After years of being casual points users, 2019 was the first year as full fledged travel hackers. We got serious about picking the right credit cards, learning the best redemptions and getting the most out all that was offered. This post is heavy on the charts.
Companion Pass
We officially earned our Southwest Companion Pass on Super Bowl Sunday and were able to take 6 round trip flights in 10 months. By earning in February our pass is still good through December 31, 2020. We used just over half of the points we were guaranteed by hitting the sign up bonuses and through anniversary rewards. We also earned an additional 9,000 points from flights, credit card spending and shopping portals.
With the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8s (while we were on our first trip of the year) flight prices on Southwest continued to rise throughout the year, routes were eliminated and schedules changed. However, other than our direct flight to Phoenix being cancelled, we mostly used this to our advantage. When the schedules get changed and your flight is bumped, Southwest gives you the opportunity to change to any flight between the origin and destination within 2 weeks of the original dates at no additional cost. We used this to get better, more expensive flights we wouldn’t have picked otherwise.
Despite the pricier flights because of the grounding, we were able to spend fewer points than anticipated by combining trips to Phoenix and Las Vegas. Both destinations were also less than the 10,000 each way I had quoted for traveling in Jan/Feb.
Points Spent: 79,198
Cash Spent: $156.80
Saved: $3,501
Chase Sapphire Reserve
After getting involved in a facebook group all about credit card points and traveling I had caught the bug. I wanted to open all the cards, get all the points and travel lavishly for free! (I’ve since readjusted my expectations to how Adam and I ACTUALLY travel)
The first cards they recommend are the Chase Sapphire Reserve OR Preferred. We picked the Reserve because we were planning on doing a lot of travel and I had calculated that with the amount of spending we do on travel, 3X on those expenses instead of 2X would make enough of a difference. It does come with a HEFTY annual fee of $450 ($550 starting today 1/12), but also tons of perks to negate that.
- $300 travel credit: This reimburses on your card for any purchases that code as travel ie. AirBnb, hotels, flights, ride share, parking structures, car rentals, etc)
- 3X Points on Travel & Dining
- Redeem points through the Ultimate Rewards portal for travel and receive 1.5x your points.
- Sign up bonus of 50,000 pts (worth $750 in the portal)
- $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre Check: This reimburses on your card for the application fee of Global Entry or TSA Pre Check. These allow you to go through security faster at the airport or even select sporting events/concert venues!
- Priority Pass Lounge Access: 1,200+ airport lounges and restaurants worldwide. Seating, drinks, snacks/food, alcohol and plugs. Select locations without a lounge have a participating restaurant where you get $28pp to spend (you pay tip).
- Primary Rental Car Insurance: “Provides reimbursement up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.”
- Trip Insurance: “If your trip is cancelled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.”
- Luxury Resort Hotel Collection: Get special perks when you stay at participating hotels like dining credit, free breakfast, early check-in, late check out and room upgrades!
- 3X points on travel & dining
There are also new perks to justify the extra $100 fee for next year. I’ll review those once we use them!
After adjusting for the $300 travel credit, the annual fee was $150. As of month 10 (January) we had received the following value which far outweighs the cost:
| Program | Savings |
| Priority Pass | $ 221 |
| LHRC | $ 375 |
| TSA PreCheck | $ 75 |
| 3X Points Value | $ 98 |
| $ 769 |
We also made the move to start booking hotels with points! We are huge supporters of AirBnbs and love staying at them, but there are some places that hotels make more sense, especially if you can get them for free. In 2020 it is a goal of mine to lower costs of trips significantly via paying for lodging in points. Here’s where we stayed in 2019 and what we have booked for 2020:
| Location | Length | Points | Cash Value |
| Nashville | 2 Nights | 10,579 | $ 158.69 |
| Page | 1 Night | 3,348 | $ 50.23 |
| Bryce | 1 Night | 3,682 | $ 55.23 |
| Zion | 1 Night | 4,849 | $ 72.74 |
| Homestead (1/20) | 1 Night | 4,902 | $ 73.53 |
| Arenal (2/20) | 2 Nights | 6,712 | $ 100.68 |
| Rinconcito Lodge (2/20) | 2 Nights | 10,948 | $ 164.22 |
| Barons Resort (2/20) | 1 Night | 4,570 | $ 68.56 |
| Preakness (5/20) | 2 Nights | 16,000 | $ 590.00 |
| 65,590 | $ 1,333.88 |
Other Cards
We also opened 2 additional cards.
- As mentioned in my Train Trip post, I opened an Amtrak card to offset the cost of our train transportation in Seattle and the East Coast. The bonus ended up being worth $422
- In 2019 I started a new business and wanted to grab a new 0% interest card. I picked the Chase Ink Unlimited for, you guessed it, the 0% interest for 1 year, as well as a $500 sign up bonus. This bonus was supercharged by the fact that I can share points with my household and transferred them to Adam’s Reserve, making the points worth $750 in the UR portal.
Grand Totals
Annual Fees: $778
Value redeemed: $6,325
Value of points remaining: $3,437
