RIP Southwest Companion Pass

Southwest Companion Pass has been a staple of travel for many people, for many years and today, 10/15/2026, Southwest announced devastating changes to the program as we know it.

Current Rules
Currently, you need to earn 135,000 qualifying Companion Pass points in one calendar year to earn companion pass. Starting in 2027, Companion Pass qualifying points will no longer exist. Southwest explicitly states that rapid rewards points earn from activities such as welcome bonuses and spend will not count towards companion pass.

New Rules
Starting January 1st, 2027, Southwest is rolling out new status tiers. Status is earned through Tier Qualifying Points (ie spend) or Qualifying Quantity of Flights. Platinum Status will be the only way to earn unlimited companion pass (although the news release does indicate that promotional companion passes will still occur)

How to earn Companion Pass through end of 2027

However, if you're able to pivot and earn 135,000 qualifying Companion Pass points in 2026, you will receive Companion Pass through 12/31/2027. Let's talk through how you can do this!

To be completely transparent, this is my hopeful plan for my family. Currently, myself and my P2 both have CP ending 12/31/2026. I'm in the same boat as y'all - trying to scramble to get enough points this year so that I can get us CPs through 12/31/2027! I really appreciate if you open a SW card and don't have a partner to refer you, that you use my referral links in this post. 

I'm happy to schedule 1:1 consult for your SW CP plan, in return for using my link!

Step 1 - Check your CP qualifying points status

Knowing how many points you have right now, towards the needed 135K is your starting point,

• Log in to your SW Account
• Click My Account
• Locate My Rapid Rewards
• Scroll down to "Earn your next Companion Pass"

As you can see here, I currently have 35,850 of 135,000 points needs to earn companion pass again by the end of 2026.

Step 2 - New Card Eligibility

From here, your next step is going to vary greatly, depending on:

• How many points towards CP you already have? ie - how many more points do you need?

• Are you eligible for business cards?
• If you are a sole proprietor business, your likelihood of approval depends on:
•  you need have opened 2 or less personal cards from any financial institution in the past 24 months (the new "3/24 rule")
• in addition to being until 3/24; if you have more than 2 Chase issued business cards open, you are not likely to be approved for a new SW Business Card

• Have you held a SW Personal Card in the past?
• If so, when did you receive the signup bonus?
• you're not eligible to apply for a new SW personal card until it's been 24mo since you received the sign up bonus on the previous personal card
• If it's been more than 24mo since you received a sign up bonus on a SW personal card, you're in the clear

• Do you currently hold any Southwest cards?
• Remember, there are 3 SW personal cards, but you can only have one at a time. So if it's been more then 24mo since you last received a personal card sign up bonus, but you still hold a SW personal card, you're going to need to close the card, and wait 30 days before applying for a new SW personal card

Step 3 - Do the Math

As of 10/15/2026, these are the current card sign up bonus offers; figure out how many points you need, which cards you're eligible for, and which specific card to open.

As a reminder, it's best practice to apply for the SW Business card BEFORE applying for SW Personal card; to ensure you can get approved for the business card and follow your action plan.

Southwest Business Cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business: Spend $3,000 in 3 months; earn 80,000 points*
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business: Spend $5,000 in 3 months; earn 80,000 points

Southwest Personal Cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus: Spend $1,000 in 3 months; earn 50,000 points
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier: Spend $1,500 in 3 months; earn 55,000 points
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority: Spend $2,000 in 3 months; earn 60,000 points

*Right now, the Premier Business is the only elevated offer.

Combination Examples

There are endless combination and considerations to get to 135K points based on your eligibility. Here are a few for thought:

• If you have NO Southwest cards open and have never held a SW card, and 0 points towards CP: your "cheapest" option is still the "traditional" method:
• Open Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business for 80,000 points SUB 
• Then open Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus: for 50,000 points

• If you've received a personal card sign up bonus in the past 24 months, and have 30K points towards CP, you need 105K points buy the end of the year (135K-30K)
• Open Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business for 80,000 points SUB (80K points for SUB + 3K points for minimum spend, gets you to 113K points
• For the remaining 22K points:
• Refer someone: 20K points each
• Open a SW debit card and make a deposit: 10k points
• Spend strategically on your SW card and utilize SW offers (found in your Chase card account)
• Book a hotel stay through Southwest: points vary
• Southwest Shopping Portal
• Southwest Dining
• Southwest Surveys
• Southwest promotions and offers tied to your account/credit card
• Southwest cardholder anniversary points

