#1 Way To Prepare For Southwest Changes Coming Wednesday

 

The day is finally arriving this Wednesday, May 28th. The end of Southwest as we know and love it. Starting this Wednesday, the FREE bag policy is ending. We anticipate that the bag charge will be approximately $35 per bag in line with other airlines. 

Starting soon, you will also be choosing your seat when you book your flight. Though assigned seats do not officially start until early 2026. Travel credits will start to expire as well, but since we always fly on points, we are not worried about that. 

You are probably already seeing some strange pricing happening on the Southwest website and app. 

Hopefully you are taking advantage of some of the strange low fares. I snagged a 6,000 point flight from San Diego to Seattle and pair that with my companion pass and wow! 

If you buy a Business Select ticket or have A List Preferred, you will still get two FREE checked bags. If you have a Southwest credit card or A List, you will still get one FREE checked bag. If you follow my blog and have earned the Southwest Companion Pass, then you have at least one Southwest Credit Card. Your companion will also get a FREE checked bag. 

But since you won't get two FREE checked bags, what's the #1 way to prepare for these changes?

#1 is to stop traveling with checked bags. #teamcarryon all the way. Southwest will still allow a FREE carry on and a FREE personal item. 

If you are saying right now, there is no way I can fit all my stuff in just a carry on, I'm here to help you. 

There are a few methods like 5-4-3-2-1 (5 shirts, 4 pants, 3 shoes, 2 dresses, 1 accessory), but I follow the pack for approximately 7-10 days no matter how long you plan to travel. You can always do laundry. 

You can check out this video to see how I pack my carry on. You will note that I take along a French press too. 

I also bought this nifty personal size backpack that fits under the seat, but holds an extraordinary amount of stuff. You can find it on Amazon for $36.99 in all different colors. 

Bottom line, change is part of life, but the challenge is to find the best value. 

As always, if you need more guidance, please join our Travel Coaching Program, you can find out more about our personal coaching here. Use FREETRAVEL for $50 off the cost. Or you can book a 30 minute consult for just $100. We would love to help you! 

How To Visit National Parks With Points and Miles

 

Feeling uneasy about traveling internationally right now, there are so many beautiful places to visit right here in the US including National Parks. And yes, you can use points and miles to visit them. 

Recently, I visited Joshua Tree National Park, it is the 6th most visited park in the US with 3 million visitors every year. The park is located approximately 45 minutes from Palm Springs in the Hi Desert.

The top 10 most popular National Parks are: Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Acadia, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree and Olympic. 

And those are just the most popular ones. Some of the smaller yet amazing National Parks include: Canyonlands, Lassen Volcanic, Big Bend, Channel Islands and North Cascades. 332 million people visit the National Parks each year. 

You will need to pay the entry for each park so if you plan to visit 2-3 of them, you should look into purchasing the America The Beautiful annual pass for $80. For seniors, it's just $20 for an annual pass and $80 for a lifetime pass. The pass is FREE for military and fourth graders and their families. 

You could pay a lot to stay inside some of the parks OR there are a handful of hotel chains that are typically located just outside the entrances to the parks. Those chains include Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express by IHG and Sure Stay Plus by Best Western. These hotels usually qualify for FREE night certificates like Marriott's FREE night for 35,000 points. In addition, Holiday Inn is a stay 3, get the 4th night FREE and Marriott is stay 4, get the 5th night FREE. 

If there is no chain near the entrance or you don't have a FREE night certificate, you can also look in the Chase Travel Portal or the Capital One Travel Portal or you can "erase" the hotel with your Capital One Venture credit card. 

For Joshua Tree National Park, I used a FREE night certificate to stay at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Twenty Nine Palms. It is located about seven minutes outside the park entrance. There is a grocery store across the street from the hotel and a few restaurants nearby including a Chipotle and Starbucks. I prefer the Fairfield Inn and Suites hotels because the rooms can accommodate up to 6 people, there is a pool and includes breakfast. 

Most of these parks are located within driving distance from a city where Southwest flies so you can use points and your Southwest Companion Pass. For example, Joshua Tree National Park is approximately 30 minutes from Palm Springs, 1.5 hours from Ontario Airport and 2.5 hours from Los Angeles, Burbank, John Wayne Airport and San Diego. 

