flyer4512

For people who want to keep the card and pay the AF year after year ( and not get the 50k bonus again until 2 years have passed and the card is cancelled) and earn CP mostly by flying paid trips it still makes no sense to get the card at the end of the year purely for CP issues and getting the 6k/3k bonus.

1. You are risking that the points don't post before 12/31/xxxx

2. If the points post anytime from 1/1/xxxx until 12/31/xxxx they count for the current year CP so why wait.

3. If someone was using the bonus to make CP having it post mid year would probably be best so you know well in advance of 12/31/xxxx how many points you need for CP and there is no last minute rush.

rove312

FWIW, as I remember, I first got the card in February 2010, and it was going to make a difference whether the anniversary bonus would post as old-style credits in February 2011, or RR 2.0 points in March. This board was not helpful when I asked what to expect, and as I remember they posted in February. That's a data point, but don't count on it for what to expect next December.

duhitselaine

Happy new year!

I wanted to provide an update that I have received my CP as anticipated and it is valid until 12/31/2017.

Here are my updated data points from when I applied for those who are interested:

11/11/15 - applied for SW plus and premier card, both 50k bonus after $2000 within first 3 month
11/18/15 - received both cc, activated it. Premier card statement closes on 23rd of the month, bill due on the 20th. Plus card statement closes on the 8th with a bill due date of 5th.
11/19/15 - called SW to change the premier card statement due date to be the same as Plus card. Both cards will close on the 8th with bill due date of the 5th.
12/08/15 - both statements closed on Chase
12/12 and forward - started spending
12/31/15 - I had $3,900 posted on the plus card and only $1,299 on my premier.
By 1/4/16, I had charged more than $5K on each card with my last three charges on my premier card. I had until 1/8 (5 days) to ensure the pending charges post before statement close.
1/8/16- Statement closed for both card, all pending charges posted.
1/11/16- Checked CP count on SW's website and points were 112/110K.
1/14/16 - Received an email from SW notifying that I've earned CP and can now designate CP online. I designated my CP and added the CP to my flight in February.

Super excited that I will have CP for almost two years! Good luck to the rest on getting your CP!

Swens6

Out of curiosity, how easy is this?

I've got my Plus and Premier cards with statement closing dates of end of January. I've got the spend requirement on both of them and like for the points to drop in ASAP, so I can see where I am.

Is there any issue with calling in and asking them to move the close date up to like the 25th for some random reason? If so, whats a good reason?

missing_link

No reason needed. You can request they change the statement date through SM too. They should respond within a few hours at most.

alexgav

Congrats, and thanks for sharing the data - great data points to have. Glad it worked out perfectly for you!

jmpellet

This is great information! I was fortunate to have two sets of CP (for kids) between husband and I back in 2008 through the nifty Continental airlines crosswalk and I would love to do this again. We flew to Orlando something like 5 times for $0 that year.

To get the most bang for my buck (and almost two years of CP), do I need to time this at the end of the year and get the cards, spend but not to meet the bonus? Then in January hit the bonus figure? Could this still be done this year -- albeit the benefit is shortened by several months? I already have the Plus so I would need to canx that first, wait several months and then reapply. Hubby still has Mileage Plus right now so he's good to go.

daw4888

If you applied for a Personal and Business card today, you would get them in 1-2 weeks. When you activate them you can have them change your statement posting date to 10 day from the day of the call. Then go out and hit the spend requirement (2k for personal, 2k for business, and then another 6k between the 2). Finish the spending at least 7 days before your statement date to make sure they are posted at least 5 days before your statement. If everything goes as planned you could have your Companion pass(es) by the middle/end of Feb.

flywithme27

Hi, I just applied premier and plus cards. The person did not ask for my RR via phone application process, so a new account was built for me. On the other hand, I entered my old RR number when applying premier. My question is can I ask to merge two RR? When should I call them, now or after receiving bonus points?
Thanks,

RustyShackleford1

I have a related question, which I hope is not too far off-topic and was not answered during the many pages I haven't read carefully ...

How do I make sure, when applying for new Plus and Premier cards, that it has been the required lapse period since the previous time I had each card (in order to be eligible for the 50K bonus again) ? I seem to recall the period is 24 months, but not sure exactly how that's measured - IOW, what are the "bookend" dates of that 24 months ? The last bonuses were applied to the two cards 28Dec2014 and 12Mar15 (yeah, I screwed up in getting the CC for 2015, did not have a clue about this strategy); I believe those were the dates the points showed up in my RR account. So do I need to wait 'til exactly 2 years (or more) after those dates to apply for the new cards ? Or to start spending on them ? Or to reach $2000 spending ? Or for the bill with $2000 spending to close ? Am I correct those are the correct dates to use for the starting of the 24 month clock ?

And, the $64K question, is there some surefire way to verify, before I get the card, that it will be eligible for the bonus ? Thanks much !

toomanybooks

Wait until all bonus points post and call to combine. They do this all the time.

flywithme27

thanks for your reply. So they will count all 100 k points towards to CP.
I heard that they normally do not count any transferred points.

toomanybooks

First of all, those are not transferred. And yes, all count toward CP.

Secondly, they do count transferred points toward the CP (all of the different varieties, I think), except for Chase UR points transferred directly. Those you have to launder through Hyatt, Marriott, or Amtrak.

tfc3rid

Am trying the hotel points transfer approach and the only hiccup I get is every time I buy points, if I follow up and purchase more, Chase has deactivated my card because they see multiple purchases from points.com

Pain in the butt to have to call them every time for the same ol questions about why I'm buying the points...

duhitselaine

This is my first time getting CP and I would imagine I will try again once I'm eligible. For this time, I confirmed the bonus (spend 2k within 3 months, receive 50k) with the phone rep during the application process and also reconfirmed again when I asked to move my statement dates. There is no sure way to anything except doing as much research possible and going with your gut.