Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Caution: Reader V L reports that even though it is possible to get approved for a second Southwest business card you may not receive a second bonus. Data points around the Internet are mixed, but Chase has definitely denied the bonus on a second co-branded card before (see a comment about the United business card on this post and this comment on the Marriott cards). On the other hand, there has been at least one report of success with this approach on the Southwest cards in particular in the past (hat tip to Doctor of Credit for a couple of those data points). Until we have more successful data points, I’d recommend holding off on this approach.
See our updated retraction on this: Does Chase ever deny the bonus after approval? Apparently, yes.
This past year, Chase instituted a new restriction on the Southwest Airlines personal credit cards: you can no longer get a new cardmember bonus on any of the Southwest personal cards if you have received a new cardmember bonus on any of the three personal cards within the past 24 months. However, that same restriction neither applies to nor includes the Southwest business credit card. And thanks to Zac from Travel Freely, we now know that you can get approved for a second Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Business card with a second business or that you can get two Southwest Rapid Rewards business cards if you are an “owner, officer, or partner of the company” of two businesses. For example, maybe you own one business, and you are a partner or officer in your spouse’s business. In that case, you can apply with your own SSN under both businesses. With that card currently offering a welcome bonus of 60,000 Rapid Rewards points, that means it is possible to earn a Southwest Companion pass with two Southwest business cards.
Companion Pass Basics
Southwest offers what I firmly believe is the best deal in domestic travel, the Southwest Companion Pass. If you earn 110,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a single calendar year, you get a Companion Pass. That means that a companion can fly with you for free (paying only the taxes, which are $5.60 each way on domestic flights or they vary on international) every time you fly Southwest — whether you pay cash, use your points, use someone else’s points, etc. For more on this valuable benefit, see our Southwest Airlines Companion Pass Complete Guide.
Why the time is right to earn the pass
The key thing about the Companion Pass is that once you have earned 110K points in a single calendar year, the pass is valid for the rest of the year in which you earned it and up until December 31st of the following year. This means that if you earn 110K points in January, you get a Companion Pass that is valid for nearly 2 years. If you were to earn 110,000 points in January 2019, your pass would be valid until December 31, 2020.
Keep in mind that you have to earn all the points in the same year. If you have 50,000 points today and you earn 60,000 points in January, you do not get a Companion Pass. You must have earned all 110K in the same calendar year. You do not need to have 110K in your account — you can spend your points as you please — you just need to have earned 110K in the calendar year.
This means that if you open a credit card now and meet the spending requirement in early January, you will earn the welcome bonus points in 2019 and they will count towards Companion Pass qualification in 2019. Ideally, one can earn the pass by simply opening two Southwest credit cards and meeting the spend. In the past, it was possible to do this with two personal cards. Today, you will not be able to get a second Southwest personal card bonus — and the spending requirement to earn the full bonus has increased considerably for the personal cards. However, the business card continues to offer 60,000 points after spending just $3,000 in the first three months. After meeting the minimum spend on a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier business card, you’ll be half way to a Companion Pass.
Find out more about the Southwest business card on our Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Business dedicated page.
And you can do that twice
The key news today that comes from Zac of Travel Freely via is that you can get approved for a second Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Business credit card if you have a second business or you can get a second Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Business credit card if you are the owner, officer, or partner of a second business. Here is the key information from the Travel Freely email:
Multiple Cards with the Same Business
If you own a business, you can get multiple Chase business cards using the same EIN but a different social security number (SSN). So, if you already have one or all of the Chase Ink business cards and you are in control of your business, you could have your business partner or spouse apply for the same card. They would use the same EIN and business info, but put in their SSN number. As long as they are under 5/24, you should be good to go.
I have several friends who own their own small business. In the past month, they have doubled up on the Chase Ink Preferred by having their spouse sign up for one, too. 160,000 bonus points is better than 80,000! Note, it does require a lot of spending. So be careful.
Multiple Southwest Business Cards with Different Businesses
This could be the tip of the year. For those who are stymied from the fast track due to a bonus on a SW personal card in the last 24 months, here’s the magical workaround. If you have two businesses, you can get two Southwest business cards! There’s 120,000 miles right there. Again, you need to be under 5/24, but remember that Chase business cards don’t count against your 5/24 count, which is great.
