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Southwest Companion Pass.

What is it:

The SW CP is arguably the most valuable airline perk available today. It allows you to bring a companion with you for free on any Southwest flight, regardless of whether you are on a revenue or award ticket. All you pay are the government taxes on the ticket. The pass works for all Southwest flights, including international flights. The pass also works on Airtran flights that are sold on Southwest.com. Airtran flights that are not sold on Southwest.com are not eligible.
Like all other Southwest award bookings, the CP is not subject to any capacity controls, and as long as there is still a seat for sale on a particular flight, it is yours.
The pass is valid for the year it is earned in and the entire next calendar year. If you earned your CP in July 2014, your pass will be valid for the remainder of 2014 and the entirety of 2015.

How to get it:

The SW CP is obtained by earning 125,000 Southwest points in one calendar year. For example, if you earned 8k points by flying at the beginning of 2014, you need to earn another 117k points throughout the rest of 2014 in order to qualify for CP. Once 2015 rolls around, the points you've earned in 2014 no longer qualify for earning your CP, although they will still be redeemable points.

The primary method of accumulating Southwest points is CC signup bonuses. The Southwest CC frequently offers 50k point signup bonuses on all 4 flavors of Southwest cards and signup bonuses count towards earning the CP. Get approved for 2 of these cards, meet the 2k spending requirement on each and you are only 21k points away from the CP.

All points earned through the Rapid Rewards shopping mall also count towards SW CP eligibility.
Points transferred from Hyatt, Club Carlson, Marriott, and Wyndham all count towards CP status.
Points transferred from Ultimate Rewards do not count towards CP, although you can transfer can transfer 50K Ultimate Rewards points into 50K Hyatt and 50K Hyatt transfers into 30K Southwest.

Points earned by crediting hotel stays and car rentals to Southwest also count towards CP.

Using the CP:

Using your CP is very simple. Once you book a flight on Southwest, an "Add a companion" button will appear under your reservation. Just fill out the info and pay the taxes and you are done.
It is best to add your companion right when you book your own flight as there have been instances where people have forgotten to add their companion, the flight subsequently sold out and they were not able to add their companion. One thing to keep in mind is that online changes with a companion booked are not possible, you need to cancel the companion, wait 10-15 min, make the change and then add the companion again. You can make the necessary changes over the phone though.
You can change your companion up to 3 times during the life of your CP. (I believe you can change it 3 times per calendar year.)

« Last edited by pointer on January 23, 2020, 03:35:55 PM »

Author Topic: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread  (Read 316310 times)

Offline aj26

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Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« on: January 26, 2012, 06:58:01 PM »
On the Southwest.com website homepage is an offer for 50k points.
I want to go for the year long companion pass after racking up 110K SW points within a year. The 50K points that come from the card don't count. I also have about 8 airtran points which I assume will transfer to somewhere around 10K southwest points once the merger is complete. The question is how do I get the other 50K. I know that I could spend $50K, but that's a little hard for me. I wanted to do the following, tell me what you think.
Make two SW accounts under the my name. Sign up myself and my wife for the SW card and link the two SW accounts (both under my name) to the two different cards. Once the points post, have SW merge the accounts and walah!, I have 100K SW points. I'll figure out how to get the other 10K easily enough.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience as to whether this will work.
Thanks
« Last Edit: July 29, 2014, 03:16:38 PM by Dan »

Offline AsherO

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2012, 08:30:11 PM »
On the Southwest.com website homepage is an offer for 50k points.
I want to go for the year long companion pass after racking up 110K SW points within a year. The 50K points that come from the card don't count. I also have about 8 airtran points which I assume will transfer to somewhere around 10K southwest points once the merger is complete. The question is how do I get the other 50K. I know that I could spend $50K, but that's a little hard for me. I wanted to do the following, tell me what you think.
Make two SW accounts under the my name. Sign up myself and my wife for the SW card and link the two SW accounts (both under my name) to the two different cards. Once the points post, have SW merge the accounts and walah!, I have 100K SW points. I'll figure out how to get the other 10K easily enough.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience as to whether this will work.
Thanks

The 50k from the signup definitely do count.
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Offline aj26

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2012, 02:46:20 PM »
My question was really whether or not I could link a southwest account number to a chase credit card if the first names don't match