• If you haven't received a personal card sign up bonus in the last 24mo, are a sole proprietor (and over 3/24 - aka likely not eligible for a new SW Business card), and have 12k points towards CP:
• Open personal Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority: for 60,000 points (60K points for SUB + 2K points for minimum spend, gets you 74k points towards CP)
• 135K - 74K, means for the remaining 61K points needed:
• Refer someone: 20K points each
• Open a SW debit card and make a deposit: 10k points
• Spend strategically on your SW card and utilize SW offers (found in your Chase card account)
• Book a hotel stay through Southwest: points vary
• Southwest Shopping Portal
• Southwest Dining
• Southwest Surveys
• Southwest promotions and offers tied to your account/credit card
• Southwest cardholder anniversary points

Reminders

A few misc items to keep in mind:

• Southwest (currently) gives all cardholders 10,000 points towards companion pass annually.
• Points cannot be used to book flights
• Points are awarded annually on January 1st and/OR within 30 days of opening your first SW card
• You will only receive 10,000 points boost once annually (regardless of how many cards you hold; 2 cards does not equal 20,000 points)
• Southwest cardholders receive anniversary points, awarded at statement close, every 12 months. The number of points vary based on which card(s) you hold (Business Performance card is not listed below and receives 9,000 points):

• Typically points are awarded at statement close, after spend during your statement period. This is important because if your statement closes on the 15th of the month; you would want to complete all of your spend before Dec 15th in order to receive points rather than Dec 31st.
• Ideally, if you are closing a SW card and going to reapply for a "new" card, close and wait 30 days if you can

Summary

Ultimately, this is a HUGE hit and change to points and miles world. Since Southwest rolled out changes in 2025, their loyalty has already been fragile and in my opinion, this change really will cause Southwest to loose an even greater fan base.

If you're on the fence and interested in a 1:1 consult to talk about your options, feel free to reach out justcallmehaha@gmail.com

And as always, if you open one of these cards discussed, I so appreciate your support and use of my referral links to keep my content coming and free!

Southwest Business Cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business: Spend $3,000 in 3 months; earn 80,000 points*
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business: Spend $5,000 in 3 months; earn 80,000 points

Southwest Personal Cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus: Spend $1,000 in 3 months; earn 50,000 points
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier: Spend $1,500 in 3 months; earn 55,000 points
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority: Spend $2,000 in 3 months; earn 60,000 points

Elevated Southwest Offer Alert!

We are about to move into Southwest Companion Pass "Season"; that is the timing of which you can strategically earn Southwest Credit Card sign up bonuses to hit 135,000 points in a calendar year and earn companion pass (your companion flies for just taxes and fees, no additional cost. Domestic US taxes/fees are $5.60)...

... and today Southwest announced an elevated offer on their lower tier business card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card

BUT if you want to earn companion pass for nearly two years; the majority of 2027 and ALL of 2028, do NOT open this card just yet! Timing matters!! Keeping reading to learn more. See "Companion Pass 2027-2028 below"

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card

Elevated Offer (more points than typical): Spend $3,000 in 3 months, earn 80,000 points

(Elevated offer valid Sept 24, 2026 through Oct 26, 2026, potentially Nov 2, 2026 per differing dates listed on Chase. Standard Offer is to spend $3,000 in 3 months to earn 60,000 points)

Annual Fee: $149

Referral Link: absolutely free to you to use to open this card; but gives me credit with Chase for you applying. This is an easy way to help support my small business and keep free content coming! Thank you!

5/24: Because this is a Chase Business card, it does NOT count in your 5/24 (Chase 5/24 rule: Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics). 

Don't think you have a business to qualify? Read more about what counts and a tutorial how to apply here.

Card Benefits:

• Free checked bag for cardholders and up to 8 people on the same reservation
• Automatic 10,000 points boost towards companion pass annually (these points cannot be used to book flights)
• Free Seat Upgrade: 48 hours before departure; select a Preferred Seat for you (and your companion) for fee
• 15% Flight discount annually
• No foreign transaction fees
• 25% back on inflight purchases

When to Apply/Open

If you don't care about Southwest Companion Pass, feel free to open this card now!

If you're trying to hit 135,000 qualifying points towards Companion Pass in 2026 through 2027, you should also open this card now.

BUT, if you are trying for 2027/2028 Companion Pass, do NOT open this now! You need to strategically time when you earn sign up bonus points so that the points hit early 2027, that way, combined with another card's sign up bonus, you'll hit 135,000 points in 2027 and earn Companion Pass for the remainder of 2027 and all of 2028, you need to wait until at least October 15thto open this elevated offer.

