THE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO EARNING THE SOUTHWEST COMPANION PASS & FLYING

FREE AROUND THE U.S.

By Lyn Mettler Freelance travel writer and blogger

www.GotoTravelGal.com

Copyright 2017, Lyn Mettler All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without prior permission of the publisher.

About the Author

Lyn Mettler is an Indianapolis, Ind.-based freelance travel writer and blogger who regularly contributes to FoxNews.com, US News & World Report and USA Today’s 10Best.com. Her articles have also appeared on or in MSN.com, Yahoo News, New York Post, iParenting.com and Family Fun magazine, and she also hosts her own travel blog at www.GotoTravelGal.com. Lyn is a regular guest on WISH TV in Indianapolis offering travel tips to viewers.  She is a wife and the mother of two school-age boys, whom she enjoys exposing to new places and old favorites. Her family’s favorite destinations include the Rocky Mountains, the California coast, Chicago and Walt Disney World where they love being outdoors and active, biking, hiking and kayaking.  Lyn is also a longtime travel public relations professional who has worked with a variety of hotels, resorts, adventure tour companies and other travel industry clients to secure media coverage.  Find her on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as @GotoTravelGal.    

Table of Contents: Introduction A Note About Applying for Credit Cards What is the Southwest Companion Pass? Why Southwest? Different Ways to Use Your Companion Pass: Singles, Couples and Families How to Earn Your Companion Pass Step by Step Booking a Flight With Your Companion Pass Plan How You Will Use the Companion Pass: One Big Trip or Many Smaller Trips? Getting the Most Out of Your Companion Pass Ideal Planning Calendar Appendix   

Introduction: Welcome! You are ready to embark on a journey to begin flying free WITH the companion of your choice. It might be your spouse, a child, a parent or your best friend! How much fun -- and what a great savings it will be -- to see new places, visit family members and return to your favorite destinations. And you can do all of this with minimal effort. Literally, reading this guide, signing up for a few credit cards, meeting the minimum spending requirements and then booking your trip. Easy as pie! How My Family of Four Traveled to 6 U.S. Destinations in 1 Year for Minimal Cost Thanks to Southwest -- and How You Can, Too! A long-time couponer, who loves to score a way to get something for free, I never knew the same principle could apply when it came to travel. Once I was exposed to the world of “travel hacking” and the possibility of accumulating frequent flier miles without actually flying, I was hooked. My family and I could fly almost free to nearly anywhere with minimal effort? Sign me up! After some study, I discovered it required much less effort than couponing and reaped much higher rewards. From October 2015 through October 2016, my family traveled from Indianapolis to six different destinations: San Diego; Fort Myers, Florida; Denver, Colorado; New York City; Anaheim, Calif. (only 2 of us traveled on this trip) and Orlando -- all on Southwest and all on frequent flier miles for an out-of-pocket cost of $608. This breaks down to:

● $250 for government-mandated taxes and fees ($5.60/person each way) ● $168 in credit card annual fees ($99 + $69, 2 cards) ● $190 in miles we purchased (this is not required)

This totals $101 per destination for four people to fly round-trip. Sound good? It is! How did I do it? By securing the Southwest Companion Pass and accumulating frequent flier miles with minimal effort. I’m going to show you exactly how in the steps below. If you’re already savvy to the Companion Pass and how it works, feel free to skip to Part 4 for all the nuts and bolts of exactly how to earn it, but if you want a good handle on what the Companion Pass is and how it can work for you, keep reading.

A Note About Applying for Credit Cards: To apply for the credit cards included in this ebook and to help support Go to Travel Gal at NO COST to you, please click Travel Credit Cards on the main menu at GotoTravelGal.com. This allows me to earn a small affiliate commission when/if you decide to apply for any credit cards in order to provide this ebook to you FREE. I sincerely appreciate you taking this step! Once you click on Travel Credit Cards, you will be taken to a page of all Chase credit cards. You may need to scroll to find the card/s you are looking for. You may also click on the right menu to find other cards, such as hotel cards, cashback cards and general travel cards. Thank you for supporting Go to Travel Gal and this ebook.

