MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

 

Hell, yeah!  We fucking did it!  Full companion pass means me and the wife have until the end of 2024 to get BOGO on flights to exotic destinations like BWI and Chicago-Midway!  Dreams really do come true.  

In case you want to follow along on this electric journey:

Part I

Part II

Part III

The main takeaway here is that the companion pass is probably the best status item to obtain from any airline.  Yeah, Southwest's open seating policy kinda sucks and I hear people bitching when they're boarding the plane, but that just makes me want to ask "Did you not know about this?  If it sucks so bad go fly Frontier or Spirit, then you'll think Southwest is kinda good."  Obviously the limiting factor is that you need a companion to get the full value out of it, but if you're able, you'll have 100K+ SW points to redeem for free flights for two.  If you're not sure about if getting a business credit card is for you, I suggest you stop being a pussy and just do it already.

Phase II is underway

 

In Part Two of this current saga, I obtained the promotional companion pass that runs out Feb 29, 2024.  In Part One I laid out my plan to ladder the two companion passes so that I would have it until the end of 2024.

I just got this bad boy:

Shit just got real.  80K signup bonus on $5K of spend puts me very close to the 135K points required.

I got the promotional Southwest Companion Pass

 

That's the Blog.

Part 1.

THE MOTHERFUCKING BLOG IS BACK!

It's been a while since I've been bored enough to blog, but as you can see from the picture above, this is a great reason to.

Southwest is currently running a promo that they did last year:

 (I have embedded my referral link above because I'm a points whore)

For those who aren't familiar with what a companion pass is, you could Google it, or read on for my explanation.  It's basically BOGO plane tickets - you have to designate one companion for your account and I think you can change it once or twice a year, but the bottom line is that the companion pass really only makes sense if you're having consistent and dependable sex with someone who's also willing to deal with Southwest's bullshit open seating policy.

That said, normally it takes earning 135K SW points in a calendar year to get the CP (short for companion pass) and it's good for the rest of the year you earn it, as well as the entire next year.  Obviously this promo isn't as good since it'll expire at the end of next February, but it's pretty solid.

The interesting thing about Southwest is that it's the only airline that allows you to earn (significant) points towards status from its co-branded credit cards.  For instance, the 30K sign-up bonus above would count towards CP status.  By comparison, if you got 60K free miles from signing up for the United card, you get 60K miles to spend but it doesn't count towards shit in terms of status.

135K points is a lot to get in a year, even with credit card spend...or is it?

The fact that this is a business card scares people off, but for my five loyal readers, they'll know I like to dabble in the biz card game.  Now, using both of the sign up bonuses to earn 110K points (+ the 8K from spend required to get said bonuses) puts you awfully close to 135K points.  The problem is that to get the most out of this in the past you had to time it so you had both cards open late in the year so that you could complete both sign-up bonuses early in the next year.  If you fucked it up you could earn points in the wrong year and the CP would be hard to get, or you get it too late the following year and it eats away at the time you could have been using the CP.

What's different about this year, is that you can get the CP early with the personal card, then later in the year do biz card - you'll be enjoying the CP during 2023 while working towards extending the CP until the end of 2024.  Worst case is you don't get there and at least got the CP promo.

This is the personal challenge I've put on my self - I just got the personal card in the mail and I plan on going hard in the paint in order to get the full CP.

Join me on this journey (or don't, whatever).  If nothing else I can update milestones and/or failures here!  (But if you want to try this too, seriously, apply through my referral link above)

Chick-Fil-A has a new test to find out if you're certified psychopath

Consider this a PSA:  YOU CAN GET A FREE ORDER OF NUGGS at Chick-Fil-A until Jan 31 thru the Chick-Fil-A app.  If you do not have the Chick-Fil-A app, you strike me as the type of person who enjoys waiting in lines and wiping your ass with 1-ply toilet paper.

Anyway, here's the interesting thing:  You can get free nuggs OR a kale crunch side.  What.  The.  Fuck.  If you redeem this reward for a kale crunch side, get fucked.  I don't want to know you.  You're a fucking psychopath.  Could you imagine the following interaction:

Chick-Fil-A cashier: Welcome to Chick-Fil-A, may I take your order?