Once you open this card towards the end of October, you are going to watch the spending VERY carefully,  If you're going to immediately start using the card, monitor your spend very carefully and put the card away as soon as you hit $2,500 spend (if it's still 2026).

Why? Remember, we want to earn all 135,000 points in one calendar year, because you get companion pass for the reminder of the calendar year you hit 135,000 points AND for the ENTIRE full calendar year after. To maximize the amount of time you get companion pass, we want the signup bonus to hit your account in 2027.

So, if you were to spend the full $3,000 of the Southwest Business Premier minimum spend in 2026, then you would be awarded the sign up bonus points in 2026, but that doesn't do you any good when the "clock" for earning 135,000 points in a calendar year resets on January 1st!

The ideal is that you spend the majority of the minimum spend in 2026 ($2,500 for this particular card) and then January 1st, it's go time - spend the remaining $500!

Earning Companion Pass 2027-2028

Assuming there are no major changes to the Companion Pass Program, if you want to earn companion pass for the majority of 2027 and ALL of 2028, here is your plan.

The cards I'm recommending allow you to achieve 135,000 points to earn Companion Pass with the lowest total spend and lowest annual fees possible. If you want more Southwest points, you can open any of the three SW personal cards - just know that your minimum spend and your annual fee will increase (but you'll also receive more card benefits and more points).

(As a reminder, this is a conservative timing approach. Technically since points are awarded after statement close, there is a little room for flexibility)

1. October 15-31st: Open the SW Business Premier Card with the elevated offer highlighted in this post; to earn 80,000 points for $3K spend in 3mo, with a $149 annual fee

• From time of approval to mid-Dec: Spend $2,500 on the SW Business Premier Card

2. Nov 16 - Dec 31: 30+ days after you're approved for the SW Business Premier Card, apply for the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card

• The standard offer on the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card is to earn 50,000 points by spending $1K in 3mo, with a $99 annual fee
• From time of approval to mid-Dec: Spend no more than $750 on the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card

3. January 1st, 2027: Spend the remaining $500 needed on the SW Business Premier card to hit the $3,000 minimum spend to earn 80,000 point sign up bonus AND spend the remaining $250 needed on the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card to hit it's $1,000 minimum spend to earn 50,000 points up bonus.

4. Adding to up Companion Pass: After hitting the minimum spend, the points associated with that card should show as pending on your Chase account under your SW card. You *should* receive companion pass after your January 2027 statement close (however, in 2026, it was taking up to 6-8 weeks for points and companion pass to be awarded)

With the plan above, a minimum spend of $4,000 total and total annual fees of $248, you will earn the following points:

80,000 (Business Premier SUB) + 3,000 (at 1 point per dollar spent for Business Premier minimum spend) + 10,000 (companion pass "boost" from SW, given to cardholders, 10,000 total, - regardless of how many SW cards you hold; these points are NOT redeemable for flights) + 50,000 (Rapid Rewards Plus SUB) + 1,000 (at 1 point per dollar spent for Rapid Rewards Plus minimum spend)

80,000 + 3,000 + 10,000 + 50,000 + 1,000 = 144,000 points! (135,000 needed for CP)

Worth Noting - Remember

1. The points you earn towards Companion Pass are redeemable on flights. You don't need to hit 135,000 points and "trade them in" in order to get Companion Pass.

2. If you're planning to earn companion pass with the "traditional" 2-card method, you want to:

• Open a Southwest Business card first (to ensure you can get approved)
• Open a Southwest Personal card second; and at least 30 days after getting approved for the Southwest Business Card

3. Timing: Technically the spend needs to be completed by your statement period that ends in December; which can get really confused. If you need help with specific dates customized to your cards, please reach out and I'm happy to help!

Summary

Having the ability to purchase one flight (with points or cash) and add a second flyer for just $5.60 has drastically changed my family of 4's ability to travel and opened so many opportunities and memories.

SW CP timing is so critical and can be easy to be confused or mess up. My first time trying - I messed it up too! Thankfully if you screw up, you may have an opportunity to correct the ship. I'm here to help you learn how to earn and options to try to "fix" if you need it.

As a reminder, you can read about different methods of earning Companion Pass here. This post goes into detail not only for earning one companion pass, but also the option to earn two companion passes with three cards instead of four.

