Southwest Companion Pass is back. Get it quick. [Deadline 3/31/17]

[dioxide45]

Now that i have a companion pass good through 12-31-18, has anyone examined the program after that date? Will there be an option to transfer a lower number of MRP's toward the needed threshold or do I need to plan my major charges on my Southwest Credit Card?

Transfers will no longer qualify. Many of the people that have Companion Pass now will no longer have it after 12/31/2018.

You can transfer purchases to the Southwest credit card where the points will still count toward CP, but you would have to spend a lot of money in a year to get to the threshold. You can also start flying Southwest by paying for the seats. Of course, this probably won't work except for those with a lot of business travel.

Basically the gravy train will end...

 

[mdurette]

Now that i have a companion pass good through 12-31-18, has anyone examined the program after that date? Will there be an option to transfer a lower number of MRP's toward the needed threshold or do I need to plan my major charges on my Southwest Credit Card?

We have held a SW CP for a number of years. Credit card usage and partner activity (mainly their shopping portal) and occasional Chase SW credit card sign up bonus is how we did it. If the CP still around in 2018 I plan to go back to that method to earn it. I have already cancelled our SW credit cards in hopes there will be sign up bonus then give us a boost.

There is nothing you can do now to start earning for 2019/2020 CP. The earnings need to happen within that year.

 

[elleny76]

Hi 2 questions" 1)If I get my companion pass can I book one way instead of roundtrip?

2.) Can I transfer points from any chase cc to southwest to make the 100k points?

Thanks

 

[tschwa2]

Transferring from Chase won't get the companion pass. You have to transfer from Chase to Marriott and then to southwest and it has to be done before the end of this month. I had to use 235,000 Marriott points to get a 1-5 5 day hotel cert (which I will upgrade and extend later) and 120,000 southwest points. I used the 100,000 sign up Chase points to supplement my existing Marriott points.

You can book one way to using the companion pass.

 

[AlmostRetired]

Marriott had a Travel Package at one point for 400K points (do not remember exact amount), you can get 4 round trip tickets anywhere American flew. 2 weeks at any hotel and a free car rental 1 week car rental. we did 3 weeks visiting London, Paris, Madrid and Malaga. This SW package should be a much much better deal by the time 12/31/18 comes along. So far I did 4 round trip tickets to Aruba covering my wife, my 2 sons and I in August. My wife and I are going to Punta Cana in April. I did all this with the points from the travel package and moving 25K points from Chase to SW. We are looking to go to Cuba or LA this summer. Other than Chicago, Denver and Phoenix, the middle of the US is uncharted territory for my wife and I...a lot of SW landing spots.

 

[dioxide45]

Marriott had a Travel Package at one point for 400K points (do not remember exact amount), you can get 4 round trip tickets anywhere American flew. 2 weeks at any hotel and a free car rental 1 week car rental. we did 3 weeks visiting London, Paris, Madrid and Malaga. This SW package should be a much much better deal by the time 12/31/18 comes along. So far I did 4 round trip tickets to Aruba covering my wife, my 2 sons and I in August. My wife and I are going to Punta Cana in April. I did all this with the points from the travel package and moving 25K points from Chase to SW. We are looking to go to Cuba or LA this summer. Other than Chicago, Denver and Phoenix, the middle of the US is uncharted territory for my wife and I...a lot of SW landing spots.

So the SW companion pass may save you money on airfare, but you spend more on vacations, food, lodging...

 

[AlmostRetired]

So the SW companion pass may save you money on airfare, but you spend more on vacations, food, lodging...

No question about that. This is where my timeshares come in to a certain extent. I rented my Oceanfront Monarch that will pay for the all inclusive in Punta Cana. I split up my EOY Grand Chateau and traded the one bedroom for a two bedroom at the Surf in Aruba. My second Monarch I have for rent and trade to Newport. If I rent it is Cuba or trade LA... I still have the 5 night from the package and 289k points. I got the Chase Card for 100,000 points..or 150,000 used for traveling. .So I hope to take advantage of this even if it means vacation cost cutting in 2019. My grandmother use to say...men plan g-d laughs...hopefully no laughing is going on.

 

[winger]

... the middle of the US is uncharted territory for my wife and I...a lot of SW landing spots.

Good luck narrowing down the list of where you want to go! You may NEED A VACATION(S) after those exercises, depending how elaborate your end result(s) involve. Long story short, we ended up doing a cross country trip two summers ago and the SWA CP was one very instrumental part in making that happen - it could be considered 'a trip of a lifetime' with all the places visited but it took ALOT of work and involved MANY moving pieces.

 

[breezez]

Got mine this week! Took 70K SPG converted to 210K MR points, combined with 60K additional points in MR account. Called and ordered the 7 night stay w/ 120K rapid rewards points. Took 3 days for points to show in Rapid Rewards account and get the Congrats you have earned Companion pass. The great thing it's good all this year and next year.

So here is the really cool thing did the same thing last year on my wife's account so she got companion pass on our daughter good for all last year and this year. Now I have one on my wife. So I get a ticket for me, and both my wife and daughter go free! Heck the 120K award points are worth about 3-4 round trip tickets so imagine 3-4 round trip trips for 3 people for free. Got to love Southwest!

