- Hey, it's Debra with Traveling Well For Less.
Today, you'll learn how to earn Southwest points.
If you're having a hard time earning points,
in this video, I'll show you how to get lots of points
for free flights.
You'll learn easy ways to earn Southwest points
all but one you can do without flying
and most you can do from home.
I'll also share how to get up to two years of free flights.
If you want to learn this easy travel hack,
make sure you watch the entire video.
Tip number one: Pay your utility bill.
You can earn up to 15,000 points
when you change your utility company to NRG or Reliant.
You'll also earn points every month you pay your bill.
Tip number two: Buy gas
You'll earn one point for every gallon of fuel you buy
at Marathon gas stations.
Pro tip: You get 40 cents off per gallon
on your first fill-up.
Tip number three: Order groceries.
You get half a point per dollar you spend
when you order groceries from Albertsons, Safeway and Vons
through the Rapid Reward shopping portal.
Tip number four: Eat at restaurants.
I share this tip in my video on "Airline Dining Programs."
If you haven't seen it be sure to watch it later.
You earn three points for every dollar you spend,
including tax and tip.
Plus you get 10 points if you complete
a short five question review.
As a new member, you earn up to a 1,000 bonus points.
In addition to the three points per dollar spent,
and the 10 points for your review.
When you've earned 1,500 points,
through Rapid Rewards Dining
you'll get another 500 bonus points.
And for every 1,000 points you earn,
you'll get another 300 points.
Pro-tip: Buying restaurant gift cards
also earns the three points per dollar spent.
Plus the 10 points if you leave a review.
Be sure to tell me in the comments,
which restaurant you plan to go to to earn Southwest points.
Tip number five: Sign up for a Southwest Credit Card.
You can earn up to 100,000 Southwest points
with credit card sign up bonus.
Southwest offers three personal credit cards,
the Southwest Premier Credit Card,
Southwest Priority Card and the Southwest Plus Credit Card.
At the time of this video,
each of these cards are offering
a 40,000 points signup bonus,
when you spend $1,000 in purchases
in the first three months.
Pro tip: Signup bonuses on these cards
can go as high as 75,000 points.
Southwest also has two business credit cards,
the Southwest Rapid Rewards
Performance Business credit card,
which is offering 100,000 points sign-up bonus.
You earn 70 points when you spend $5,000 in purchases
in the first three months and another 30,000 points
when you spend a total of $25,000 over the first six months.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premiere Business card
has a 60,000 point sign up offer
when you spend $3,000 in purchases in the first three months
Tip number six: Credit card referral bonuses
You can get 5,000 points for every person you refer
to the Southwest Credit Card.
Pro-tip: you need to have a Southwest Credit Card
to get the referral bonus.
Tip number seven: Buy flowers
When you buy flowers, gift baskets or plants,
you get 1,000 Southwest points for each order
of $29.99 or more.
When you use promo code RR22,
you can earn up to 12,000 points every year
using that promo code.
Tip number eight: Take surveys
I mentioned surveys in my video
on "Seven Easy Ways to Earn Points in Miles Without Flying."
So be sure to watch it after this video.
You can earn Southwest points
when you complete surveys through e-Rewards
and Rewards For Opinions.
It's an easy way to earn Southwest points
in a few short minutes.
Pro-tip: You get 500 points
after completing your first survey
within three months of joining Rewards For Opinions.
Tip number nine: Go shopping
You can earn up to 25 points
for every dollar you spend
shopping through the Rapid Reward shopping portal.
Pro-tip: If you're at the mall
and find something you like,
you can buy it through the Rapid Reward shopping portal
on your phone and pick it up at the store.
It's a win-win.
Tip number 10: Medical emergency assistance
When you buy a medical emergency assistance plan,
you'll earn 1,200 Southwest points.
Tip number 11: Sign up for a card that earns
Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
You can earn Southwest points
without a Southwest Credit Card.
With cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred,
the Chase Sapphire Reserve,
the Chase Freedom,
the Chase Freedom Unlimited,
the Chase Ink Business Preferred,
the Chase Ink Business Cash.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points
instantly transfer on a one to one ratio to Southwest.
Pro-tip: Transferred points don't count
towards the Southwest Companion Pass.
Tip number 12: Book activities and tours
You get Southwest points when you book activities and tours
through PlacePass so that walking tour,
zip line adventure or party cruise on your next vacation
can get you that much closer to a free flight.
Tell me in the comments which activity you'd love to do
to earn Southwest points.
Tip number 13: Buy magazines or newspapers
Instead of renewing your favorite newspaper
or magazine with the publisher.
Use the Rapid Reward shopping portal.
You earn 11 to 15 Southwest points for every dollar spent
on magazines or newspapers.
Tip number 14: Cell phone or service provider.