Psychopath Customer:  Yes, I'd like to redeem this reward for a kale crunch side.

CFA cashier: Great.  Anything else?

Psychopath Customer: No, that's it.

CFA cashier: GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND DON'T COME BACK.  But have a nice day while you're at it.

I would love to see the data on how many people redeem this reward for Kale.  Would also love to see a heat map of what state people do it in so I know to never take a vacation there.  The only way I would possibly find it acceptable to redeem the kale crunch side is if you order two spicy chicken sandwiches and throw away the bun on one of them to make a double decker.  That's the only way.

...and in case you're wondering, I redeemed this reward for nuggs like two weeks ago.

I'm taking a euro trip later this month with the plane ticket funded by Chase Points

Okay - been a while since I've thrown up a shitty blog no one is going to read, but I figured I'd brag about the next trip I'm taking with a flight to Europe covered by points.  I've written about this before like my trip to Australia as well as my applying for and being approved for business cards (Ink Preferred, Ink Cash, Ink Unlimited).

What gets me is when people say this shit is "too complicated" and I'll just stick to using one credit card I've had for years because it's "easy."  Well, that's what credit card companies want you to do.  They're banking on your laziness to get a return on their acquisition cost (if you signed up for a card that offers a bonus).  You'll earn a minuscule cash back or point return on all your purchases instead of taking advantage of huge lightning strikes in the form of new sign up bonuses.

Well, look, does this seem like it's worth it?

113K and change points may sound like a lot, but between the 3 business cards I've gotten over the last 18 months or so, those bonuses alone add up to 180K points (80K for the ink preferred, 50K apiece for the ink cash and ink unlimited).  I get it, if you're planning a trip in two months, you sure as shit aren't going to be able to hit a credit card bonus and book a ticket in that time.  But if you constantly amass points, when you get a text from a friend that says "Hey, do you want to go to Barcelona?"  This can be your answer:

But hey, I get it.  You don't like free shit.  You'd rather get 1% cash back from Discover like it's 2004.  Or you prefer "double miles" from Capital One.  Whatever does it for you I guess.

Back in Business: Another Credit Card Blog

All right people, just got the Chase Ink Unlimited business card.  For those of you who are familiar with my blog, you know about my side hustles Just the Tip and Sweep the Leg Consulting.  And by "side hustle" I mean funny names I used to make myself eligible to get business cards and earn sweet bonuses with the Chase ink line of cards.

After cashing in on the 80K points from the Chase Ink Preferred, I cancelled that card because I didn't want to pay the $95 annual fee.  That's the card that was under "Just the Tip."  I'm a big fan of that name for a fake small business so I decided to try to revive it with the Chase Ink Unlimited.  As you can tell from the picture above, I was not successful in doing that.  I even went so as far to register the name with the state of CO to get approved.  That shit cost me $20:

Pretty fucking legit right?  Well, Chase wasn't buying it and they told me to fuck right off.  In fact, I don't think they officially sent me a denial letter.  So I gave up and just used my name as the business since a friend said it'd be easier to get approved.  I said I was an "Independent Artist/Writer" which is kind of true with this blog, but I don't make any money here, so yeah, I guess I'm full of shit again.

Anyway, on to the good stuff: I got this card for the 50,000 point bonus which I'll transfer to my Chase Sapphire Reserve to keep pooling points.

Here's the updated way I amass Chase points:

Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3X points on dining and travel. 1.5 point conversion redemption thru portal.
Annual fee: $450 - $300 travel credit = $150

Chase Freedom: 5X points on rotating categories such as gas, groceries, and whorehouses
Annual fee: $0

Chase Ink Unlimited: 1.5X points on everything
Annual fee: $0

Chase Ink Cash: 5X points on cable, internet, phone, and Office supply stores, 2X points on gas
Annual fee: $0

Some of my friends think this shit is way too complicated, but hey, after this 50K bonus I'll have over 200K points (which equates to $3000 when I book through the chase portal) and I haven't paid for a flight in 18 months, so maybe I nerd out on this stuff a bit more than others, but if you're gonna pay bills and buy shit, you may as well get some free shit for it.