Believe it or not, earning travel rewards points during a pandemic is still possible. I had my first experience doing just that via a Southwest flight, and have since had many more during the pandemic that never ends.

Southwest is my preferred domestic airline for a variety of reasons, and their initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic was far better than many of their competitors. While United and American were sardining passengers into middle seats at the peak of this thing, Southwest kept those open (mostly) to allow for further social distancing. For that reason, I felt comfortable (enough) flying Southwest relatively early during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was time to earn some points.

Lyft travel rewards points trifecta on the way to the airport

Before I could get on a plane, I had to get on an airport. With all the protocols to worry about at the airport, I almost forgot about the ride there.

So I used a Rideshare app for the first time since February. Masks on, windows up, Lyft off. Pretty uneventful, but still after months of shelter-in-place, it had the feel of a prison break.

It felt even more like I was getting away with something because I have my Lyft account linked to Hilton Honors and Delta SkyMiles. Points galore on the ride to the plane.

TSA Precheck is essential during the pandemic

Next, it was time to brave the airport. This is non-points related, but the value of TSA Precheck is almost immeasurable. The convenience factor of not having to wait in a long line and strip down and remove shoes and electronics is enough on its own. But during a pandemic, you want as few points of contact as possible. There was no line at TSA Precheck, and the entire security process took about two minutes.

If you don’t have TSA Precheck, there’s no time like the present. It is very cheap to purchase on its own (it amounts to $17 per year), but signing up for a credit card is a great option to secure this benefit. I’m not in the affiliate marketing world of trying to get you to sign up for credit cards you don’t want, but the Sapphire Preferred, Marriott Bonvoy and United Explorer cards, all of which I have in my wallet, offer a credit for TSA precheck. Depending on how you look at it, that’s either a free year of the card, or five free years of TSA precheck. Win win either way.

The Southwest Boarding process

I arrived at the airport way earlier than I normally would, especially considering I prefer to cut it close anyway. Nothing like a little Indiana Jones adventure to get to the terminal on time. TSA Precheck takes out a lot of the guesswork anyway. Still, I didn’t know if there would be temperature checks (there weren’t) or any other added security measures (not really), so I played it safe. That meant sitting around and judging the mask behavior of my fellow humans.

One of the most amusing Southwest experiences is watching the premature lines form when boarding groups are called. Pandemic and all, human nature won again. Southwest limited boarding groups to 10 people each, instead of the usually 30 at a time, so there was plenty of room to walk to the plane and take a seat.

I was more diligent than I usually am about securing a decent boarding position. As such, I ended up in the A boarding group for maybe the first time in my life. I sat myself in the very back of the plane and had a row to myself. The couple in the row in front of me were an arm’s length apart from me, which felt a little too close for comfort. But again, this was a small gripe when you compared Southwest to their competitors.

Earning travel rewards points during the pandemic

I reached my destination in one piece. In the process, I collected points from Southwest, Delta, Hilton and on my Chase Sapphire credit card. The travel rewards hobby will not go quietly into the night.

If you aren’t already listening to the CDC, you probably aren’t going to listen to ImpersonalFinances.com, but wearing a mask in public, washing your hands, and fighting the nonstop urge to touch your face seem like small sacrifices to make. With everybody taking these precautions, my experience flying Southwest during the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t feel like as much of a moronic risk as I thought it would. Awareness is half the battle. Avoidance is the other half. The third half is luck.

For both financial and safety reasons, flying was the way to go. Driving would include too many hotels, too many rest stops, too many variables, whereas I knew what to expect for the most part at an airport. And Southwest held up their end of the bargain in making the experience feel safe, even if a bit dystopian.

At last, my chariot arrived to pick me up from the airport. It was someone I knew, so no triple Lyft-Hilton-Delta points this time. But plenty of points and miles were earned along the way, just like the good ole days.

Travel rewards points secured

Masks, hand washing, some potentially over-the-top precautions—all of that I can deal with. My biggest complaint is that this pandemic takes away the most enjoyable part about flying: the booze! With no in-flight service, and limited dining options in the airport itself, it was a dry flight to my destination.

Hey, we all have to make sacrifices.

The bottom line is that you can take all the precautions you want, but you just never know with these things. Stay safe and build back those rewards points balances, fellow risk-taking travelers.