Chase Southwest Plus

Bonus is currently 25,00050,000 points. You also get 3k points (worth up to $50) every anniversary which certainly cuts the bite out of the $69 annual fee.  

Best thing about this card is if you can combine enough bonuses and spending (note there is both a personal and a business card each with their own bonus), you can get a free 12-23 month (depending on when in the year you get it) companion pass (i.e., you can take your spouse for free on all your flights for a year) from Southwest upon achieving a total of 110k qualifying points.

Currently, there is only one working 50k link for the Business card. I would wait until you can get 2 cards at the same time so you can get the companion pass for only $10k of spend.

Companion Pass Info

You need to earn 110,000 qualifying points withing a calendar year to get the companion pass. The companion pass will be valid for the calendar year earned and the following calendar year.

Ways to get additional points beyond the bonus

• Spend on one of your southwest credit cards
• Fly southwest
• Convert approximately 2 Hyatt points for each Southwest point
  • Stay at Hyatts
  • Convert Chase Ultimate Reward Points to Hyatt Points 1-for-1
  • Convert Amex Membership Rewards Points to Hyatt Points 1-for-1
• Convert 3 Marriott points for each Southwest point
  • Stay at Marriott’s
  • Pay Marriott about 0.5 cents per point
• Convert a bit over 3 Choice Hotel points for each Southwest points
  • Stay at Choice Hotels
• Transfer leftover points from Best Western or Wyndham

Note that the conversions above are at relatively poor rates. However, the companion pass may be very valuable and worth it. You can also, of course, combine any of the methods above, which, will probably be the way to go — clean out some leftover points that you couldn’t otherwise use and then spend away on the credit card.

Key rules on use

• Upon achieving the 110,000 qualifying points, call Southwest at 800-435-9792 and give them your companion’s name, date of birth and phone number. Within 10 business days, you should receive a physical companion pass in the mail
• The member must be traveling with the companion for the companion’s flight to be free (subject to up to $10 in security fees)
• The companion doesn’t earn points for the flight
• The companion’s travel must be reserved, either online or on the phone
• The companion pass if for one person. I.e., if you pick you wife, you can’t then bring your mom the next week. You are allowed to change the companion up to 3 times in case your fiancee dumps you, but you won’t be able to bring a different “friend” away each weekend — I guess they are a conservative bunch down in Dallas.

You can apply for this card here. Note that this is a direct link to chase and not an affiliate link. We take no responsibility for it.