If you're planning on getting a new cell phone
or changing your cell service provider,
you can earn 4,500 Southwest points
with AT&T and Verizon.
Tip number 15: Rent a car
You get 600 points when you rent a car
from most of the major rental car companies.
Pro-tip: Avis and Budget charge a $1
a day surcharge if you want to earn points
and Payless charges a $1.50 per day
up to $7.50 per rental.
Tip number 17: Enroll in a dental plan
If you're looking for dental insurance,
you get 1,800 Southwest points
when you enroll in a dental plan,.
Tip number 18: Stay at hotels
You earn Southwest points
when you stay at hotels like Best Western,
Radisson, Choice, Hyatt, Marriott, and Mlife.
Tip number 19: Book a hotel through Rocketmiles
You can earn more points with hotel stays
through Rocketmiles.
You get 10,000 points every night
when you book your hotel through Rocketmiles.
Tip number 20: Transfer hotel points to Southwest
You can transfer Best Western, Choice,
Marriott Bonvoy, Radison, and World of Hyatt Hotel points
to Southwest.
There are different transfer ratios.
So you'll need to know which ones pay off better.
Pro-tip: Transferred hotel points
don't count towards earning the Southwest Companion Pass,
but you can still use them to earn free flights.
Tip 21: Get a hotel credit card
In the previous tip,
you learned you can transfer hotel points to Southwest.
If you don't have hotel points to transfer,
you can get thousands of hotel points to transfer
from hotel signup bonuses.
The World of Hyatt Card offers a signup bonus
of 50,000 points.
25,000 points after spending $3,000
in the first three months and another 25,000 points
after spending a total of $6,000 in the first six.
With the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card,
you can get a 70,000 point sign-up bonus
when you spend $3,000 purchases in the first three months,
and with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card,
you can get a sign-up bonus of 30,000 points
after spending $1,000 in purchases
in the first three months.
Tell me in the comments,
if you would get a hotel credit card,
just to earn Southwest points.
Tip number 22: Buy wine
Wine o'Clock,
Laithwaite's Wines has a special offer
for Southwest Rapid Rewards members.
When you six bottles of wine for $39.99,
you get 2,000 Southwest points.
And right now you also get two extra bottles
and two free wine glasses.
Tip number 23: Convert Diners Club to Southwest.
If you have Diners Club Reward points you are using,
you can transfer those points to Southwest.
Every 1,500 Diners Club Rewards points you transfer,
you get 1,200 Southwest points.
Tip number 24: Buy points
If you're short on Southwest points for a free flight,
you can buy up to 60,000 points every single day.
Tip number 25: Pay with your Southwest Credit Card.
When you use your Southwest Credit Card
to pay for purchases,
you'll earn one point for every dollar you spend
and that doesn't include the bonus points you earn
when you book Southwest flights.
Tip number 20: Fly on Southwest
You earn points when you fly on Southwest,
The number of points vary depending on your ticket.
You earn the most points, 12 points per dollar
when you buy a Business Select ticket
and Anytime Ticket earns 10 points per dollar,
and Wanna Get Away fare earn six points for dollar.
Pro-tip: A-list members earn an extra 25% bonus points.
While A-list Preferred earn a 100% bonus points.
Here's the easy travel hack
to get up to two years of free flights
with the Southwest Companion Pass.
Companion Pass let you bring a companion for free
on all your flights,
including flights to Hawaii, the Caribbean and Mexico.
Your companion only pays the airport taxes.
Usually $5 per airport, each way for U.S travel.
A Southwest Companion Pass
is valid for the year you earned it
and all of the following year.
So if you earn your Companion Pass
at the beginning of the year,
you'll get two years of free travel.
If you earn it halfway through the year,
you'll get one and a half years of free travel.
You get a Southwest Companion Pass
when you earn 120,000 Southwest points in a calendar year.
You can use all but five of these 26 tips,
you just learned to earn Companion Pass qualifying points.
Pro-tip: The fastest way to earn 120,000 points
is with credit card sign-up bonuses.
When you get a Southwest personal credit card
and a Southwest business credit card
and meet the required minimum spending,
you'll earn enough points for a Southwest Companion Pass.
Pro-tip: You only need to earn a 120,000 points
to get the Companion Pass.
You don't have to redeem your points for the pass.
Those points are yours to use for free flights for yourself,
because remember your companion flies for free,
but you still have to pay or use points.
If you love these tips on how to earn Southwest points,
make sure you like the video.
It really helps the channel a lot.
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From credit card signup bonuses to going out to eat,
from shopping to referring friends,
there are so many ways to earn Southwest points
without flying.
Be sure to tell me in the comments
what your favorite ways are to earn Southwest points.
Thanks for watching. And I'll see you next time.