If you already have the companion pass or don’t want it, consider this multiple business trick for multiple Chase Ink Cards. One of my friends has 6 LLCs because he develops houses in different neighborhoods. So, he is utilizing both tricks. In the last few months, he got 6 Ink Preferred cards with his SSN. Now, his wife is getting 6 of them in her name. Well done, Rob. 12 Ink Preferred cards!
The main reason I love these ideas are that they are pretty simple. No nickel and dining for extra points. Just a little bit of strategy and big time payoffs. Remember, there’s certainly a lot of spending required to hit the bonuses. So, be careful before you unleash on these ideas.
While we have long known that it is possible to open an additional Chase business card for a separate business and earn the bonus, we did not have a data point on the Southwest business cards. However, Zac reports that he was able to get approved under a second business. Further, he reports that you can get a second card if you own or are an officer pr partner of a second business. That’s awesome as it means it is possible to earn 60,000 bonus points on each of two Southwest business cards for a total of 120,000 points after spending $6K in the first 3 months ($3K on each card separately) — more than enough for a Companion Pass. Completing the spending requirement for both in January should net a quick Companion Pass that will be valid for nearly two years. Assuming Southwest ever gets flights to Hawaii off the ground, that could really turn out to be awesome.
Update: To clarify the point on getting a bonus under a second business, here’s are two examples:
Example 1
- Bob owns Bob’s Business Supplies
- Bob owns Bob’s Rental properties
- Bob can apply for a Southwest business card under the EIN for Bob’s Business Supplies (and get 60K after spending requirement)
- Bob can apply for a second Southwest business card under the EIN for Bob’s Rental properties (and get 60K after spending requirement)
- Bob can earn a total of 120K bonus points, good for a Companion Pass
Example 2
- Bob owns Bob’s Business Supplies
- Sally owns Sally’s Stretch Limo Services
- Bob is a joint owner, officer, or partner in Sally’s Stretch Limo Services
- Sally is a joint owner, officer, or partner in Bob’s Business Supplies
- Bob can apply for a business card as the owner of Bob’s Business Supplies (and get 60K after spending requirement)
- Sally can apply for a business card as a joint owner, officer, or partner of Bob’s Business Supplies (and get 60K after spending requirement)
- Sally can apply for a business card as the owner of Sally’s Stretch Limo Services (and get 60K after spending requirement)
- Bob can apply for a business card as a joint owner, officer, or partner of Sally’s Stretch Limo Services (and get 60K after spending requirement)
- Bob and Sally can each get 120K points good for a Companion Pass (or other similar opportunities)
Caution #1: This card is subject to 5/24
While Chase business cards do not add to your 5/24 count, they are subject to 5/24, so those over 5/24 will not be approved.
| Chase 5/24 semantics ("Subject to" vs. "Count towards"): Most Chase cards are subject to the 5/24 rule. That means the rule is enforced in making approval decisions. In other words, you probably won't get approved if your credit report shows that you opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months. Meanwhile, most business cards (such as those from Chase, Amex, Barclaycard, BOA, Citi, US Bank, and Wells Fargo) are not reported on your personal credit report. These cards do not count towards 5/24. Example: Chase Ink Business Preferred is subject to 5/24, so you likely won't get approved if over 5/24. If you do get approved, it won't count towards 5/24 since it won't appear as an account on your credit report. |
Caution #2: Don’t meet the spend early
Be very careful about any Southwest card you’re opening now for the bonus in January. While it might be tempting to complete almost all of the spend now and then finish it in January, you need to beware of a couple of potential problems with that.
First, if your card is fraudulently used and it brings you over the spend threshold, you might earn the welcome bonus this month instead of next month. You of course shouldn’t be liable for any fraudulent charges, but if they bring you over the spending requirement they will trigger the bonus regardless.
Second, you never know when a merchant might mess up. I recently read a story about someone who had a charge at a merchant that didn’t go through. They ran the card a second time — only it turned out that both charges went through. The business refunded the overcharge immediately, but that didn’t matter — from Chase’s computer’s end, the spending requirement was met and the points were awarded too soon. You don’t want a cashier who somehow types in an extra zero to mess up your companion pass for two years.
All that said, if your December statement has already cut or you’re opening a new card today, the bonus you earn shouldn’t post until January. You should be safe to complete spending after your December statement (or if you have just opened the card and your first statement isn’t scheduled until January), though I personally wouldn’t do that. If Chase decides that they want to be generous and post your bonus right away for some reason, you would have an uphill battle arguing about why you shouldn’t earn it until January. A little patience won’t hurt.
Caution #3: Beware of Chase shutdowns
Greg wrote a post earlier this year about Why Chase Shutdowns have increased and how to avoid them. We have received more reports this year than in years past about people who have had all of their Chase accounts shut down. A common thread reported by those who had accounts shut down was that most also reported recently opening a new Chase card — or two. If you are intending to open two cards in close temporal proximity, I would suggest thinking about your charging patterns on other Chase cards and perhaps spacing the two applications by at least a few weeks (if not a month) if possible — though that is pure speculation (and perhaps it doesn’t matter at all if you are applying under a separate business or separate co-owner). I’m not positive whether it will make a difference and obviously can’t predict the risk of Chase shutdown. It’s worth consideration.
Bottom line
We’ve written previously about our new relationship with Travel Freely (See: Take the stress out of credit card bonus hunting: Travel Freely). Here, they have come out with a fantastic tip that should help at least some readers get a Companion Pass pretty easily. You’ll still need to be under 5/24 to qualify, and some folks will rightly say that there are more valuable new cardmember bonuses on the market for those under 5/24 — namely the Ink business cards. However, if you know you’ll get good value out of the Southwest Companion Pass, this may certainly be worth it — that likely depends on your travel patterns.
If you have not yet signed up for Travel Freely and would like to do so, here is our referral link. As you can read about in the “Take the stress out” post above, we think it’s a service that will benefit many readers. Today’s tip alone is one I’m glad to have received thanks to their efforts.
H/T: Travel Freely
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How does Business card companion work? I work for my husband’s company but am not an owner. If we get the business card, can I be the member and choose the companion? I got a new personal SW card in the last 24 months so I am not eligible and he usually flies United so not worth it to get it in his name with me as the companion. Thx
My husband applied for Southwest business card. He has documented 1099 business income of about $8,000 reported on his SSN (which he provided to Chase). His total income is over $100,000 (primarily from retirement accounts). Credit rating is above 800 on all bureaus. Yet he was denied with no explanation. The only reason we can think of is he put retired as occupation. We really would like to get the card. Adilvice please.
[…] about what we thought could be an awesome new way to get a Companion Pass (see the updated post: Update: Maybe you can’t get a 2nd Southwest business card after all). We were (probably) wrong about it, and for that, we apologize. Here’s a recap of what we […]
I would like to add, with the ink preferred, you can refer your spouse yo the card for an extra 20k chase points. In two player mode, that’s a whopping 180k chase points.
We did this two years ago, and as our cards are cancelled, it will be interesting to see
if we can get approved again.
Although I do not doubt the accuracy of the data reported by Zac, but I would not be that optimistic until more DP comes. Here are mine DP.
A year and a half ago (after successfully getting 2 bonuses on Ink Preferred – first under my Corp listing myself as an officer/owner, and then as a SP), a friend of mine tried to do the same in Dec 2017 – Jan 2018 on SW Biz cards. Both cards were approved and opened, but the second bonus was denied specifically because one was received by the same RR account from the same product just recently. So, our case is not exactly 2 different businesses with its own EIN – one was, but the second time SSN was used as both business EIN and officer IDs.. but pretty close. If works for corps, I would expect it to work for SPs. So, not sure if Zac just got lucky or my friend for some reason was out of luck. Or actual EIN vs SSN as Sole Prop made the difference.
Also possible that something changed over the last year, but usually it never gets better 🙂
Let’s see if anybody else wants to try it what the outcome would be.
Good luck.
“Let’s see if anybody else wants to try it what the outcome would be.”
Let’s not. It doesn’t work. We have multiple DPs proving as much.
I’ll hapily doubt the accuracy of the data reported. Zac is lying to get page hits and affiliate clicks. And frequent miler is gladly accepting his advertising dollars. It’s shitty all the way around and Nick should be embarrassed.
We posted this because we believed it to be an incredible scoop that would help readers get the companion pass. If it turns out that this was wrong, that sucks and we’ll publish a public retraction. We would never purposely risk our public image for something we knew to be wrong! And, we never, never, never, never publish things just for the clicks or the affiliate revenue. I know you won’t believe me regardless of what I write so I’ll spare the time in trying to prove it. I know its true and many long time readers know it as well.
And, Zac was NOT lying. When he says that he was approved for a second SWA business card I believe him 100%. When he confidently stated that he would get both bonuses, I also have no reason not to believe that he believed that. Could he have been misinformed? Of course. Lying: no.
If you want to help, you can point us to forums or blog posts where people have reported similar experiences as reported above by V L. We would really appreciate it!
V L, thank you for sharing this! I’ve updated the top of the post with this caution while we investigate this. I don’t think Zac has received his bonuses yet so this might happen to him as well. While it’s common with Amex, I’ve never before heard of a case where Chase has approved a card but then refused the bonus in this way.
Never trouble with Chase and had like 4 Inks over the years.BUT Amex is a different deal I Called before applying they looked and stated yes u never had this card then burned me .I’ll cancel the card @ 11 months then won’t go back . Citi and Barclay’s have been good but B careful with them all.
Two no awards out of say 50 cards in 8 years so what !!
CHEERs
Greg- I appreciate the responses and apologies for being so harsh earlier.
If someone were to apply for a 2nd SW biz, it would have cost them a business card, hard pull, $99 annual fee, and $3k MSR. With the same MSR, they could’ve gotten a CIC/CIU instead and saved the $99. It triggered me.
If you have an email, I can send you other proof but would prefer it not be on here. But the TL:DR is that it used to but a couple of years ago it stopped. They’ll flat out deny it via recon even with proof that bonus will post from a CSR.
His email address is somewhere go look i found it .This is all really pocket change even if the whole post is wrong .U all worry about ur pulls and Credit stuff way to much my Fico is 814 so what u don’t need that. . Things can change in a whim by Banks just like the stock market !! So no Award Stuff is the same on any apply and as like when u walk into a hotel .. Never got burned on any hotel JUST Free stuff as in BK’s for Free ect . I had no ideal how I got it but just smiled then tipped.
CHEERs
Thank you. I appreciate the apology! You can email me at: greg at frequentmiler dot net
Double post
This is wrong. Wrong wrong wrong.
You can get two SW biz cards. Hell, you can get 5. But you can only get ONE bonus. It is not like a CIP/CIC/CIU.
ALL CO-BRANDED CHASE DO NOT QUALIFY FOR MULTIPLE BONUSES
Just because someone is a points blogger doesn’t mean they have a clue what they’re talking about. Case and point? This.
I realize frequentmiler has an “affiliation” with that other site, but shilling incorrect information is incredibly disingenuous. Stop giving these amateurs clicks. And for the love of God don’t sign up under their affiliate links.
Andysol, what you say is true, then we obviously made a big mistake in posting this and will issue a public retraction. Please provide links to message boards or something to back up your assertion. It doesn’t help to shout that it’s not true without evidence. We often have trolls on this site assert things that aren’t true. How do you know that you can’t qualify for multiple bonuses? Please provide evidence.
FWIW, I agree with Andysol, the entire premise of this post is factually incorrect. You don’t even need a 2nd business entity to be approved for a second Chase SW biz card. You can get multiple with one Tax ID, but you’ll only get one bonus. Look at the anti-churning language (“bonus not available…”) and compare it to most other Chase cards (“product is not available…).
Can you get 2 sign up bonuses if they are 2 separate businesses?
Appreciate the response. Here’s mine, for example.
https://imgur.com/a/b1IZWiI
I know cardholder name typically needs to match the RR account name. But what happens in the case of business cards? I have an EIN and a business name different from my name. But the card would still ultimately be under my name and SSN as well.
Could I put this app in with my wife’s RR #, or do the same rules apply here as for a personal card?
Seems like a 2nd person under your business would be required to use their own RR # though, right? The CP couldn’t be obtained that way if so.
This was my 1st question – how does one apply for a SW card using their spouse’s RR #? Definitely need an answer on this.
Hello. I’ve been trying to wait for Hawaii flights to open p but it’s taking forever. Would it be safe to get both cards now and charge my property Taxes on December 28. Would that trigger in this year or end of statement in january?
It should probably post with your January statement assuming it’s a new card and/or your December statement has already cut. See Caution #2. You’re probably OK to do that, though if you can meet the spend easily enough in January that’s what *I* would do. Some will surely call me overly cautious on that. I call me a guy with a Companion Pass.
Again, if that’s the only way you’ll easily meet the spend, you’re probably good to go on that.
I’m also ultra-cautious about accidentally meeting the minimum spend before 1-1-19. I imagine that listrell wants their property taxes to be paid in calendar 2018.
I could pay Dec 31 if I receive the cards by then. However I usually don’t fly Southwest and researching today for over an hour, most RT flights (from Dallas) are $380+. So far not seeing a benefit (for Domestic) just yet.
“Most RT flights from Dallas are $380+” – that seems like a pretty broad statement. I just picked a random week in May. First destination I looked up was San Francisco: $186 RT. Second destination was Las Vegas: $218 RT. Third was Denver: $186 RT. Fourth was Orlando: $292 RT (which does seem pricey to me). Better yet, that means those flights are all around 12K to 19K Rapid Rewards points round trip. If you have the Companion Pass, that’s 12K to 19K round trip for 2 people. AA and UA generally charge 25K RT per person — 50K for two people.
Of course, if you don’t want to go to San Francisco, Denver, Orlando, or Las Vegas, or if cash prices on other airlines are less than half those prices, that won’t likely matter. If flights when you need to travel and to where you need to fly are not well-priced, you’d be right to give Southwest a miss. On the other hand, even those $380 RT flights you’re citing are probably around 25K RT. Again, with the Companion Pass, that’s 25K for *two* people — so half the number of miles required by most other airlines. And remember that after two business cards and the minimum spend on both, you’ll have 126K Rapid Rewards points.
If you like to fly to the international destinations, it’s an even better deal since AA and UA generally charge more miles for those destinations — whereas with Southwest you’ll pay a cost in points that is relative to the cash price.
I’m not trying to sell you on the idea of Southwest — like I said, it’s not for everyone. But I’m not sure that your sample set is a good reflection of Soutwest in general. I’ve had the Companion Pass for 3 or 4 years and I think I’ve only once ever paid more than $380 for a round trip flight on Southwest. That said, I don’t tend to travel around peak periods like school vacations and I’m rarely so locked into dates that I can’t switch things around to find a cheaper day to fly, etc. Not everyone has that luxury, so my sample set likely isn’t an accurate reflection of average pricing, either.
So that let me to look up the stats. According to the Internet, the average cost of round trip domestic airfare when purchased 21+ days in advance was $360 in 2018 Q1 and $375 in 2018 Q2, so the $380 number you’re throwing out doesn’t sound like it’s far off the national averages actually. But, again, if it’s far above the other airlines flying out of Dallas, those national averages won’t matter much. All just some food for thought.
Iistrell
Don’t pay games with Property Taxes or Banks I usually go and pay in Person . So go there and pay 95% of what u need for the min card thing NOT OVER before 12/28 the rest with a Check or cash . Then after 1/1 spend 10% more (105% total) then what u need to hit the min.to be sure ..Gov doesn’t care how u pay as long as they get it .
Been There.
CHEERs
SW flts aren’t the go to airline they were a few years ago .They got bigger but they still have their sweet spots too .I use them for MDW>.LGA and MDW>DCA …MDW>BNA ..They may have 10 flts a day some @ 1/2 the price of other flts that day.BUT u have to book way out sometimes then cancel then book it again.I have done this 3x on some trips because of the common fare sales.
Good Luck
So… if you have a business and your spouse has a business would it be possible to get four Southwest Business cards total (to obtain two Companion Passes)? Say I sign up under my SSN for my business, and my wife as co-owner signs up with her SSN for my business. But then she signs up for HER business under her SSN, and then I sign up as co-owner of her business with my SSN! Maybe that is getting too convoluted. I haven’t received the personal SW card bonus in the last 24 months but the new tiered 40k/20k bonus is annoying. A 50k personal card bonus would allow us to each get just one personal and one business card and still hit the 110k for Companion Pass. Maybe Chase will adjust the personal card bonus after the New Year??
No. You can’t get a companion pass with two SW Biz cards. It’s factually incorrect. This blog is (intentionally?) misinformed.