DansDeals.com

Update, 03/28: DEAD!

——————————————-

Update, 03/27: In case you are on the fence about these cards or are considering going for a free companion pass good through 12/31/14, the limited time 50K Southwest card offers have just been updated to being “Last Chance.” Going, going…

——————————————————————–

Update, 03/16: Multiple readers and DDF members have been able to get both the points for both the Plus and Premier cards and have secured nearly 2 years of free companion pass flights!

——————————————————————–

Find more great credit card deals in the Credit Cards tab.
——————————————————————–

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Chase Visa Signature Card Linky

For a limited time you can get 50,000 points when you spend $2,000 within 3 months of getting the card.  They’re marketing this as 2 roundtrip flights but in fact it is enough for about $950 of free flying on Southwest, so you can stretch out those points for as many as 15 free flights with Southwest’s low prices.

You can also use your points for Airtran flights as well! For now this is only available in select markets, but by April you’ll be able to use your points for all Airtran flights. Plus because you will be booking the flights via Southwest.com you will get 2 free bags and free changes and flight cancellations as well!

You can use the points for yourself or book award tickets for anyone else you want to give a ticket to. Plus Southwest allows you to cancel an award flight and redeposit the points in your account for future use without any penalties!

There are in fact 4 unique Southwest credit cards that are all offering 50,000 points for spending $2,000.  There is the consumer Plus and Premier cards and the business plus and premier cards.  The difference is that the plus cards have a $69 annual fee and offer 3,000 bonus points (~$57 towards travel) every year while the premier cards have a $99 annual fee, have no foreign exchange fees, and offer 6,000 bonus points (~$114 towards travel) every year. You can access them all at the bottom of the application link above.

Don’t fly? You can also use 50,000 points to get $500 worth of gift cards to places like Amazon, Avis, Bed Bath & Beyond, Gap, Hyatt, Lowe’s, Macy’s, TJMaxx, Walmart  and many others. A $500 gift card to Walmart can always be sold to a place like Plastic Jungle for $460 cash.

————————————————————————————————————

With Southwest’s Rapid Rewards “2.0″ program you can redeem points for any seat on any flight.  For the regular “wanna get away” fare it costs 60 points for each dollar of airfare.  In practical terms this means for example:

A one-way Cleveland-Baltimore flight on 03/12 is $68.90 with tax.
It can also be bought for 3,480 points plus $2.50 tax.
So 3,480 points gets you a value of $66.40 ($68.90 airfare less the $2.50 tax required on the points ticket)
So each point is worth 1.9 cents (66.40/3,480), valid for redemption on all flights.

The value per point will depend on your route, but points always seem to be worth more than 1.8 cents each.

The Southwest card comes with a 50,000 point signup bonus, which at 1.9 cents per point is worth $950 towards Southwest flights just for opening the card and spending $2K.
There is a $99 annual fee but with this card you earn 6,000 points every anniversary that you have the card, which is worth $114 towards Southwest flights!

You get 1 point per dollar on regular purchases, which is equal to a rebate of 1.9%.
You get 2 points per dollar on Southwest purchases, including hotel and car rentals via Southwest, which is equal to a rebate of 3.8%

Companion pass:

Plus you get a free companion pass if you earn 110,000 points in a year from most sources, including earnings from credit card signups and credit card spending! If you earn 110,000 Southwest points for example by 04/01/13 the pass will be good until 12/31/14. The pass allows you to bring a companion with you for free when you fly Southwest, even if you are flying on a free ticket!

You can open 2 versions of the Southwest card to get to the 110,000 points in a year.  If you open 2 cards and spend $5,000 on each you’ll have 110,000 points!

Points transferred from Ultimate Rewards to Southwest don’t qualify towards companion pass status, but points transferred from Ultimate Rewards into Hyatt and then into Southwest do qualify! So you can transfer 50K Ultimate Rewards points into 50K Hyatt and 50K Hyatt transfers into 30K Southwest.

In other words if you get 50K points from signing up for this credit card you can transfer 100K Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt and then into 60K Southwest points, worth about $1,140 towards Southwest travel.  Plus then you’ll have a companion pass so that you can bring your companion for free whenever you fly Southwest, so that $1,140 toward Southwest is really doubled to $2,280 because of the free companion ticket.  Not a bad value for a 100K Ultimate Rewards transfer.

See this post for more info on the Ultimate Rewards program and associated credit cards.

Transfers to Airtran and Rapid Rewards “1.0″:

You can transfer increments of 1,200 Southwest points into 1 Airtran credit.  Here is Airtran’s award chart, which does not price awards according to the cost of the flight.  Thus you can get an international round-trip award ticket for just 19,200 Southwest points.  These awards are capacity controlled however.  A business class upgrade on Airtran is just 4,800 Southwest points.

Once they are in Airtran you can also transfer them back into Southwest’s old Rapid Rewards 1.0 program.  In this program awards are just 16 credits (19,200 points) round-trip, no matter how expensive the flight is.  These are also capacity controlled, but for some flights you will come out far ahead with this old program.

And as always, Southwest:
-Gives 2 free checked bags per passenger.
-Does not charge change fees to switch your flight. Whether you are on a paid or an award flight you can change without penalty!
-Does not charge a cancellation fee to cancel your flight (you will get Southwest credit for the full amount paid, even on non-refundable wanna get away fares) or to cancel and redeposit your award flight.
-Refunds the fare or point difference if the price of your flight goes down after you buy it, just call to get the credit at any time!

——————————————————————————-

Other awesome Chase consumer cards you can get on the same day as the Southwest card with just 1 credit pull include the Chase Sapphire Preferred (which gives 2.14 points per dollar on travel and dining with no Foreign Exchange fees and can be easily converted into a World Mastercard that gives free car rental insurance in Israel), Chase Freedom (which gives 5 points per dollar in rotating categories and 10% bonus points if you have a Chase checking account) and the Chase United Explorer (which gives free luggage, free primary car rental insurance in most countries worldwide besides Israel, expanded saver and standard award ticket availability, priority boarding, and more).

The Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus business cards are both giving 50,000 signup points and offer 5 points per dollar on telecom, cable, and office supply stores, 2 points per dollar for gas and lodging, no foreign exchange fees, free lounge visits, and a waived annual fee for the first year.

