Is it difficult to get one of these if you're not a business owner? My plan is to to get this and a personal card in November or December to get a head start on a companion pass for 2020/2021.

So you are lying?

Have you sold something on Ebay? Congrats, you're a business owner.

Ag with kids said:

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Have you sold something on Ebay? Congrats, you're a business owner.

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I have indeed sold on EBay.

We have both the Southwest Chase Personal and Business cards. For the business card, you will either have to provide the business EIN number (for the credit check against the business) OR provide a SSN in the case of a Sole Prop and not an LLC/Corp. If you don't have an EIN and have to provide a SSN, they'll reject either the Personal or the Business app (whichever you do second) as they will only allow you to have one under a SSN. Just a heads up there.

You can try to wire around the meter by putting your SSN on one application and your spouse's on the other but you won't be able to add either of you as an additional card holder on the opposite account since they also ask for the additional card holder's SSN.

AgProgrammer said:

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We have both the Southwest Chase Personal and Business cards. For the business card, you will either have to provide the business EIN number (for the credit check against the business) OR provide a SSN in the case of a Sole Prop and not an LLC/Corp. If you don't have an EIN and have to provide a SSN, they'll reject either the Personal or the Business app (whichever you do second) as they will only allow you to have one under a SSN. Just a heads up there.

You can try to wire around the meter by putting your SSN on one application and your spouse's on the other but you won't be able to add either of you as an additional card holder on the opposite account since they also ask for the additional card holder's SSN.

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Oh. Thanks. That's the kind of info I'm looking for. Does it make sense to get an EIN if there really isn't much of a business? Is that expensive? Would a new "company" with no revenue pass a credit check?

BSD said:

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AgProgrammer said:

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We have both the Southwest Chase Personal and Business cards. For the business card, you will either have to provide the business EIN number (for the credit check against the business) OR provide a SSN in the case of a Sole Prop and not an LLC/Corp. If you don't have an EIN and have to provide a SSN, they'll reject either the Personal or the Business app (whichever you do second) as they will only allow you to have one under a SSN. Just a heads up there.

You can try to wire around the meter by putting your SSN on one application and your spouse's on the other but you won't be able to add either of you as an additional card holder on the opposite account since they also ask for the additional card holder's SSN.

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Oh. Thanks. That's the kind of info I'm looking for. Does it make sense to get an EIN if there really isn't much of a business? Is that expensive? Would a new "company" with no revenue pass a credit check?

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I have an EIN because I'm planning on buying a condo to rent out down here on N Padre. Can't remember how much it cost to get set up. But I have 2 AMEX business cards with no revenue so far.

I used SSN on both personal and business in November and then December for the SW cards. It's fine to use it for both but make sure it's spaced out about a month. Whatever you do, don't lie as Chase occasionally will ask for supporting information and will shut down accounts if caught, even after approval at times.

But as mentioned, if you've sold on eBay, congrats on business ownership.

BSD said:

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AgProgrammer said:

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We have both the Southwest Chase Personal and Business cards. For the business card, you will either have to provide the business EIN number (for the credit check against the business) OR provide a SSN in the case of a Sole Prop and not an LLC/Corp. If you don't have an EIN and have to provide a SSN, they'll reject either the Personal or the Business app (whichever you do second) as they will only allow you to have one under a SSN. Just a heads up there.

You can try to wire around the meter by putting your SSN on one application and your spouse's on the other but you won't be able to add either of you as an additional card holder on the opposite account since they also ask for the additional card holder's SSN.

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Oh. Thanks. That's the kind of info I'm looking for. Does it make sense to get an EIN if there really isn't much of a business? Is that expensive? Would a new "company" with no revenue pass a credit check?

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Your SSN is fine. That's what we use for our contracting businesses and no CC has ever asked for proof of income.

So now I'm getting conflicting info.

One poster says SW chase policy will only give one card for a SSN and others say they'll do both credit cards under one SSN.

I guess I better call.

You cant get two personal cards anymore, but one business with your SS# as business EIN and one personal is accepted.

BSD said:

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So now I'm getting conflicting info.

One poster says SW chase policy will only give one card for a SSN and others say they'll do both credit cards under one SSN.

I guess I better call.

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yeh.. This is the first I'm hearing of only getting 1 of biz or personal with a single ssn. If that's the case, I wasted my time for the biz card I applied for with my ssn a week ago.. still no reply on that one.

Everyone says 'have you sold something on ebay?', but the application was pretty detailed. It wanted categories of business, business name, etc.

I have to say, without actually having a legitimate business, I was hesitant. I went with the independant artist angle.. I have been a musician with income for a good 12 of the last 15 years... though not in the last 2.

AgProgrammer said:

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If you don't have an EIN and have to provide a SSN, they'll reject either the Personal or the Business app (whichever you do second) as they will only allow you to have one under a SSN. Just a heads up there.

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What is your source on this? I was under the impression this how many people accomplish getting both cards (using same ssn)

You are correct in that this was how many people were getting the two credit cards for the companion pass. Sounds like they've cracked down on this recently. Maybe there are some who are still slipping through but it sounds like this is no longer an accepted policy.