What is the Southwest Companion Pass? The Southwest Companion Pass allows one person to fly free with you from the time the pass is activated until the end of the following year. So if the pass is secured in August, it will be good through December of the NEXT year -- that can add up to close to 2 years! You can either travel for free (less a $5.60 government fee per person each way) using Southwest Rapid Rewards points or you can pay for the ticket. Either way, you bring your Companion for no additional points or cost. A Companion Pass is activated when you accumulate 110,000 frequent flier miles, which are called Rapid Rewards Points on Southwest, or fly 100 one-way flights in 1 calendar year. Will you be making 50 round-trip flights in 1 year? Probably not, unless you’re traveling for business, but there’s an easy way for the rest of us to meet this requirement and that is by focusing on the miles portion, which I will show you below. With a Companion Pass, you designate 1 individual -- perhaps your spouse, your girlfriend, your best friend or your child -- to fly free (plus $5.60 mandatory government taxes & fees each way) with you while the pass is valid. Southwest allows you to switch this individual up to three times in 1 calendar year (not including when you first designate the person); however, all travel with the previous companion must be completed before switching and booking travel with a new Companion. More on that later. Note, the “Companion” does not earn Rapid Rewards Points for these flights. In addition to the flight cost savings, another thing I love about the Companion Pass is that there are NO blackout dates or seat restrictions. It’s just like booking a flight with cash or credit! You have access to the same flights as anyone else, which is not the case with many airline frequent flier programs that can get complicated fast. Take-aways: *The Southwest Companion Pass lets 1 person fly free with you for up to 2 years when you accumulate 110,00 miles, also called Rapid Rewards points

Why Southwest? Southwest is a great choice if you’re looking for a low-hassle, inexpensive way to travel within the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Southwest is my family’s favorite airline for many reasons:

● The first 2 checked bags per person are FREE (hallelujah to that for families, who need to bring STUFF!). We sometimes pack a bag of snacks and breakfast food if we will not have a rental car to access a grocery and always pack a portable fan for white noise in our hotel.

● No change fees. You can change your Southwest flight at any time for no fee! If you cancel the flight entirely, you will pay nothing. If you paid with cash, you will receive a credit with Southwest for a future flight if you booked the cheapest Wanna Get Away fares. If you paid with points or miles, those are immediately credited back to your account upon cancellation. If you change the flight versus cancelling, you will only pay the difference in the cost of the flight. This allows you to book something even if you aren’t sure about it, knowing you can cancel later if needed, especially if you are using points or miles. (We have done this multiple times!)

● No blackout dates. Unlike many airlines that only open certain flights and limited seats for those looking to book with frequent flier miles, Southwest blocks nothing. You can book the same flights as everyone else paying with money versus miles.

● Points are based on the cost of fares. Other airlines have set points/miles for flights, whereas Southwest points reflect the current price of the ticket. This means when Southwest has a sale, points go down. So always wait until they are having a sale, which happens multiple times yearly. More about that later.

● Reasonable fares. We live in Indianapolis and regularly get great fares (roughly $59-$99 one-way in dollars) to California, Denver, DC, New York, Florida and Boston. We hit at least 3 of those destinations on a regular basis and wait for sales to book our flights.

● Infants (14 days to under 2 years) fly free with an adult when not occupying a seat. ● Children ages 2-11 may pay a lower Child Fare with proof of age (copy of birth

certificate) at the time of travel or by mailing it at least 2 weeks ahead of time. ● Free TV! On Southwest, you can watch numerous TV channels like ESPN and Disney

and up to 75 TV episodes on demand on your personal device via their AirTime app for no cost. Here is a list of compatible devices.

● Rapid Rewards points never expire. ‘Nuff said! ● Southwest employees are great. They are generally a pleasant -- and often funny --

bunch to deal with. We’ve never experienced any customer service issues as we have with some low-cost carriers that I’ve sworn never to fly again!

Where Southwest Flies (as of March 2017):

● Continental U.S. ● San Juan, Puerto Rico

● Aruba ● Belize ● Liberia and San Jose, Costa Rica ● Punta Cana, Dominican Republic ● Montego Bay, Jamaica ● Nassau, Bahamas ● Mexico (Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Cabo San Lucas & more) ● Cuba ● Grand Cayman Island

We are hearing rumors of Hawaii and Canada, but those have not come online yet! Take-aways: *Southwest is a great domestic airline that does not charge for the first 2 checked bags or to change or cancel flights. Plus, there are no blackout dates and points are based on fare prices. To-Do *Determine if Southwest is a good fit for your travel needs and goals.

