New Southwest Bonus Offer With A NEW Promo Code

 

Southwest and Chase launched a new bonus offer! We will talk details and whether this may be the offer you want to jump on. 

This offer as you can see above is for 60,000 bonus points with a $3,000 minimum spend. It's a pretty average offer, but for the first time, they are adding a 30% off promo code. 

If you look at the fine print, the single use promo code can be used for any flight through October 31, 2024 and for any number of tickets on that flight. It is valid whether you are paying cash or with points. 

However, if you change the flight, it will make the promo code invalid. 

New Southwest Bonus Offer With A NEW Promo Code 

The offer is good on any of the personal Southwest credit cards. You can read about each card here so you can decide which one is best for you. 

• Plus card - this is the basic card with an annual fee of $69. It includes 2 early bird check ins, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, Southwest, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 3,000 anniversary points. 
• Premier card - annual fee of $99. It includes 2 Early Bird check ins, 3x points on Southwest, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 6,000 anniversary points. 
• Priority card - annual fee of $149. It includes 4 upgraded boardings, $75 Southwest credit, 3x points on Southwest, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 7,500 anniversary points. 

So is this a good offer? It depends. If you are planning to fly your family of five to Hawaii and you can get 30% off the tickets, it could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. 

You have until October 2024 to use it too so that's a definite plus. 

Remember if you earn the 60,000 points and then open the business card which earns 80,000 points, you will also earn a Southwest Companion Pass. That's a BOGO on any Southwest flight through December 2024. 

Let me know what you decide to do and how you plan to use the promo code. 

As always, if you decide to apply for a Southwest credit card, please use my referral link. You get the same offer and I get rewarded for sending you. 

My Top 5 Tips When Visiting Iceland

Iceland, the land of fire and ice. It's beautiful, clean and full of all sorts of nature experiences like the iconic Blue Lagoon. But how is the best way to explore this island? and can you use points and miles? I just returned and I'm going to share my top five tips when visiting Iceland. 

You can go to Iceland and spend a million dollars, but that's not how I like to travel. So I'm going to share the way I like to travel and you can use some of my tips or all of my tips, whatever fits your travel style. 

I will share with you that 99% of the people we met on our visit to Iceland were using these same tips. Before we get started, points and miles are not easy to use in Iceland. Outside of Reykajavik, there are no hotel chains. But you can always erase travel with the Capital One Venture X card. You can see how to do that here. You can also use Capital One or Chase Ultimate Reward points to book guest houses. If you can't use points to book, you may be able to maximize the points you earn by booking through the travel portal. 

Now that we got points and miles out of the way, let's get to the fun part! 

Tip #5

Book everything early! The summer months are busy in Iceland so if you are planning to visit during this time, book early. Not only book your tours early, but book your car rental and accommodations. There are only 370,000 people living in all of Iceland AND 300,000 of them live in Reykajavik so that means there are only so many options once you get outside the city. Also make sure you use the right credit card to book your car rental so you are insured. The weather is real in Iceland so are the dirt and gravel roads. 

Tip #4

Check out guesthouses with shared bathrooms and breakfast. These are super cute bed and breakfast type accommodations. I preferred these over Airbnb because they included breakfast and wonderful local hosts. Now if you are travelling with a group, Airbnb may be more cost effective. 

Tip #3 

Bring waterproof everything! Pants, jackets, hoods, shoes or an extra pair of shoes. An umbrella is nice, but the wind is also strong in Iceland so waterproof clothing is better. This is the land of the foss or waterfall plus it rains a lot! If you can't bring it with you, head to a thrift store in Reykajavik and buy it all there. Then maybe you could even sell it back to the store when you leave. 

Tip #2

Buy staples at Costco, gas stations and grocery stores - Food in Iceland is expensive and not very good. So it's a better option to just cook for yourself. There is a Costco outside of Reykajavik. And it sells most of the familiar items including peanut butter and almond butter. So it's a great place to load up on snacks, sandwich makings, muffins and other items you can eat in the car or in the Airbnb. You can also stop at Bonus to pick up groceries. And believe it or not, the gas stations in Iceland are a great place for breakfast, sandwiches and souvenirs. 

