Southwest Companion PassHow to Get One and Maximize It

Chicago Seminars 2014Scott GrimmerMileValue.com

What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

If you have the Companion Pass, every time you fly Southwest, your designated companion can fly the same flights for just government taxes

Lasts until the end of the next calendar year

Couple without Companion Pass

Two people to Seattle for the weekend would cost $720

Couple with Companion Pass

Same Flights for 21,600 points + $22 One passenger booked with points + $11,

companion for just $11

Total Savings

110,000 points redeemed with a Companion Pass is worth over $3,100 in free flights

Where Southwest Flies

How to Get the Companion Pass

100 paid one way trips OR 110,000 “qualifying points” in one calendar year

What Are Qualifying Points

There are three ways to earn qualifying points:

(1)“from revenue flights booked through Southwest Airlines”

(2) “points issued on Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Cards”

(3)“points earned from Rapid Rewards Partners”

What Are NOT Qualifying Points

Direct Ultimate Rewards transfers to Southwest points do NOT count toward the 110,000 points you need to earn to get a Companon Pass

If they did, this presentation would be a lot shorter

Rapid Rewards Credit Cards

(1) Plus Personal(2) Premier Personal(3) Plus Business(4) Premier Business

All issued by Chase

Plus = $69 Annual Fee & 3,000 Point Retention Bonus

Premier = $99 Annual Fee & 6,000 Point Retention Bonus

Basic Rules for Chase Credit Cards

You can definitely get one Chase personal and business card on the same dayYou can definitely get two Chase personal cards on the same day (lower success rate)You can definitely get each of the four Southwest cards over time without canceling anyYou can get the bonus on a Chase card once every 24 monthsBusiness cards are getting harder to get

The 110k Qualifying Points Strategy in 2 Easy Steps

(1) Get two Southwest Credit Cards, each with a 50k point bonus, and meet their minimum spending requirements

(2) Get the last 6k points from one of a dozen ways

The 110k Strategy: Step 1

Step 1: Two of these for the first 104k 50k bonus + 2k spending + 50k bonus + 2k

spending = 104k qualifying points

My Recommendation

Get 1 personal and 1 business Southwest credit card on the same day

If you can't get business: get 2 personal 91+ days apart

Where to Find 50k Offers

MileValue.com (sign up to receive one free daily email of posts)

This FlyerTalk thread (wiki at top of every page and last few pages of thread)

This FlyerTalk thread for referrals

The 110k Strategy: Step 2

We are 6k points short of Companion Pass

The easiest ways to get the last 6k points are spending $6k more on a Rapid Rewards Credit Card or a Hyatt transfer or a dozen other ways

The 110k Strategy: Step 2a

Spend $6,000 more on either of your new Southwest credit cards

50k bonus + 2k spending + 50k bonus + 2k spending = 104k

$6k extra spending = 6k 104k + 6k = Companion Pass

The 110k Strategy: Step 2b

Transfer 12,500 Hyatt points to 6,000 Rapid Rewards at this link

If you don't have Hyatt points, get them from an instant 1:1 Ultimate Rewards transfer

The 110k Strategy: Step 2c

There are a dozen other ways to get the last 6k Qualifying Points

Flying Southwest Dining Portal Purchases Other Hotel Transfers

Maximizing the Companion Pass:Get it in January

Companion Pass is valid until the end of the calendar year after you earn it.

Get it today, and the Companion Pass is good for 14 months

Get it in January 2015 and the Companion Pass is good for 24 months

Time your 50k bonuses to hit in January by waiting until after your December statement closes to start spending on your credit cards

Maximizing the Companion Pass:Use All Four of Your Companions

“Member may change his/her designated Companion and request issuance of a new Companion Pass up to three (3) times... on southwest.com or by calling 1-800-435-9792.”