Different Ways to Use Your Southwest Companion Pass: Singles, Couples & Families The Southwest Companion Pass can be used in a variety of ways and here are some examples: Singles Singles can bring along a best buddy, parent, sibling or anyone of their choosing to fly around the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. Remember, you can change your Companion no more than 3 times in 1 calendar year after first selecting the initial Companion. When only 1 person is using miles and the other flies free, that cuts the amount of points you need in HALF! 110,000+ miles goes quite far, possibly doubling the 6 destinations my family of 4 and I traveled in a year! Think of all the places you could go with 12 trips in your future! Couples Likewise, couples will only need to use miles for 1 person, while the other always flies free. A great strategy is for 1 member of the couple to earn the Companion Pass for up to 2 years, and then let the other member of the couple earn it for the next 2 years. Because the Southwest credit cards will not allow you to receive the miles bonus, which is what allows you to reach Companion Pass status, again for 24 months, this is a great strategy to keep someone always flying free! What a wonderful way for retirees to enjoy their newfound freedom -- flying around the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean nearly free! Families Miles don’t go quite as far with families since more people have to travel, but there is a way to make it work. It’s still a great savings for 1 member of the family to always fly free, and by using the strategies at the end of this ebook on Getting the Most Out of Your Companion Pass, you’ll learn ways to help your miles stretch as far as possible. A great strategy for a family is for one spouse to earn the Companion Pass for 2 years and then the other spouse earns it for the subsequent 2 years. Some families even have both parents earn the pass at the same time, so 2 kids always fly free. Just keep in mind that no one will then be able to earn the credit card bonuses again for 2 years due to their restrictions on bonus payouts only every 24 months. There are other ways to earn the pass but it will be much harder. The bonus miles are the key to reaching Companion Pass status. But perhaps at that point, since you’ll be an expert travel hacker after earning your Companion Pass, you could focus on overseas travel with another airline’s frequent flier program until you’ll able to earn the Southwest card bonuses once again. Take-Aways *The Southwest Companion Pass is a great way for families, couples and singles to enjoy free air travel, and there are different strategies for each! To-Do

*Consider which strategy you will employ with your Companion Pass. How to Earn Your Companion Pass Step by Step Note: This section contains affiliate links for which I may earn bonus points if you apply through these links. A Note About Timing One of the first steps in planning how you will earn your Companion Pass is to consider timing. Because the Southwest Companion Pass is good from the time of activation until the end of the following year, the best plan is to earn it as early as possible in the year. This means your pass will be good for almost 2 years! Of course, it doesn’t have to be done this way; you can earn the pass at any time during the year, though I would not recommend starting after November due to the risk your points may not accumulate in time. I hear from many people who have ALMOST enough points in December but not quite enough for the pass. Then they have to start ALL OVER on January 1. Don’t make that mistake! Step 1: Sign up for Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program if you are not currently a member by clicking on Rapid Rewards at the top left of Southwest.com Step 2: Apply for 2 Credit Cards with 40,000-60,000 Point Sign-up Bonuses A Note About Credit Cards: Before we get into credit cards, I want to note that signing up for credit cards must be done responsibly. Utilize these credit cards only as a means to pay everyday bills and purchases for items that you would already by buying, not to buy things you cannot afford and cannot pay off every single month to a ZERO balance. You must be responsible to pay for all items on the card every month; otherwise you will be paying high interest and that is no longer a good deal and you’re not really flying free. For me, it works best to pay down the balance every few days to ensure I stay on top of the charges. You should also have a good-to-high credit score (high 600s and above; visit GotoTravelGal.com/CreditSesame to check your score for free - no credit card required and your score is not impacted). You also do not want to be close to making a major purchase, such as a car or home, on credit. The credit report pulls when you sign up for multiple credit cards can impact your approval for such loans or the interest rate you would receive and we all want as low a rate as possible, because that saves significant money over the long haul.

There are THREE credit cards, whose sign-up bonuses allow you to earn Rapid Rewards points that COUNT toward the Companion Pass, but you will only need to sign up for TWO to accumulate most of the points you will need to get to Southwest’s 110,000-point requirement to earn the pass. They are: Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier

● $99 Annual Fee applied to first statement

● 6000 anniversary bonus points ● 2X points earned on Southwest purchases & hotel/car rental partners, 1 point for all

other expenditures ● No foreign transaction fees and save 3% on international purchases ● Up to 15,000 points qualify toward earning A-List status (35,000 points needed to earn),

which gets you priority check-in and boarding, 25% more points earned per flight, free same day stand-by and dedicated customer service phone line

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus

● $69 Annual Fee applied to first statement ● 3000 anniversary bonus points ● 2X points earned on Southwest purchases & hotel/car rental partners, 1 point for all

other expenditures ● 3% foreign transaction fee (when purchasing items overseas) ● No points earned toward A-List status

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (below find the requirements to qualify for a Business Card, which aren’t as hard as you might think)