If you do not have a Southwest card yet, I appreciate if you use my referral links. This helps me earn my own companion pass too :) Don't forget - you can open any Southwest card (personal or business) from any Southwest referral link.

Wengen Rental (Jungfrau, Switzerland)

Our sunset balcony view

The majority of our 12 night trip to Paris and Switzerland in July 2026 for our family of four was booked using points and miles (you can find all of the details what/when/how/how many points here). However, I ultimately decided NOT to use points for the majority of our Switzerland stay.

We spent seven nights in Switzerland, six of those were dedicated the the Jungfrau Region, roughly two hours by train from Zurich. Jungfrau is a popular destination and now having been, I can see why! It includes the towns of Grindelwald, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken, Murren, Gimmelwald, and I'm sure more (these are the towns we visited).

Walk to Gimmelwald

Which Town to Stay In

In my research, I found a lot of recommendations to be based in Grindelwald, Wengen, or Lauterbrunnen. The more I researched, the more I decided that the car-free, mountain-side town of Wengen would be likely be the best fit for our family. After exploring all of the nearby towns, we agreed that Wengen was the best choice for us! (Grindelwald is also very popular, but was "out of the way" for several of the activities we did and also felt much more touristy). Wengen was actually larger than we anticipated, and not necessarily in a bad way.

I should note, that my goal for this portion of our trip was to save our energy for exploring and not "waste" time moving from one town to the next. We definitely could have based ourselves in at least two towns with our six allocated night, but staying in just one town made things less chaotic and easier to settle in.

Wengen

Using Points for Accommodations

However, before this, I looked quickly at options to use points in this region. There are no Hyatts/few hotels from any name brand chains. My best option to use points appeared to be to book in Chase Travel Portal and utilize my Sapphire Reserve for points boost. BUT, the downside (and ultimate reason we didn't book a hotel), is that standard rooms typically have an occupancy limit of 2; which meant for a family of 4, we would need 2 hotel rooms. Because Chase Travel portal points cost is based on cash price and we were looking at 6 nights in summer; we were easily going to have to spend over 600,000 Chase points - which I wasn't willing to do!

Instead, I pivoted to looking at short term rentals. I figured, we were going on a 2-week vacation, thus saving two weeks of camp cost for the kids; so I could utilize that as the basis for my rental budget. I started my search approximately five months in advance and immediately found that for our ideal budget (~$2000), there were limited, but doable options.

View from our Wengen Rental

Where We Stayed

We ended up selecting "Bristol, Apt K" in Wengen for our rental. A 2-bedroom, 1 bath, cozy condo located in the Bristol Apartment complex in Wengen with incredible views from the balcony. The condo itself is not updated, but it is clean and comfortable. It worked really well for our family - we were gone all day, everyday, but it was perfect to make breakfast at home, occasional dinners in, and sit on the deck nightly to take in the view. We would absolutely rent this unit (or others in the complex) again! (Although it didn't have a washing machine; I did a lot of sink laundry)

It's listed on Airbnb, VRBO, and direct with the property management company - Interhome. It doesn't happen often, but in our situation, the total price for all three booking options was the same. I elected to book through VRBO, which had a 5% back Rakuten offer at the time of booking. 

$103.19 cash back is equal to 10,319 points!

(Note - I put the initial deposit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve Business card, since we were working on the minimum spend at the time. I had planned to pay the final balance with my Capital One Venture Card, and then use my Venture Miles to "erase" a portion of the cost; but the communication after booking was poor and I missed this opportunity. Another card option would be to utilize your Chase Sapphire Preferred, which now earns 3x's points on vacation rental bookings).

Booking Tip

When searching, I found more options and better total rates if I searched for a week long rental, instead of the 6-nights I needed. So, I ended up booking a week long day to SAVE money; and then contacted the rental company to let them know we would be arriving a day late. 

This also could work really well if you wanted to check in before 4pm or checkout after 10a, as a "bonus" day to a 6-night stay. In the end, we paid, $2,178 for the rental (and easily saved at least $600 in meals/drinks by eating at home).

Other Options

If you're looking for Wengen rentals and Apt K is booked for your dates, here are some other 2-bedroom options that we considered at a similar price point:

Bristol Apt S

(Same building as our rental, but I think our view was better ;)

Schweizerhof Apt. S

Apartment Plein Soleil

Summary

Switzerland was a dream - I still can't believe I figured it out and we pulled it all off! The planning was absolutely a puzzle to piece together, something that I enjoy doing... but for my family and the memories we made, the trip itself was absolutely incredible! Wengen was a perfect home base for us.