Related: Read more about the current limited time Southwest Airlines credit card promotion and about earning a free Southwest companion pass here.

———————————————————————————–

You can now book travel for all domestic Airtran flights on Southwest.com as a Southwest codeshare. This is good for travel beginning 04/14.

Why should you book on Southwest.com?
-If you book on Southwest.com you’ll get 2 free bags, a savings of up to $120 round-trip per person!
-Southwest.com doesn’t charge for flight changes or cancellations. Airtran.com charges $75.
-If you book on Southwest.com and have a companion pass you can use that on Airtran flights.
-Southwest.com also has a great low fare calendar that lets you glance at fares for the entire month.
-If you book a “business select” fare on Southwest.com and have an Airtran flight you will be seated in business class.
-You can redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards 2.0 points for Airtran flights without the blackouts and capacity controls that Airtran credit and Rapid Rewards 1.0 credits have.

Caveats to bear in mind:
-Prices can be different on both sites, so check both sites and compare the fees before purchasing a ticket.
-Airtran.com bookings allow for free standby travel. Southwest.com bookings (even for Airtran flights) do not.
-If you book on Southwest.com you will earn Rapid Rewards 2.0 points while if you book on Airtran.com you will earn Airtran credits or Rapid Rewards 1.0 credits.
-If you book on Southwest.com you won’t be able to book an assigned seat for Airtran flights until you checkin for your flight.
-Remember to always checkin with the airline that is actually operating the first flight, regardless of which site you buy your ticket on.

International flights:
Additionally you can book international mixed Southwest/Airtran flights on Airtran.com. When you book a mixed ticket on Airtran.com you also get 2 free checked bags.

This is all a temporary solution until 2014, when the Airtran brand and website will no longer exist.

Airtran has long run an excellent program that allowed you to redeem points for travel on other airlines.

Today is the last day to redeem for a voucher for that option.  If you do redeem for that voucher you will have 1 year to use the voucher to book a ticket on another airline. You can redeem for a voucher by logging into your Airtran account under My Rewards>Redeem Other Awards.

32 credits gets you a roundtrip domestic US48 ticket, 50 credits gets you a roundtrip ticket to Alaska/Hawaii/Mexico ticket, and 100 credits gets you a roundtrip ticket worldwide.

You can also transfer increments of 1,200 Southwest points into 1 Airtran credit, so 38,400 Southwest points or Chase Ultimate Rewards points gets you 32 Airtran credits.

Airtran actually buys the ticket, so you do earn miles on the ticket.  The rules are fairly simple, you need to book 7 days in advance, a Saturday night stay at your destination is required, you can stay up to 30 days, and no stopovers are allowed.  They’ll generally book you on the least expensive option, but you can request for the most direct option.

It’s a shame to see this go away as I’ve used this many times over the years for pricey tickets.  Mergers are rarely ever good news for consumers.

Effective today, Southwest is expanding their Airtran integration and you can now book travel for Airtran flights on Southwest.com as a Southwest codeshare between 39 cities.
This is good for travel beginning 03/10.

Why should you? Because if you book on Southwest.com you’ll get 2 free bags, a savings of up to $120 round-trip per person!  Plus Southwest doesn’t charge for flight changes.

The current cities are: Albany, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Buffalo, Cancun, Charlotte, Dayton, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Grand Rapids, Hartford/Springfield, Islip, Jacksonville, Louisville, Manchester, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Nassau, New York/LaGuardia, Norfolk, Oakland, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Rochester, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose Del Cabo, San Jose, CA, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tampa Bay, Washington/Reagan National, and West Palm Beach.

By April you’ll be able to book all Airtran flights on Southwest.com.  And in 2014 Airtran will cease to exist.

HT: aj26, via DDF

Find more great credit card deals on the Credit Card tab.
——————————————————————–

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Chase Visa Signature Card Linky

For a limited time you can get 50,000 points when you spend $2,000 within 3 months of getting the card.  They’re marketing this as 2 free flights but in fact it is enough for about $950 of free flying on Southwest, so you can stretch out those points for as many as 15 free flights with Southwest’s low prices.

You can use the points for yourself or book award tickets for anyone else you want to give a ticket to. Plus Southwest allows you to cancel an award flight and redeposit the points in your account for future use without any penalties!

Don’t fly? You can also use 50,000 points to get $500 worth of gift cards to places like Amazon, Avis, Bed Bath & Beyond, Gap, Hyatt, Lowe’s, Macy’s, TJMaxx, Walmart  and many others.  Last holiday season they even discounted their gift cards so that 50,000 points bought $625 of gift cards, though it remains to be seen if that will return this holiday season.  A $500 gift card to Walmart can always be sold to a place like Cardpool for $460 cash.

————————————————————————————————————

With Southwest’s Rapid Rewards “2.0″ program you can redeem points for any seat on any flight.  For the regular “wanna get away” fare it costs 60 points for each dollar of airfare.  In practical terms this means for example:

A one-way LaGuardia-Chicago flight on 12/04 is $68.80 with tax.
It can also be bought for 3,480 points plus $2.50 tax.
So 3,480 points gets you a value of $66.30 ($68.80 airfare less the $2.50 tax required on the points ticket)
So each point is worth 1.9 cents (66.30/3,480), valid for redemption on all flights.

The value per point will depend on your route, but points always seem to be worth more than 1.8 cents each.

The Southwest card comes with a 50,000 point signup bonus, which at 1.9 cents per point is worth $950 towards Southwest flights just for opening the card and spending $2K.
There is a $99 annual fee but with this card you earn 6,000 points every anniversary that you have the card, which is worth $114 towards Southwest flights!

You get 1 point per dollar on regular purchases, which is equal to a rebate of 1.9%.
You get 2 points per dollar on Southwest purchases, including hotel and car rentals via Southwest, which is equal to a rebate of 3.8%

Companion pass:

Plus you get a free companion pass if you earn 110,000 points in a year from any source, including earnings from credit card bonuses and credit card spending! If you earn 110,000 Southwest points for example by 02/01/13 the pass will be good until 12/31/14. The pass allows you to bring a companion with you for free when you fly Southwest, even if you are flying on a free ticket!