Wife Mistress (change 1) Divorce attorney (change 2) Ex-Wife (change 3)

Maximizing the Companion Pass:Both Parents for Both Kids

Husband designates older kid Wife designates younger kid 4 tickets for the price of 2 (or 0 if you used

points for the parents' tickets)

Maximizing the Companion Pass:Positioning Flights for Other Awards At the MileValue Award Booking Service, we

occasionally book awards where we find international award space but no award space to the international gateway

Maximizing the Companion Pass:International Flights

FAQ: Effect of Canceling Cards

Canceling your Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards will NOT affect your Companion Pass or Rapid Rewards balance

See Complete Guide: Miles & Points Expiration

FAQ: How Does Ticket Booking Actually Work

After your ticket is purchased with cash or points, you then manually add your companion online or by phone

FAQ: Does Pass Work in Reverse?

If my designated companion has a ticket, can I fly for free?

Nope. Choose who earns the Companion Pass wisely.

FAQ: Does Companion Earn Points

A Companion does not earn points on his flight. You only earn points by flying Southwest when

you pay cash for your ticket.

FAQ: Companion's Companion

If you are flying as a companion, you cannot also designate a companion.

No companion chains :(

FAQ: Who Can Buy the Paid Ticket?

Anyone can book anyone else a ticket on Southwest with his cash or points.

For instance, a designated companion could use his own points to book his sponsor a ticket, thus giving the companion a free ticket.

FAQ: Track Progress Toward Pass

Does X count as a qualifying point? How many qualifying points do I have? Log in to your Southwest account

through this link

FAQ: Quote on Southwest.com

Used to be a scary quote on Southwest.com about bonuses not counting toward 110k qualifying points

“Points purchased for personal use or as a gift, transferred points, points earned from program enrollment, tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and Rapid Rewards Partner bonuses (with the exception of the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase) do not count toward Companion Pass status.”

Southwest Tips: Fee-Free

No change fees (fare difference applies) No cancellation fees (must actually cancel) Two free checked bags per person

Southwest Tips: Better Boarding #

Pay $12.50 for one person in your party to get “EarlyBird Check-In”

Checkintomyflight.com was shut down by Southwest, so set an alarm on your phone for 24 hours before your flight

Southwest Tips: Move Up on Stops

“1 stop No Plane Change” means you can change seats while on the ground

Southwest Tips: Prices Go Up

Prices go up pretty regularly one week out, two weeks out, and three weeks out on Southwest flights

Southwest Tips: Rebook on Sales

There is no change or cancellation fee on Southwest bookings.

If you book a ticket, monitor that day/route for sales to rebook and get a credit back if the price drops

Southwest Tips: Points > Dollars

If you book a cash ticket on Southwest and later cancel or change to a cheaper ticket, you get a Southwest travel voucher good for one year in lieu of cash as a “refund”

If you book a ticket with points and later cancel/change, you get back the points. Basically a true refund.

Southwest Tips: Hidden City Ticketing

Right Now

(1) Get Premier ($99) Personal and Business

(2) Do not meet minimum spending requirement until after December statement closes

(3) Use your preferred method to get last 6k+ points

(4) Have Companion Pass for all of 2015 and 2016

Right Now: Get 2x 50k Offers

50k offer on Premier Personal Card ($99 annual fee) (landing page)

50k offer? Premier Business Card ($99 annual fee) (not confirmed)

800-278-4370 to apply for Premier Business Card (confirmed)

Right Now: Don't Meet Min Spend

Do NOT meet their minimum spending requirements until after the December statement closes

Wait until January if you have any doubts because you don't want to screw this up

Right Now: Get Last 6k

$6k more spending Hyatt transfer

Right Now: 2 Years of Companion Pass

Recap

With a few easy steps, you can get $3,142 worth of travel on Southwest:

(1) Open two of the Southwest 50k cards on the same day.(2) Meet the minimum spending requirement on each in 2015.(3) Then get the last 6,000 points needed to get to 110,000 qualifying points and a free Companion Pass on Southwest through the end of 2016 for $6,000 in spending or 13,000 Ultimate Rewards.(4) Designate a companion to fly for $5.60 per direction on Southwest every time you fly on Southwest, whether you’re flying a paid ticket or an award.

Key Links 50k offer on Premier Personal Card ($99

annual fee) (landing page) 800-278-4370 to apply for Premier Business

Card (confirmed) MileValue.com (sign up to receive

one free daily email of posts) This FlyerTalk thread collects the 50k offers This FlyerTalk thread for referrals MileValue post on how to get Companion Pass