Southwest Companion pass 2013-14
#31
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 220
I have a 2 percent card from Capital One. I like it. But I prefer the Southwest card right now because:
1. Some taxes are waived for points bookings, bringing the savings on a short-haul deep discount ticket to more than 2 cents per point.
2. Points bookings are more valuable than cash bookings because they are refundable to the account and re-usable by any traveler.
3. I have the option to convert 19.2k points to a standard award which can be worth more than $400, again exceeding 2 points per dollar.
4. The points count toward Companion Pass renewal, which is not nearly as easy to reach as it was when you buy low-fare short-haul tickets.
If you don't plan to maximize the value of your points in these ways, or if you find it inconvenient, then by all means go with the 2% cashback card.
1. Some taxes are waived for points bookings, bringing the savings on a short-haul deep discount ticket to more than 2 cents per point.
2. Points bookings are more valuable than cash bookings because they are refundable to the account and re-usable by any traveler.
3. I have the option to convert 19.2k points to a standard award which can be worth more than $400, again exceeding 2 points per dollar.
4. The points count toward Companion Pass renewal, which is not nearly as easy to reach as it was when you buy low-fare short-haul tickets.
If you don't plan to maximize the value of your points in these ways, or if you find it inconvenient, then by all means go with the 2% cashback card.
#32
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 220
Also, this may sound dumb, but CP pass is how many points EARNED in a year correct? Not once you gross 110k in an account in a year. IE: I could spend the points as fast as I get them, so when I reached 110k in earn points I only have like 10k in the account left (not my case) but would that still get CP status?
#33
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,782
The details of thank you points are not 100 percent straightforward and I don't want a mod to say I thread hijacked, so I'll give the basics here, with a comparison to WN points earned by credit card to keep it on topic.
Thank you points are earned with various citi products including its credit cards. It's one point per dollar, with a few bonus categories that give 1.2 points. They also have promos at times (like holidays) where spending can earn extra points. But, for purposes of the discussion, let's say it's 1:1.
In addition to thank you points, you can also earn "flight points." You get 1 point for every mile flown with a ticket purchased with the credit card. So, suppose you pay $400 on the card for a RT flight from LAX to JFK. You get 400 TY points for your spend, plus you also get 5,000 "flight points" for the miles corresponding to the flight. (There are some tricks to accumulating flight points too that are a bit beyond this discussion.)
So, what are flight points? Flight points are banked in your thank you account. So, to take this example, you would bank 5,000 flight points. Flight points are converted to thank you points at a rate of 1:1 for every dollar you spend on your card. So, it's complicated, but the bottom line is this: if you buy a ticket or two on your citi card you build up a bank of flight points and from that point forward you're getting 2 TY points for every dollar you spend on the card.
Thank you points can be used to book flights. You get 1.3 cents per point toward the ticket. You can mix and match and use points plus dollars. The airline sees it as a full cash purchase, so you get miles, status, upgrades, whatever. You book it through the thank you web site, which is like booking through orbitz, etc.
So, suppose USAir and WN are selling a nonrefundable (or WGA) ticket from PHX to MCO for $300. You want to use points for it. You could redeem 18,000 WN points for it, and it would be an award ticket. That would require $18k in spend on the WN credit card. Alternatively, you could redeem 23,000 TY points for the same ticket on US (and, if TY ever allows WN redemptions, on WN too I guess). With flight points, you could earn 23k TY points with 11.5k in spend -- or 2.6 cents per $1 of spend. Plus, you earn miles for the flight, it counts toward status, and you get upgraded if you have status, etc.
You can also use TY points for hotel redemptions, but the rates aren't as good and I think you don't get hotel chain points in most cases.
So, my original premise was wrong, because TY apparently at present can't be redeemed for WN flights. If you have to fly WN, then I guess you probably can't do much better than 1.7 cents per $1 of spend on the card. And if you are using the companion pass, you will of course want to fly WN. For travel where you can choose between WN and another airline, though, you get better value using TY points.
