Southwest Airlines to Arizona

 

A Sedona and Phoenix Trip on Miles and Points

• Southwest Airlines to Arizona
• Silvercar Phoenix Rental Experience
• Sedona and the Adobe Grand Villas
• Phoenix and the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch

 

In the intro post for this trip, I mentioned how our decision to make Sedona/Phoenix our summer trip destination was somewhat last-minute.

Which, when you’re using airline miles, can pose some issues.

One of which is the dreaded fees many of the major carriers impose.

Both my wife and I have a large number of United MileagePlus miles, as well as American AAdvantage miles, we could have used for this trip.

Unfortunately, both United Airlines and American Airlines levy close-in booking fees on award tickets booked less than 21 days prior to the departure date. The fee is $75 per award ticket for both United and American.

A side note for those who may be interested, if you hold status with either airline, the close-in booking fee is reduced, or waived altogether, depending on your level of status.

While my wife could have taken advantage of a reduced fee, I could not, so we passed on using United or American miles for our trip.

The only other airline loyalty program in which we both had miles was Southwest, which more times than not, is our go-to airline for award travel.

Why?

Well, for a few reasons.

Southwest Airlines It Is

First, Southwest is extremely flexible, allowing changes and even cancellations of award tickets without penalty. Need to cancel your trip at the last minute…no problem, all Southwest Rapid Rewards points are re-deposited into your account with absolutely no fees to worry about.

Second, Southwest has no baggage fees. You can check two full-size bags per passenger fee-free. On the other major carriers, unless you have status or a co-branded credit card that waives baggage fees, each bag will cost $25.

And, most importantly for this trip, Southwest has no close-in booking fee. Want to book an award flight for tomorrow? As long as there’s availability and the award price is to your liking, no problem and no fee.

And, as an add on reason, for the most part, the service you’ll receive on Southwest is a step above what you’ll see on some other airlines.  I’m not saying you get white glove service and fancy, free food, no, not at all; rather, the attitude of those working at Southwest seems a little better. The flight attendants have a smile and will joke around, rather than acting like it’s a chore to have you on board…United are you listening?

All of which makes Southwest a great option for your award travels, especially when there’s a chance your plans may change, or you’re booking inside that 21-day window.

Overall, our flights to and from Arizona went off without a hitch, making our decision to fly Southwest for this trip a good one.

What It Cost

Now to the main reason for this post.

Using Miles and Points for your travels can greatly reduce your overall costs. Which is what I love about the hobby.

If we had jumped on Southwest.com and booked the same exact flights we took, except paid with a credit card, our flights would have cost $445 per person. Ouch!

Instead, we used 27,673 Rapid Rewards points each and paid a grand total of $11.20 (the required 9/11 government fee imposed on all tickets) per person.

So, rather than spending $890 on airfare, we spent $22.40 and 55,346 Southwest Rapid Rewards points to get us both to and from Arizona. Not bad at all.

How You Can Do It

How did we accumulate those Rapid Rewards miles? Well, it wasn’t through flying, that’s for sure.

Credit card sign-up bonuses and strategic every day spending on those cards are the keys to building airline and hotel loyalty balances to get (almost) free travel.

The Southwest Airlines Credit Cards

Currently, Chase offers three Southwest Airlines co-brand credit cards from which to choose:

The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier card comes with a 40,000 point sign-up bonus after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. It has a $99 annual fee which will be charged on your first billing statement.  And each year on your card anniversary date, you’ll receive 6,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points.

The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus card comes with a 40,000 point sign-up bonus after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. It has a $69 annual fee which will be charged on your first billing statement. And each year on your card anniversary date, you’ll receive 3,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points.

And, finally, the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Business card comes with a 60,000 point sign-up bonus after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. It has a $99 annual fee which will be charged on your first billing statement. And each year on your card anniversary date, you’ll receive 6,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points.

A few comments on these credit card offerings:

The consumer versions – Southwest Premier and Southwest Plus – regularly offer 50,000 point sign-up bonuses with a slightly higher minimum spend (usually $2,000 in the first 3 months). If you’re interested in applying for one – or both – of the personal cards, it may be worth waiting for the higher sign-up bonus.

And, even though you may not have a “real business,” you may still qualify for a business credit card. If you sell on eBay, pet sit, or are thinking of starting any side venture for which you want to keep expenses separate from your personal spend, you might be eligible for a business credit card and its associated sign-up bonus.

And let’s not forget that Southwest Airlines is a 1:1 transfer partner of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program. Which means, any Ultimate Rewards earning credit card can help boost your Southwest Rapid Rewards balance, too.

The Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Chase Sapphire Reserve – 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.  You can read my review of this card here for more details.

Chase Sapphire Preferred – 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. You can read my review of the Sapphire Preferred card here for more details.

And, if you hold one of the above Ultimate Rewards earning cards, the points accrued from the following two cards can be combined with the Sapphire Reserve or Preferred’s accounts and transferred on to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account…or any other Ultimate Rewards travel partner for that matter.

Chase Freedom Unlimited – 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $500 in the first 3 months. You can read my review of the Freedom Unlimited here for more details.

Chase Freedom – 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $500 in the first 3 months. You can read my review of the Freedom card here for more details.

And, of course, there are Ultimate Rewards earning business credit cards, too.

Chase Ink Business Preferred – 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months.

Chase Ink Business Cash – 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. This is really a cash-back earning card (like the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited) but as long as you have a premium Ultimate Rewards earning card (Sapphire Reserve and Preferred and the Ink Business Preferred) to which points can be transferred, the “cash-back” can be transferred as Ultimate Rewards points.

Wrap Up

Is your head swimming yet from all those different credit cards?

I know, it’s a lot of information, especially for those unfamiliar with the Miles and Points hobby.

But, I wanted to illustrate the large number of credit card sign-up bonus options available to make (nearly) free travel on Southwest a reality.

While a majority of our Southwest points came from Southwest Airlines credit card sign-up bonuses, some came from transferring Ultimate Rewards points we earned from ongoing spend on our Chase Sapphire Preferred, Freedom and Ink Business Cash cards.

In a future post on this trip, you’ll see how our stash of Ultimate Rewards points – earned from those three cards I just mentioned – helped us stay in an incredible bed and breakfast for which we would have never considered paying out of pocket.

If you have any questions on building Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points, just ask.

Until the next installment of our Sedona/Phoenix trip report, here’s hoping all your travels are safe and enjoyable.