 

[tschwa2]

Per the rules I don't think you can book a companion pass on top of a companion pass- only a paid flight or a reward flight.

The Companion Pass allows the Member to designate an individual to fly with the Member (such designated individual, the “Companion”) on Southwest Airlines flights purchased by the Member and booked through Southwest Airlines during the Companion Pass validity period. A Companion's reservation is not considered a purchased flight, and therefore, another Companion Pass reservation cannot be booked from it.

 

[mdurette]

So here is the really cool thing did the same thing last year on my wife's account so she got companion pass on our daughter good for all last year and this year. Now I have one on my wife. So I get a ticket for me, and both my wife and daughter go free! Heck the 120K award points are worth about 3-4 round trip tickets so imagine 3-4 round trip trips for 3 people for free. Got to love Southwest!

Would be nice, but that won't work. If your wife is flying as your companion, your daughter cannot fly as hers.

 

[dioxide45]

I think @breezez is saying that they already did this? Perhaps last year too?

 

[BocaBoy]

I think @breezez is saying that they already did this? Perhaps last year too?

I think he was saying that they also used a MR travel package last year to get his wife a Southwest Companion Pass, not that they got 3 passengers for the price of one.

 

[dioxide45]

I think he was saying that they also used a MR travel package last year to get his wife a Southwest Companion Pass, not that they got 3 passengers for the price of one.

Not sure that is the case.

So I get a ticket for me, and both my wife and daughter go free!

Sounds like buy one get two free...

 

[AlmostRetired]

There is a accumulative benefit of using Chase points to booking Southwest when combining it with the companion pass. Reminder...when using Chase Sapphire points for travel, the normal 1 point = 1 cent goes to 1 point goes to 1.5 cent when used for travel.

When I was looking at flights to a Punta Cana from NY, because it was so close to travel (April), the fares were expensive ( points or purchase). I am new to both the SW and Chase programs so I thought I would test case both by looking at airfares using JetBlue and Southwest to see if the added travel point benefit of Chase came with a airfare penalty.

JetBlue using Chase points. If the airfare was 600 per ticket one way on JetBlue, Chase had that ticket for 650. They explained this as all companies use the same system when using points and it might be more expensive than what you can get from the airline direct. It was stressed that this is not always the case. So cost was about 86,000 Chase points or $860 for both tickets instead of $1300. Still a good value.

Southwest using Chase points. The only airfare on Southwest was business select and the cost with Southwest was $525. When I called up Chase, they have no automated system for Southwest so they had to call. The airfare was exactly the same as I found. To get this fare, it cost me 35000 points or $350 since a point becomes 1.5 cents for travel. I was given the Southwest reservation number by Chase. When I went onto the Southwest website to add the companion ticket, I couldn't because I forgot to have Chase enter my repaid rewards number in the reservation. I called SW up. They entered the number and I made the companion reservation. SW actually considers the ticket as a purchase not a point ticket. If by chance I cancel, I get the $550 as credit to my account. I changed from using 49,900 SW points for 2 tickets (one companions) from NY to Punta Cana to using 35,000 Chase points or $350. This is $175 per ticket.

A few points...
business select used for a ticket becomes a regular non priority boarding ticket for the companion pass. business select has no comfort value so it is a meaningless point.
If I transferred Chase points to Southwest points it goes over as point for point so 35,000 Chase points would go over as 35,000 Rapid Reward points. This would not have booked me the flight.
Since Chase calls SW, they get the same pricing for tickets as we would. The other airlines it MIGHT cost a little more given the system is automated.

 

[breezez]

In the past my wife and I would both get companion passes toward the beginning of the year so we could get benefits for close to two years. Each one of us would list one daughter as companion so we have been able to do a lot of family of four traveling for the price of two. One child has flew the coop so this year I assumed when I got the award again I would list my wife and since she already has my one daughter listed as her companion then it would be a buy one get 2 free deal. You actual do pay 11.20 for the free flights. I have not picked my wife as a companion yet so I have asked Southwest to clarify. My daughters boyfriend is going on some trips with us this year and I'll list him if I can't do a companion on top of a companion.

I'll keep you posted.... On a side note I have been able to get the pass 3 times between my wife and I just using sign up bonus and monthly spend.... For those of you looking at moving a bunch of UR points to MR for this a cheaper approach might be moving to Hyatt then to Southwest 20K Hyatt points move as 25K Southwest RapidReward points.

 

[mdurette]

Your daughter's boyfriend is one lucky man! From SW T&C

The Companion Pass allows the Member to designate an individual to fly with the Member (such designated individual, the “Companion”) on Southwest Airlines flights purchased by the Member and booked through Southwest Airlines during the Companion Pass validity period. A Companion's reservation is not considered a purchased flight, and therefore, another Companion Pass reservation cannot be booked from it.