Points transferred from Ultimate Rewards to Southwest don’t qualify towards companion pass status, but points transferred from Ultimate Rewards into Hyatt and then into Southwest do qualify! So you can transfer 50K Ultimate Rewards points into 50K Hyatt and 50K Hyatt transfers into 30K Southwest.

In other words if you get 50K points from signing up for this credit card you can transfer 100K Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt and then into 60K Southwest points, worth about $1,140 towards Southwest travel.  Plus then you’ll have a companion pass so that you can bring your companion for free whenever you fly Southwest, so that $1,140 toward Southwest is really doubled to $2,280 because of the free companion ticket.  Not a bad value for a 100K Ultimate Rewards transfer.

See this post for more info on the Ultimate Rewards program and associated credit cards.

You should time such a transfer and when you spend the $2,000 on this card so that the points post in 2013 and the pass will be good until the end of 2014.

Transfers to Airtran and Rapid Rewards “1.0″:

You can transfer increments of 1,200 Southwest points into 1 Airtran credit.  Here is Airtran’s award chart, which does not price awards according to the cost of the flight.  Thus you can get an international round-trip award ticket for just 19,200 Southwest points.  These awards are capacity controlled however.  A business class upgrade on Airtran is just 4,800 Southwest points.

Once they are in Airtran you can also transfer them back into Southwest’s old Rapid Rewards 1.0 program.  In this program awards are just 16 credits (19,200 points) round-trip, no matter how expensive the flight is.  These are also capacity controlled, but for some flights you will come out far ahead with this old program.

And as always, Southwest:
-Gives 2 free checked bags per passenger.
-Does not charge change fees to switch your flight. Whether you are on a paid or an award flight you can change without penalty!
-Does not charge a cancellation fee to cancel your flight (you will get Southwest credit for the full amount paid, even on non-refundable wanna get away fares) or to cancel and redeposit your award flight.
-Refunds the fare or point difference if the price of your flight goes down after you buy it, just call to get the credit at any time!

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Chase Visa Signature Card Linky

For a limited time you can  get 50,000 points when you make your first purchase on the card, enough for 2 for free flights.  In fact it is enough for $950 of free flying on Southwest, so you can  stretch out those points for as many as 15 free flights with Southwest’s low prices.

You can use the points for yourself or book award tickets for anyone else you want to give a ticket to!

Plus Southwest allows you to cancel an award flight and redeposit the points in your account for future use without any penalties!

————————————————————————————————————

Southwest’s new Rapid Rewards program launched earlier this year.  With the new program you earn points based on how much you spend on your airfare and the type of fare purchased.  Not so good for folks who buy cheap tickets, but what does this mean for their credit card?  I did some investigation into it and it’s actually pretty good!

If you still have credits in the old program you can transfer increments of 1,200 new points into 1 credit under the old rules.

The new points won’t ever expire as long as you have activity every 24 months.

With the new program you can redeem points for any seat on any flight.  For the regular “wanna get away” fare it costs 60 points for each dollar of airfare.  In practical terms this means for example:

A one-way Cleveland-Baltimore flight on 08/24 is $69.70 with tax.
It can also be bought for 3,540 points plus $2.50 tax.
So 3,540 points gets you a value of $67.20 ($69.70 airfare less the $2.50 tax required on the points ticket)
So each point is worth 1.9 cents (67.20/3,540), valid for redemption on all flights.

The value per point will depend on your route, but points always seem to be worth more than 1.8 cents each.

The Southwest card comes with a 50,000 point signup bonus, which at 1.9 cents per point is worth $950 towards Southwest flights just for opening the card!
There is a $99 annual fee but they give 6,000 points every anniversary that you have the card, which is worth $114 towards Southwest flights!

You get 1 point per dollar on regular purchases, which is equal to a rebate of 1.9%.
You get 2 points per dollar on Southwest purchases, including hotel and car rentals via Southwest, which is equal to a rebate of 3.8%

Plus you get a free companion pass if you earn 110,000 points in a year from any source, including earnings from credit card bonuses and credit card spending! If you earn 110,000 Southwest points for example by 08/01/11 the pass will be good until 12/31/12. The pass allows you to bring a companion with you for free when you fly Southwest, even if you are flying on a free ticket!

Southwest now flies to LaGuardia and Newark!

And as always, Southwest:
-Gives 2 free checked bags per passenger.
-Does not charge change fees to switch your flight. Whether you are on a paid or an award flight you can change without penalty!
-Does not charge a cancellation fee to cancel your flight (you will get Southwest credit for the full amount paid, even on non-refundable wanna get away fares) or to cancel and redeposit your award flight.
-Refunds the fare difference if the price of your flight goes down after you buy it, just call to get the credit at any time!

Southwest Visa Linky

Southwest’s new Rapid Rewards program launched today.  With the new program you earn points based on how much you spend on your airfare and the type of fare purchased.  Not so good for folks who buy cheap tickets, but what does this mean for their credit card?  I did some investigation into it and it’s actually pretty good!

If you still have credits in the old program you can transfer increments of 1,200 new points into 1 credit under the old rules.

The new points won’t ever expire as long as you have activity every 24 months.

With the new program you can redeem points for any seat on any flight.  For the regular “wanna get away” fare it costs 60 points for each dollar of airfare.  In practical terms this means for example:
A one-way LGA-BWI flight on 04/05 is $79.70 with tax.
It can also be bought for 4,140 points plus $2.50 tax.
So 4,140 points gets you a value of $77.20 ($79.70 airfare less the $2.50 tax required on the points ticket)
So each point is worth 1.865 cents (77.20/4,140), valid for redemption on all flights.

The new Southwest card comes with a 20,000 point signup bonus, which at 1.865 cents per point is worth $373 towards Southwest flights just for opening the card!
There is a $69 annual fee but they give 3,000 points every anniversary that you have the card, which is worth $55.95 towards Southwest flights and negates most of the annual fee!