If you're wondering what we did with 6 nights and 5 days in Wengen, I have a compiled itinerary post (including costs!) coming soon, but currently you can find day by day on my Instagram feed, @justcallmehaha

I hope that my posts and sharing can help you find ways to use your everyday spending to inspire you and your family to make your own special memories with the help of points and miles! If you're new to points and miles or wanted to get started - I recommend checking out this post and these beginner cards first.

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Extending and Combining Southwest Credits

We fly a lot of Southwest, thanks to having two Southwest Companion Passes (ie, our kids "fly free", which makes family travel a lot more affordable!) When Southwest rolled out their program overhaul in May 2025, one of the biggest changes they made was the expiration time frame for vouchers and credits.

"Basic" fare, is Southwest's lowest tier fare option. It doesn't offer seat selection and it doesn't offer full refunds. However, maybe you're like me and because you hold a Southwest Credit card, you get free checked bags and maybe even seat selection, and when Basic Fare flights with points; you still have the option to cancel a Basic Fare flight and get all of your points back.

BUT, if you book a Basic Fare flight paying cash, if you need to cancel, you won't get a cash refund, you'll get a Southwest Credit - valid for only six months. Keep reading to learn how to turn that six month credit into a no expiration credit! 

Similarly, if you experience Southwest delays/issues, you may be issued a LUV Voucher, which is valid for 12 months (travel must be completed before the expiration date). We have received over $800 in LUV Vouchers in the past six months! So this definitely happens (and here's how you can request a voucher too!)

In order to use Flight Credits and/or LUV Vouchers, it's important to know that when booking a flight, "each passenger can use a total of three forms of payment per booking, and each flight credit counts as one form a payment". 

The process I'm about to outline for you, not only will extend your credit's "shelf life" it also essentially allows you to combine multiple flight credits into one credit (even in your credits are non-transferable!), so that you can use all at once as one form of payment and perhaps pay the remains with cash/credit card.

In any instance - the jist is, if you have a Southwest Credit or Voucher that's going to expiring before you can use it; there’s a way to extend. Read on! 

How to Extend Expiring Southwest Credits

You can "beat" Southwest at their own game by following this hack to “convert” expiring travel funds to non-expiring and transferable travel funds. 

Is it a bit complicated? Yes. Does it work? Also yes. 

Keep in mind - you can locate flight credits in your Southwest Account. On a web browser, you do this by logging > My Account > Scroll down to My Flight Credits: 

However, LUV Vouchers typically are issued via email (and in my opinion are harder to keep track of! If//when I use a LUV voucher, I usually do a reply email to myself from the original issuance email, and I tell myself what date I used the voucher, what flight I used it for, and my confirmation number. This way, if I *think* I have a voucher to use, I can do a quick inbox search).

You can use this link to check the balance on Flight Credits and LUV Vouchers (as long as you know the confirmation code and/or voucher number.

How-To:

1. Find any one-way Choice Preferred tier flight that the cash price costs slightly more than your travel credit. The NEEDS to cost more than your travel credit value, not less. Ideally up to $20 more (you will need to spend the delta amount in cash, so the closer to your travel credit amount the better). This flight needs to be for a date that is before your travel credit expires. 

You can do this by using the low fare calendar and filtering search for Choice Preferred. From the main search page,  select "Search with low fare calendar" (note this option doesn't appear in App and needs to be done from a web browser)

After you click search, at the left, on the Fare type, select "Choice Preferred" from the drop down:

Example: Lets say you have a $90 travel fund expiring February 2027. You need to look for a choice preferred flight before February 2027 that costs at least $90. Using the low fare calendar, I found a $94 option in October 2026.

2. Purchase a Southwest giftcard to cover the cost of that flight minus the travel credit amount. 

This is why, you want to find a flight priced as close to your flight credit amount, but slightly higher. You technically could find any flight that costs more than your credit value, but then you'd be tying up a lot of extra money in Southwest credits.

The best place I’ve found for instant digital giftcards is DoorDash. Not only can you do any custom amount, but if you have a dash pass (benefit from tons of Chase cards), you also get 10% off gift cards!

Example: We found that $94 flight above and have a $90 travel fund; so you’re going to purchase a digital Southwest gift card, for at least $4 (in this case, the minimum amount is $25 though; so I'd buy a $25 giftcard, which means I'm tying up more money in Southwest credits)

3. Go to Southwest and put the cash Choice Preferred flight you found earlier, that costs the same as your travel fund + SW gift card, in your cart.

