Originally posted 6/27/24, reposting 9/8/24 as the offer is slated to expire on 9/16/24
Timing Your Spend
We wrote earlier about the 120,000 points signup bonus on both Chase Southwest business credit cards. There is a $15,000 spend requirement. To get the Southwest Companion Pass requires 135,000 points, and so anyone who does this bonus can end up with the Companion Pass. The key here is the timing, since the signup bonus is broken down in two components:
- Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from your account opening.
- Plus, earn an additional 40,000 points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 9 months.
Getting The Pass In 2024-2025
Someone who hits the $15,000 threshold in 2025 will not end up with any Companion Pass since the 135,000 points have to all be earned in one calendar year.
And so, seemingly, the plan would be to finish both tiers of the entire spend requirement before your December 2024 statement closes. This way, you’ll get the full 135,000 points during 2024. You’ll then get the Companion Pass for the rest of 2024 and the entire 2025.
Getting The Pass For 2025-2026
Yet some people might take an entirely different route and deliberately delay getting the pass until 2025. The key here is the fact that these signup bonuses are slated to end on 9/16/24.
A potential plan would be to deliberately push off applying for this card until September. Then change your statement to close on December 1st. And you’ll deliberately delay meeting any signup bonus spend requirements until after your December statement closed. (Or you can meet most of it, but leave a bit of spend off. This route might leave you a few thousand points short, but it’ll make the spend easier.)
This way, all of the spend and signup bonus points will come through on the January 2025 statement. Then you’ll meet the second tier spend requirement during December or any of the coming months. With this plan, it’s possible to squeeze nearly two years of Companion Pass (2025 and 2026) from this deal instead of just one-and-change.
It’s possible to change your card statement date to close the 1st of each month. That way, any points earned in December won’t post to your Southwest account until January 1, 2024.
Readers suggest that changing the Due Date to the 26th of the month should result in the statement closing on the first of each month. Others recommend changing to the 2nd or 5th to avoid cutting it so close. Note that you might not be able to change your due date more than once-per-180-days, so we have to get it right the first time.
You can read this article we wrote last year and the comments there for more discussion on the timing.
Ok, so it looks like 137k SW points have posted to my chase account but they’re still not showing up as available to use in Southwest app. Anybody have any idea how long it takes before the points are available at Southwest? I thought was instantly.
I’m also waiting for 135K points to post. Closing date on the bill was 1/3 and they’re still not posted. I’ve always seen them post within a day or two.
Points posted today. Time to look into setting up companion pass!
I received both the Southwest Rapid Rewards card and Southwest Premier Business in October. I just had my closing date moved to 1/4. The last closing date was 12/4. I’ve read the comments and I think I understand that I can go ahead and finish my spend on both cards to get the bonuses posted on 1/4 and obtain the companion pass. Is that correct?
If the statements on both cards closed on 12/4/2024 and your next statements close on 1/4/2025, then you can complete the spending now, and your bonuses will post in 2025.
Thanks very much for your help! Whimppey was a nick name from high school. I do like burgers. But I never figured out how I got the nickname. But it worked out. I thought you would enjoy the username.
If my chase app says “next statement close date: January 1st 2025” im good to finish the spending limit to hit the bonus right? Thank you!
If folks can make sure my dates are correct, will be appreciated.
Opened Premier on 9/16, payment due date is 11/11.According to my bonus tracker I need to spend $88 by December 17th.
My understanding is from 12/11-12/13 I should make sure to spend at least $88 so it can hit my account before the 17th so that it can count towards the $3000 spend in 90 days and the points will be on my account in Jan 2025.