You get 1 point per dollar on regular purchases, which is equal to a rebate of 1.865%.
You get 2 points per dollar on Southwest purchases, including hotel and car rentals via Southwest, which is equal to a rebate of 3.73%

Plus you get a free companion pass if you earn 110,000 points in a year from any source, including earnings from credit card bonuses and credit card spending! If you earn 110,000 Southwest points for example by 07/01/11 the pass will be good until 12/31/12. The pass allows you to bring a companion with you for free when you fly Southwest, even if you are flying on a free ticket!

Southwest flies to LaGaurdia and starts flying to Newark this month as well!

And as always, Southwest:
-Gives 2 free checked bags per passenger
-Does not charge change fees to switch your flight
-Does not charge a cancellation fee to cancel your flight (you will get Southwest credit for the full amount paid, even on non-refundable wanna get away fares)
-Refunds the fare difference if the price of your flight goes down after you buy it, just call to get the credit at any time!

Update 2: The deadline for transferring Starpoints to Southwest credits will be 3pm EST on 02/28! After 3pm you will no longer be able to transfer Starpoints to Southwest!
Remember you can only transfer a maximum of 60,000 Starpoints (technically 79,999, but then you would lose out on transfer ratio) to an airline within a 24 hour period!
Act now if you want to earn that 2 year companion pass (with a mimimum of 12 free tickets) for 120,000 Starpoints as described in the update below!

Update, 01/08/11: Southwest has announced that on March 1st they will be gutting their program (Of course the PR folks don’t spin it that way ) They will switch from a credit system where 16 credits can get you a free last minute Round Trip flight worth many hundreds of dollars to a points system where each point is worth just a penny each.  You can read more about the new program here.

However in the meantime there’s a unique opportunity. If you rack up 100 credits from any source by the end of February you not only will get the 6 free round-trips under the old rules, but you will also get a free companion pass (good on paid and free tickets) valid until 12/31/12 instead of the normal 1 year expiration! Plus Southwest will continue to allow you to renew the expiration of the free round-trips for up to a year as long as they’re renewed within a year after they expired. So free tickets earned in January 2011 could still be used in January 2014.

You can earn the 100 credits with transfers from Starwood (It would take 120,000 Starpoints to get 100 credit if you have none) or from the Southwest credit card if you apply soon.

Originally posted on 09/16/10:


Related links:
Starwood Consumer AMEX Linky (Free for first year, Earn 10,000 Starpoints With First Purchase, and 30,000 more Starpoints with your first $15,000 in purchases)
Starwood Business AMEX Linky (Free for first year, Earn 10,000 Starpoints With First Purchase)
Southwest Visa Linky (Earn 16 credits with your first purchase.)

Starwood quietly added Southwest Airlines as an airline partner for Starpoint transfers.

For most of the airlines you can transfer 20,000 Starpoints into 25,000 miles.  For Southwest it’s a little more complicated.  20,000 points becomes 16.5 Southwest credits. 60,000 points becomes 50 credits.

If you earn 100 Southwest credits in a year you get a free companion pass for free. So if you transfer 120,000 Starpoints to Southwest you will get 100 credits, which are enough for 6 free round-trip tickets, as well as a 12-month companion pass.

As long as there is a seat available on the flight your companion can travel for free, there are no capacity controls on it.

The free companion ticket is even available when you are traveling on a free award ticket! In other words you will get 12 free round-trip tickets for 120,000 Starpoints.  Plus of course checked bags are free on Southwest.

After selecting your companion, you are able to change the name of your companion up to 3 times.

Curious about the other 29 Starwood transfer options and ratios? Here they are!  With so may different airlines to transfer to it’s just a matter of figuring out which one has the lowest rates to where you want to go.  I’ve separated them by alliance so you can know which airlines are partners and will therefore let you book award travel on partner airlines.  Of course airlines also have lots non-alliance partners, but by definition they are partners with all airlines in the same alliance.

OneWorld Alliance:
AA: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
British Airways: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
JAL/Japan Airways: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
LAN: 20,000 Starpoints=50,000 kms
Mexicana: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles

Skyteam Alliance:
Air France/KLM Flying Blue: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Alitalia: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Delta: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles

Star Alliance:
Air Canada: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Air China: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Air New Zealand: 20,000 Starpoints=385 points
ANA/All Nippon: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Asiana: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Continental: 20,000 Starpoints=12,500 miles
Lufthansa Miles & More: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Singapore: 20,000 Starpoints=12,500 miles
Thai: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
United: 20,000 Starpoints=12,500 miles
USAirways: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles

Unaligned:
Air Berlin (Joining Oneworld in 2012): 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Alaska : 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Emirates: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Hawaiian: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Kingfisher (Joining Oneworld in 2011): 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Qatar: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Saudi Arabian: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles
Varig: 20,000 Starpoints=12,500 miles
Virgin Atlantic: 20,000 Starpoints=25,000 miles

Related: Save 15% on Southwest with a World Market Purchase.

Southwest Sale Linky

Watch today for other airlines to match this fare!

-Book by 10/28.

-Travel between 12/01/10-12/15/10 and 01/04/11-02/16/11.

-Travel not valid on Sundays.

Flights 0-450 miles=$30 each way plus tax.

Sample routes: LaGaurdia-Baltimore, Los Angeles-S. Francisco, Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Cleveland-Chicago.

Flights 451-1,000 miles=$60 each way plus tax.

Sample routes: LaGaurdia-Chicago, Los Angeles-Seattle, LaGuardia-Orlando

Flights 1,001-1,500 miles=$90 each way plus tax.

Sample routes:LaGuardia-Houston

Flights 1,500+ miles=$120 each way plus tax.

Sample routes: LaGaurdia-Los Angeles

HT: S. Zuckerman

World Market $10 Off $30 Coupon Linky (Registration required to view coupon, Exp: 10/31)

After making a purchase of at least $20 at World Market click on the link below to enter in your purchase details and to receive a 15% off coupon for yor next Southwest flight!