For our example: this would be the $94 choice preferred flight on 10/14/2026 that we found above.

4. At check you, use your expiring travel fund plus the newly purchased SW gift card, as your form of payment.

5. Pretty much immediately after purchase, you can cancel the flight and you’ll receive a non-expiring/one-time transferable travel credit, for the total amount that you paid!

From our example: this would a $94 non-expiring, one-time transferable credit. (The original $90 travel credit plus the $4 used from the $25 Southwest Giftcard)

Keep in Mind

- You technically have to put more money into this by purchasing the gift card, in order for this to work. That’s why I would look for a choice preferred flight priced as close to, but over the value, of your travel credit

- The flight you book MUST be choice preferred (or higher) tier flight for this to work, based on the different refund policies for each fare benefits

- You can also use this technique to combine multiple individual travel credits into one. For example, when my family of four each get our own LUV voucher, because Southwest limits you to three forms of payment per ticket purchase, I can’t use all four vouchers to purchase one flight… BUT if I used two or three vouchers to purchase base one flight, then canceled, I would have effectively “combined” those vouchers into one!

- Since the method above yields a one-time transferable credit, if you transfer the credit to someone else, when they go to use it, they HAVE to use it to pay for a flight for themselves. The passenger name has to match the name transferred to.

I found this out the hard way. I went through all of the steps above, and effectively moved a transfer credit to my P2’s account. My plan had been to combine it with a flight credit he had to purchase a ticket for me (on his account). Nope, didn’t work because I wasn’t booking a flight for him with his name on the transferred credit…. So I got it repeat the process all over again to transfer the credits back to me to book a flight in my name. But in the end, I was able to combine and utilize two flight credits that were expiring to book a flight for free (no points needed); which was worth it.

Summary

You never know what you don't know. This little trick is a great way to "extend" the useful life of those pesky credits. I know we've had more than one credit expire in the past and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't know this sooner. If this post doesn't help you right now, I hope it will in the future!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Paris and Switzerland 2026

The biggest trip we took/will take in 2026 is our family of 4 trip to Paris and Switzerland in July! With flights and 11 nights of accommodations, we would have spent well over $47,000... and let's be honest:

1. We don't have that kind of money to spend

2. The majority of that cost comes from flying 4 people in business class to and from Europe; again something we would never pay cash to do, but is possible only because of points and miles!

Here's an overview of our trip. For each booking I made, I include: which points I used, how many points I used, cash paid for taxes/fees/upgrades, and equally important: when and how I booked.

At the bottom, you'll see which points/miles programs I used (yes, more than one!) and how many points and how much cash we spent out of pocket for flights and accommodations, during peak travel season (July 2026).

Paris/Switzerland Trip Overview

• Flight to Paris
• 3 nights in Paris
• Train to Switzerland
• 7 nights in Switzerland
• Flight to Boston
• 1 night in Boston
• SW flight home

Flight There (DEN to CDG)

The booking process for this flight took a couple of iterations. It's daunting enough (and may make your head spin), that I gave it, it's own post. You can read what I did (when and how), here.

For 4 business class flights, total price in the end for 2 adult/2 children:

 Booked originally 9mo in advance; but altered 3mo in advance and 24 hours before the flight.

 192,000 pts + $1300 (a combination of Chase, American Express, and Capital One points; with Chase and Amex points transferred directly to Air France to book and Capital One points used for Travel eraser)

 Cash Value: $20,000 (CPP*: 9.74)

*CPP is equal to Cents per Point; it's how some points people gauge "value". The higher the CPP, the better. In comparison, when you use your points to book travel in a bank travel portal or cash out points like Capital One Travel Eraser, this is typically at 1 cent per point.

In the case of our flights to Europe, I got 9.74 CPP; which means I got almost 10 times the value than had I cashed out my points. This is an incredibly high CPP and great value! A "good" CPP is usually consider 2 or above.

Paris Hotel - 3 Nights

We stayed at Hyatt Regency Etoile in the Eiffel Tower Suite. This hotel is popular amongst points people for the value provided, especially if you have club access (free breakfast, snacks, and happy hour); but it is NOT in the heart of Paris. It worked really well for us, and I would stay there again, but I want to note that it's about a 20-30min commute to most attractions.

