Renewing My Southwest Companion Pass for Next 2 Years Works Out Anyway!

Renewing My Southwest Companion Pass 

for Next 2 Years Works Out

The new year rolled in with my plans in place to extend my Southwest Companion Pass through the end of 2018. I first obtained a Companion Pass in 2014. My companion and I have really enjoyed the phenomenal benefits ever since and extending it topped my points & miles 'to do' list.

Companion Pass refresher,

-  Designate one person to fly with you unlimited times in same class per Companion Pass terms and only pay the taxes.

- To qualify, either fly 100 paid segments or earn 110,000 qualifying Rapid Rewards point in a calendar year

- Once earned, Companion Pass is valid for the remainder of current year and all of the following year. 

- My flight can be a paid flight OR booked with points. Companion only pays flight taxes.

I qualified via the points route.

In the past Southwest Rapid Rewards rules have allowed several strategies for accumulating 110,000 points. My plan this time involved transferring 120,000 points to Rapid Rewards from my Marriott Rewards account by means of obtaining a Hotel + Air Package, option 3. This package will give me 7 nights in a Marriott hotel AND enough Rapid Rewards points to quickly re-qualify for the Companion Pass. I had already researched Marriott properties and their categories and decided to go with a  Category 7 Marriott 7 night Air & Travel Package for 330,000 Marriott Rewards points. 

However, even the best laid plans can go awry. News broke on The Points Guy that Southwest had changed their rules and no longer allowed hotel point transfers to count toward Companion Pass qualification. Then in a twist 4 days later Southwest changed their policy again to allow partner points transfers to count toward Companion Pass qualification until March 31, 2017. After that, point transfers will not count for qualification.

Not wanting to chance Southwest changing the rules again, I called Marriott and booked my Category 7 Marriott 7 night Air & Travel Package as soon as I heard. The points were deducted from my Marriott Rewards account immediately and what I actually received from Marriott was an E-Certificate for a 7 Night Travel Package for any Category 7 Hotel.

The Marriott phone rep told me the 120,000 points would take 2-3 days to show up in my Rapid Rewards account.

Two days later I checked my Southwest Rapid Rewards account and the Marriott 120,000 point transfer had posted. From previous experience I knew it would take a few more days for Southwest to process and allow me to activate/designate my Companion online. Wednesday morning I received an email confirming Companion Pass qualification. I logged onto my Rapid Rewards account and added my wife as companion.

Next, I went through each of the six upcoming flights I already had booked with points on Southwest for myself and used the Add Companion option to add my wife. With each of her fights I only had to pay the taxes. For domestic flights this tax is $5.60 per flight. I paid the taxes using a $100 Southwest e-Gift Card I had purchased with the $200 annual airline credit on my AmEx Platinum Business card.

Reminders & personal guidelines when booking on Southwest:

- I always book my flight with Rapid Reward points.

- I book my companion with the Add Companion option ala the Companion Pass

- I always book One Way flights. 

- When Southwest announces a fare sale I check to see if I can re-book for fewer points. Every point counts!

- I pay the taxes with Southwest Gift Cards I purchase using airline travel reimbursement credits.

- 2 checked bags/person at no charge

- Flights can be cancelled up to 10 minutes before departure without penalty.

So if you have a stash of Marriott or Starwood points and can benefit from a Companion Pass don't delay! You have until March 31, 2017 to use this avenue to earn a Companion Pass.

If you feel you benefit from this blog and are considering applying for a credit card please email me at 4points2miles@gmail.com for  an application link. I will send what I believe to be the best sign up bonus currently available, regardless of whether or not I will receive a referral bonus. Thanks!