Southwest World Market Coupon Linky

Southwest coupon terms:
-15% discount valid for one-time use at southwest.com or swabiz.com off the total amount of any roundtrip Wanna Get Away purchase before taxes and fees.
-Purchase must be made between October 23, 2010 and December 1, 2010 for travel October 30, 2010 through January 25, 2011.
-Blackout dates apply November 19, 2010 through November 29, 2010 and December 18, 2010 through January 3, 2011. If any portion of travel falls on a blackout date the discount will not apply.
-The discount is only valid with the provided Promotion Code and is not combinable with other Promotion Codes or fares available exclusively through the web tool DING!.
-This promotion includes only Wanna Get Away Fares. (i.e. not valid on refundable anytime fares)
-7-day advance purchase may be required.
-Changes made to the itinerary after purchase will eliminate qualifications for this promotion.
-Promotion code is not combinable with other promotion codes.

On the heals of the United/Continental merger which will take effect in just 5 days, another merger has been announced.

Southwest Airlines plans to buy Airtran for $1.4 billion.

Of course with each merger there is less competition which means we’re stuck paying higher fares.

But what I’m really bummed about is losing my 2 favorite airlines the same year!

Continental is a great airline with great policies.  I outlined some of them in the post on the current amazing credit card offer. There is some hope though that at least some of Continental’s policies will stay in place at the new United as the Continental CEO will be running the new airline.

Airtran however, is toast! They are my favorite low-cost carrier by leaps and bounds and Southwest is my least favorite.

Why?

Airtran offers many of the amenities of the major carriers while still offering low prices. Southwest does not.
For example,
-Assigned seats: Airtran offers them. Southwest makes you line up in some cockamamie order to run and get one of the 2 good seats on their planes.  Southwest has already announced that the combined airline will not have assigned seats. See exhibit A:

-Elite status: Airtran has one of the easiest elite statuses to attain in the industry and it’s even easier to maintain with just 6 flights needed or you can buy it back for just $399. And it has great benefits like free exit rows, free business class upgrades at the gate, guaranteed seat availability, free checked luggage, longer lasting A+ credits…

-Business class: Airtran has it, Southwest doesn’t. I flew last year with 3 family members on Airtran from LaGaurdia to Akron. All 4 of us got upgraded to business class for free because of my elite status. Free snacks (including kosher ones!), free drinks, large roomy leather seats, I was hooked! Southwest has already announced that the combined airline will not have a business class section.

-W-Fi: Airtran has it fleet-wide. Southwest doesn’t.

-Boeing 717: I love the 717. It’s a very quiet plane (especially in the front) and it has just 2 seats on the left side of coach. It makes up the bulk of the Airtran fleet. Southwest has been committed to only Boeing 737s for years. What will happen to the 717s?

-Airtran U: I used this so many times when I was younger… If you are between 18-22 you can hop on any flight on a standby basis for dirt cheap. Need to go from Akron to LaGuardia last minute? It’s just $49 with Airtran U!

-Airtran’s A+ mileage program is awesome. Just 2 flights are enough for a free upgrade, 4 flights are enough for a a free one-way flight. Plus you get bonus points for business class flights. But what is really cool are their other airline awards. 32 credits and they’ll buy you a ticket in the US on any other airline. 50 credits and they’ll buy you a ticket to Hawaii on any other airline. 100 credits and they’ll buy you a ticket to anywhere in the world on any other airline!

-Airtran’s corporate program allows me to give passengers free premium seat assignments and free checked bags as well as possible upgrades. I’ve been doing this for readers for the past couple months and people have loved it!

Yes there are good parts to Southwest, but I hope to never have to fly them. And have you ever seen their check-in lines? Why are they always so uncontrollably long? And don’t get me started again on the cattle call boarding and race to the exit row seat.

This merger is a crying shame for passengers…
And mark my words, this isn’t the end of the madness. AA-USAir? Virgin-Jetblue? I wonder what the next move will be?

Membership Rewards Point Transfers

June 30th is the last day to transfer AMEX points to Southwest.

24,000 AMEX points gets you 16 Southwest credit, which is enough for a free round-trip.

If you earn 100 Southwest credits in a year you get a free companion pass. So if you transfer 150,000 AMEX points to Southwest you will get 100 credits, which are enough for 6 free round-trip tickets, as well as a 12-month companion pass.

As long as there is a seat available on the flight your companion can travel for free, there are no capacity controls on it.

The free companion ticket is even available when you are traveling on a free award ticket!

After selecting your companion, you are able to change the name of your companion up to 3 times.

Personally I’d rather redeem those AMEX points for a couple of business class tickets to Europe or South America, but if domestic travel is your thing, the cattle call of Southwest doesn’t bother you, and you travel with a companion then this can be a great option to take advantage of before it goes away tomorrow!

HT: Sruli, via dansdeals.com/forums

Update 2: Today is the last day for this promo. Expect fares to rise by tonight!

Originally posted on 06/22:

Update: The major carriers have made price matches on tons of routes! I just picked up a ticket from Cleveland-Kansas on Continental that had been $300 yesterday for just $170!

Expect fare matches from other carriers to come in throughout the day!

Southwest Birthday Sale Linky

-Book by 06/24.

-Travel between 09/08-11/17.

-Travel not valid on Fridays or Sundays.

Flights 0-450 miles=$39 each way plus tax.

Sample routes: LaGaurdia-Baltimore, Los Angeles-S. Francisco, Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Cleveland-Chicago.

Flights 451-1,000 miles=$79 each way plus tax.

Sample routes: LaGaurdia-Chicago, Los Angeles-Seattle, LaGuardia-Orlando

Flights 1,001+ miles=$119 each way plus tax.

Sample routes: LaGaurdia-Los Angeles, Los Angeles-Fort Lauderdale, LaGuardia-Houston

-You can get a credit on Southwest for price drops on previously booked travel!

Update 2: Alive Again!

Originally posted on 03/25/09:

Update: DEAD!

Free Subscription To Information Week Linky

Information Week was actually required reading and used instead of a textbook for one of my more interesting MBA courses (“Deploying Information Technology For A Competitive Advantage.” The prof said that the registrar almost had a heart attack over the length of the course title!)

It actually makes for quite a good read, there’s a lot of neat stuff tech stuff in there.

Hint: They are looking for people involved in IT (such as CIO’s etc.) to qualify for the free subscription…

Update: Many of the major carriers have matched these fares with the same date restrictions as posted below!

