March 2026 Newsletter

🚀 Southwest News 🚀

Southwest made some updates to qualm some complaints they have been getting about the new assigned seating policy.

• Southwest will be assigning the bins above the first few rows for the extra legroom seats.

• The dedicated overhead bin for flight attendants moved from the front of the plane to the back to free up space.

• They guarantee that A list preferred members and A list members that upgrade to extra legroom seats will get boarding group 1 or 2.

💡 Southwest Schedule update💡

- The current schedule is open until Oct 31. On Apr 2nd, 2026, the schedule will open for sale through Jan 3rd, 2027. (Date is subject to change).

🛍️ Current noteworthy shopping portal finds 🛍️

*As of Mar 1, offers change often

- Sam's Club customers can earn 7 points per dollar on new memberships. (Terms and conditions here)

- Earn 10 points per dollar at Vivent Home Doorbell cameras (Terms and conditions here).

- Udemy is now offering 10 bonus points per dollar! (Terms and conditions here).

How does the shopping portal work? Use Southwest shopping to link to all of your favorite stores and make a purchase! You will then be awarded the bonus points listed on the offer directly into your Southwest account.

*Note you cannot combine shopping portal offers, so do not click on Rakuten or any other portal if your intent is to earn southwest points.

🏨 Southwest Hotel Spotlight 🏨

Southwesthotels.com

A 7 night stay at this hotel for a Spring Break beach trip in Miami will earn you 24,800 points for ~$262 per night! That is an earn rate of 13.5 points per dollar. Fantastic!

A few notes about hotels:

It is not recommended to bundle hotel and flight with Southwest unless you are getting a much lower price than booking separately. It is much easier to make changes to your flights if they are not bundled.

Southwest uses Booking.com as their booking system, so your hotel will see the booking as a booking.com reservation.

I always confirm my reservation with the hotel to be sure they got it.

Make sure to check your Southwest Account for credit card offers!

Here is how.

1. Visit Southwest.com

2. Log into “My account”

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page! Make sure to register for any offers you like!

For folks on the FAST TRACK for 2026:

You should have begun your 2026 companion pass journey! Apply for the business card to start with. If you already have a business card and need to close it, start that process now and wait at least 2 weeks before applying for a new one. Start spending as soon as you get your card. *Beware in Feb they sometimes offer a temporary companion pass instead of a larger sign up bonus. If this happens, wait until the promo changes in March to earn your companion pass for ~2 years instead of the 1 year temp one.

For folks using the HYBRID method for 2026:

You can start spending on your new card! If you have not opened a new card yet, you can use our links jgoot.com/cards. Try and do this before they announce a new card bonus for February.

For those following the slow and steady method:

Start planning out how you will earn your 135k points this year. It is good to go into the new year with a plan. Start with any hotels you need to book since these have the highest earn rate.

Do you have hotels you need to book? *points will post after checkout.

Check out some shopping portal deals.

Don’t forget about Southwest dining.

- Stephanie