The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best deals in flying. It lets you fly with a friend for free on any Southwest trip for as long as the pass is valid and you pay the taxes and fees. For people who fly Southwest a lot, this can easily be worth thousands of dollars a year.
But how do you get this “golden ticket” to work? To get the pass for the rest of this year and all of next year, you must earn 135,000 tier qualifying points or take 100 qualifying flights in a single calendar year.
This is a lot of points to earn, but you can get a Companion Pass fast if you have a Southwest credit card with a welcome bonus. In this article, you will get all the information like how to use, how to get and offers on Southwest companion pass, and much more. So read the article till the end.
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The Southwest Companion Pass: How to Use It?
Southwest makes it very easy to use a Companion Pass once you’ve earned one. This is how:
Step 1: Set up your Companion Pass
- After you get a Companion Pass, Southwest should send you an email within a few days to tell you how proud they are of you. If you want to keep track of your progress in real-time, you can log in to your Rapid Rewards account on Southwest.com and see where you stand.
- When you get this email, click on the links to choose your first friend. You must have your friend’s full name (as it appears on their ID), date of birth, email address, and Rapid Rewards account number.
- You can also call Southwest to name your travel partner. But making the first choice is easy to do online, so there’s no reason to call for this step.
Step 2: Confirm flight availability for your entire traveling party
Now that you’ve chosen a travel partner, it’s time to book a flight where your travel partner can fly for free (minus taxes and fees). But before you book, it’s important to make sure there are enough places on the flight for everyone in your group. You can only add a Companion Pass fare if there is a place for sale.
For example, if you are traveling with a family of four and one person has a Companion Pass, you can look on Southwest.com for four places. Please keep in mind that all four places do not have to be in the same fare bucket. If only three Wanna Get Away fares are left, but there are also Anytime and Business Select tickets, your booking will work.
Step 3: Book flights for everyone other than your companion
- The next step in using your Companion Pass is to make ticket reservations for everyone in your traveling group except the companion. This means that if you have a family of four and Mom has a companion pass and Dad is the partner, you should book tickets for Mom and the two kids first. Don’t book Dad’s flights just yet.
- Most travelers will find booking flights online at Southwest.com easy, but you can also call Southwest phone agents and book tickets that way. With the Companion Pass, you can pay for these trips with cash or Rapid Rewards points. Either way works.
- If you pay cash for these tickets, don’t forget to add the Rapid Rewards numbers of everyone traveling with you to the reservation. There’s no reason to pass up opportunities to earn points, especially since Southwest lets even kids earn frequent flyer points.
Step 4: Make your companion’s flight booking
After you’ve made flights for everyone in your group except your travel partner, the next step is to book a flight for that person. You should book your friend immediately so you don’t lose the ticket availability you checked in Step 1. This is especially important for trips that often sell out, like the ones to and from Hawaii during Christmas.
- The person who has a Companion Pass (in this case, Mom) should go back to Southwest’s website and sign in to their Rapid Rewards account. Go to the “My Account” link at the top of the home page.
- On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a section called “My upcoming trips.” You should be able to see the flight ticket you just made and any other Southwest trips you have coming up there. If you have more than one flight booked, you’ll need to click the “See all trips” link to see them all.
- Under the information about your flight, there is a button that says “Add Companion.” Just click it.
- The flight details and the cost of taxes and fees are already in the “Trip & Price Details” section. That price is just $5.60 for your friend to fly on a local one-way trip.
- Click “Continue” to go to the next page, which has “Passenger & Payment Info.” You’ll find your friend’s name and other details that let you know who they are there. Since everything is already filled in, there isn’t much chance of making a mistake now.
- Last, you’ll be asked to pay the taxes and fees for confirming the companion’s ticket reservation. You can speed up the process using a credit card already in your account record.
After you learn how to use your Companion Pass for the first time, it only takes a minute or two to book a flight with it again. It’s really that easy. In the next paragraph, here’s how to get the pass and what to do with it once you’ve got it.
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How To Get The Companion Pass From Southwest?
- To get the Southwest Companion Pass, you must earn 135,000 Companion Pass-eligible points or take 100 qualifying one-way trips in a calendar year.
- You can earn qualifying points by flying with Southwest or by getting points with one of its many partners. This includes using the Southwest shopping site, booking hotels through partners of Southwest, and even using a Southwest credit card. The last choice is usually the easiest way to get the Companion Pass since you can earn points by spending money every day and welcome bonuses also count.
- Also, people with Southwest-branded credit cards immediately get 10,000 points toward a Companion Pass every year. This means that the minimum is cut down to 125,000 points per year.
Companion Pass Southwest’s Credit Card Offers%
Here’s a look at what’s available right now:
- When you open a Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card account and spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months, you’ll get 60,000 bonus points and a code for 30% off.
- When you open a Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card account and spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months, you’ll get 60,000 extra points and a code for 30% off.
- When you open a Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card account and spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months, you’ll get 60,000 bonus points and a special code for 30% off.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card: Get 60,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months after starting an account.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card: Get 80,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months after starting an account.
More Tips And Tricks For The Southwest Companion Pass
The Southwest Companion Pass is usually easy to use, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
You’ll Receive Different Confirmation Numbers
Everyone will have the same confirmation number when you book trips for a group or family. But if you have a Companion Pass, your friend will always get a different Southwest registration number than the rest of your group. Even though this isn’t a big deal, it can change how Southwest’s unique check-in policy is used.
Having two ticket numbers can slow you down when it’s time to check-in. To get a good spot on the plane, you need to check in exactly 24 hours before your flight. I suggest having two devices ready so that you and your friend can check in simultaneously. If you have one person check in first and then the other, you might miss out on some of the best spots on the plane.
You Must Call To Switch Partners
Southwest Companion Pass users should know that they can change their travel partner up to three times per year, but they have to call Southwest to do so. You can’t switch a partner online.
Southwest’s website says in small print that processing can take up to 21 working days. From what we’ve seen, the partner is always changed quickly. It will take some time for your new partner to get a new partner Pass card in the mail, but the change is usually made online within seconds.
Bottom line
It is easy to use the Southwest Companion Pass. And Southwest credit cards with bonuses make it easy to win. The Southwest Companion Pass is a great way to save money and explore more this year.
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