-This hot deal was sent to all of our dansdeals.com facebook group members. Join the 1,651 people already registered on the Dansdeals.com facebook group to automatically receive similar hot deal alerts!
-Every single deal is instantly sent to the 501 followers of our dansdeals twitter page! Follow us and you can choose to get a text message whenever the site is updated!

Southwest $39 Sale Linky

Southwest still allows 2 free checked bags.

Other airlines will probably be matching soon if you are looking for non-stop flights or to earn miles or get upgrades…

There are $39 one-way fares from all Southwest cities!
-Purchase by 02/11.
-Travel between 03/15-05/25.
-Not valid for travel on Friday or Sunday.

Sample $39 fares:
NYC (LGA) to/from:
-Baltimore
-Cleveland
-Columbus
-Pittsburgh

Los Angeles to/from:
-Las Vegas
-Oakland
-Phoenix
-Reno/Tahoe
-Sacramento
-San Francisco
-San Jose
-Tucson

15% Off Southwest Flights Linky

You need to request a coupon code.

-Book by 12/01/09

-Travel by 01/31/10

-Blackout dates apply.

HT: David, via dansdeals.com/forums

Southwest Sale Linky

All sale fares sorted by city

Flights that are 0-374 miles are $25 each way

Flights that are 375-549 miles are $50 each way

Flights that are 550-999 miles are $75 each way

Flights that are 1,000+ miles are $100 each way

Other airlines are matching these fares as well.  A quick search showed Continental with $25+ one way fares from Cleveland to Baltimore or Chicago and from Newark to Baltimore.

-Purchase by 10/29.

Valid travel dates:

-12/02/09-12/16/09

-01/05/10-02/10/10

Find a great fare on Southwest or another airline? Post a comment with your find!

Offer Linky

Book by 09/28/09.
Travel by 02/10/10.

Related: Get 8 Credits for enrolling in Rapid Rewards.

Double Southwest Flight Credits Registration Linky

Valid for flights booked and completed between 09/17-10/31.

Related: Double Southwest Credits For Flights To/From NYC!

Enrollment Offer Linky

Be sure to provide your email address and opt-in for all 3 email subscriptions to get the full 8 credits.
6 credits will post immediately upon enrollment. The last 2 credits (for the email subscriptions) will post within 7-10 business days.

16 credits are required to get a free systemwide RT ricket on Southwest.

Offer Linky (Sign up by 09/30)

HT: FT

Offer Registration Linky

Register by 08/31.

Book and complete travel between 07/16-10/31.

With the promo a Round-trip flight will earn 4 credits, 16 credits earns a free ticket.

For you New Yorkers who have yet to fly Southwest:

The good: 2 free bags and no change/cancellation fees.

The bad: No assigned seats, no true elite status/airport lounge system, no first class, and they don’t fly internationally so forget about using your miles for a “once-in-a-lifetime” first class international trip.

Related: Southwest landing in LGA on 06/28!

Enrollment Offer Linky

Be sure to provide your email address and opt-in for all 3 email subscriptions to get the full 8 credits.
6 credits will post immediately upon enrollment. The last 2 credits (for the email subscriptions) will post within 7-10 business days.

Although the fine print indicates that a MN address is required, I can confirm that the credits post immediately regardless of the address listed on the account.

16 credits are required to get a free systemwide RT ricket on Southwest.

HT: username, via dansdeals.com/forums.

Southwest has finally got their hands on some highly prized LGA slots!

Effective 06/28 Southwest will fly 5 daily flights to Chicago/MDW and 3 daily flights to Baltimore with connecting flights from those 2 hubs to the rest of the country.

One way flights to/from Baltmore are $49+ and Chicago are $89. Flights to many other cities countrywide, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and more are just $99+ each way.

Southwest LGA Introductory Sale Linky

Southwest will fly out of gate B4 in LGA’s central terminal.

Southwest charges significantly less fees than other airlines, including no fees for up to 2 checked bags per person, and no fees for changing or canceling tickets.

Offer Linky

HT: SBS

Southwest Sale Linky

This was actually perfect timing for me, I had been monitoring a ticket for my wife that had been $83+ and it dropped down to $39+ just in time!

Free changes/cancellations and 2 free bags…if only they had a first class section and a real mileage program…

Offer Linky

Book by 01/22.

Travel between 02/03 and 05/31

Southwest Vacations Linky

Book your flight and hotel through Southwest and save 10%!

Use promo code: SWAVCLICK

Valid for bokings made by 01/16/09 for travel through 03/06/09.

Say what you want about Southwest, but their no fees policy is incredibly refreshing! (And this coupon that ran in the WSJ is a classic!)

Offer Linky (Exp: 09/30)

“-Enroll now and get two credits.
-When you sign up for Rapid Rewards E-Mail Updates to receive the latest Rapid Rewards and Southwest Airlines news and offers, we’ll give you two bonus credits.”

Good questions keep on coming in…here are the latest.

Jeff Baum said,

“great deal…u the man dan
one question. if i have 2 amex business for me and wife, each with 25000 points, whats the best way to turn them into 100 southwest points in the same account?”

Moishe Pipuk said,

“I have just signed up for the business AMEX card as suggested at this website recently. I just used the card yesterday for the first time. Will I be able to use this plan to get the tickets? How soon will I get my AMEX points and is there a time to “act now” to implement the steps of this plan?
Thnaks much.
Moishe”


Jeff-Here is what I would recommend. AMEX MR isn’t particular that the names of the transferring accounts must match the credit card name.

-Transfer the 25,000 MR points from each of your accounts into just your Continental account.

-Transfer the 50,000 Continental miles, 25,000 miles at a time, into 2 Amtrak accounts-both in your name.

-Transfer the 25,000 Amtrak points from each account into a single Choice account, to give you 250,000 Choice points.

-Transfer the 250,000 Choice points into a single Southwest account-leaving you with 100 credits and enough for the 12 free Round Trip tickets with the companion pass!


Moishe- Unfortunately the AMEX MR bonus takes longer than any other credit card bonus takes to credit-about 3 to 4 months from the date of your first purchase with the card!

While there is no expiration for this deal-who knows when a link in the chain may be broken.

