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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 316409 times)

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #980 on: November 21, 2016, 12:08:13 PM »
To do the trasnfer of 90k to marriott to get the 110k sthwst plus the 7 nights at marriott. Do you need to choose the hotel stay at the time of transfer or can you just make the transfer and you'll get a credit of 7 nights to use?

Thanks
You get a 7 night cert that you can use later.
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Offline wonderlust

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #981 on: November 21, 2016, 12:58:43 PM »
You get a 7 night cert that you can use later.

Thanks, is there a thread that discusses this option in greater detail such as if it can be split between multiple properties and which hotels are a good deal/eligible?

Thanks

Offline elya

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #982 on: November 21, 2016, 05:26:02 PM »
Thanks, is there a thread that discusses this option in greater detail such as if it can be split between multiple properties and which hotels are a good deal/eligible?

Thanks
Very simple. Can not be split, only 7 consecutive nights. Any category 1-4.

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #983 on: November 21, 2016, 05:38:10 PM »
Very simple. Can not be split, only 7 consecutive nights. Any category 1-4.
Correct.
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Offline elya

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #984 on: November 21, 2016, 05:59:29 PM »
Correct.
Thanks for your approval.   ;)

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #985 on: November 21, 2016, 05:59:48 PM »
Thanks for your approval.   ;)
Any time
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Offline medster

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #986 on: November 23, 2016, 01:02:10 AM »
I'm thinking about applying for the 2 sw cards does anyone have a 50k sw plus referral (already have one for premier) Thanks

Offline medster

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #987 on: November 23, 2016, 12:33:31 PM »
I'm thinking about applying for the 2 sw cards does anyone have a 50k sw plus referral (already have one for premier) Thanks
thanks everyone got one

Offline rapsjr

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #988 on: November 23, 2016, 02:11:59 PM »
Do the SW credit cards count towards chase 5/24? asking about both Biz and personal.
What about the Marriott card?
TIA

Offline dealtastic

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #989 on: November 23, 2016, 02:15:20 PM »
Do the SW credit cards count towards chase 5/24? asking about both Biz and personal.
What about the Marriott card?
TIA
SW (all flavors) are under 5/24.
Marriott Personal is under 5/24.
Marriott Business is not under 5/24.

Offline rapsjr

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #990 on: November 23, 2016, 06:03:26 PM »
SW (all flavors) are under 5/24.
Marriott Personal is under 5/24.
Marriott Business is not under 5/24.
Boy that sucks. But thanks for the response.
So just to make sure I got this right: If the marriott business is NOT under 5/24 rule, does that mean I can still apply for it EVEN if I am already over 5/24? Or does it just mean that if I am not yet at 5/24 it wont count towards it?
Hope my question is clear enough... Thanks

Offline shulem92

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #991 on: November 23, 2016, 06:20:17 PM »
Boy that sucks. But thanks for the response.
So just to make sure I got this right: If the marriott business is NOT under 5/24 rule, does that mean I can still apply for it EVEN if I am already over 5/24? Or does it just mean that if I am not yet at 5/24 it wont count towards it?
Hope my question is clear enough... Thanks
U can apply for it even if ur over 5/24

Offline rapsjr

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #992 on: November 23, 2016, 10:56:26 PM »
U can apply for it even if ur over 5/24
Great. Thank you

Offline oiseli48

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #993 on: November 28, 2016, 06:15:35 AM »
Can anyone confirm whether they ask for ID for the companion pass cardholder?

My wife has companion pass, I'm thinking of flying with my daughter under my wife's name, with me being the companion.

Offline 12HRS

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #994 on: November 28, 2016, 06:39:51 AM »
Can anyone confirm whether they ask for ID for the companion pass cardholder?

My wife has companion pass, I'm thinking of flying with my daughter under my wife's name, with me being the companion.

They do check

Offline oiseli48

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #995 on: November 28, 2016, 07:19:40 AM »
They do check

They ask for the companion pass or id?
My daughter is 3, obviously doesn't need id

Offline dealtastic

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #996 on: November 28, 2016, 02:59:54 PM »
Boy that sucks. But thanks for the response.
So just to make sure I got this right: If the marriott business is NOT under 5/24 rule, does that mean I can still apply for it EVEN if I am already over 5/24? Or does it just mean that if I am not yet at 5/24 it wont count towards it?
Hope my question is clear enough... Thanks
All cards that show up on your personal credit report will count toward 5/24. The exception are Chase Business cards as they will still count toward 5/24 since Chase is the issuer.
Also keep in mind that even if a card is not under 5/24, it is not a guaranteed approval.

Offline bb1836

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #997 on: November 28, 2016, 04:43:19 PM »
They ask for the companion pass or id?
My daughter is 3, obviously doesn't need id
they want ID for anybody flying. even your 3 yr old. got a passport?
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Offline coralsnake

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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #998 on: November 28, 2016, 04:48:45 PM »
Im not advising breaking Federal, State, Local or any other laws. But when I flew with my 11 year old son as my companion nobody checked his ID.
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Re: Southwest Companion Pass Master Thread
« Reply #999 on: November 28, 2016, 05:04:24 PM »
That may be true, but I'd imagine there's more of an incentive to check ID of a supposed 3-year-old CP holder.
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