The Southwest Companion Pass is arguably the highest value travel reward available across all loyalty programs; unlimited BOGO flights for you and a designated companion.

Both Chase and Capital One have announced increased offers on some of their most popular credit cards, with Chase lifting the bonus on the Southwest consumer cards and Capital One launching some huge offers across the Spark business card range, and on its popular Capital One^® Venture^® Rewards Credit Card.

50,000+ points or miles in the right program can take you far. Are you collecting the right points and miles to get you where you want to go?

Chase has added eligibility restrictions to the consumer versions of its Southwest Credit Cards. The new eligibility criteria affect the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Plus Credit Card, and the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card. The change may make getting the Southwest Companion Pass a little more difficult going forward.

The Southwest Companion Pass is considered to be the holy grail of award travel — Unlimited buy one get one free on Southwest for a year! However, not all of the points you earn will qualify you for the Companion Pass. Study up, as we cover what does and does not help you qualify for the Companion Pass.

Increased- and limited-time sign-up bonuses come and go. With so many card offers changing, here’s a recap of some of the top deals.

Yes, Southwest Rapid Rewards expire if you have no qualifying earning activity within a 24-month period. If you fail to have any qualifying earning activity in 24 months, your account will become inactive and all points, awards, rewards, and promotional incentives will be forfeited.

One rule we’re asked to clarify on a regular basis is the Chase 5/24 policy. Although not an officially published rule, 5/24 is a set of guidelines restricting the approval of new Chase credit card products to applicants with less than 5 new credit card accounts added to a credit report over the past 24 months.

How we manage our access to credit is one of the keys to achieving our travel goals. It’s essential that we maintain a detailed record of credit card applications and approvals and manage multiple lines of credit while not carrying a balance at the end of each month. And it requires meticulous planning of where spending is directed, to ensure we earn the signup bonuses on each card.

The answer to, “What is the best frequent flyer program,” is both easy and tough. The short answer can be “it depends”, but we prefer, “It’s the one that gets you where you want to go, when you want to go,…