Tip #1 

Budget Airline - It used to be WOW Air and now it's called Play. It's a budget airline that flies a few times a week from Boston, Washington DC and Baltimore to Reykajavik. My round trip ticket cost approximately $350 round trip. I used my Southwest points and companion pass to get us to Baltimore. It's a budget airline so seats, drinks, snacks and baggage cost extra so plan accordingly. The airline also doesn't fly everyday. But if it works with your schedule and travel style, it's a great way to cross the Atlantic. 

So there you go, my top 5 tips when visiting Iceland. I'll leave you with one more. If you have one week, don't try to see the entire Ring Road instead spend some time on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and maybe check out the Lava Cave in Husafell and then stick to the Southern Ring Road. If you have two weeks, then travel the entire Ring Road. 

Enjoy! 

 

Help May Be On The Way For Busy Summer Travel

 

This could be great news for summer travel. The summer travel season is gearing up to be busy and a repeat of last summer, cancelled flights and crazy long lines. 

This past weekend, the security line at San Diego International Airport snaked all the way through the airport. Look at the photo above. Stressful!

Help May Be On The Way For Busy Summer Travel 

But on Monday, President Joe Biden said his administration is writing new rules that will require airlines to compensate passengers with cash for significant flight delays or cancellations when the carriers are responsible.

"Our top priority has been to get American air travelers a better deal," Biden said.
So help may be on the way. Until then, though, use a credit card to pay for airline tickets that will reimburse you for cancellations or delays or lost luggage. Right now, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points and it includes trip cancellation and delay benefits. 

If you don't have a card with these benefits yet, this may be the one for you. You can use this link to apply. 

Want An Easy $1,000 For Summer Travel? It's Simple

 

This is me on a recent trip to Australia and Indonesia. All I can say is wow. I will have many blog posts coming soon to share the experience and of course, tips for you. 

But right now, I need to share an amazing offer on one of my favorite credit cards for travel the Chase Sapphire Preferred. 

This card is the first credit card that both of my children applied for as soon as they had enough credit to qualify. 

It is an entry card that packs a powerful punch. It's not a FREE card, it does carry an annual fee, but the perks and benefits more than offset that fee. 

So let's break it down and tell you about this offer! 

Want An Easy $1,000 For Summer Travel? It's Simple

The offer is 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a $4,000 minimum spend. I have only seen this high of an offer once before so it's huge that they brought it back a second time. 

80,000 CUR or Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth about $1,000 in FREE travel. Amazing right? You can read about how I have spent CUR points on FREE travel here. 

Just buy the things you normally buy, but direct all your spending to this card and you get $1,000 off your next trip. That could be round trip flights or hotel rooms or both if you play your cards right like on my trip to Ireland. 

So let's talk specifics: 

• 80,000 bonus points 
• $4,000 minimum spend 
• $95 annual fee
• $50 hotel credit in the Chase Travel Portal
• 25% more value when you use the Chase Travel Portal
• Other travel protection benefits
• $10 monthly credit with GoPuff 
• Dashpass complimentary access

Don't worry about the annual fee. The card also comes with a $50 hotel credit if you book through the Chase Travel portal. You also get 25% more value for your points if you book through the Chase Travel portal. In the travel portal, you can pay with your credit card or with your CUR points. If you use your CUR points, you actually get a 25% discount, pretty sweet. 

You can only apply for this card once every 4 years and you can only hold one Chase Sapphire card at a time. This card also follows the rules of 5/24, you will only be approved for 5 cards in 24 months. 

But if you qualify, this is the offer to jump on and please consider using my link. You get the same great offer and I get rewarded for sending you. 

How You Can Get 5x Chase Points On Your Amazon Purchases

I don't know about you, but I spend quite a bit of money on Amazon and it makes me crazy that I can't earn any extra points on those purchases. Well, this quarter you can! 

Time to active the 5x bonus categories on your Chase FREEDOM and Chase FREEDOM FLEX cards. 

