Southwest Rapid Rewards Card

I usually don't travel too much, and as I've mentioned before, I am a little wary about the environmental aspects of flying.  That said, I have booked flights using Southwest Rapid Rewards twice in the last week.  I've been totally impressed by their rewards system, so I want to talk for a minute about how I got my rewards miles.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to travel all over the world to rack up airline rewards miles.  Instead, what I've done is apply for credit cards that give you airline mile bonuses.  In this case, Chase offers a Southwest Rapid Rewards card, that gives you 50k rewards miles after just one purchase on the card.  There is a $69 annual fee, but in my opinion, it is well worth the bonus points.

Here's how it worked out for me:  I booked two flights for about 23k points each.  These were both last minute flights, and would have cost me $400 each if I'd paid cash.  I still have 4k rewards points left, which can be used for $40 in gift certificates to various stores.  All this for a $69 fee, and one credit card application.