What is the highest status I can obtain from ONLY credit card spend
#16
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: Southwest A-List; Alaska MVPG; Hilton Diamond; Avis PreferredPlus; Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite
Posts: 911
Not sure what is so funny. I am just not used to flying these extreme budget airlines where your best status allows you to pick in a group of seats the day before.....very new to me. Used to being able to pay for seats I want when I book my tickets and being done with it. Companion tickets seems to have some value if I also have the seating early option. May just stick to the more traditional airlines if not
#18
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: WN F9 HA UA AA IHG HH MR
Posts: 3,305
WN is very far from an extreme or even a budget airline. Not at all in the category of G4, NK or F9. In fact for many city pairs it often has the highest coach fare.
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: PHX
Programs: HHonors Lifetime Diamond, UA Million Miler Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,142
Not at all true. I asked what was the highest I could earn with CC spend without flying this year. Don't put words in my mouth. I said I was looking at this as I may start flying them next year when we move. Nothing wrong with exploring options.
#21
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Again: For anything posted here to actually be helpful, a level of basic knowledge would be suggested.
Like it or not, FlyerTalk really isn't the best place for rudimentary instruction. That's much more applicable to, say, Southwest's website.
Hence the link I posted.
FlyerTalk is much more about the minutia and details, and how best to leverage them to the benefit of the flyer. And to receive benefit from that conversation, I think you need to understand the basics of the program being discussed.
All joking aside, I hate it as much as anyone when people here immediately attack a poster for their apparent ignorance. It's not helpful, and it happens too often.
That said, I found some of the OP's responses (as well as some of the replies) funny. As an explanation, I suggested that a better understanding of what Southwest is and how it works on a very basic level would be helpful.
That's all.
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: PHX
Programs: HHonors Lifetime Diamond, UA Million Miler Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,142
DANG please read the post then before commenting. I put in the original post that I was moving to the western United States and was considering changing to SW but didn't want to until I go there. I was simply trying to line up as high of status as possible from CC use PRIOR to the move. Is that really so hard for you to grasp
#23
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: DL Silver, Avis President's Club, Hertz President's Circle, Global Entry (Former AA Plt/Gold)
Posts: 4,417
OP wants his Day 1 WN flying to include status, is how I understand it. I think it's easier/cheaper to just buy the EBCI or the business select fares - at least that's an option and is cheaper than buying "preferred" seats on a legacy airline near the front until earning status.
#24
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 182
It is tough for somebody to reach status because almost 100% of the flights I take I take on points and dumb WN doesn't consider points flights "revenue" flights. My butt is on the plane. I "paid" for the ticket. I should be eligible for some sort of status given that I fly at least 20-30 segments per year but SW shows I have 0 segments.
I could easily take my CC spending elsewhere to a bank that gives 2 points per dollar spend and if I take these dollars and spend them with SW I am entitled to status. Booking with points comes with a ton more flexibility with making changes and cancellations and not having to worry about tons of different credited tied to confirmation numbers so I elect to continue booking with points.
#25
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: Southwest A-List; Alaska MVPG; Hilton Diamond; Avis PreferredPlus; Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite
Posts: 911
OP: take a look at the new Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card. It wont give you status, but you can milk some of the perks to help you get some good boarding positions until you earn status. With 4 refunded A1-15 upgrades each year, and an additional $75 of refundable SW spend, you can purchase early check in or early boarding for a few flights.
If you have status on another airline, you could also check to see if Southwest is running a status match promotion or challenge once youre ready to start flying. That might get you status for a few months.
But theres really no way to earn status on Southwest without paid butt-in-seat flying.
If you have status on another airline, you could also check to see if Southwest is running a status match promotion or challenge once youre ready to start flying. That might get you status for a few months.
But theres really no way to earn status on Southwest without paid butt-in-seat flying.
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: HH Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 10,451
Also, I would suggest that the OP take a short, cheap flight on WN to see if they like it. Go ahead and purchase EBCI to see what it gives you. That's my suggestion before investing in large credit card spend. WN gives you a boarding position -- when you board the plane, you choose from the available seats -- that never guarantees a particular seat. Even if you have A1 boarding position, there may be through passengers on the aircraft who may be in your preferred seat (for example, the exit row seating).
#27
#28
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 203
You could technically put $100k on a SW personal card and $100k on a SW business card and get 30000 TQP, so you'd just need probably 1 business select flight to hit A-list.
That being said, makes a lot more sense to put that $200k on a card with better reward value (Chase ultimate rewards) and just buy early bird boarding for every flight you take instead.
That being said, makes a lot more sense to put that $200k on a card with better reward value (Chase ultimate rewards) and just buy early bird boarding for every flight you take instead.
#29
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 182
The disadvantage I find with this is if you are a flyer that constantly makes changes and/or cancels flights, it's much easier to have refunded points return to a pool vs. keeping track of tons of flight credits in confirmation numbers.
#30