● $99 Annual Fee, applied to first statement ● 6000 anniversary bonus points ● 2X points earned on Southwest purchases & hotel/car rental partners, 1 point for all

other expenditures ● No foreign transaction fees and save 3% on international purchases ● Up to 15,000 points qualify toward earning A-List status (35,000 points needed), which

gets you priority check-in and boarding, 25% more points earned per flight, free same day stand-by and dedicated customer service phone line

Please see my Note About Applying for Credit Cards to see how you can support Go to Travel Gal and this ebook with your credit card applications. Note: In the past there has also been a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Business Credit Card, though at this writing it is no longer available. However, on the Chase Southwest credit cards website it mentions this card, so it is a possibility that it may re-emerge as a fourth option for earning Rapid Rewards points to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass. You will need to apply and be approved for 2 of the above (usually people are most successful in signing up for 1 personal and 1 business card, but you can be approved for 2 personal cards) within the same calendar year as soon as they offer a 50,000-60,000 points bonus. This bonus is allotted to you after meeting a minimum spending requirement, which is usually $2000-$3000 per card. These offers typically come around multiple times a year, and in 2016 were available almost the ENTIRE YEAR, and you can be the first to know about them by signing up for email notifications

for my GotoTravelGal.com blog. If you have flown Southwest in the past and/or are a Rapid Rewards member, you may also be targeted directly by mail or email with these offers, even when they are not available to the general public. So check your spam and open your mail! Requirements to Apply for the Business Credit Card: You must have a business that qualifies as a:

○ Sole Proprietorship ○ LLC ○ Corporation ○ Partnership ○ Non-profit

If you don’t own your own business that you have had legally incorporated or designated a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), you can still qualify as a sole proprietor. That means you need to have income from another source besides your primary job, for which you receive W2s. In this case, you would have or will file a Schedule C on your taxes to account for this additional income. This could be anything from being an Uber driver, selling things on eBay or Amazon, freelance writing, babysitting, teaching a class, consulting, selling crafts on Etsy, etc. You will also need to provide your annual business sales or revenue on the application, so have that information ready. If you are declined for any of the above cards (I was initially declined for the business card), you can call the Chase reconsideration lines below, and they will often reverse their decision if you provide additional supporting data and explain the reason why you’re applying for the card. This reason should be something other than to earn the points, such as additional credit for a business expenditure, to consolidate balances from other cards, better track expenses, have a miles-earning card, etc. Chase Reconsideration Line: 1-888-270-2127 More About What to Expect When You Call the Line How to Meet the Minimum Spend & Continue to Earn Rapid Rewards Points:

● Put your everyday expenses on the card, things you would be paying for anyway, that you can pay off every month to a ZERO balance. This includes: meals, gas, groceries, donations, sports fees, phone bills, Internet, camp fees, etc.

● Surprisingly, even many utilities, including electric, water and gas, can be paid with a credit card (sometimes for a small fee, often not) if you pay them directly online.

● Pay for college tuition. ● Pay your medical bills online with your credit card. ● For large expenses like rent, mortgages or car payments, you can use a service like

Plastiq (this contains an affiliate link), which charges a 2.5% fee to allow you to make

that payment via credit card. You have to decide if the 2.5% fee is worth quickly meeting your minimum spend requirement for the number of points you will acquire.

● You can also purchase gift cards for stores where you know you will be shopping in coming months to more quickly meet the minimum balance.

● You can even ask a friend to write you a check, while you pay a bill for them using your credit card.

Bottom Line: There are lots of creative ways to meet the minimum spend! Once you meet the minimum spend, it can take up to 30 days after the end of the credit card cycle in which the points were earned to appear in your Rapid Rewards account. To find out when your credit card cycle closes the first time, you may need to call the credit card or securely message them through your account online. After the first month, the closing date will be shown on your monthly statement. You can check your Rapid Rewards balance online anytime. However, in our case, after we met the minimum spend, the points were almost always added within a week of the credit card cycle close date. Once you have met the minimum spend on both cards, you will have earned not only the 50,000-60,000 miles bonus for each but 2000-3000 points for the $2000-$3000 minimum spend. So with a $2000 minimum spend on each card you will have accumulated 104,000 miles, leaving 6000 more to collect. Step 3 shows you how to collect the remaining points. Sometimes, one Southwest credit card will have a 50,000-point bonus offer while a second will have a 60,000-point bonus offer. When that happens, you literally only have to sign up for the 2 cards, meet the minimum spend to earn your points and then you will have met the 110,000-point requirement for the Southwest Companion Pass in just 2 steps. Of course, this is the easiest way, but the bonus offers are not always quite this high. Step 3 shows you how to earn any remaining points needed to get you to 110,000 when offers are not at these levels. Step 3: Earn Points in Other Ways There are a variety of ways you can earn Rapid Rewards points aside from the credit card bonuses. You can begin earning these miles any time during the calendar year in which you want to earn Companion Pass Status, even before you sign up for the credit cards. This is a good strategy because as soon as you meet the minimum spending balance on the cards, you could have earned all the 110,000 required points. Flying Southwest Will you be flying Southwest before you have points to get free flights? Be sure to plug in your Rapid Rewards number so you can earn points for your flights. Wanna Get Away ® fares, their cheapest, earn 6 points per dollar spent; Anytime fares earn 10 points per dollar spent; and Business Select fares earn 12 points per dollar spent. Of course, the more points you earn, the