 Booked 8mo in advance by transferring Chase points to Hyatt to book direct on Hyatt (only Chase and Bilt are direct partners of Hyatt)

 I booked a standard king room at 20K points per night, but I had seen that the standard Regency Suite was available, so I contacted the hotel directly via email (reception@etoile.hyatt.com and parisetoile.regency@hyatt.com) to request using a Suite Upgrade Award I had to change from the standard room (occupancy 2) to the Regency Suite (occupancy 4, plus club access for free breakfast, snacks, and happy hour). 

In total for the 3 nights, I paid 20K pts per night plus the Suite Upgrade Award (60k Chase points moved to Hyatt total)

: I emailed the hotel again after booking was confirmed and asked to secure an Eiffel Tower view. I was offered a cash upgrade option (and given that it was peak travel season, I decided to take it, instead of gambling if I could get a free upgrade at check-in). I paid $276 in advance and the room type was changed to Eiffel Tower Suite (included club access for free breakfast/lounge access)

 Cash Value: $2,900 (CPP: 4.37)

TGV Train from Paris to Switzerland (Basel)

Rather than flying from Paris to Zurich and then spend another 2.5 hours on trains; we took a train directly from Paris to Basel, Switzerland. I paid cash for these tickets using my Chase Ink Preferred for 3x travel points and booked via Trainline for Rakuten. I booked us in first class, which cost roughly 20% more, but gave us guaranteed seats together with a table.

 Booked 4mo in advance (First Class can sell out)

Swiss Half Fare Card

I'm not going to sugarcoat it - the train pass situation for Switzerland is really confusing, mostly because there are several options!

After developing my itinerary, I used two different AI’s to analyze if we should by Jungfrau Region Pass or Half Fare Cards; Half Fare made more sense and also got us the Family Card, which made the majority of our travel free for our kids (under age 16).

 Purchased the week before departure

$372.46 for 2 adult half fare cards; purchased with my Chase Sapphire Reserve to use $300 travel credit. I purchased via Get Your Guide for Shopping portal points; at the time I booked, Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping had a promo; so I earned 2k pts for the purchase and because of using my CSR Travel Credit, we paid $72 out of pocket.

This is also why for the TGV Train leaving Paris, I only booked that itinerary to go to Basel, instead of going all the way to our destination of Wengen. Basel to Wengen required 3 trains....and because we had the Family Card, by way of the Half Fare card, that meant our kids rode for free! (which was a lot better than paying for them when we didn't need to!)

View from Bristol Apt K Balcony

Rental in Wengen, Switzerland - 6 Nights

While I generally try to use points for our accommodations, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. I researched briefly using points and/or hotel credits from premium credit cards; but ultimately due to hotel occupancy limits, we would have had to book 2 rooms and that quickly would have added up to over 500,000 points - which I wasn't willing to spend.

Instead, I figured that because we were pulling the kids out of summer camp for two weeks and "saving" on camp costs, I would use that budget towards a short term rental. I'm so glad I did! With this, we were able to eat breakfast and several dinners at our condo (food/drinks are not cheap in Switzerland).

 Booked 5mo in advance (this was late! There were limited options (maybe 4 or 5) left at the price point of under $300/night)

 Paid cash ($2,100) using the card we were working on a signup bonus for at the time. I booked via VRBO for 5% back on Rakuten. I had intended to pay the final payment with my Capital One Venture Card to use points for a partial credit to reduce our out of pocket costs, but there was a miscommunication and this didn’t work out . (Which in the end is okay, since I used Capital One points for our red-eye business class upgrade instead!)

We stayed at Bristol Apt K, managed by Interhome. We would absolutely stay here again and honestly probably stay at any Bristol apartment managed by Interhome, with the amazing views from the balconies! I will say communication with Interhome before our say was lacking and had me nervous, but it is a long established reputable property management company. At the time I booked, I did look at booking direct, but it was the same price as booking on Airbnb or VRBO, and with VRBO I got the 5% back (which was $105 or 10,000 points!)

Leaving Wengen, we took the train(s) to Zurich, booked the day of, with our Half Fare and Family Card in the SBB app (it takes about 2.5/3hours). We took the train that went directly from Interlaken to Zurich Airport (to avoid a train transfer at Zurich Main Station).

Zurich Hyatt Place - 1 Night

We were completely satisfied with this hotel! I've seen a lot of recommendations that Park Hyatt Zurich is amazing.... but for one night and four family, gosh, you can't beat Hyatt Place Zurich Airport Circle. It's literally less than a 5-minute walk to airport check-in counters and it's only a 20-minute train ride to downtown. I would stay here again in a heartbeat. It was perfect for our 7am departure the next morning.

