Thanks for the help, guys. (Even Rams, the worst poster on this board by far, has been pretty helpful.)
A few more questions for my new real life friends SD, ChiCat, RaquetCat, and Rams:
How many kids? If you and your wife both companion passed a kid on Southwest, they could basically fly for free.
Companion pass is very intriguing. Very. Can I apply for the personal and business (to get 100k RR points) and then have my wife apply for both (to get another 100k), too? And if I can somehow get four SW cards (and thus two companion passes), does her application need to be done on the same day?
Finally, my understanding is that once you earn 110k RR points, you get the companion pass...but that the companion pass doesn't actually cost any of those points. So with the 110k RR points, about how many flights could I get with that? I've never redeemed any bonuses from SW.
I would get the US Air, Gold Amex, AA, and a couple SW cards now if I were you.
When you say Gold Amex, do you mean the AmEx Premier Rewards Gold card (50k membership rewards points w/ $1k spend), or the AmEx Delta Gold card (45k miles after $5k spend in 6 months)?
When you say AA card, do you mean sign up for both the 50k Visa and 50K Amex? Or if only one, does it matter which one I sign up for?
The only US Air link I found on the "Hot Deals" section listed by Rams is 30K miles for an $89 annual fee (not waived). Is that worth it? Is there something better?
If any of you get bonuses for referring me to these cards, I'm happy to go that route to help out some fellow EMAWs.
wondermeal, did you happen to play tennis at mhs?