Southwest Companion Pass Credit Card Signup Bonus

[DopeyRunr]

If we were planning more travel this year, I'd almost certainly jump on this offer. 30,000 Rapid Rewards points isn't earth shaking, but a companion pass for 2019 is amazing.

https://points.theinventory.com/sout...bon-1831615926

[Micah008]

Yeah, I saw this yesterday too... a very good deal, and our companion pass just ended at the end of 2018. Too bad it is only until the end of 2019, not the end of 2020 like it would be earning Companion Pass the 'normal' way right now.

[ronnie2hotty]

Has anyone done this yet, or have any "real life" information on it? For example, pros, cons, etc. My wife and I have been doing some research on it trying to see if it would be worth it for us. We'll have AP's after June, and doing some "Disney math" makes this offer pretty tempting.

[DopeyRunr]

We had a Companion Pass for two years. It was awesome.

[beachta1]

Just qualified for companion pass in Dec. I want to fly places now just to use it!! My daughter is happy to have her own seat and I'm happy to have my own space on the flight!

[Anne]

It says only valid if you don't currently hold a southwest card and haven't gotten the sign up bonus in the last 24 months. It has been more than 24 months since I signed up, but I haven't canceled my southwest card. If I cancel and apply for a new card before the feb deadline will I get the sign up bonus?

[beachta1]

It says only valid if you don't currently hold a southwest card and haven't gotten the sign up bonus in the last 24 months. It has been more than 24 months since I signed up, but I haven't canceled my southwest card. If I cancel and apply for a new card before the feb deadline will I get the sign up bonus?

I'd contact them and ask!

[jdn0018]

If I were to buy one ticket today, could I add my companion's ticket in 2-3 months when the companion pass has been added to my account?

[George]

If I were to buy one ticket today, could I add my companion's ticket in 2-3 months when the companion pass has been added to my account?

Absolutely. You can add whenever you want, as long as there are seats available to sell. The companion will get a later boarding, but so what?

[Anne]

Ugh! So the companion pass for a year is turning into April at the earliest (and maybe later).

Does anyone know how long it takes from the statement date where you meet the minimum spend to when the companion pass shows up in your account and can be used?

Long story but we messed up and our minimum spend won't post/be counted until our 4/8 statement date. We have a flight on 4/18 already booked. But we'd obviously prefer to change one to a free companion pass and be credited back the miles we used to book initially. Is there any chance of this working? The other issue is 10 days in advance (if the pass even becomes available immediately) will there even be a flight available to re-book? Can the companion be used on any of the fares or does it have to be the same fare type (so if we booked wanna get away there still needs to be wanna get away left)? As of now several wanna get away flights on that date are already sold out so I'm not holding out a lot of hope on this.

[DopeyRunr]

I believe as long as there's a seat on the flight you can use a CP. You should call the credit card company and ask when they will credit the miles and CP (in case those are two different dates). Also check to see if you'll earn the miles faster if you pay the balance before the statement date. I don't think that's how it works but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Until 4/18 there's still hope!

[Anne]

That is at least good news. Thank you! I called both Chase and Southwest. Chase said they only communicate once per month with Southwest and they will not notify them the spend is met or transfer the miles until our next statement which is 4/8. We paid off the balance today but they said that makes no difference, they have no mechanism in place to communicate outside of monthly statements that generate automatic communication between the two. I asked if we could move our statement date in April earlier. They said due to "federal regulations" they can only move it later, not earlier. They can't bump out our March statement later to try and capture the charges we made on the 7th because it posted yesterday and they already transferred March's miles to Southwest. They can't "undo" the statement. Southwest said they can't do anything until Chase notifies them. The person we got at Southwest said she mostly works with booking flights so she doesn't really know how long after the statement date the companion pass shows up. The miles are there within a day. I could have asked for someone else at Southwest who might have the answer, but by that point had had enough transfers and times on hold. And knowing the answer doesn't really change anything at this point. It will either be there or it won't.

[Micah008]

If I remember correctly the Companion Pass shows up immediately when the points are there, which should be on the statement date. You then just need to call and get a person assigned as your companion, and then they can book that flight. I would think you can get it all done on 4/8 or at least 4/9.

And, I believe DopeyRunr is right, as long as there is at least 1 seat left to book on that flight it can be booked as a Companion... no matter how much $$ or points it would normally be.

[Anne]

Good news! It all worked out. One day later than expected but the miles and companion pass posted today. This morning there were only 2 seats left and I was watching it all day until the companion pass showed up late afternoon. Both Chris and Micah are correct, it didn't matter that the wanna get away fare was sold out. Thanks for all the help!

[mgarbowski]

Yay!

[DopeyRunr]

Awesome! I hope you get lots of usage out of it!