more expensive the fare, but if you can write off a business fare as a business expense or expense it to your company, the higher fare may be worth it to earn the additional points. Rapid Rewards Dining An easy method of earning points is to sign up for the Rapid Rewards Dining program that allows you to earn points at certain restaurants when you use any credit card (not just the Chase Southwest cards). Simply sign up for the program and register any credit card you might use to pay for dining (you don’t want to miss out on any free points). Participating restaurants tend to be independently-owned versus chains. I’ve been surprised to earn points at out-of-town restaurants that ended up being a part of the program. You can also earn additional points for reviewing the restaurant afterward. This program often offers a 500-1000 point bonus when you first sign up, dine at 1-2 participating restaurants within a certain amount of time and then write a review. Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal This is an easy and oft-overlooked way to earn points. If you’ll be doing some shopping -- any shopping -- say for spring clothes for your kids, holiday shopping, appliances or items for the home, or even tax software, start at the Southwest Shopping Portal and click through to the website where you’ll be shopping. Certain retailers offer up to 10X points for every $1 you spend when you click through the portal. We earn quite a lot every Christmas and try to remember to start all online shopping at the portal. Even if it is an item you need to pick up in store, you can often purchase it online and request in-store pick-up in order to get Southwest points. The Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal frequently offers inexpensive ways to earn a bank of points. Be sure to follow GotoTravelGal.com where I’ll keep you updated on cheap and easy ways to earn points as promotions go live. Some examples include:

● Wall Street Journal subscription - $12 for 700 points ● Barron’s subscription - $12 for 700 points ● USA Today subscription - $29.95 for 550 points ● Meredith Magazines subscription - $5.99 for 650 points ● Texture digital magazine subscription - $9.99 for 1100 points ● Pay your electric bill in certain states - Up to 27,000 points ● Order Valentine’s flowers - $34.99 for 1750 points ● 15 bottles of wine - $69.99 for 2000 points

You also don’t have to use your Chase Southwest cards to pay for your items, but why not, because you will earn even more points - just remember to pay it off! Everyday Expenditures on Your Credit Card Even After Your Minimum Spend Don’t forget to continue to use your Southwest credit cards for everyday purchases after you meet the minimum spend. All purchases, aside from Southwest and hotel/car rental purchases, earn 1 point for each $1 spent. All those day-to-day expenses really add up in a month and can put you over the total you need for your Companion Pass fairly quickly.

Methods of earning Rapid Rewards Points that do NOT count toward your Companion Pass requirements, but can be used for FREE travel include:

● Points purchased for personal use or as a gift ● Transferred points, though please note there is a hefty fee to transfer points between

accounts ● Points earned from Rapid Rewards enrollment ● Anything marked as “bonus points” ● Tier bonus points (earned when you hold A-List or A-List Preferred elite status) ● Flight bonus points (beyond the regular points you earn when booking fares) ● Partner bonus points, such as credit cards that allow you to transfer points from their

programs into “Rapid Rewards points,” such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points and that transfer to Southwest as a 1:1 ratio

Remember, you have until the end of the calendar year to earn these additional points, so don’t stress yourself financially by buying things you can’t afford. However, the sooner you earn the points, the longer you will be able to use your Companion Pass. Don’t Make This Mistake: Don’t push your luck by waiting to earn the remaining points close to the end of the year. You run the risk that the last few points you need could get posted unexpectedly the following year. Then you will have to start from scratch. I’ve heard of too many people this has happened to; don’t let it happen to you! Take-aways *Don’t start accumulating Rapid Rewards Points for a Southwest Companion Pass after October/November. Wait until January. *Meet the minimum spend as quickly as you can without stressing yourself financially. *Use credit cards responsibly, only charging things you can pay off monthly to a ZERO balance. To-dos: *Sign up for 2 of the 3 Chase Southwest Credit Cards. *Meet the minimum spend requirement. *Utilize other methods to earn the remaining points to reach 110,000 qualifying points within 1 calendar year.

