December 2025 Newsletter

🚀 Southwest News 🚀

Its Officially Southwest SEASON! What does this mean? It is now okay to start applying for new card sign up bonuses if you are on the fast track for a companion pass in 2026! Remember to use our links if you need to! jgoot.com/cards.

(Wait 2 weeks to re-apply if cancelling an old card, and use 30 days between applications if applying for both business and personal cards)

I have my eyes and ears out for changes related to companion pass, nothing new to report! If you are going for companion pass in 2026 stay the course.

You may have heard Southwest has a new debit card option, this does not have a significant signup bonus so I do not think you need to take advantage of it right now, but I am digging in to learn more!

-Steph

💡 Southwest Schedule update💡

- The current schedule is open until Aug 3rd. On Dec 11th, 2025, the schedule will open for sale through Sept 30th, 2026. (Date is subject to change).

🛍️ Current noteworthy shopping portal finds 🛍️

*As of Dec 1, offers change often

- Earn 5 points per dollar at Under Armor and use additional promo code CHEATCODE/EXTRA20 for savings.

- Earn 3 points per dollar on Macys.

- Home Depot is now offering up to 6 bonus points per dollar! Terms 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 to experience the magic of the holidays in New York city will earn you 57,000 points for ~$580 per night! That is an earn rate of 14 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!

Quick check in for each Companion Pass Strategy:

For folks on the FAST TRACK for 2025:

You should have opened two cards so far and have already earned your companion pass for the year.

If going for companion pass using the fast track method for 2026 hold tight, do not do anything yet!

For folks using the HYBRID method for 2025:

You should have opened your new card already and earned the pass this year. If you need to open a card still I recommend waiting until 2026.

For those following the slow and steady method:

You should have over 100,000 points already.

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.

You can find your totals under “My Account” On Southwest.com. It looks like this:

- Stephanie