The Best Travel Hack Of 2023 You Absolutely Need To Know

Engin Yapici @yapici

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Update: 03-16-23

So I did end up getting this card. Yes!!! And I received a referral link that extends out the dead line slightly. You now have until 03/19/2023 to apply. So you still have the chance to get this companion pass by using this link (Click Here). Hope you guys get it and have a year full of traveling.

So I just applied for a new travel credit card. One that needs to be shared with other people since it's a very limited-time thing and it comes with massive (And I mean massive) benefits.

When I tell people my budget for my trips they are shocked at how inexpensive I am able to travel. Well, cards like this are part of the reason I can do that. Yes, credit cards in the wrong hands can cause ALOT of problems. So if you know you can’t handle the responsibilities that come with having a credit card, absolutely do not get one. They will cost you way more than your potential saving if you use them irresponsibly.

But, when used correctly and responsibly you can get a crazy amount of value from them. For example, I did the math and using the sign-up bonus on this card, plus the big huge massive bonus feature you could take a round trip flight for two people from Denver, Colorado to Maui, Hawaii, for get this, $22.40 this May.

Alright, Now I have your attention. Let’s get into what card this is. What are the benefits? How long do you have to take advantage of this crazy deal? And how long will those benefits last?

What is the card?

Simply put, the card I just applied for and I really really hope I get, is the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card. And if I don’t get accepted, hopefully, you will. This is a card issued by Chase Bank. Like most other higher-end travel credit cards you will need pretty good credit to even be considered for this card. A score of 670 is probably the absolute minimum you should have for applying to it.

Jeffrey Clayton @gummibearman

What are the benefits?

Alright so now, the best part for us travel hackers. What will this card be able to do for your traveling addiction?

• The sign-up bonus - is 30,000 miles after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.

• You will earn 3x points for every $1 spent on Southwest Airlines purchases

• You will earn 2x points for every $1 spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car partners

• Every year on your Cardmember Anniversary they will give you 7,500 miles (Basically paying half your annual fee)

• Every year they will also give you $75 in Southwest travel credits (Essential paying the other half of your annual fee)

• You can also bring two checked bags for free if you’d like (per person). This is in addition to your carry-on and personal item

• Your points don’t expire

• You also get the Southwest Companion Pass

Yes, you read that last one correctly. This is the most insane perk of this card. Let me explain exactly what the Southwest companion pass is for those that don’t understand its power.

Neora Aylon @loveneora

The Companion Pass

The following little piece is taken straight from their website.

“Companion Pass means you can bring your friend along for free (excludes taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way) on every trip through February 28, 2024.”

That means that for any cardholders, for every single trip, you take from now until February 28th, 2024 you can bring a friend along with you FOR BASICALLY FREE! The only charges associated with that are the small amount of taxes and fees. You will be required to choose one travel companion though. And you can only change your companion a maximum of 3 times in a year. Bummer

It’s not a one-and-done thing though. You can use the companion pass on every single trip you take this year with Southwest Airlines. That is the craziest travel hack deal I’ve ever seen.

How Long Do I Have?

So since this is such a crazy deal it can’t last that long. I guess that's the catch. And honesty, it makes sense. The offer is ending on 03/13/2023. So you only have a few weeks. Your Companion Pass will be active until 02/28/2024

guille pozzi @guillepozzi

The Example Maui Trip

Alright, So maybe you still want a clearer explanation of how to heck you can fly to Maui from Denver for $22.40. I’ll explain step by step.

1. Apply for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

2. Get Accepted

3. Spend the minimum ($4000) to get your sign-up bonus. (30,000 points + The Companion Pass) You will have 3 months from when you get accepted to do this.

4. Get your points and pass (This may take a bit of time)

5. Add your best traveling friend as your travel companion

6. Go to Southwests Low Fare Calendar (Here’s the link)

7. Select round trip and then points 

8.  Enter in departing DEN, And arrive at LIH

9. Important! Only book one traveler's ticket. You won’t be booking your companion’s ticket at the same exact time.

10. Find the cheapest month and days (Which for me was May) Round trip tickets were 25,672 points in total.

11. Continue through the checkout process and pay with your points

12. Immediately go to (My Account)

13. Then (My Upcoming Trips)

14. Underneath the flight you just booked you’ll see (Add Companion) Click it

15. Then, Just keep following to prompts and your all good (You can’t mess up from this point on)

16. Congrats! You just booked your dream flight to Maui for almost nothing.

17. Now you can check out my post to get Hawaii inspiration, and figure out what you both are going to do there.

Conclusion

So now you can start to see how some people can travel for so cheap. It’s not all that hard, and especially when opportunities like this pop up it gets even easier. For those of you who maybe aren’t the best with your money or self-control. Please, please, please do not get this or any other credit card. But for those who have a good track record and can pay off their balance every month with no problem, this is an incredible deal. I hope you can benefit from it and you and your spouse, or you and a friend can spend this year traveling the world and getting to experience different cultures and beautiful new landscapes.

If you found this helpful please go ahead and share the link to this post with all your friends. It really helps me out by getting more traffic to my blog and will hopefully help all your friends get some amazing trips planned.