Southwest Visa 50,000 points offer is one of the best current offer available, but it’s scheduled to end in less than a month on August 6, 2013. Chase has been offering the 50,000 point welcome bonus for about a month now, and when it’s been offered in the past, the bonus dropped to 25,000 after the deadline only to return to the higher 50k offer a couple months later. I can’t be 100% certain to say that this offer will likely come back in a few months, but if you have been thinking about getting the card and are looking to get Southwest’s Companion pass for next year, now is a good time to apply for the cards and get the points.

To get the the 50,000 Rapid Rewards points you need to spend $2,000 in the first 3 months of opening your account. The annual fee for both versions of the card are not waived for the 1st year, and are $99 for the Premier card and $69 for the Plus card. The main difference between the cards is that with the Premier card you will get 6,000 ($108 in Wanna Get Away Fares) Rapid Rewards points every card anniversary and 3,000 ($54 in Wanna Get Away fares) with the Plus version.

The 50,000 point offer is ending August 6th

I have covered this offer a lot because of the great value you can get out of the 50,000 points--especially when you use them for shorter Wanna Get Away fares and even more so with the Companion Pass. Chase markets the offer with a value of 2 roundtrip flights, but I have found that you can get many more flights out of it depending on your flight length. You can use the points to fly anywhere that Southwest flies within the US, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Southwest Flight Map

Airtrans Flight Map

I have found that you can find award availability very easily on Wanna Get Away fares to most destinations and you will get 1.8 cents per point when redeeming them at this fare level. This means that you will get up to $900 in fares with the 50k points from the welcome bonus. If you earn 1110,000 points in one calendar year you can earn Southwest’s Companion Pass that will allow you to designate any companion to fly for free ($10 in taxes) on any Southwest or AirTrans flights you book--even using your points. You can basically double the value of your points with the pass and get up to $1,800 in free flights.

I recommend earning the Companion Pass early next year because when you get the pass it’s valid for the current year plus the entire next calendar year, so you will have the pass for 2 years. A good plan is to earn 100,000 points by getting both the personal card and the business card and then earning another 10,000 points in January 2014.

Chase offers 4 types of Southwest credit cards:

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Card

Earn 50,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months

$69 annual fee

3,000 bonus miles each year on anniversary

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Card

Earn 50,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months

$99 annual fee

6,000 bonus miles each year on anniversary

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Business Card

Earn 50,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months

$69 annual fee

3,000 bonus miles each year on anniversary

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Card

Earn 50,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months

$99 annual fee

6,000 bonus miles each year on anniversary

You can earn a total of 4 welcome bonuses

One of the best parts about these cards is that all-in-all you can get the welcome bonus for each card, so it is possible to get a total of four bonuses. It also lets you get approved for two cards in one day. Both times that I applied for the personal and business cards on the same, I was approved for both. This means that you can get 100,000 points in one day that will count towards the Companion Pass Qualification. After the $2,000 spend on each card you will have earned a total of 104,000 points that qualify for the Companion Pass so you will only need to earn another 6,000 points to get the pass. I recommend waiting until early next year so you can use the pass for two full years.

Getting the Companion Pass and the Rules

There are two ways to qualify for the Companion Pass:

1) Fly 100 one-way flights within a calendar year

2) Earn 110,000 points in a calendar year (every January your qualifying points reset to zero). Points earned from flights, credit card spending, points earned from partners, and credit card welcome bonuses are counted as Qualifying Points.

Companion Pass rules:

(Full list of rules and terms here)

1) When using the Companion Pass for travel, the Companion must fly on on the same flight as the Rapid Rewards Member.

2) Your companion has to board within the same zone as you, meaning that if you have elite status, your companion cannot board with you unless they have status as well.

3) You can change your designated Companion and request a new Companion Pass up to three (3) times within the validity period of the Pass.

4) When booking award travel and using the Companion Pass, the companion ticket is subject to a government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 roundtrip.

The Bottom Line

The 50,000 bonus points for the Chase Southwest credit cards have been consistently some of the best welcome bonuss over the last year or so. They are extremely lucrative for travel within the US and Mexico/Caribbean. If you get the Companion Pass you can essentially double the value of your points and get up to 3.6 cents per point when booking Wanna Get Away fares and using the Companion Pass.

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