They do have rooms that can accommodate two adults and 2 young (under 10?) children, but I think it would be tight. By the time we had our dates lined out, roughly six months in advance, the four-person room wasn't available for direct booking with Hyatt.

It was available in Chase Travel portal, but the problem with that, for me, was that I needed to book direct with Hyatt, to get credit for spending the night, towards my Hyatt status and not all Hyatt stays booked with a third party (like Chase Travel portal), count towards status.

So, we ended up booking 2 rooms:

• Room 1: I did book in the Chase Travel Portal. I paid the cash price of $213 with my Chase Sapphire Preferred, that way I could utilize the annual $100 hotel credit. Our out of pocket cost was $113.
• Room 2: I booked direct with Hyatt and paid cash, using my Capital One Venture card, for $193. This gave me the qualifying night credit I needed with Hyatt and allowed me to use to use points to "erase" the travel purchase (after I couldn’t use on our rental). Final cost: 19,300pts +$0

 Booked the week before! Lol 

 19,300 pts + $113

 Cash Value: $406

Flight Back to US

Believe it or not, this was much more straight forward of a booking, compared to our flights going to Paris. Although....as I type this, I'm realizing some of you will disagree.

So, we live in Denver, but we flew into Boston. WHY?! Because the points price for flights to get from Zurich to Denver were actually MORE expensive in economy, than it was to fly from Zurich to Boston in business class! What?! I know, it's crazy!

This is called repositioning and it's very common in points travel. Basically, you add a flight to your itinerary in order to get better pricing and/or a better flight; in our case, we got both.

We flew Lufthansa on a A380 (double deck plane!). I booked as one itinerary, ZUR > MUC > BOS 60,000 pts + $136 each. To do this, I created an Air Canada Points Pool, which allowed me to transfer points from P2's American Express and my American Express to combine together to book with Air Canada. 

Keep in mind, we flew Lufthansa, but because of airline alliances, we booked the flight through Air Canada.

 Booked 8mo in advance

 240,000 pts + $546

 Cash Value: $20,000 (CCP: 8.11)

Boston Harbor Hyatt Regency - 1 Night

This was an easy choice. The hotel really isn't downtown, but it is VERY close to the airport and has a free shuttle. Since we were basically flying into Boston, going to bed, and flying home the next morning, this was a perfection option for us. 

(Note, there are two difference Hyatt Regencies in Boston. If you are actually wanting to stay in Boston, I would not stay here. I would book Hyatt Centric instead.)

 8mo in advance; booked direct with Hyatt by transferring Chase points to Hyatt

 15,000 pts + $0

 Cash Value: $369 (CCP: 2.46)

Final Flight Home: BOS > DEN

Again, we flew to Boston from Europe, because it was cheaper and nicer cabins than flying to Denver.. but really the key strategy and reason this worked for us, is that Southwest flies direct from Boston to Denver. We hold two Southwest Companion Passes, so for this final flight leg home, we only "paid" for two flights (using points) and then paid $11.60 for the kids flights because of companion pass.

 Booked 8mo in advance (using points we already had in our Southwest accounts) and rebooked a few times to drop the price 

 46,000 pts + $22

 Cash Value: $1,334 

Summary

Did you make it this far?! I used a variety of transferable points from various banks to make this trip happen. This flexibility helped me to take advantage of transfer bonuses and lower my out of pocket costs. If you're curious or tallying up... as you'll see below, I used:

• Chase: 192,000 points 

I really usually try to save Chase points for Hyatt explicitly, but I couldn't pass up the Flying Blue Transfer Bonus, which got us premium seats on the red-eye flight to Europe) 

• Southwest: 46,000 points

Again, companion passes came in handy as part of my booking strategy. They saved us another 46,000 points and "allowed" us to fly the international flight in business class

• American Express: 275,000 points 

Typically I find these are the easiest points to earn, so they are the first points I try to use; especially on flights

• Capital One: 59,000 points  

I could have saved these points and paid $590 cash, instead of using the travel eraser option; but we have enough of these points that it was worth redeeming at 1:1 for what I did 

 

And because I love a good spreadsheet, here's the "raw" form for my fellow Type-A friends ;)

(Click to enlarge/view clearer)

This trip planning was absolutely a puzzle to piece together, something that I enjoy doing... but for my family and the memories we made, the trip itself was absolutely incredible!

I hope that my posts and sharing can help you find ways to use your everyday spending to inspire you and your family to make your own special memories with the help of points and miles!

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