 

[Quimby4]

HELP!!
I think I still have time to do this.
SPG 30k = Marriott 90K
Transfer 75k Chase UR to Marriott
Buy 5 night Cat 5 , 50K SW = 165,000 Marriott
I will have to open a SW credit card to get the other 50K
I have 11k in existing SW account towards CP

Can I upgrade the Marriott Category at a later date and time? I dont have enough for Cat 6 or 7 at this point.

Any thoughts on this strategy?

 

[dsmrp]

HELP!!
I think I still have time to do this.
SPG 30k = Marriott 90K
Transfer 75k Chase UR to Marriott
Buy 5 night Cat 5 , 50K SW = 165,000 Marriott
I will have to open a SW credit card to get the other 50K
I have 11k in existing SW account towards CP

Can I upgrade the Marriott Category at a later date and time? I dont have enough for Cat 6 or 7 at this point.

Any thoughts on this strategy?

I think the SW credit card points might be your stickler.
Don't you have to do some $$ spend before they give you the 50K points?
With my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I didn't get the bonus UR points until after I paid my month's statement. Suggest you check with the bank that issues the SW card, if there's a way to expedite getting the SW points.

Yes, many have said you can upgrade the hotel category later with more MRs.
(I haven't done it yet because this was my first one )
I'd give it at least 3 days for SW to process your Marriott travel package pts after you purchase.
So suggest you buy the travel package by no later than March 27 with 1 day leeway for processing delays. Probably better to aim for March 23 or 24

Good luck!

 

[dsmrp]

Would it be faster to buy SPG points than get a SW card?
I think last week there was a 30% off "sale" for certain SPG members.

 

[Quimby4]

I think the SW credit card points might be your stickler.
Don't you have to do some $$ spend before they give you the 50K points?
With my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I didn't get the bonus UR points until after I paid my month's statement. Suggest you check with the bank that issues the SW card, if there's a way to expedite getting the SW points.

Yes, many have said you can upgrade the hotel category later with more MRs.
(I haven't done it yet because this was my first one )
I'd give it at least 3 days for SW to process your Marriott travel package pts after you purchase.
So suggest you buy the travel package by no later than March 27 with 1 day leeway for processing delays. Probably better to aim for March 23 or 24

Good luck!

I can take a little time with the SW credit card. I just need to earn the 50K from the Marriott package by March 31st for the points to counts towards the CP.
I can earn the other 50K in April and get the CP then.

Im just not sure that the 30K SPG and 75k Chase UR is a good use of point to get the CP and 5 night Marriott Cat 5. Def gonna need to upgrade to Cat 6 or 7.

Also, the predicament of using the Hotel Certificate within 12 months....

 

[breezez]

HELP!!
I think I still have time to do this.
SPG 30k = Marriott 90K
Transfer 75k Chase UR to Marriott
Buy 5 night Cat 5 , 50K SW = 165,000 Marriott
I will have to open a SW credit card to get the other 50K
I have 11k in existing SW account towards CP

Can I upgrade the Marriott Category at a later date and time? I dont have enough for Cat 6 or 7 at this point.

Any thoughts on this strategy?

You won't get sign up bonus in time. However you can buy SPG and Marriott points if need be to get the rest not the best value but if converting to the air / night package it's worth it, especially if getting companion pass and plan on using it. Your spouse can also buy points and you can move between accounts without a fee.

 

[breezez]

Also if you live close to a Marriot Vacation Club call say your interested in learning about them. They generally give you a 3 night 4 day stay in 1 BR on mainland for $199.00 if you push it you can generally get 25K MR points for the visit after sitting through 90 minute sales presentation. Just Say No... Or wear a TUG shirt to speed the presentation up.

This to can take a few weeks so these may not show up in time. So buying points still might be better.

 

[breezez]

Some quick math is it worth buying SPG points to get there. SPG special currently 30K points for $735 if you and spouse do it that is 60K SPG points for $1470. Move points to one account then transfer to MR 1:3 ratio 60K SPG = 180K MR points. You can buy MR points for .0125 cents max 50K per account. So 50K in one account $625 and 40K in spouse account is $500. Plus $10 fee to move them all to one of your accounts.

Total to buy SPG and MR and merge all together in 1 account for a total of 270K MR points $2605 if you need to buy all 270K points for 7 night Air/Stay deal. Cost less if only going for 5 night deal.

Southwest value 120K points = $1714 in free air fair for you and a minimum of $1714 in free air fair for your companion as long as you take them. So at a minimum that is $3428 minimum in free air fair on SW plus you get a 7 night stay up to cat 5 hotel.

If you earn the pass this month it's good till 12/31/18. We Vacation 5+ times a year so to me it's a no brainer if you travel a lot in areas of SW destinations buy the points if you will make at least 4 trips for 2 before 12/31/18

 

[Mr. Vker]

This CP is going to cost me a fortune in 2017/2018. My wife printed a copy of the SWA route maps. We live 30 mins from a major SW hub-BWI. She's picking/planning every trip she can. Thank goodness they only book out 4-6 months or my head might explode. In all seriousness, its a lot of fun having this. Getting my ticket very cheap in some cases and hers for free. Unfortunately, we then have to eat and sleep on arrival.