Wanna Travel with a Friend?
Let me start by saying I am in no way affiliated with Southwest Airlines, except for the fact that I am an A-List member. There, that’s done. Let’s get on with it.
Over the last 5+ years I have been traveling quite a bit for work and have racked up most of those miles on Southwest Airlines. Each year I would qualify for A-List, but would not make it any further. I could not get to A-List Preferred and the companion pass was something of a dream. My wife and I like to travel, but I couldn’t get her on the plane without paying. I could have increased my travel for work, the opportunities were there, but I am also the father of five boys. That means it’s a good idea if I am around the house more often than not. So now what?
We Needed a Plan
My wife and I were talking one day and decided that we needed to come up with a plan. She had a Southwest credit card. I actually hate credit cards thanks to a first marriage, but my wife had one anyway. She did a nice job earning some free flights here and there. Those paired nicely with my miles and gave us a start. But wouldn’t the companion pass be nice? It sure would.
We finally had the light bulb moment one day and decided to cancel my wife’s credit card and set up a new one under my name. This would give us a whole bunch of miles (40,000 or something like that) and then all of my work travel would pile up as well. Spending would add to the total and there was a lot of spending. My last little nugget was a plan to buy work travel on my personal card and then have it reimbursed. It was pure genius. Here’s the system.
The Companion Pass System (You Need 110,000 Points)
- Start with the initial onslaught of miles for signing up for the credit card. (+40,000 points)
- Add in the work travel (15 round trips per year = 40,000 to 50,000 points)
- Utilize the multiplier. The charging of work travel on the personal credit card doubles the points. I have my company reimburse the expense. Voila! (2 points per $1 spent on Southwest)
- Supercharge with personal spending. I also agreed to quit spending on my debit card. My purchases moved to the credit card, with the agreement that the balance be paid off each month. (Figure up your monthly spending and take that times twelve. If you spend $2,000/month, then you are looking at another 24,000 points.)
You Can Too
The system may not work for everyone. I acknowledge that not everyone travels at the same rate as me each year. I also acknowledge that not everyone spends as much per month as may be required. My point in showing you my system is just to provide an awareness for those of you who are on the bubble like me. You A-Listers who are consistently getting through security faster, boarding first, and generally feeling good about your airline status, but who want a little more. It’s for you that I write this one. Get out there and get yourself a companion pass. It can be done.