Booking a Flight With Your Companion Pass Hooray! You’ve earned the super-awesome Southwest Companion Pass and are ready to start booking free flights. First things first: pick the lucky person who will fly with you FREE! Designate your Companion

● Log in to your Rapid Rewards account at Southwest.com ● Click on Rapid Rewards at the top right ● On the Snapshot tab, look for Choose Your Companion and click Enter Companion

Info. Follow the instructions. ● Or you can call Southwest at 1-800-435-9792

Once you designate your Companion, you may change him or her up to 3 times in each calendar year that the Pass is active. To change your Companion, you will need to call Southwest at 1-800-435-9792. A Note on Changing Companions Southwest says that any reservation with the current Companion needs to be completed before changing your Companion to someone new. On first read, it sounds as though you won’t be able to make a switch or book travel with the new companion until all travel with the current companion is complete. However, there is a way around this. When you book a flight on Southwest, you can add your Companion at any point after booking the flight up until 36 hours ahead of departure. So, go ahead and book your flight where the new Companion will be joining you and simply add them to the reservation AS SOON AS your flight with the past Companion is completed. We have had no issues with this. Booking a Flight with Your Companion

1. On Southwest.com, book the flight for yourself and anyone else who will be flying with you who is NOT your Companion.

2. After booking your flight, visit the My Trips section under your Rapid Rewards account on Southwest.com.

3. Find the flight for which you want to add a Companion under the Upcoming tab (sometimes it takes a day for a flight you have booked to show up here).

4. Click Add Companion and continue to fill out/review all information. Reminder, you will have to pay the mandatory government and taxes fee of $5.60 each way for the Companion. Might as well pay for that with your Southwest Credit Card and earn double the points! This is the part that can wait if you have a flight that has not yet happened with a DIFFERENT COMPANION.

5. Click Purchase. 6. Alternately, you can call 800-248-4377 to add your Companion to a pre-existing flight.

**You may be asked to show your Companion Pass, which should have arrived in the mail within 7-10 business days upon achieving the status, at the ticket counter or departure gate with a valid photo ID for both parties. So make sure it’s in your wallet!

Plan How You Will Use the Companion Pass: 1 BIG Trip or Many Smaller Trips? While my family used the Companion Pass and Southwest Rapid Rewards Points to take 6 different trips within 1 year, you can also use the pass for 1 or 2 big trips. For example, flying to the Caribbean and Mexico typically takes a lot more points than Indianapolis to Denver or New York City -- even during a sale. So you may want to save your 110,000 points for your family of 4, for example, to spend the holidays sunning on a beach in Nassau. We happen to love California, the Rocky Mountains and Disney, so we knew we would need points for all of these destinations within a year. We chose to use our 110,000+ points for MANY DIFFERENT TRIPS with cheaper flights than on 1 big trip. Make sure you have a strategy of how you will use your points and Companion Pass, so you can begin looking for great deals and sales on Southwest as soon as your Companion Pass activates. Take-aways *Plan if you will use your pass for multiple low-cost flights or 1 or 2 larger trips that cost more points.

Getting the Most Out of Your Companion Pass Now that you’ve got the basics down, I’m going to share some tips I’ve learned along the way to help you maximize the Companion Pass. Finding the Best Fares through Sales Because Southwest bases the number of points it charges for a flight on the current cost of the flight, points required for a given flight vary over time. So it’s important to understand what is a good deal for destinations on your radar by regularly checking prices. Wait until Southwest has a sale before booking your flights. While the website frequently says they are having a sale, I’ve found the real sales are when you start seeing TV ads for Southwest. This is typically when prices are lowest. This happens multiple times per year, so keep an eye out. And, of course, it’s always better to buy during a sale (even if it’s not one of the best) than not during a sale. Also, remember you can always book a Southwest flight and then later cancel it with no change or cancellation fee. You only pay for any increase in the fare price. Paying with points is the easiest way to cancel or make changes to an existing itinerary, as any unused points are immediately credited back to your account. If you pay with cash or credit, however, you will NOT BE REFUNDED that money for the lowest Wanna Get Away fares (on some higher fares, you can get a refund), but rather you will be issued a future credit with Southwest. That said, if you think it’s a pretty good deal, feel free to book, knowing you can change or cancel if a better deal comes along. Buying during sales will help your points go MUCH further! Using Your Rapid Rewards Points to Use Major Cities as Launching Points We have considered using our points to get us to major departure cities like Los Angeles, New York and Boston, where we can then take advantage of lower fares or points/miles on other airlines to worldwide destinations. Some examples on our radar include:

● Flying to Iceland or other European cities with WOW Air for $69 one-way from Boston, a a regular sale price for this airline (Note: There are higher taxes & fees and bag/seat charges, etc. on this airline, but still a great deal for overseas travel! Did you know Iceland is only a 4-hour flight from Boston?)

