My 1s of regular Dear Readers may recall this post that I published a whiles back in which I delivered a multiplesfer. That is, for the low, low length of just one typical post, Dear Readers got multiple miniposts.
Welp, it’s time for a reprise as I’ve again got a buncha random, decentish blog post ideas that don’t warrant me rambling on ad nauseum. So, I’ll thrice regale you semi-ad nauseum, but, I guess, ad nauseum in the aggregate. Sorry, not sorry.
Monday, Monday
Most FIRE content today is in podcast and/or video format. In The Beforetimes, most was published in blog format. I’ve several times on this here blog lamented the slow death of blogs.
There were tons of blogs back in those (to me) glory days. Also, FIRE-content aggregator websites (the best of which was J. Money’s excellent Rockstar Finance (RF)), which enabled visitors to read all the latest and greatest posts, and to discover new (to them) blogs, too. It was wonderful.
RF also functioned as a sort of bunker buster bomb in the rabbit hole of FIRE content. That is, it allowed visitors not just to find sites covering FIRE basics and/or personal stories, but also to learn about almost any FIRE niche subject fathomable.
One thing about those glory days bothered me tho. Well, maybe not “bothered.” Perhaps “overwhelmed.” That being that Mondays were by far the favored publishing day for bloggers. Monday mornings brought an avalanche of new content. Much of it, great. But a lot.
I launched my humble blog during that era. A decision I had to make was whether I’d publish according to a schedule, and, if so, one which day(s) I’d publish.
In those early days of this blog, I posted twice a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays. My reasoning being that I didn’t want to compete with the Monday avalanche and would face far less competition for eyeballs on the days that I did publish. Also cuz I didn’t think my silly musings were worthy enough to be published on Mondays alongside the many other fantastic blogs. In short, imposter syndrome.
Even as my posting cadence slowed, I never published on Mondays.
Welp, that changes today.
Why? Why now? Who cares? All reasonable questions, Dear Reader.
My answers to those questions: (1) cuz I like my little blog and what I’ve done with it, and frankly, the publishing day no longer matters, and probly never did; (2) No reason. Just something I’ve been thinking of doing for a while and decided to do it now.; (3) No one. No one cares.
Companion passed
This blog post is my first published since October 15, 2026, when Southwest Airlines (SWA) cosplayed as the Grim Reaper and pushed its much-beloved companion pass (The Pass) to its final resting place.
For those not familiar, SWA has for many years offered The Pass, which allows the holder to have a companion join him or her on a flight essentially for free. To obtain it, one could take lotsa SW flights (tough to do) during one calendar year, or open SWA-branded credit cards and get The Pass by way of sign-up bonus points (easy to do).
Once obtained, the Pass is good for the remainder of the year in which you get it, and the entire next calendar year. With the right strategy/timing, one’s Pass would be good for almost two years.
‘Member my reference to FIRE niche subjects above? Travel hacking was one of particular interest to me. In time, I became an OKish travel hacker. Obtaining The Pass and having it for almost 10 years now being among my best successes.
The Pass has saved us many thousands of dollars in travel expenses. Correction: it’s saved us thousands of dollars worth of points on travel expenses. Cuz we’ve almost always used SWA points to book the flights. And, yes, a lotta those points came from the credit card sign-up bonuses we got from opening the cards. With the Pass, we just needed enough points for the Pass holder’s flight itinerary. Adding the companion required no extra points for his or her seat.
The Missus and I done loved The Pass. Alas, as mentioned above, it essentially is no more. True, SWA didn’t kill it off. Just made it extraordinarily difficult to obtain.
As SWA has made major adverse changes to the airline for a few years now, the Pass’ demise was long expected. Regardless, my immediate reaction on hearing the news (and I suspect most other Pass holders’ immediate reaction) was righteous indignation. I mean, why would SWA stick a sharp finger in the eyes of its loyal customers?!
The next day, however, my anger cooled. Mainly cuz I reminded myself of the massive savings we received from The Pass. What’s more, lotsa dollars we otherwise would have spent on airfare were/remained invested and spun off compounding gains, increasing yet further the positive net worth gain we realized from The Pass.
I’m disappointed by the recent developments regarding The Pass. But it’s hard for me to be all that upset when I consider how much it benefitted us.
What’s the Point?
The Pass and SWA points played a big role in my first (and still best) travel hack: four round-trip plane tickets from our former Midwest home city to New York City, and seven hotel nights in Manhattan. All for under $100. Thinking about that still makes me smile.
Another memorable travel hack came when my dear friend, who lives in the Midwest, turned 50 and his wife planned a surprise birthday party. She invited me and a few other friends from out of town, but I’m sure mostly as a courtesy.
In The Beforetimes, I probly wouldn’t have attended the event. I mean, while notable, I didn’t consider it “must-attend” level. But in The New Times, realizing that I had airline points to “pay” for the flights (even if the amount needed for the flights was pretty high), I slapped myself across the head. Hard. “Fer cryin’ out loud, you idiot!” I said to myself. You have points! This will cost you no actual dollars! You’ll have a great time with [Friend] and he’ll be thrilled that you’re there! Don’t be a dolt! What’s the point of the points if you can’t or won’t use them for events like this?! That’s exactly the sort of thing that they’re for!
I still try to optimize my airline/hotel points. But using them at all for meaningful trips doesn’t hold me up.
I think lots of people in the FIRE community hold back on using points for the same reason they’re reluctant to spend monies once they FIRE. They don’t like to see balances go down and do like to see them go up. They also like to optimize.
Some in the FIRE community I suspect never use their points. Even if I’m a bit reluctant myself and spend too much time trying to optimize, I’m not like that. The Missus and I have burned millions of points. On trips we had to take. On unplanned-for trips. And, best of all, on trips we wouldn’t have taken but for having the points. These points have added a lot to our happiness. Memory dividends galore. The point? That’s the point!
And in the end . . .
Well, there you have it, Dear Reader, three silly miniposts on three silly subjects. What a day.