Just wait it out and keep checking your MR account to see if you have received the bonus points. Once you get them you should start the transfer process ASAP.

Correction: The Companion ticket cannot be made in the name of the member who earned the points, and companion travel is only valid together with the member that earned the pass!

Pit Fan said,

“this sounds like a crazy deal.

can southwest flights be used on someone elses name?

and I guess the companion is just for you.

Thank you.”


I like the way you think!

Southwest’s reward tickets can be used by anyone, while the companion pass has to made out in one person’s name.

While you can change the name on the companion pass, it is not the easiest of processes, and it can only be changed 3 times.

Therefore, it may very well be worthwhile to make out the companion pass in your own name, and then just hop along for free when anyone else flies Southwest and together with whoever uses the 6 free Southwest Round-Trip tickets.

Whether you make out the companion pass in your name or someone else’s you will definitely get your money’s worth out of the 40,000 Starpoints or 50,000 AMEX/Continental miles.

Who will you make your Companion pass for? Post a comment!

Update 3: People have been asking me which part of the deal is the most tenuous. In my opinion if this deal were to fall apart it would be the ending/weakening of the Amtrak-Choice transfer at a 1:5 basis. Once you bring your AMEX/Amtrak/Continental/Starwood points into Choice you will be in a much better position…


Update 2: There is some confusion about the length of life for the free Southwest tickets. Southwest credits are valid for 2 years. Once you get 16 credits it turns into a free systemwide RT ticket, which is valid for 1 year from the date of issue. Once it expires you have 2 more years to reinstate it online for an additional year at a cost of $50. You have up to 5 years to reinstate it over the phone, but you will need to save the award ticket number, as that gets deleted from your account 2 years after the award expires.


Update: Moshe is reporting in the comments that it seems he is getting 25,000 Amtrak points for just 20,000 Starpoints. Please post your own findings in the comments!!!


Sneak peak-Among many other possibilities: Just 40,000 Starpoints or 50,000 Continental miles/AMEX points can get you 12 free Round trip tickets on Southwest and a yearlong Southwest companion pass!


This deal is truly incredible, yet there are so many ways of exploiting it that it may get very complicated…

The deal is good if you have any of the following currencies:

-AMEX MR points. (Good job to all those who got in on the 25,000 AMEX MR Business Gold Card deal!)

-Amtrak Guest Rewards points.

-Continental Onepass miles.

-Starwood Starpoints.


Step 1: (Optional, only necessary if you have AMEX MR points)

AMEX MR Points can be transferred into Continental Onepass miles on a 1:1 basis via the AMEX website. (25,000 AMEX points=25,000 Continental miles)


Step 2:

Continental Onepass miles can be transferred into Amtrak Guest Rewards points on a 1:1 basis by calling the Onepass service center at 713-952-1630. (25,000 Continental miles=25,000 Amtrak points)

Starwood Starpoints can be transferred into Amtrak Guest Rewards points on a 1:1 basis by calling Starwood at 888-625-4988. There is some inconsistency with the 5,000 point bonus. Some people are getting 25,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points for 20,000 Starpoints, while others are only getting 20,000 (Officially the 5,000 points bonus is only for when you transfer Starpoints to Airline partners, not Amtrak. In practice, Starwood seems to be giving many people the 5,000 point bonus when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints over to Amtrak.)


Step 3:

Amtrak Guest Rewards points can be transferred into Choice Privileges points (A hotel loyalty program) on a 1:5 basis via the Amtrak website. (25,000 Amtrak points=125,000 Choice points)

You can transfer out a maximum of 25,000 Amtrak points per calender year. (Amtrak elites can transfer out up to 50,000 per calender year)


Step 4:

-Choice Privileges points can be transferred into Southwest Rapid Rewards credits on a 5,000:2 basis via the Choice website. (5,000 Choice points=2 Southwest credits. 125,000 Choice points=50 Southwest credits. 250,000 Choice points=100 Southwest credits.)

-Choice Privileges points can be transferred into Air Canada Aeroplan miles, Alaska Airline Mileage Plan miles , American Airlines AAdvantage Miles, Continental Onepass Miles, Delta Skymiles, Mexicana Frecuenta miles, Northwest Worldperks miles, United Mileage Plus miles, or USAirways Dividend miles on a 5,000:1,000 basis via the Choice website. (5,000 Choice points=1,000 miles)

-Choice Privileges points can be used for Choice hotel stays via the Choice website. You can nab a $400 hotel room in Manhattan for just 20,000 points/night.

-Choice Privileges points can be used for over 240 luxury hotels worldwide starting at just 24,000 points/night!


OK, so before going on, let’s recap a bit:

-You can now transfer Continental miles/AMEX points to 8 other airlines without losing a single mile in the process. (25,000 AMEX points=25,000 Continental miles=25,000 Amtrak points=125,000 Choice points=25,000 miles on 8 other airlines!)

-You can transfer 20,000(if you’re lucky) or 25,000(if you’re not so lucky) Starpoints into 25,000 Continental or United miles without the huge devaluation of transferring directly at a 1:2 basis.

-You can turn 25,000 Continental miles/AMEX points or 20,000-25,000 Starpoints into 6+ nights in expensive hotels.


Now for the fun part:


Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards:

-16 credits is enough for a free systemwide Round Trip ticket.

(Every 16 credits you earn gets you a free Southwest drink coupon if you’re 21+)

-32 credits is enough for a free Round Trip ticket to Hawaii on ATA.

-100 credits earned from any source within a 12 month period earns you a free companion pass!

The companion pass:

-Does not cost any credits, it is a free perk.

-Is valid for 12 months after it was earned.

-Allows you to bring along another person for free whenever you fly Southwest, even if you are flying on a free mileage ticket!

-Is valid for a seat anywhere that Southwest flies.

-Must be made out in a specific person’s name. That name can be changed up to 3 times after you set the original name.

-Is not subject to any blackout dates or capacity controls-you can confirm a 2nd seat for free whenever you fly.

-Does not require you to pay for regular flying taxes, you only responsible to pay $2.50 per segment for 9/11 security fees.


So, 50,000 Continental miles/AMEX points or 40,000-50,000 Starpoints will get you 50,000 Amtrak points, which will get you 250,000 Choice points, which will get you 100 Southwest credits!