I applied for the SW RR Business Premier credit card in mid Sept. I set the statement close date to the first of the month so was all set to complete my initial $3k spend after Dec 1 and have the first 30k of my SUB post in Jan 2025. Right now, my total net spend (purchases minus returns) is just below $3k, which is right where I want to be. However, when checking the new account bonus spend tracking bar in the Chase app, I noticed that it has not subtracted returns (which posted to my account weeks ago) from my total spend. Normally I wouldn’t complain, but in this case I need returns to be accounted for to avoid going over $3k spend too early. Obviously I shouldn’t have been playing it so close, but I’m wondering if anyone has seen this and has confirmed how spend will be calculated. Hoping that the actual SUB spend will be calculated at statement close and WILL account for returns…
At this point, you have two options: 1) Finish the second-stage spending requirement ASAP before your December 1 statement so that you get the enough points for the 2024-2025 Companion Pass, or 2) Finish the second-stage spending requirement after December 1 so the bonus posts in 2025 and figure another way (like a personal SW credit card and maybe more spending) to get the remaining points needed for the 2025-2026 CP.
That’s too bad…I’ll probably grab a personal card and go for the 2025-26 CP. I’m surprised they calculate spending this way. Even though they calculate it this way, will Chase sometimes claw back a SUB if a return would bring purchases below the threshold? Otherwise, there would be nothing to stop people from hitting spend without actually spending anything.
Interesting, maybe I just need to buy a couple of fully refundable international business class tickets to hit the second tier for my SUB!
I made this same mistake. In my situation I got the 85k personal bonus and was planning on getting the business card for the 60k SUB. I accidentally hit the 3k spend yesterday and the points are already pending.
If I open the business card today, can i do the full 3k in spend before the end of November to hit the SUB in order to at least get the companion pass for 2024&2025?
Also, would I have to manually edit any statement or payment dates in my account to make it work?
Hello all! I was approved for the card SW business Premier on 9/30. My first statement just closed on 10/25 and my first payment is due 11/22. I would like to get the companion pass for 2025/2026. Looking at the comments below, the suggestion is that I move payment due date to the 27th which should give a closing date of the 2nd. However, I’m concerned that if I move my payment date up by 5 days (ie from the 22nd to 27th) then my statement close date will only move up by 5 days (ie from 25th to the 30th) which would mean my points would post on 12/30 instead of in 2025. Is the 27th a safe bet here? I just want to make sure I get it right since Chase only let’s you change the due date every 6 months. Thanks!
For both the personal and the business Southwest credit cards, the next statement closing date is the payment due date plus 3 days.
Chase operates on a 28-day calendar, which ignores the 29th, 30th, and 31st, because not every month has those dates. This means no statements close on the 29th, 30th, or 31st! The sequence of dates on Chase’s operating calendar at the end of a month is …, 25, 26, 27, 28, 1, 2, 3, 4 … By Chase math, 25+3=28, 26+3=1, 27+3=2, 28+3=3, 1+3=4, etc.
All data points that I’ve seen back this up. But if you are still worried, make your payment due date the 1st, which gives a statement closing date of the 4th.
This approach worked particularly well for 2024 since CyberMonday fell on 12/2 allowing all that spend to count towards 2025!
I applied for the card on 9/12/24. My application was initially declined. It was eventually approved on 9/30/24 after I called the reconsideration line. However, when I log into my account it says I will be awarded 60,000 points after $3000 spend instead of the elevated bonus of 80,000 after $5000 spend. Has this happened to anyone else? Will Chase honor the increased spending bonus if I call them? Thanks.
Yes. It was the premier. Oops. Everything is correct. Thanks!
If I applied / approved on 10.9.24, then no real need to change the my statement close date if I want the points to hit in Jan. 2025 correct?
My gameplan is to hit $2,500 spend in November. Then will hit the remaining ~$500+ spend on the December statement that opens ~12.9.24 and closes in early January (~1.9.25).
This is EXCELLENT information. I just had a detailed call with Chase Biz CSR; and they have switched my Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card due date to the 27th and also they confirmed to me the Statement Closing Date will be on or around 2nd. A Big THANK YOU to payyoutuesday.