southwest Archives - Marge Swearin

How I Earn Southwest Airlines’ Companion Pass Every Year

September 2, 2020 No Comments

What is a Companion Pass, you ask? Southwest runs a promotion for its most loyal customers every year, that if you reach a certain threshold of airline points and/or number of flights, that from that day through the next calendar year, you can name a companion to fly with you for free! (Yes, you read that correctly – FREE!, only paying a small amount of tax on the free flight. The last one I bought was $11.70 for a round trip flight). So, keep on reading to find out how I earn Southwest Airlines’ Companion Pass Every Year.

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I have heard that some people do not like the overall feel and processes that Southwest offers; however, we find it’s great for our lifestyle, and I can honestly say I’ve never had an unpleasant flight with Southwest. They do not have traditional assigned seats like other airlines. If I had to guess that would be a drawback for some. The key is to check in early — 24 hours prior to your flight, to get a better boarding position so that you can choose any seat you want. (Insider tips!)

First off, you will need to sign up for a free Rapid Rewards Account. Sign Up Here if you don’t already have one. This is simply so that you can earn qualifying points to use on flights and ultimately reach that goal of earning Companion Pass. Now, if you don’t travel regularly for business you’re probably wondering how in the heck you could earn so many points OR flights to even get to that level!

The secret truly is in the Credit Card. The Southwest Chase Visa generally offers 1 point per $1 spent, and then 2 points per dollar spent on Southwest Airlines flights. Additionally you can shop through their affiliated stores – the Rapid Rewards Shopping site, and earn extra points that also count towards your companion pass, in addition to the dollars spent on those transactions.

The first year you enroll with a card, you will receive a variable number of points – just for signing up! Depending on the time of the year, I have seen this range from about 30,000 to 65,000 points. If you’re really clever, I’ve noticed that the highest points offers are offered around January and July, with some variability in between. The card offers 3 tiers to select, each with more perks that get you closer to earning that Companion Pass. *Side note, each card does have an annual fee, ranging from $69 to $149; I justify the annual fee by the free flights! I mean, really, can you even get a flight for less than $149 these days??

If you spend several thousand dollars (which varies based on card rules) in the first few months of card enrollment, you get an additional number of bonus points. Our true secret to earning the Companion Pass every year is that we put every. single. purchase. (Yes, EVERYTHING) on that Southwest Credit Card until we have reached our goal, which typically happens in the late summer/early fall. Think every bill, every grocery or gas purchase, literally Ev-er-RY-THING! Of course there are a few things we can’t utilize the card for (car payments, student loans), but everything else goes on that card until we reach our goal!

If you’re an online shopper, be sure to check out the Rapid Rewards Shopping site, and install the Google Chrome plugin to earn even more rapid rewards. Southwest affiliates with multiple different online stores where you can earn a bonus “lump sump” for signing up with a new service, or additional points per dollar by linking through the site. This plug in will also alert you when you’ve entered a site where you can earn extra points! (Thanks, Southwest!).

Disclaimer, Southwest does have services to most of the cities that my husband and I are traveling to, so before you commit, be sure that they’re flying where you want to go! In addition to many airports througout the US, they fly to Mexico, the Caribbean and just added Hawaii this year! We’ve been nothing but pleased with our experiences with the airline and enjoy utilizing our Companion Pass together multiple times throughout the year! If you want to you can check out our adventures here.

PS, you can also find additional points on travel needs (hotels & rental cars) by routing through the Southwest Rapid Rewards site as well, getting you all that much closer to earning companion pass! So I thought it would be beneficial to share how I earn Southwest Airlines’ Companion Pass every year so that you can too!! Happy Travels!

Did you sign up?? Let me know how it’s going! And be sure to check out my previous post on airplane travel essentials before you go! 😉

Home Decor & DIY

Southwest Home Accents

April 29, 2020 No Comments

So in our new place we have this really odd room… It’s got a nook- for who knows what? A fireplace that sits immediately next to a wall, and limited space for furniture due to the need to keep walkways clear. Oh, and these walkways are between the primary guest bathroom, the laundry room, a sliding door to the backyard, the stairs to the basement and the kitchen. The moral of the story is it’s a weird room! The answer: Southwest Home Accents.

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It took a while for me to figure out how we wanted to utilize this room, but we’re now fondly referencing it as “the party pit”! This is primarily because we made a makeshift bar area out of the questionable “nook”.

A friend of ours had this great cow hide accent rug in her very modern home, and I immediately knew I wanted to decorate a room similarly. Honestly, I’d secretly been coveting a cow skin rug for quite some time… Mine is authentic – purchased at the local rodeo! (Is this normal? – I was really pumped to find one there at a decent price… In case you’re not anywhere near a rodeo, I linked up a couple cute ones below.)

