on board, and everyone eats together. Breakfast and lunch are buffet-style; dinner is a proper sit-down affair. On this voyage, guests could also book an Inuit dining experience for an additional charge.

Small expedition ships are all about service — if you have a specific request, the team will do everything in their power to make it happen.

Learning Over Entertainment

The focus on board is learning and experience, not spectacle. There are no Broadway shows, no casinos, no trivia nights. Instead, experts give lectures on history, culture, and the local flora and fauna.

There's also a gym and spa with a sauna, plus a lounge with a bar, board games, and afternoon tea. 🫖

Daily Activities

Days are packed with zodiac cruises, hikes, village walks, community visits, kayaking, and helicopter rides and landings.

One personal highlight: the Polar Plunge — I highly recommend it! 🥶

Booking Ahead

Expedition ships are only growing more popular, so the best pricing comes with early-bird offers. The Antarctic 28/29 season just opened, and those early rates are spectacular. The Arctic 2029 season will open soon — if this has you curious, reach out.

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 "LETSGO" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can pay a travel planning fee and we will find all the best points and miles deals for your trip! 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.

How to Actually Use the Capital One Venture's $300 Travel Credit 🏨

The new Capital One Venture offer stacks a $300 travel credit on top of the 75,000-mile welcome bonus and up to a $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit. That adds up to at least $1,000 in value. 💰 (You can read here about how to squeeze even more value out of those 75,000 miles.)

But how do you use the $300 credit?

Where the credit works

The credit is for hotel and vacation rental stays booked in the Capital One Travel portal. The portal works like any other third-party booking site.

How to use it, step by step ✅

1. Log in to your CapitalOne.com account
2. Click Rewards
3. Click Book Travel
4. Filter by perks like parking, breakfast, airport shuttle, and more
5. Select your room and add it to your cart
6. Look for the $300 credit in the box on the right, or in the payment section when you scroll down. That's where you choose between paying with miles or your Capital One card.

Hot tip: 🔥 Hotels booked through the portal earn 5x miles. So it can pay to charge the stay to your card, then use your miles to erase the purchase with the Purchase Eraser. You get the bonus earning and still put your miles to work.

Another hot tip: use your travel purchases to reach the minimum spend on this card which is $4,000 in 3 months. Capital One will give you the points BEFORE you pay the bill which means if you time it right, you can "erase" your travel purchase before you pay for it. Read more about how to do this here.

Fine print worth knowing ⚠️

• You can spread the credit across multiple bookings.
• It expires at the end of your first cardholder year, so don't let it sit.
• You must book through the portal. Booking directly with a hotel won't trigger the credit.

You can apply for the Capital One Venture credit card offer here. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Talk to me about your next trip and I'll figure out the best way to use your points and miles, Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, 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 "LETSGO" 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. 

80,000-Point Offer on the Southwest Premier Business Card — But Should You Wait? ✈️

Chase just increased the welcome bonus on the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card to 80,000 points. The Performance Business card already offers 80,000 points as its standard bonus, but this new Premier Business offer keeps the $3,000 minimum spend and the $149 annual fee — a much easier bar to clear for the same point total. 👏

It's a good offer. Not the biggest we've ever seen, but good.

However — if you have your eye on the Southwest Companion Pass for 2027–2028, hold off. 🛑

The timing that matters

This offer ends October 26, 2026, and you'll have 3 months from approval to hit the minimum spend and earn the points.

Here's the catch: to earn the Companion Pass for 2027 AND 2028, your points need to post in 2027, not 2026.

So the play is this: if you can apply after October 15th, you'll have until roughly mid-January to meet the minimum spend, which gives your bonus a good chance of posting in early 2027 instead of 2026.

⚠️ Don't cut the timing too close. It's easy to accidentally post your points in 2026 and lose an entire year of Companion Pass eligibility.

A cautionary tale

Three years ago, a friend did exactly that. Luckily, she was well under 5/24 and was able to apply for another Southwest Business card to try again. These days, though, that safety net is shrinkier: there are widespread reports of Chase enforcing a stricter 3/24 for sole proprietor business applications, so it's much harder to simply apply again if your timing slips.

Bottom line: don't take chances with this one — watch your timing carefully. If you decide to apply, please use my referral link. 🔗

I am launching a Fall 2026 cohort to help you, it's FREE to join, but limited to just 10 people. I recommend that you purchase my points and miles course, but you do not need to. You can sign up here. 

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 "LETSGO" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can pay a travel planning fee and we will find all the best points and miles deals for your trip! 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.

You Hit 100,000 Chase Points — Now What? 🎉

Two clients in the last two days have told me they either earned their 100,000-point bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, or they're super close. But the very next question is always the same: now what?

And if you missed the 100,000 bonus offer from this card, you have a new option, the Capital One Venture credit card which is offering 75,000 bonus points and a $300 travel credit. 

So let's talk next steps. What can you actually do with 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points? Here are your options. 👇

1. Book travel directly in the Chase Travel Portal ✈️

This one's easy — it works just like any third-party booking platform. It's a solid option for booking Alaska Airlines and American Airlines flights. I don't recommend booking Southwest this way, though — you'll usually find better value if you transfer your points to Southwest directly instead (more on that below). You can also book hotels this way. It's a great option for booking independent hotels. 

Hot tip: 🚀 Look for the little rocket icon that signifies a Points Boost — it means your Ultimate Rewards points are worth more than 1:1 for that booking.

2. Transfer your points to an airline partner and book directly

Chase currently partners with 10 airlines, and several of those airlines belong to larger alliances with other carriers, so your options open up even more from there.

One of my favorite transfer partners is Flying Blue, the loyalty program for KLM and Air France. Sometimes you can snag economy seats from the West Coast to Europe for as little as 18,750 points.

Another favorite is Iberia. I just booked a flight from San Francisco to Madrid for 20,000 points and $154. 💸

Hot tip: 🔍 Check both the Chase portal and the airline's own website before you transfer any points. Transfers are one-way — once your points move, you can't get them back.

3. Transfer your points to a hotel partner 🏨

You can also transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to four hotel chains, including Hyatt. All of them transfer at 1:1 — except Hyatt, which is shifting to a 4:3 ratio on October 1st. So if you're eyeing a Hyatt reservation, now's the time to make the move.

👀Just a reminder, this card comes with a $100 hotel credit good in the Chase Travel Portal. You can read here about how to spend it. 

Hot Tip: 💕There are usually bonus points offers every month where you get a percentage more value when you transfer your points. 

4. Book rental cars, cruises, tours, and activities 🚗

You can book all of these directly through the Chase Travel Portal too. Just always weigh the value of your points against paying cash — sometimes cash is the smarter call.

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 "LETSGO" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can pay a travel planning fee and we will find all the best points and miles deals for your trip! 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.