How we afford to Fly for OIT (How to earn a Southwest Companion Pass)

I have been asked several times about the ins and outs of traveling for OIT, so I decided I should create a few blog posts about it.  This first one is a question I get a lot:  How on EARTH can you afford to FLY to some of your OIT appointments?!  It's a really good question.  Normally, flying is very expensive.  While it costs us about $100 a trip (including our $35 doctor's co-pay) to drive to an  OIT appointment, a single plane ticket from Houston to Dallas can range between $150-$200.  Times that by two, and that's a TON of money every week.

So how DO we afford to fly?!  Four words: Southwest Airlines Companion Pass.

The Southwest Companion Pass is among the best of airline frequent traveler perks.  Once you earn a Companion Pass, you can designate a person to be your companion, and that person travels for free for the remainder of the calendar year in which the pass was earned, PLUS the ENTIRE next calendar year.  Brendan will fly for free with me until December 2016.

This is what happens to your Companion Pass picture when you are too lazy
 to run it through Photoshop to blank out the personal details!!

So, how does one earn a Southwest Companion Pass?  You need to earn 110,000 qualifying points (miles) in a calendar year, or fly 100 round trip flights in a year.  Since the latter isn't going to happen for most of us, let's focus on the former.  Once you earn 110,000 points, you can automatically designate a companion and that companion flies free.  You can also USE those 110,000 points for your airline tickets.  So, not only does Brendan fly for free, but by using those 110,000 points, I have been able to fly for free also!

I know, 110,000 miles sounds like a TON, until you look carefully at Southwest's credit card sign up bonuses.  So, without further ado, here is how I earned a Southwest Companion Pass in about 6 weeks without flying a single mile:

Step ONE:
Wait for a 50,000 point bonus sign up for at least 2 of Southwest's cards.  Southwest offers these bonuses several times a year.  DO NOT sign up when the bonus is only 25,000 points.  It won't be enough to get you your pass!  Southwest offers 3 cards:  A Plus Personal Card ($69 annual fee), a Premier Personal Card ($99 annual fee), and a Business Card ($99 annual fee).  You will need to apply for two of these three cards in your name (or the name of the person who will be attending the OIT appointments with your child).  You WILL have to pay the annual fees for the cards.  $169, is not bad for a year's worth of free flights, though!!

I applied for my cards within about 10 days of each other.  It is possible to be approved for both of the personal cards in a very short time period-- some people have even applied for both on the same day.  One thing I learned: Don't apply for the business card unless you have an actual revenue-generating business.  I, at first, applied for a personal card (approved immediately) and then the business card (thinking that it would be hard to be approved for two personal cards).  I used some contract curriculum writing I had done as my "business."  I was not approved for the business card.  However, a few days later, I got up the courage to apply for the other personal card.  I was immediately approved.  So, in my experience, it was easier to get 2 personal cards, than a personal and a business card.  YMMV.

Step TWO:
Charge the minimum spend on each card in order to receive the 50,000 point bonus on each card.  The minimum spend is usually $2,000.  We put all our monthly expenses on these two cards.  We were at the minimum spend limits in no time.  So, at this point, you'll have the two 50K bonuses, PLUS you'll have 4K in points from your spending.  You'll be at 104,000 points, only 6,000 points away from a companion pass!

Step THREE:
Get the 6,000 points.  There are a couple of ways to get the extra 6,000 points needed to earn the companion pass.  The most straightforward way is to charge $6,000 onto one of the cards.  Have a big vacation coming up that you were needing to pay off anyways?  Does your kid need braces?  $6,000 can add up quickly if you have a few big expenses to take care of.

PLEASE NOTE:  I am in NO WAY advocating racking up credit card bills you cannot pay for.  We make it a point to NEVER pay interest on credit card charges.  We pay off our bills, in full, every month.  If you go this route, please use your credit responsibly and only charge items that you can pay off quickly.

Another way to get the extra 6,000 points you need is to use a hotel points program that allows you to convert your points into Southwest points.  I did not use this method, but several websites insist that converted hotel points do, in fact, count towards a Companion Pass.  You will lose points in the conversion process, though, so unless you have a ton of these hotel points laying around, I do not suggest going this route.  Also, please note that Chase Ultimate Rewards points DO NOT count toward the Southwest Companion Pass, so do not try to use those points to achieve a Companion Pass.  The only work around to this problem is to transfer the Ultimate Rewards points into hotel points (Hyatt is an option), and then transfer those hotel points into Southwest Points.  You will lose points in this deal, though, because of the transfer rates.

Once you have earned the last 6,000 points, you will have a Southwest Companion Pass PLUS 110,000 points to spend on flights!  So, that's how we afford to fly to some of our appointments.  When you add up the 9/11 security fee for the tickets ($11.20 per ticket), plus parking at the airport and taking Uber to the doctor's office, it costs us about the same to fly FOR FREE, as it does to drive.  Flying is a nice break in the driving schedule, though!!  The Companion Pass has been a lifesaver for us!!

Up Next: A Flying Updose Day in Pictures (If I remember to take pictures tomorrow!!).