Offline AsherO

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2012, 05:53:17 PM »
So close... how to qualify?.. What part of the following T&Cs means that 7k UR won't do the trick?
Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from revenue flights, points issued on Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Cards, and points earned from Rapid Rewards Partners.  Purchased points and points earned from program enrollment, Tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and Partner bonuses do not count toward Companion Pass status.
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Offline myb821

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2012, 06:01:12 PM »
So close... how to qualify?.. What part of the following T&Cs means that 7k UR won't do the trick?
i dont know what part of the T&C but i believe it has been tested and wont work

Offline AsherO

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #5 on: December 18, 2012, 06:02:02 PM »
i dont know what part of the T&C but i believe it has been tested and wont work

But can't I transfer 7k UR and then complain? Any other alternatives that won't cost me more than the equivalent of 7k UR?

And no, I cannot afford a SW CC app ATM, and there's no way the points would post in time.
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Offline Dan

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #6 on: December 18, 2012, 06:04:50 PM »
Spend on the SWA card or transfer UR to HGP to WN.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2012, 06:08:32 PM »
Spend on the SWA card or transfer UR to HGP to WN.
will that post in 2 weeks? and it will cost more than 7k UR

Offline AsherO

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #8 on: December 18, 2012, 06:10:32 PM »
Spend on the SWA card or transfer UR to HGP to WN.

The former won't post before 12/31, the latter will cost quite a bit of UR... Come to think of it, I have 11k "orphan" Hyatt points, now I need to decide if I want to burn those and 4k UR in order to make this happen.

I also have some 70k + Marriott which I can possibly burn on this.

Hmmm...

will that post in 2 weeks? and it will cost more than 7k UR

Wouldn't it go by the date it was initiated? I can't see it taking that long...

ETA: Officially takes "up to four weeks", but much quicker according to FT.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2012, 06:15:26 PM by AsherO »
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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #9 on: December 18, 2012, 06:19:17 PM »
The former won't post before 12/31, the latter will cost quite a bit of UR... Come to think of it, I have 11k "orphan" Hyatt points, now I need to decide if I want to burn those and 4k UR in order to make this happen.

I also have some 70k + Marriott which I can possibly burn on this.

Hmmm...

Wouldn't it go by the date it was initiated? I can't see it taking that long...

ETA: Officially takes "up to four weeks", but much quicker according to FT.
marriott only took me one day. How much do u fly with the same person domestically bc thats all the companion pass is good for

Offline AsherO

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #10 on: December 18, 2012, 06:20:34 PM »
marriott only took me one day. How much do u fly with the same person domestically bc thats all the companion pass is good for

If I fly twice, or even once, it'll be worth it, I think.
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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2012, 06:36:52 PM »
Wouldn't it go by the date it was initiated? I can't see it taking that long...
That's typically how it works, though I've never actually transferred HGP to an airline, so hopefully someone else can confirm.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2012, 06:38:31 PM »
That's typically how it works, though I've never actually transferred HGP to an airline, so hopefully someone else can confirm.

FT confirmed for me, it will happen in time.

So, Hyatt, Marriott, something else?...
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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2012, 06:39:46 PM »
Changing your WN statement date?
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2012, 06:43:00 PM »
Changing your WN statement date?

Another challenge is I lowered the CL on that card to 1k, that and I hope to cancel shortly it to get back the AF...
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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2012, 06:43:30 PM »
Another challenge is I lowered the CL on that card to 1k, that and I hope to cancel shortly it to get back the AF...
That's easy enough with reallocation.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2012, 06:46:15 PM »
That's easy enough with reallocation.

Too many ducks to line up:

Reallocate, charge, request early bill closure, make sure bill actually closes ASAP, cancel charge, credit posts, close card within window to get back AF. Did I miss anything?
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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #17 on: December 23, 2012, 04:25:58 PM »
If I have the companion pass in my account, can I book a family member as the flyer, and a different family member as the companion?
I think not, but want to confirm.

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #18 on: December 23, 2012, 04:58:03 PM »
If I just earned it, will they extend it through 2014?

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Re: Southwest year long companion pass
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2013, 03:57:16 PM »
Data Point:
I transferred in some Wyndham points on the last day for the year to put me over 110k.
They posted on 1/2, with a date of 12/31 in the description.
I sent a message to SW, and they confirmed for me that I'm eligible for the companion pass!

(Too bad I will probably only use it once)