✈️ Happy Southwest Day!

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Good morning and greetings from 39,000 feet over Northern Afghanistan!

I’m enjoying my lovely lie-flat bed on this 13-hour Eva Air flight to London, but I’ve got some exciting content to share with you all…

Today is going to be all about one of your favorite airlines: Southwest. So, without further ado, happy Southwest Day:

• ✈️ 30% Southwest flash sale (today only)

• 💳 The single best 2-card combo for Southwest fans

• 🤣 Southwest meme

✈️ 30% Southwest flash sale (ends today!)

Not only do I love a good flash mob (of the dancing variety), but I also love a Southwest flash sale.

So if you’re looking for a last-minute trip this spring, Southwest is ya boy 😎

And that’s because they’re offering up to 30% off base fare flights for travel through most of March, April, and May!

Here are the basics:

• Search for your desired routes and simply add in the promo code SPLASH to view the sale fares

• Valid travel dates include March 19th - May 22nd, 2024

• There are some blackout dates (March 23rd - 24th, March 30th - 31st, and April 6th-7th) that vary by route

• Savings seem to vary by day (e.g. 30% off for Tuesdays and Wednesdays; up to 25% off for Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; and up to 20% off for Sundays)

• You must book your flights by 11:59 p.m. PST today

Here’s an example of a route from San Francisco to Phoenix with the discounted prices displayed 👇

So if you’ve got a trip in mind that you’ve been waiting to book your flights for, now is a FANTASTIC time to make your move and pull the trigger.

💳 The single best 2-card combo for Southwest fans

As we’ve already learned in this newsletter, Southwest is dope. They are one of the most convenient, affordable, flexible, and ubiquitous airlines in the great US of A.

But if you’re a Southwest fanatic (like I used to be when I lived in America), how can you take your game to the NEXT LEVEL?

Well, today, I’m going to tell you about the single best two-card combo to take your Southwest travel hacking to the next level.

The ideal combo boils down to this:

• You want one airline card that earns Southwest points and gives you airline-specific perks.

• You want one card that offers flexible points that can be transferred to Southwest OR used in a portal for Southwest cash bookings.

• You want very low annual fees on these cards. After all, Southwest is known for being a budget-friendly carrier.

That’s why I recommend the [[ southwest-rapid-rewards-plus-credit-card.name ]] and the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.name ]].

With a total combined annual fee of $164, these two cards work together PERFECTLY to “kick it up a notch,” Emeril-style… but… you know… with planes and stuff.

Making that meme was weird… I completely forgot that Emeril existed.

Anyway, let me tell you why these two cards work so well together:

Card #1: Southwest points and perks

The [[ southwest-rapid-rewards-plus-credit-card.casual-card-name ]] has an extremely low annual fee but will get you some nice perks, like earning Southwest points on all of your purchases, anniversary bonus points, and discounts on in-flight purchases.

As a Southwest frequent flier, you’ll likely find that the card pays for itself every year.

Oh… and did I mention that if you sign up for the card, you’ll get a YEAR of Southwest Companion Pass? 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

That’s right… You’ll get “buy one, get one” flights for an entire year… for a $69 card… Oh, and 30,000 points on top of that. 😎

But what if there was a way to rack up even MORE Southwest points quickly to make even better use of that Companion Pass?

Well, that’s where Card #2 comes in…

Card #2: Flexible points and high earning rates

While the previous card does earn SW points, the earning rates aren’t super high…

That’s why you need a card that earns LOTS of points, like the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]], which you can then simply transfer over to Southwest…. Or a whole bunch of other airlines…

The [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]] earns high numbers of points on various categories like dining and travel, making it the perfect “companion” for your card that gets you “Companion Pass.”

I know, I’m so clever 😎

But let me give you some examples of what I mean.

Let’s say you sign up for the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]], rake in the tasty welcome offer and transfer those points over to Southwest.

You could book a round-trip flight from Baltimore to the Dominican Republic for just 26,000 points.

Since you have the Companion Pass, you could bring along a special guest for no additional points, which is crazy.

At the end of the trip, you’d still have enough points left over to book the same exact trip again… It’s insane.

But, of course, it still gets better…

You see, the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]] also allows you to earn even more points when booking travel through the bank’s portal… including Southwest flights…

If you were to book the flight above, you’d earn over 1,000 points PLUS the points you earn from Southwest after completing the flight…

You can then transfer those points to Southwest, rinse, repeat, blah blah blah… you get the idea…

Here’s the bottom line:

Southwest RARELY disappoints… they’re one of the best airlines in the country with one of the best loyalty programs.

With minimal effort (and minimal annual fees), you can build an amazing system to unlock free flights and meaningful benefits with your favorite local airline. 👇

🤣 Southwest meme

There are a handful of travel currencies in our muggle world, but a couple of them stand out above the rest.

And there’s one point system in particular that tends to be a fan-favorite.

But we can’t mention the name of said points because… the banks are watching.

I’m getting major Lord Voldemort vibes with this—anyone else??

But eek, I think… I’ve already said… Too much… 👀

So check it out on YouTube or click here to listen!

That’s all for today, folks! I gotta say… Southwest has been on fire lately between the announcement of their sleek new seats to the promo to the insane card offers…

But I’m curious to know:

See you tomorrow to finish off the week strong 💪

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