My wife's sister and husband just tried this with one SSN for a personal and business card. They did the personal card first (applied and accepted) then the business application said it was under review. About 3 weeks later, they received a letter in the mail stating that the account applicant was already listed as the account holder for another active Southwest RR rewards card and that their business application was denied. They called and it was explained that if a SSN is given for the business application, that then goes through both the Business and Personal credit checks and application review (and the Personal review is where it's getting caught).

Submitting the business application under just the EIN will prevent this (that's what I did) BUT they will run a credit check against the EIN. If the EIN/business doesn't have any credit history, there's no telling if they'll approve it or not. Maybe or maybe not.

The other aspect is that it's always suggested to go business card first. Partially for reasons you listed, and also because of the 5/24 concern. The business card, even though it uses SS#, does not show up on your credit.

I just got my rejection letter for business today. Said I have too many cards. My oldest card (the 5th) is exactly from 24 months ago, march 17.. maybe I have to wait until april.

SoupNazi2001 said:

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62strat said:

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I just got my rejection letter for business today. Said I have too many cards. My oldest card (the 5th) is exactly from 24 months ago, march 17.. maybe I have to wait until april.

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Yes you would have to wait until the 25th month for the 5/24 rule.

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does it need to be 24 months + 30 days after sign up date, or is it wiped clean on the 1st day of 25th month?

In other words if sign up date was say March 15, is do I need to wait until April 15th two years later, or is April 1 fine?

I did both business and personal applications in January with the same ssn and both were approved.

I second the advice to wait a month between the two. I did them on the same day. Biz accepted instantly. Personal took a lot of back and forth since they were so close to each other.

It's almost that time. I think I'll apply for the SW Business card in Nov 1. And then the personal card in December.

I want my statement dates to be around the 10th of the month so I can get a companion pass on Jan 10. Is it possible to time applications to achieve this or can you request over this the phone?

Any other pointers? I don't want to f this up since I already have 4 trips booked thru Easter that I need a companion pass for. Also have about 8 trips after that, just waiting on release of tickets.

The SW Biz performance card has an 80000 point signup bonus that expires Oct 16. My suggestion would be to apply for that offer before it expires.

Also, make sure the spending that pushes you over the required spend hits after your December statement and it is not net spending - returns count!

Reddit has long list of the ways people screw up getting a companion pass


https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/9h4yc0/applying_for_southwest_cards_cp_late_in_the_year/

pocketrockets06 said:

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The SW Biz performance card has an 80000 point signup bonus that expires Oct 16. My suggestion would be to apply for that offer before it expires.

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Are you sure the business card offer expires 10/16? I thought that was just for the personal card offer of 40k+20k. I don't see that language on the business card page.

Edit: I just saw a Facebook ad after posting this (spying MF'ers) that there is a 10/16 expiration. Anyone know what the offer will be after that date?

My guess is that 80K was an intro bonus since its a brand new card. I would guess that the regular bonus will be 50 or 60K after 3k spend.

Also, sometimes these offers "expire" and they extend for a couple more months but I don't think that is common with Chase.

Points required to earn a Companion Pass moved from 110,000 to 125,000 beginning January 1, 2020.

AggieMainland said:

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My guess is that 80K was an intro bonus since its a brand new card. I would guess that the regular bonus will be 50 or 60K after 3k spend.

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The business card is now 60k or 70k depending on which level you get.

UPDATE: I applied for the card around October 9th and I didn't hear anything for a few days so I called in. I was denied. They gave me two reasons:

1. Not enough business information
2. Too much Chase credit already extended.

So I politely explained the business and future plans. That went well. Then I asked if they thought I had too much credit at Chase (of which I don't use much at all, including a mortgage that is 3 payment saway from being gone), then just take some off one card and apply it to the new business card. She tried to explain that while they use my personal accounts as part of the decision, they won't alter the personal accounts to get the business card approved. She went on to say she'd take a another look at it all and flag it for approval. Sure enough my new business card came in today! Approved Oct 15th.

So now I'll wait til mid November and get a personal card (and ditch the Marriott card to make room for it). Wish me luck!

Glad it worked out. Applied for mine on 10/12 and got my business card in the mail yesterday. I had an old Southwest personal card that had been opened for 3+ years that I closed last month so I could get a new bonus on a new card on the personal side. The account is closed but the last "statement date" is 10/25 so I'm going to wait until after the last "payment date" on 11/12 to apply for the personal card I think.

Yeah, I closed my personal card back in february in anticipation of doing this (and have been killing it with hyatt points this year!). I've had a personal card since 2012 and got the CP every year just by spending and getting extra points from SW Shopping and flights. This is the first time I've played the new card game. I think they have an inflight bonus of an additional 10k that you can get when you apply in the air so I'll do that on the way to the UGA game next month.

Good to know on the in-flight bonus. I'm flying to AZ next month so I'll look into that.