Yellowstone is located a few hours from Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho. Yosemite is located a few hours from Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Fresno. The Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce are located a few hours from Las Vegas. You can also fly into Phoenix to visit the Grand Canyon. 

The biggest expense with a National Park trip is usually renting a car, but if you charge this purchase to your Capital One Venture or Venture X credit card, you get rental insurance and can "erase" the purchase with points. Right now, the Capital One Venture credit card is offering 100,000 bonus points through my special link. You might also try booking your rental car through the Chase or Capital One Travel portal, but I usually find Costco has better rates. 

One of my clients told me she finds great rates through airline offers when she books her flights. But however you make the reservation, be sure to pay for the rental car with a credit card that earns bonus points for travel. Or use a credit card that you are working to earn a bonus offer like the Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 point offer or that you can erase the rental with points. 

Food options can be limited near the National Parks so it's a good idea to carry a cooler with you and stop at a grocery store on the way. Keep plenty of water with you as well since many of the parks can be hot and have long lines during the busy season. 

Some of the parks like Joshua Tree National Park offer ranger tours like the one I took to Keys Ranch, an original homestead inside the park. We spent two hours in a private area inside the park that is only accessible on the tour. The original house, equipment and cars are on the property and Ranger Tom had lots of stories about the miners and park back in the 1930's. The tour is only available October - April and costs $20 per person. 

If you are looking to stay closer to home or in the US this summer, National Parks offer a great escape from the city and are super affordable with points and miles. 

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. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

Another Client Success Story: Saved $400 on Last Minute Flights

A client called to ask for help because they needed to take a last minute trip to Austin, Texas, but flights cost over $400 each way. Argh. 

Let's walk through how I found last minute flights for FREE, well, $19. 😂

• My first go-to is usually google flights just to see what's available in the space. Who flies from San Francisco to Austin, Texas. In this case, we see that Frontier, Southwest, United and Alaska. Frontier charges $151 one way, but you would have an almost 10 hour layover in Denver or change planes in Atlanta. Ugh. 

• Next, we look at the Chase Travel Portal because we have a stash of flexible points due to amazing bonus offers like the 100,000 point offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card that is ending May 15th. We can get a flight on American one way for 29,546. The actual cost of the flight is $444 so this isn't bad, but can we do better?

• Next stop, seats.aero. This tool will let you know all the points flights available. The free version will show you flights 60 days out, the paid version will search out almost one year. We see that Alaska is offering flights for just 12,500 plus $19. Bam! 

Another Client Success Story: Saved $400 on Last Minute Flights

But next question, does this client have Alaska Airlines miles? Bilt just added Alaska Airlines as a transfer partner in March 2025 and this client uses his Bilt credit card to pay his rent each month. Woohoo! None of the other flexible points transfer to Alaska Airlines. 

Once the client logs into his Alaska Airlines account, he finds that he already has 7,500 miles in his account, yes! Another reason we love our personal tracker from the Almost FREE Family Travel coaching program so you can keep track of your points and miles. No surprises. 

Another Client Success Story: Saved $400 on Last Minute Flights

The client transferred just 5,000 points from his Bilt account to Alaska Airlines and booked the flight for 12,500 and $18 taxes. Wow! 

That's how we do it here and that's why we love flexible points. 

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 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. 

Just Got Word....My Favorite Card Is Ending It's 100,000 Bonus Offer on May 15th 💗

 Update: 100,000 bonus offer is over for referrals. You may still be able to find some working links online, but hurry. 

Just got word that the 100,000 bonus point offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card will be ending on May 15th. 

This my favorite card and Chase Ultimate Rewards are my favorite points. So if you have been thinking about applying, do not wait. 

Just Got Word....My Favorite Card Is Ending It's 100,000 Bonus Offer Soon 💗 

What can you do with 100,000 Chase points? Here are some real examples:

• 2 nights in an over the water bungalow and 2 nights in a garden cabin at a resort on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. 
• 10 nights in a Hyatt hotel during a college research trip 
• Round trip flights from LAX to Dublin, Ireland for 4 people 

Check out these other ways to squeeze more value out of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. 

If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you could stretch those bonus points even further. 

The current bonus offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This card has a $95 annual fee, but comes with a $50 hotel credit.  But this offer ends May 15th so don't wait. 

