New Amazing Southwest Credit Card Bonus - One Word: Companion Pass

 

New amazing offer from Chase and Southwest! The offer is good on any of the personal Southwest credit cards, the Plus, Premier and Priority. I'll break down the pros and cons of each card below. 

Regardless of the card you choose, the offer is:

• Spend a minimum of $5,000 within 3 months 
• Earn 30,000 Southwest points 
• Earn a Companion Pass good thru Feb. 2022

The Companion Pass is one of the best perks in travel. It is good for BOGO travel on any Southwest flight for the length of the pass. In this case, it's BOGO travel through February 2022. 

Think trip to Hawaii and take your spouse, child, friend for FREE. You can use it as many times as you want and you can change your companion three times. I have had the companion pass for the past 6 years and it has saved me thousands of dollars. 

Normally, you need to earn 125,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a single calendar year to earn the pass. 

So which credit card should you choose?

• Plus Card: $69 annual fee, 3,000 points on your anniversary, 
• Premier Card: $99 annual fee, 6,000 points on your anniversary,  no foreign transaction fees
• Priority Card: $149  annual fee, 7,500 points on your anniversary,  $75 Southwest credit, 4 upgraded boardings, 20% discount on drinks, Wifi on board Southwest, no foreign transaction fees

All the cards earn 2x points on Southwest purchases and 1x points on everything else.

Personally, I think the Priority card is the best deal since you get the $75 credit, the annual fee is actually reduced to just $75 which is less than the Premier. However, you get more points on your anniversary plus the upgraded boarding passes.

If you decide to jump on this offer, please use my referral link. It doesn't cost you anything and it will help me continue to bring you amazing travel tips. 

How You Can Save $20 A Month On Take Out

 

One of the perks of holding an American Express card is the Amex offers. You can find them in your American Express account at the bottom of the page for your credit card. They vary depending on which credit card you have and I've even seen them vary from person to person based on who knows what. 

I used an offer last year when I stayed at a Marriott and had a spend $200, get $50 off. 

It's easy to take advantage of, you add the offer to your card and then use that card for the purchase. American Express will automatically apply the credit. It's quick too, usually 2-3 days after the purchase. 

Current offers are all about dining:

Marriott Bonvoy American Express personal cards

• Marriott Bonvoy Card - $10 back per month 
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant - $20 back per month  (not available to those who opened the card after Jan. 1, 2021)

Hilton American Express cards

• Hilton Honors - $5 back per month 
• Hilton Surpass - $10 back per month
• Hilton Aspire - $20 back per month 

Delta Skymiles American Express cards

• Delta Gold - $10 back per month 
• Delta Platinum - $15 back per month
• Delta Reserve - $20 back per month

You can use the credit once per month through 12/31/21. You need to register first before you dine. You can only register one card per offer so choose wisely.  Our family is doing take-out once per week to help local restaurants (we hardly ever ate out before the pandemic opting to save money for travel) so if we get $20 credit per month on our takeout meal that's like buy 3, get 1 FREE.  

If you don't have a Marriott Bonvoy card yet, I highly recommend getting one. The points are transferrable to dozens of airlines and you even get a 5,000 mile bonus when you transfer plus, of course, you can use the points at all the Marriott hotel brands. Please use my referral link if you decide to apply. 

New Southwest Offer - How To Earn A Bonus 5,000 Points

 

Check your inbox this morning! Southwest is emailing customers a targeted offer for a bonus 5,000 points. There are a couple of steps you need to follow in order to redeem this one so take a look at the fine print. You can click on the "Register Now" button in the targeted email OR you can log into your account and find the promotions that are available to you. For me, the new one was at the very bottom of the list. 

Here's the offer: 

• Register for the promotion
• Fly two round trip or four one way flights by May 31, 2021
• Get a 5,000 point bonus 

To be honest, I don't think this is the most tempting offer and doesn't get me all that excited. 

The mini companion pass Southwest offered back in September was exciting. I took advantage of that one and flew up to San Francisco for the day to earn it. We had planned to use the mini pass to go to Hawaii in January, but we canceled the flight due to the mandatory quarantine. I'm still hopeful that Southwest will extend the mini pass deadline. But if you are close to earning a companion pass and this bonus would put you over OR if you are flying anyway, then why not. 

If you are trying to earn the companion pass, the best and easiest way to do it is to apply for one or two Southwest credit cards. If you don't have a Southwest credit card yet, check out the latest offer and if you decide to apply, please consider using my referral link. 

Get $50 Off Your Next RV Rental

When you travel, you have so many options about where to stay. Hotels, home rentals, camping, boats, and rv rental. Due to Covid, many are opting for home and rv rentals. Home rental is pretty easy due to airbnb.com and vrbo.com, but how do you find an rv rental?

Of course, there are companies with fleets for rent, but now there is a company modeled after airbnb.com, but offering rv rentals. It's called Outdoorsy.com . 

The company owns no rv's just like airbnb.com owns no hotel rooms. Private owners list their rv's on the site and travelers can book. Every rental is guaranteed up to one million in liability and FREE roadside service. 

All renters need to pass a driver history check. The owner will meet the renter to exchange keys. 

Each listing can determine charges for things like a cleaning fee and insurance coverage. There is a 10% service fee added by Outdoorsy.com. 

If you use my referral link, you will get $50 off your first rental. Pretty sweet! 

How To Turn Your Stimulus Payment Into FREE Travel

 

I was at the grocery store today and the woman in front of me in line tried to pay with her debit card, it declined. She proceeded to ask the clerk how much was left on the card. The clerk said she didn't know and the woman asked if they could try again charging a smaller amount like $50. It worked. 

Before the woman took her groceries and left, I asked her if it was an Economic Stimulus Payment debit card and she said it was. I let her know that she can actually transfer the funds from the card to her bank account. She had no idea. 

I came home and checked the brochure and they don't tell you that you can just transfer the funds from the debit card to your bank account. Turning that $600 into thousands of points or miles and ending the headache of knowing your balance. Ha! 

Here's how you do it:

1. go to EIPcard.com

2. click on login now

3. register now

4. enter your debit card information and verify your account through various codes text to your phone and/or sent by email

5. click transfer funds to my bank account

6. enter your account number and routing number 

7. click transfer

Bam! Now you can spend $600 on your credit card and rack up some miles and points, just be sure to pay off the balance at the end of the month. Hope that helps!

Southwest Extends Companion Pass Again - Woohoo!

 

Yes, this is the best to see in your Southwest Airlines account. It's the BOGO Companion Pass and unlike other airlines, it's not just good for one flight, it's good for every flight you take for up to two years! What! 

The Southwest Companion Pass is the best travel perk in the industry by far and I've been fortunate to have earned it for the past six years and saved thousands of dollars in flights. You can check out how I earned the pass here. You don't even have to fly! 

Today, Southwest announced it is extending the pass until 12/31/2021. 

So for those of you who earned it in 2020 like I did, but haven't' been able to use it much, you get a whole extra year. 

From the Southwest.com website:

We’re extending Companion Pass benefits.

• For our current Companion Pass Members who received an extension of their earned Companion Pass benefits through June 30, 2021, we are extending your benefits another six months.* You can now enjoy Companion Pass through December 31, 2021.

*This does not apply to Members who earned a promotional Companion Pass or did not previously receive an extension through June 30, 2021.

For those of you who are trying to earn the pass in 2021, Southwest just made it easier for you. All Rapid Reward members who had an account as of Dec. 31, 2020 will receive 25,000 points towards the pass. That means you just need 100,000 to earn the pass instead of 125,000. If you are an A-list or A-list Preferred, you get more points towards the pass. 

Remember one of the best ways to earn the Companion Pass is to open a Southwest credit card, you have a number of different ones to choose from right now offering bonuses from 50,000-70,000 points when you spend a $2,000-$3,000 minimum and another 30,000 when you spend $10,000. Please consider using my referral code if you decide to apply for any of the cards. It costs you nothing and helps me continue to bring you great information about places to take your family. 

Woohoo! Thank you Southwest. 

Norwegian Airlines Cancels All Long Haul Flights

 

The Nordic budget carrier, Norwegian Airlines, announced today that they are canceling all long haul flights effective immediately. The airline has been struggling for years and the COVID crisis was the final straw. The company sent out emails this morning to all the rewards customers stating:

I've written articles in the past about this airline and specifically how I hopped a flight across the pond last October from New York to London for $150 with my daughter so we could visit The Making of Harry Potter.

It definitely had its strengths (low price) and drawbacks (baggage rules that were nuts). But it makes me sad to see it pull back and we can only hope that when travel returns, this airline expands again. 

If you had a flight reservation, check out this FAQ to get answers. and if you have Cashpoints or Rewards, those will not be affected. 

Another sad day in travel.