Tag Archives: Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Offers Gate-To-Gate WiFi Access on their Planes

Southwest Airlines Offers Gate-To-Gate WiFi Access on their Planes

This afternoon I was at an APEX (airline passenger experience) conference and an executive from Southwest Airlines was speaking about their newly introduced (today) gate-to-gate WiFi. That means that as soon as you board the plane, you will have internet access for the entire duration of the flight. Here is an email I just received as well:

Internet access is $8 per day (not per flight) – which is great if you have more than 1 flight on Southwest per day. There are currently 13 live television channels and a few recorded television channels. The executive said that NFL RedZone was a premium channel (sounds like it will cost money to watch) and they are working on adding more channels to their portal.

Not mentioned in the online announcement, Southwest will also introduce a $2 internet plan which is for passengers who only want to “text” through iMessage (iOS) or other Android apps (WhatsApp). This could be a cool feature if you feel like texting the entire flight. It is all done over the internet so you will not incur any data or texting fees from your carrier.

I asked the executive about the Dish Network content and she said that content was not provided by Dish Network, they are only a sponsor (advertising only). I also suggested that Southwest modify their boarding system to allow people to board earlier so they can use the internet longer. I will see if that idea every comes out.

That’s it from Southwest. Good changes for passengers. If you have any comments, please leave a comment below.

Hyatt’s Fall 5,000 Point Promo Earns Me the Southwest Companion Pass

Hyatt’s Fall 5,000 Point Promo Earns Me the Southwest Companion Pass

A few weeks ago I wrote Targeted: 5,000 Bonus Hyatt Gold Passport Points After Spending $3,000 in 3 Months. Today, I share my journey. I received the following email (and a similar letter) from Hyatt regarding my Chase Hyatt Credit Card.

Spending $3,000 in 3 months is a piece of cake to earn 5,000 bonus Hyatt points. My credit card statement closed a few days ago and I was glad the bonus points posted in the same time period, not the 6-8 week time window the terms stated. Since I recently downgraded my Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card to the Sapphire basic card, I have been using my Hyatt card more for international restaurant purchases and making airline reservations.

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Save 1,000+ Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Points by Rebooking Flights

Save 1,000+ Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Points by Rebooking Flights

Currently Southwest Airlines has a flight sale – a GREAT SALE! If you booked SWA flights between December 4 – 18, 2013 and January 7 – February 12, 2014 you should rebook and save a few hundred or thousand Rapid Reward Points.

I was able to find my SNA to SFO flight for 2,820 SWA RR points one way, a decrease of 1,860 SWA RR points. 1,860 SWA RR points x 1.67 cents per point = $31.06 savings.

Here is the updated reservation with new SWA RR point balance.

My SWA RR points balance was 38,367 points before rebooking.

My new SWA RR points balance is now 40,227 after rebooking.

I had about 5 other SWA reservations that I was able to rebook and save 1,000+ SWA RR points. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Guayaquil, Ecuador to Irvine, CA in 16 Hours on 4 Flights

Guayaquil, Ecuador to Irvine, CA in 16 Hours on 4 Flights

Greetings from Guayaquil, Ecuador! I am on my way back from the Galapagos Islands and Guayaquil is the only city that flies to/from the Galapagos. Currently, I am staying at the Sheraton Guayaquil Hotel (hotel review and pictures to come shortly) on cash and points (3,500 SPG points + $55 = 4.14 cpp).

My 16 hour journey begins at 7am tomorrow morning, flies through Miami, Tampa, Phoenix, and lands in Orange County, CA (SNA) at 9pm tomorrow night.

In case you were wondering, Guayaquil is in the Central Time Zone and is 2 hours behind the Pacific Time Zone.

I have a lot of info and some beautiful pictures to share. Stay tuned for more to come.

Pros and Cons of Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Credits

Pros and Cons of Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Credits

After yesterday’s Southwest Airlines devaluation, I have been reading comments on several travel blogs regarding transfer Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Points to Southwest Airlines Credits. To learn more, please read Mile Value’s post. This information is from first hand experience since I blindly followed Mile Value’s steps.

I have already used one of my free one ways and have one more free to use before December 17, 2013.

I do a sample search for flights from SNA to TPA and always select flexible dates.