Jackpot, right?

There’s just one hiccup in that logic, unless you have Amtrak elite status you can only transfer a maximum of 25,000 points out of your Amtrak account per calender year.

That’s actually not too big of a problem: it doesn’t say anywhere that you can only have one Amtrak account!

If you would rather keep life simple and not have 2 amtrak accounts you can also transfer 25,000 points out this year, and then the other 25,000 points on 01/01/08.


OK, Jackpot! 12 Round-Trip tickets and a companion pass (6 award flights for 96 credits, times two because of the companion pass) for just 50,000 Continental miles/AMEX points or 40,000-50,000 Starpoints!


One caveat: Amtrak Guest Rewards has earned a bad reputation for axing United as a transfer partner overnight without any prior warning back in 2004. Amtrak may end this transfer opportunity at any time, so:

1. Do not delay-do this ASAP!

2. Do not let points idle in an Amtrak account, transfer them to Choice points ASAP.


As far as how this values a mile, here are a couple quick guesses:

-4,000 Continental miles is enough for a $400 Manhattan hotel room. Value=.10/mile

-50,000 Continental miles is enough for a 12 Round-Trip tickets and a companion pass. Value=???? It all depends if you use those tickets for $100 flights or $1,000 flights and how often you use the companion pass!

So is it worth getting 8 free Southwest credits for enrollment? Absolutely! Is it worth using Obopay to generate Continental miles? That’s your call!



©2007 Dansdeals.com
Questions, Suggestions, Errors? Please leave a comment!
Please do not post this article on any other website without explicit prior permission. Thank You!

Update: The offer for 8 free credits upon enrollment with no flight necessary may expire today! If you do not yet have a RR account then do yourself a favor and open one now!
<cryptic mode_on>Trust me on this one and open that account today, because I don’t want to get 1,000 whining emails in 2 days from now when this and the Obopay deal get clarified…</cryptic mode_off>

Originally posted: 08/27

As a promotion for the starting of S. Fransisco service, Southwest is offering new Rapid Rewards members 8 free credits (16 are required for a free RT)

Also all flights flown out of or into SFO before 10/31 receive double credits-so you can fly free if you take just 2 RT’s.

Promo Linky

Southwest College Rapid Rewards:

You don’t actually have to be in college-as long as you’re 18-23 you’ll get 4 credits for signing up and double credits for every flight that you take.


S. Francisco Promo:

Get 8 credits for signing up and double credits for SFO flights.


Intra-CA Promo:

Fly 3 Intra-California(SFO-LAs Vegas also counts) RT’s and get a free systemwide ticket.


1250+ Mile Fight Promo:

Fly 2 RT’s of 1250 miles or more and get a free systemwide ticket, fly 4 and get 2 systemwide tickets or a ticket to Hawaii on ATA.

Southwest must be getting pretty desperate…I’ve never seen them get into this promo thing quite like they are now!

Fly 2 RT’s of 1250+ miles and get a free award ticket.

Fly 4 RT’s and get 2 free award tickets, or a free ticket to Hawaii via their code-share partner, ATA.

Promo Linky

There is a link on the promo page for all qualifying city pairs.

Now you just have to download Ding and wait for a sweet  deal!

It all started when Virgin America announced that they would fly LAX-SFO for $44.

Last week I posted Southwest’s 8 free credits/double miles promo celebrating their new flights from S. Francisco starting at $39.

Not to be outdone, United started a double miles promo for intra-california flights.

And AA wasn’t too far behind with their own double miles promo.

It all comes full-circle now, as Southwest has announced a promo for a free systemwide ticket if you fly 3 intra-california flights!

Update: DEAD!

These fares are bookable from now until 10PM EDT via Ding-be sure to update your preferences to include Columbus, OH.

Search this site for Ding to learn more.

$15 One way cities to/from Columbus, OH:
Baltimore
Birmingham
Buffalo
Chicago/MDW
Nashville
Norfolk
Philadelphia
Raleigh/Durham
S. Louis

$30 One way cities to/from Columbus, OH:
Albany
Albuquerque
Austin
Boise
Burbank
Corpus Christi
Dallas/LUV
Denver
El Paso
Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Myers
Harlingen
Hartford
Houston/HOU
Jackson
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Long Island
Los Angeles
Manchester
Midland/Odessa
New Orleans
Oakland
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Ontario
Orange County
Orlando
Phoenix
Portland
Providence
Reno/Tahoe
Sacramento
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
San Jose
Seattle/Tacoma
Spokane
Tampa Bay
Tucson
Tulsa
West Palm Beach

Update: DEAD!
The fares are valid until tonight at 10:00pm edt!
This is a nationwide sale, but seems to be really good for Baltimore, Chicago, and Denver.
Travel is valid between 05/01-05/31, and does not require a RT purchase.
Don’t know what Ding is? That’s why there’s a search button in the top left hand part of this site-just enter “ding” then click search blog, and you’ll see everything I had to say about it since April 2005!

Sample One Way $25 Fares:
Los Angeles, Burbank, or Ontario to/from Oakland, Sacramento, or San Jose.
Baltimore to/from about 20 cities, including Chicago and Cleveland.
Chicago to/from about 25 cities, including Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.

Sample One Way $50 Fares:
Los Angeles to/from Baltimore, Chicago, or Denver.
Baltimore to/from West Coast or Florida.
Chicago to/from West Coast or Florida.
Denver to/from East and West Coast.

Enroll in Southwest College Rapid Rewards and you’ll get 4 credits off the bat.
Plus you’ll get double credits for flights booked at southwest.com!
Normally a free flight is 16 credits (8 RT’s)
With this program you’ll get 16 credits with just 3 RT’s!!!

Southwest College Rapid Rewards Enrollment Linky

I’ll be taking the day off for the grand holiday of Purim.

For those of you still sober-Southwest is celebrating the 2nd anniversary of Ding with some amazing fares (A quick search through some Ding offerings yielded Cleveland-Orlando for $29+ OW, and LAX-Oakland for $29+ OW)

Don’t know what Ding is? That’s why there’s a search button at the top of this site-Use it!