These are rotating quarterly categories and don't worry the bonus is retroactive so as long as you activate by June 30th. 

You can activate your card with this link. 

The Chase FREEDOM card is no longer available to new customers, but the Chase FREEDOM FLEX card is available and is a great no annual fee card. It earns 1.5 points per $ on every purchase plus a $200 bonus when you spend $500 in the first three months plus for the first year, you earn 5x points on grocery purchases. 

 

Why This Couple Should Take Advantage Of The New Southwest Companion Pass Offer

 

I flew Southwest Airlines this past weekend to Washington DC and met the nicest couple on board (I hope Bonnie is reading this 😀). We got to talking about points and miles and their future travel plans. 

I want to share their situation with you because it is the model scenario for when it makes sense to jump ON the new Southwest Companion Pass promotional offer that ends on March 19th. This offer is a Southwest Companion pass valid through February 28, 2024 and 30,000 Southwest points for opening one personal Southwest credit card and spending $4,000. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is the best travel perk out there. It is a BOGO on any Southwest flight as many times as you want for as long as the pass is valid. 

Usually, you need to earn 135,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year to get the pass. You can earn those points by opening credit cards, flights, shopping and more. 

Why This Couple Should Take Advantage Of The New Southwest Companion Pass Offer 

Bonnie's boyfriend earned the promotional Southwest Companion Pass last February through a similar offer and it expired Feb. 28th 2023. You are eligible to earn a bonus from a Southwest personal credit card just once every 24 months and you can only hold one personal card at a time. So in this case, Bonnie's boyfriend is NOT eligible to earn another bonus until February 2024 so our regular two credit card method to earn the pass won't work for him. 

But Bonnie's boyfriend shared with me that he travels for work and actually has more than 100,000 Southwest points in his account. 

So in this case, Bonnie could apply for the Southwest personal credit card promotion offer and get the Southwest Companion Pass and 30,000 points. She does not have a business and would not qualify for a business credit card. 

But when they go to book their flights, here's the go around. 

The boyfriend should book Bonnie's flight using his points and include her Rapid Rewards number in the reservation. Once the reservation shows up in Bonnie's Southwest account, she can actually add her boyfriend as her companion and he will fly for FREE using the companion pass. Make sense?

Once the promotional companion pass expires in February 2024, the boyfriend should be eligible to earn the bonus again. At that point, he can follow our plan, open two credit cards and get the regular companion pass valid for two years and lots more points OR if Southwest offers the promotional pass again, he could hop on that and they can keep trading off. 

For this couple, the promotional offer is a good one! If it is good for you too, please consider using my referral link. 

 

Other Than Flying, How You Can Earn Airline Points

 

This photo is from a cooking class my family and I enjoyed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I didn't earn points or miles for this class, but there are some great ways to earn points when you dine out. 

Last night, I went out with a group of friends, but the waiter wouldn't accept more than 4 credit cards and there were 15 of us! Argh. 

A few people had cash, amazing! A few people offered to use Venmo. I volunteered super quickly and asked everyone to give me their cash. Then I charged the dinner to my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card that earns 3x points on dining. 

That's just one way you rack up points without flying. 

Here are some more: 

1. Online shopping through portals - I love shopping portals! You can read all about how to maximize shopping portals here. 

2. Hotel booking sites like Rocketmiles 

3. Dining programs - many of the airlines and hotels offer opportunities to link a credit card to their dining program and earn extra points or miles. 

4. Surveys like this one from Avios - many of the airlines and hotels will offer points in exchange for your opinions.

5. Car rentals - many times you can earn bonus points if you link your car rental to your airline mile account. 

6. Airbnb and Delta or Avios - there is a portal that earns Delta or Avios miles when you book an Airbnb. 

If you use the Southwest Shopping Portal, those points count towards the Southwest Companion Pass too if you are trying to earn the pass. 

Remember, every time you spend money, it should be helping you get your next vacation for FREE. 

That's how we do it here at almostfreefamilytravel.com