● Flying to Hawaii from the West Coast - If you can get to major departure cities on the West Coast, you can fly to Hawaii for 25,000 points each way via British Air Avios (See Appendix for Miles & Points bloggers who can help with this more advanced travel hacking). Here is another plan for flying nearly free to Hawaii.

● Flying to Dublin, Ireland, from major U.S. cities like Chicago on Aer Lingus using 26,000 British Airways Avios roundtrip. My family took advantage of this offer to fly all four of us nearly free to Ireland and then on to France and Italy! Here’s how to do it.

Chase Sapphire Preferred - Step 3 to Maximize Your Companion Pass Please see my Note About Applying for Credit Cards to see how you can support Go to Travel Gal and this ebook with your applications for cards like Chase Sapphire Preferred. Once I completed my goal of earning the Companion Pass, my next step was to sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. I love this card!! This card allows you to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, which can then be transferred to Southwest (and other airline and hotel partners) at a 1:1 ratio. This is a simple, logical next step that still doesn’t require advanced travel hacking knowledge. The card nearly always has a 50,000 Rewards Points bonus after a minimum $4000 spend within the first 3 months, as well as another 5000 Rewards Points bonus when you add an authorized user. This gave my family another 59,000 (50,000 + 5000 authorized user bonus + 4000 points for minimum spend) Rapid Rewards points to work with, which allowed us to book travel, which ultimately covered 6 destinations. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card waives its annual fee of $95 for the first year and lets you earn 2X points on dining and all travel expenses + they offer primary car rental insurance, meaning collision and theft of the rental car are covered without you having to file a claim with your insurance company (Southwest cards require you to file a claim with your insurance company first and they cover anything not paid by your insurance). I now use this as my everyday card, since I can earn more points here (with double points on dining and travel) than via the Southwest cards. My strategy will be to hang on to the Southwest cards until I earn the anniversary points for each of the 2 cards for a total annual fee cost of $168 (just under 2 cents per mile, which seems a good deal to me!). I will then close them out so I can earn the Companion Pass again in 24 months when they offer the 50,000 bonus. A Note About Closing Accounts Should you close your Chase Southwest cards? If you want to earn the 50,000 point bonus again at some point in the future, yes, you should. You may want to wait until you earn your 1-year anniversary bonus points and then close your cards. However, if you keep your cards, you can continue to earn Southwest points for all of your everyday expenditures, which can continue to help you travel free on points + all points earned via their card DO COUNT toward the 110,000 points you will need for your NEXT Companion Pass. Additionally, you can earn 5000 Southwest points, up to 50,000 points in one year, for every person you refer to the card,

but you have to be a cardholder to do so. These points ALSO QUALIFY for the Companion Pass. You may also consider switching to a card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred above, which still allows you to earn points that transfer to the Rapid Rewards program, but is more beneficial in that you can earn double points on some purchases. Keep in mind that your credit is partly based on the length of time you’ve held certain cards and the amount of credit you’ve been extended, so ensure you always have a few cards (ideally with no annual fee) that you hang onto over the long term if you plan on closing other cards as you continue travel hacking. Also, it’s a good idea to close the cards AFTER you plan on applying for any new cards, because there will be temporary credit drop because the amount of credit you have extended to you will decrease and because it may shorten the average length of time you have held credit scores. You can also try calling the credit card company and telling them you are closing the card due to the annual fee. Sometimes they will waive the annual fee or offer you bonus points to get you to continue to hold the card. Chase Sapphire Reserve In 2016, Chase introduced a brand new card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, that was a huge hit and is an upgraded version of Chase Sapphire Preserve. They initially offered a 100,000-point Chase Ultimate Rewards point bonus, though the card comes with a hefty $450 fee. Before discounting the card, however, realize that it comes with a number of benefits, several of which help offset the $450 fee. Card holders get a $300 travel credit (for any travel expenditures put on the card) and are credited back for one TSA PreCheck (read more about the benefits and cost of TSA PreCheck) or Global Entry application fee, which helps expedite the security process at some airports. Chase Sapphire Reserve also earns 3X points on dining and travel. As of this writing (March 2017), the bonus is 50,000 points after spending $4000 within the first three months. A Note About Chase As of March 2016, Chase has tightened its rules on the number of its cards it will approve per person. While it varies from person to person, you may only be approved for 3-5 cards at a time, so be sure to plan and prioritize which cards you want. They also factor in how many cards from other banks you have applied for in the two years (no approvals for anyone who has applied for 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months, though some business cards are excluded), so it’s a good idea to get the Southwest cards and then perhaps the Chase Sapphire before moving on to more travel hacking and additional card applications, as you may no longer be able to get those after a certain number of card applications.