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. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

My Second Favorite Travel Card 100,000 Bonus Offer Ends May 12th

My second favorite travel credit card is ending it's 100,000 bonus offer on May 12th. My link will get you the 100,000 offer rather than a $250 credit in the travel portal. Way more value! 

This offer is for 100,000 bonus miles rather than a travel credit so you have the flexibility to use the miles any way you want like transferring to an airline or hotel, erasing travel purchases or in the travel portal. 

In fact, we found a hack where you can actually erase travel purchases before you even pay for them! 

We love the flexibility of Capital One miles so 25,000 miles is much better than a travel credit.

What can you do with 100,000 Capital One miles?

• Round trip flight for 2 or 4 people to Europe
• Resort suite in the Algarve, Portugal for 3 nights 
• 7 nights at a hotel in Japan 
• First class seat to Sydney, Australia 

The minimum spend on this offer is $5,000 and the annual fee is $95. 

Other benefits included with the Capital One Venture card include:

• 2x points on all purchases
• $120 Global Entry/TSA credit 
• Rental Car Insurance Coverage
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

You are only eligible for this bonus offer once every four years. And just a sidenote, there is NO lounge access included with this card. Though card holders are eligible for a discounted lounge pass. 

This is offer ends May 12th so don't wait. As always, if you need more guidance, please join our Travel Coaching Program, you can find out more about our personal coaching here. Use FREETRAVEL for $50 off the cost. Or you can book a 30 minute consult for just $100. We would love to help you! 

How You Can Earn 5x Points On Amazon

One of the benefits to the Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card is the rotating 5x bonus categories. 

This means that each quarter there are 2-3 categories of purchases that earn 5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points rather than the usual 1x points. You can max out the category by spending $1,500 and earning a bonus of 7,500 points. 

So what does this look like?

This quarter the bonus categories are Amazon and select streaming services. I already get 5x bonus on streaming with my Chase Ink credit card, but I was super excited about Amazon. 

Like most of us, I order quite a bit from the online store so I let me family know that for the next quarter, all Amazon purchases should be directed to my Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card. 

And that new couch I was thinking about purchasing, yep, bought it on Amazon for 5x points. 

If you don't have this card yet, it's a great no annual fee card to complement your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card. It's also a great starter card. Right now, there is a bonus offer of $200 when you spend $500 in the first three months. 

This is also the card you should downgrade your Chase Sapphire Preferred to if you are eligible to apply again for the amazing 100,000 point bonus offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred. 

For more details on this amazing 100,000 bonus offer which is ending soon and what you can do with 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, think a week in Hawaii or Europe, click here. 

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. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

Have Southwest Flight Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money

 

I met with a client recently who asked me why Southwest Airlines charged her 23,000 points and $185 for a round trip flight from San Diego to Phoenix. She logged into her account so we could investigate and I noticed she had $1,372 in flight credits on Southwest. 

So now I was wondering "why was she giving Southwest any money at all?"

First, let's look at how she accumulated so many travel credits in the first place. 

How do you get travel credits on Southwest?

When you buy a flight with cash as opposed to points on Southwest and then cancel that flight, Southwest does not return your funds to your credit card instead it issues you a travel credit. 

If the price of your flight goes down and you change the flight to get the better fare, if you paid with cash, then you would get a travel credit for the difference.

Have Southwest Travel Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money 

If you click on the "my account" tab inside your Southwest online account and scroll all the way to the bottom you will see your flight credits. If you always fly using points like I do, you will have no flight credits. 

But if you pay cash for flights and cancel, you will see this.

Most of the time, flight credits are not transferable which means they must be used by the same passenger as the original ticketed passenger. And starting May 28th 2025, travel credits will expire in 6-12 months depending on the type of fare. 

Have Southwest Flight Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money 

If you have flight credits, then you should use them. Definitely stop giving Southwest your money and buying flights with cash. Even if you have points, use your travel credits first since you can use points for anyone and you can only use flight credits for the original passenger. 

To use flight credits, when you get to the payment section for your flight, scroll down and click apply flight credits. You will need your confirmation number which is a jumble of numbers and letters listed in the flight credits section of "my account." You can use several flight credits to pay for single flight.  

In the future, always use points to book Southwest flights. That's why we love flexible points like Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt points. You can transfer those to Southwest 1:1 if you need more Southwest points. If you book with points, you will never be stuck with those pesky flight credits. 

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. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable.