Companion Pass

Southwest Raises The Price Of Their Valuable Companion Pass!

October 17, 2019By Edward Pizzarello6 Comments

This morning, Southwest Airlines has announced that your miles no longer come with an expiration date. Unfortunately, though, if you’re in the market for their valuable companion pass, it’s going to cost you just a little bit more.

Why The Current Southwest Airlines Credit Card Offer Is The Best One For Families

January 24, 2019By Edward Pizzarello12 Comments

Southwest really wanted to make a splash, and they sure did. I’ve got a blog post breaking down why this is a great offer for families as well as a podcast episode where Jen (our resident Southwest expert) and I dig in to it including how to keep the companion pass for 2020.

New Episode! Southwest Companion Pass, Free Bose Headphones And Wi-Fi. Lots of Wi-Fi!

March 29, 2018By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

Hope you enjoy this week’s episode! We’ve got Seth from Paxex.Aero doing a deep dive on in-flight internet and Jen from Deals We Like talking about the Southwest Companion Pass. And, Seth and I get into it on a few current events.

Southwest Is Giving Companion Passes Away To California Residents After One Purchase On Their Credit Card!

October 19, 2017By Edward Pizzarello8 Comments

Southwest Airlines is giving away Companion Passes to California residents if they sign up for a Rapid Rewards credit card and make a purchase.

An Interesting Way To Earn The Southwest Companion Pass Without Flying

January 23, 2017By Edward Pizzarello17 Comments

The generous path to the Southwest Companion Pass via hotel transfers is closing shortly. But, is there another way?

Southwest Changes Their Mind On Companion Pass Changes

January 5, 2017By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

The Southwest Airlines companion pass remains one of the most valuable benefits of any airline loyalty program in the US. Timed correctly, you can get 2 years of free flights for your companion. Southwest apparently listened to the feedback from customers this week and rolled out a modification to their earlier change.

A Big Change To The Rules For Earning The Southwest Companion Pass

January 1, 2017By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

The Southwest Airlines companion pass remains one of the most valuable benefits of any airline loyalty program in the US. Timed correctly, you can get 2 years of free flights for your companion. Southwest is changing the rules for how you earn a companion pass. This one’s gonna sting a bit.

The Letter I Never Thought I’d Get From Southwest

June 6, 2016By Edward Pizzarello14 Comments

Travel patterns grow/evolve over time. Especially so since I got married and had two kids. Where Southwest didn’t fit neatly into our travel patterns years ago, it’s become more relevant lately.

Hyatt Offering Free COVID Testing At All Latin America Resorts

Hyatt just announced that all of their resorts in Latin America will be providing free COVID-19 testing for guests as well as discounted room rates if you get stuck due to testing delays or a positive test result. This covers 19 properties in Mexico, Costa Rica, the Caribbean and South America. This is almost certainly in response to the recent US regulation that requires a negative COVID-19 test to enter the US for all international travelers (including US citizens). This offer covers up to two complimentary COVID-19 tests per guestroom […]

Mistakes In Camping. Why I Ended Up Purchasing Two Pickup Trucks In 30 Days.

It’s the best laid plans, they say, right? Like most of you, we’re jonesing to get back out on the road to travel. My wife and I knew that any plan to get back to travel would have to involve a few key points. First, it would have to check the boxes for our daughter’s anxiety. She’s dealt with anxiety since she was quite young and has developed some pretty amazing tools to keep it in check. But, germs are absolutely one of her major hot buttons. As she said […]

Our Family Is Starting To Get Our Travel Groove Back

It was a cacophony of voices. We sat down for dinner this evening and we were talking about a return to our friends’ ranch in Colorado. It was a fun, light-hearted discussion. We haven’t been talking too much about travel because we’ve chosen to stay home, other than our RV adventures. Then, I asked the question that lit the fire. I looked at my kids and asked them, “Travel restrictions are lifted immediately, what’s the first place you’d want to go?” Not a single person hesitated. Even my wife jumped […]

Travelers To The US Will Be Required To Quarantine Upon Arrival

It was just last week that we learned a negative COVID-19 test result would be required for all passengers entering the US. This is applicable to US citizens and visitors alike, with airline crews one of the only groups largely exempted from the rule. Now, it appears that the United States will institute a requirement to quarantine upon arrival as well. There aren’t a ton of details on what the quarantine requirement will look like just yet. For better or worse, I expect it won’t be nearly as restrictive as […]

CONFIRMED: US Will Require Negative COVID-19 Test For Entry From International Flights

There’s a report on most of the major news sites right now indicating that The NY Times is reporting the US will require a negative COVID-19 test for all passengers entering the United States via plane from abroad. This would be a remarkable step. But it also may be a logical evolution of COVID-19 policy as it relates to travel. While we don’t have exact details, reports seem to indicate that this could go into place January 26, 2021. Honestly, if this is needed to stop the spread of the more […]

I Flew Frontier, Saved $400 And Didn’t Die. My Frontier Airlines Review

Those low-cost carriers always have very appetizing fare sales. Who wouldn’t want to pay $20 to fly somewhere? But, what does $20 really buy you? I found out exactly what Frontier does (and doesn’t) offer customers on my first flight with them recently.

How To Use New Metro Silver Line To Get Between Dulles and Reagan National Airports

People talk about how bad the traffic is in places like Los Angeles with plenty of adjectives. And, it is quite bad. But, the traffic in DC is what I refer to as “stealthy bad”. It doesn’t get the same press that LA traffic does, but a trip that normally takes an hour can easily turn into a 3-hour ordeal. With visiting dignitaries, protests and construction as variables, weather can also wreak havoc on a system that consistently backs up during rush hour. For those of us that live in […]

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the original announcement that American Airlines was creating bundled pricing that included change fees at a lower apparent cost. Things got a little better when American also announced they were expanding the timeframe you could request a same day change to your flight. And, then things started to get a bit screwy. It started with just one flight I couldn’t get to price right with Choice Plus as an add-on. But, then I did a bit more digging and found out […]

A Summary Of United Airlines Global Services Benefits

As travel has gotten more stressful the benefits of elite status are even more valuable. In some cases, what used to be free for everyone is now only free for those customers that fly most frequently. I value my American Airlines Executive Platinum status more highly than any status I’ve earned, including 1K service with United Airlines. However, Global Services is another matter. For those not aware, Global Services is an invitation-only status level that United bestows on their best customers. What defines a best customer? Well, United doesn’t list […]

Is Foursquare Dead?

Venture Beat doesn’t think so, and I’m not 100% sure they’re wrong. But, before I discuss the article, a little background on why someone allergic to social media like me became a Foursquare nut. A few years ago, a company called TopGuest came up with this concept where you could earn airline miles and hotel points for checking in at various places on Foursquare. I can’t say I thought it was a terribly good business model, but they convinced a bunch of hotel chains to hand out miles for this. […]

Edward Pizzarello - January 27, 2021:
Joyce, we weren't looking for a 5th wheel to start. I ended [...]

Joyce - January 27, 2021:
You did the wrong type of research, you should have tried one [...]

Edward Pizzarello - January 26, 2021:
Cliff, you're 100% right about the hole to throw money in, ROFL. [...]

Cliff - January 26, 2021:
I knew you were way over your head when you mentioned 1 [...]

Edward Pizzarello - January 26, 2021:
Michael, sounds like I needed to talk to you before I bought [...]