Take-aways *Watch for sales on Southwest *Consider Chase Sapphire Preferred as a next step or if you need more points *Decide when/if you will close the accounts *Don’t apply for other cards until you have your Southwest cards

Ideal Planning Calendar: October-November: Begin planning to earn your Companion Pass

● Conduct research on the Companion Pass (read this ebook!) ● Get an idea for the average cost of the flights you will be looking for and determine what

is a good fare ● Get your credit score to the upper 600s to low 700s (most easily by getting all card

balances down to a third or below of their credit limit so long as you don’t have a bankruptcy, etc. and paying all bills on time)

● Sign up for Rapid Rewards ● Sign up for Rapid Rewards Dining

January-March:

● Watch for 50,000-60,000 point bonus Southwest credit card offers and sign up as soon as possible for 2 of the 3 cards

● Collect points in other ways, such as through the Rapid Rewards Dining Program and the Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal for things you would already be purchasing

February-April:

● Complete your minimum spend requirement for the above cards and wait for the points to be added to your Rapid Rewards account no more than 30 days after the close of your credit card business cycle

● Use your credit cards to pay for everyday expenses, which will translate into points that qualify for your Companion Pass

● If you need more points to reach 110,000, continue to follow previous tips to earn points and read GotoTravelGal.com for cheap and easy ways to earn points

● Wait for the exciting email that you have earned a Companion Pass! April through December of the FOLLOWING Year

● Travel the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico with a Companion FREE ● Begin planning how you will earn the Companion Pass again by either having a spouse

or friend earn it and make YOU the Companion or waiting until you are able to earn the credit card bonuses again

Appendix Primary Resources www.GotoTravelGal.com (Lyn’s blog with regular updates on the Companion Pass) www.Southwest.com www.southwestaircommunity.com (News and tips from Southwest) Rapid Rewards Shopping Rapid Rewards Dining Credit Card Application Pages Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Premier Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Chase Sapphire Preferred Chase Sapphire Reserve Go to Travel Gal’s Other Favorite Credit Cards Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express Discover it® - Cashback Match To apply for the credit cards included in this ebook and to help support Go to Travel Gal at NO COST to you, please click Travel Credit Cards on the main menu at GotoTravelGal.com. This allows me to earn a small affiliate commission when/if you decide to apply for any credit cards in order to provide this ebook to you FREE. Thank you for taking this step!  Go to Travel Gal Social Media (please follow me!) Facebook Pinterest Twitter Instagram Helpful Posts About Flying Southwest

● Southwest WiFi: How to Check if Your Flight Has It ● 8 Reasons Why I LOVE to Fly Southwest! ● 11 Ways to Meet the Minimum Spend on Your Southwest Credit Card ● Double-Dipping With Rapid Rewards Points ● How to Earn Rapid Rewards Points for Dining ● How to Use the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal ● 5 Ways to Earn Free Travel by Paying Your Taxes ● Pay Mortgage, Rent or Taxes with a Credit Card to Meet the Minimum Spend ● The Latest Posts on How to Earn Rapid Rewards Points ● How to Transfer Southwest Points to Someone Else: It Costs!

● Southwest Check-in Tips for Your Next Flight ● Southwest Business Select: What Is It? ● What to Do If You Were Declined for a Southwest Chase Card ● How to Get Free Southwest Drink Coupons

Recommended Miles and Points Blogs www.MillionMileSecrets.com www.MommyPoints.com www.MileValue.com www.TravelMiles101.com http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/ www.ThePointsGuy.com Other Helpful Resources Plastiq.com (pay bills that otherwise won’t allow you to pay with a credit card; note this contains a referral link whereby I receive a discounted fee if you sign up using this link - thanks!) Evreward.com (see rewards you can earn by shopping at online stores) CreditSesame.com (check your credit score) Got questions? Ebook readers are welcome to email me at lyn@gototravelgal.com. I’d also love to give you a shout-out when you earn your Companion Pass, so let me know. Please use “Companion Pass ebook” in your subject line so I can respond promptly. Revised March 30, 2017