I linked up all my decor and/or similar products here, or by clicking the photos in the image below.

I had so much fun putting this room together! I think maybe it was because it’s so different than all the other rooms in my house? After all, most of my room is decorated in blues and grays. What do you think?? Do you have any ideas of other items I should include in the southwest inspired decor?

Food, Recipes

Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers

June 14, 2019 No Comments

Who loves a good stuffed pepper? This girl! Especially when the peppers are in season and major on sale! Only way I shop — sales. 🙂

These southwest stuffed bell peppers are stuffed with quinoa (What a power grain!), Black Beans, Corn, Onion, Turkey Sausage and Cheddar Cheese! Yum.

So, to start, heat your oven to 400 degrees. Begin cooking the turkey sausage over medium heat, and while the turkey is cooking, prepare the peppers and chop the onion. For stuffed peppers I like to behead them and then manually tear out the flesh & seeds. (Sounds so violent!) Then, a little trick I picked up was to slice off the points on the end of the peppers so that they stand flat while they’re cooking!

Sort of an aside – Mix 1 cup quinoa with 1 cup water and 1 cup broth (it adds more flavor), and allow this to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, and allow the quinoa to cook for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, I like to leave the pan on the hot burner, and allow to sit for 5 minutes more. This makes the most perfect fluffy quinoa!

Chop the bottom from a bell pepper to make it stand upright when cooking — Tough to see, but I’ve sliced off the little “feet” at the bottom of the pepper so it will stand upright in the oven! 😉 One of my favorite cooking tips!

And don’t let that top go to waste! Chop off the edible portions, and you can add these together with the onion, and stuff them in the peppers too.

Don't let the pepper tops go to waste! Cut all the edible portions and add them to the dish!

Not a must, but I like to line my pan with foil to make cleanup a little easier. Pepper filling gets a little messy!

Disclaimer – I only cooked 4 peppers, but had a ton of leftover “stuffing”. 6 peppers will be much more fitting unless you just want to eat the stuffing as-is. Which I sometimes like to do!

So, once your turkey is cooked, Add the chopped pepper & onion. As they are cooking, stir in the spices, and continue to cook until peppers are soft and onions become translucent.

Once all this yumminess is cooked, remove it from the heat, and into a separate mixing bowl. Add the corn, beans, cheese and cooked quinoa to this, and mix until well blended (Promise it’s all hiding down there).

And now you’re ready to stuff those peppers! I use a medium sized spoon, and fill to the brim, gently pressing the stuffing down to fill the entire pepper. You could call them well-stuffed peppers…

Once those peppers are stuffed, put them in the oven for 35 minutes. During the last 5 minutes, add a little cheese and let it brown in the oven.

I garnished with a little extra cheese (yum!), some sliced avocado and my not-so-famous Greek Yogurt + powdered Ranch dressing mixture.

Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers with Quinoa & Turkey Sausage

admin

A delicious and easy meal, perfectly made from a few leftovers or on the fly!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 6 peppers

Ingredients

6 Sweet Red Peppers
1 cup quinoa (dry)
1 cup water
1 lb ground turkey sausage
1 cup chicken broth
1 medium onion
1 jalapeno (could omit if too spicy!)
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup corn, frozen
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove tops & seeds from the bell peppers. Slice the edible portion of the tops off, and chop. This will be added to the frying pan later.
Slice the bottoms off the peppers, to make them flat so they will stand upright in the glass pan (see photos). But don't cut into the interior of the pepper. Don't want the goodness leaking out!
Begin cooking ground turkey over medium heat until fully cooked through, and no pink remains.
While the turkey is cooking. Add 1 cup of dry quinoa with 2 cups of fluid (1 cup water & 1 cup broth). Bring to a boil, and once boiling, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, turn the heat off, but leave the pot on the burner, and the lid on. Let steam for 5 minutes more for fluffy quinoa.
While the turkey is cooking, chop the medium onion, and add to the pan with the cooked turkey.
Add the seasonings to the turkey and then the chopped jalapeno peppers, tops of the red bell pepper, and onion. Continue cooking until onions are translucent and bell pepper is soft.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cooked quinoa, and the turkey & vegetable mixture, with 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Place the hollowed bell pepper in an oven safe dish, and fill each pepper with the grain & meat mixture. Once each pepper is filled, top with additional shredded cheese.
Cook for 35 minutes or until peppers are tender. Garnish with chopped cilantro for serving.

Keyword bell pepper, ground turkey

As always, Enjoy!