#34
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,589
You can't do that. A standard award for last-minute travel can save you more than $400, but you can't convert it to cash. I suppose if you travel with family and you want to charge them for using your awards you could do it, but then they'd never talk to you again! And that would violate program rules.
#35
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 220
Okay, so I mentioned earlier I had 100k points post already in January '13. Well I have 4 flights scheduled already and chose not to pay for priority boarding as I assumed I was automatically an "A list customer" since I am well over 35k points. I called now to ask when I would receive my priority boarding ticket for being an A list customer... and the gentelman said I do not have a list status, and that the 100k points I have in bonus do not count towards it... Also leading me to believe once my other 50k bonus hits I will not earn a CP either. Is that true. Was this the case for many of you? Any ideas?
#36
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: PHL
Posts: 656
It's like anything else: status from bis miles. The program requirements for the different tiers show that you need bis miles/ segments for a list status, but the cp one says 110k earned in a calendar year. Take a look at the wn website and you'll see what I mean. In other words, yes to cp, but you don't get status w it.
#37
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Chicagoland, IL, USA
Programs: WN CP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,164
Okay, so I mentioned earlier I had 100k points post already in January '13. Well I have 4 flights scheduled already and chose not to pay for priority boarding as I assumed I was automatically an "A list customer" since I am well over 35k points. I called now to ask when I would receive my priority boarding ticket for being an A list customer... and the gentelman said I do not have a list status, and that the 100k points I have in bonus do not count towards it... Also leading me to believe once my other 50k bonus hits I will not earn a CP either. Is that true. Was this the case for many of you? Any ideas?
Flying gets you all three kinds. Credit card spend gives you 2 of them, except if you push over a $10K increment with the Premier card, in which you get some of the third kind. Car rental/hotel may give you 2 kinds on part of them and one on the other. It is somewhat complex.
When I mentioned that 150K+ in a year from 3 CCs was overkill, I was referring to the fact that anything over 110K in a calendar year gets you nothing other than the points for travel.
Had you saved the third 50K for a future year, it would have given you almost half of yet another Companion Pass. That is a lot of value.
#38
Join Date: May 2006
Location: TUS/PDX
Programs: WN CP/A-List, AS MVPG75K
Posts: 5,798
By the way, if anyone here HAS a CP for 2013 and gets 110K points for 2014, the system will not show your CP expiration date as 12/31/14. It will continue to show an expiration date of 12/31/13, until Jan 1, then it'll roll over.
I'm still undecided on the Chase Sapphire card or the WN card (once the 50K bonus shows up). Any thoughts? I need a Visa to supplement my HH Amex.
#39
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Michigan
Programs: Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 503
Halfway to the CP!
My Chase statement closed yesterday and the bonus points just posted to my RR account this morning! Halfway there...now I just need to wait for my business card bonus points to post on Tues/Wed and I'll be about 95% of the way to the CP, only a week into the calendar year!
Last edited by dajoip; Jan 7, 2013 at 6:47 am
#40
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: PHL
Posts: 656
My pers & biz have both closed, so I'm at 106,XXX but tier status still pending. I posted a couple of days ago that my partner's pers closed and it shows she's halfway to CP (I feel like she's the first to have their status showing on WNs website?). Her biz closed as well but she was just shy of 2k, so that bonus won't post until next statement. Hope we'll have these taken care of entirely (up to CP) with next statement.
#41
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,782
The status pending thing is bizarre. Is there some dude with an abacus manually checking accounts?
Most if not all airline and hotel programs seem to be able to handle tracking equity miles and points when the calendar changes without much problem. Join the 21st Century, Southwest.
Most if not all airline and hotel programs seem to be able to handle tracking equity miles and points when the calendar changes without much problem. Join the 21st Century, Southwest.
#43
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,782
American's code is AA. United's is UA. Etc.
Southwest's is WN. So, WN is a common abbreviation for Southwest.
#45
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: IND
Programs: Marriott Platinum, SWA CP
Posts: 577
I did this successfully early last year, so apologies if something has changed in the interim and my info is out of date...