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Million Mile Secrets reader Jay (thanks!) writes in to confirm that the bonus from the Chase Southwest credit cards counted towards his Companion Pass in Jan 2012!
“So I checked again last night and BINGO…not only did the points post but THEY COUNTED TOWARDS the Companion Pass!!! I was pretty happy to say the least.
I only have one problem now. I still need 9,479 points to reach the needed amount.
Do you or any of your readers know of any other ways to get the 9,479 points I need to reach Companion Pass Status without having to make $9479 worth of purchases? Can anyone confirm if the purchased points do indeed not count towards the Companion Pass?
Thanks for all your help and feel free to let others know that the bonus points are still working in 2012!”
The Southwest Companion Pass is the best airline perk because it lets a companion travel with you for free whenever you travel on Southwest. It doesn’t matter if your flight is booked with points or paid for with cash – your companion flies free!
You need 110,000 Companion Pass qualifying points in a calendar year to qualify for the Companion Pass. I earned my Companion Pass in 2011 from 2 Chase Southwest credit card sign-up bonuses of 50,000 points each and from transferring hotel points to earn the balance 10,000 points.
I was concerned that the 50,000 point credit card sign-up bonus would NOT count towards the Companion Pass in 2012 (does Southwest really want folks to fly for free just because they applied for 2 credit cards?!), but it appears that, for now, the credit card sign-up bonus is counting towards the Companion Pass. Whew!
You can’t earn Southwest Airline Companion Pass Qualifying points by buying Southwest points, but you can earn them in a few other ways.
A lot of these ways are not technically supposed to be allowed according to the program terms and conditions, but they are working for now.
How to Check How Many Companion Pass Qualifying Points You Have?
You can check how many points you have towards the Companion Pass by clicking this link and signing into your Southwest account.
Cheapest Way
The cheapest way to get the extra 6,000 points needed for the Companion Pass (assuming you got 100,000 points from 2 Chase Southwest credit cards & $2,000 in spending on each one) is by buying 18,000 Choice hotel points for $198 and converting them to 5,400 Southwest Airline points.
6,000 Southwest points are worth $100 towards the cheapest Wanna Get Away Fares, so you are paying an extra $98 ($198 for 18,000 Choice Points – $ 167 worth of Southwest points) to get to Companion Pass status as soon as possible.
$98 is less than the price of 1 cheap round trip ticket, so it could be worth paying just to get the extra points needed for the Companion Pass, if you will be taking a flight with your companion soon.
1. Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Chase Ultimate Rewards points (the loyalty program of certain Chase credit cards) can now be transferred to Southwest Airline points if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Ink Bold cards, but Mommy Points confirmed that these do NOT count towards the Companion Pass.
So while you can transfer points to top off for an award on Southwest Airlines, these points will not count towards Companion Pass Status.
Transfer Ultimate Rewards Points to Hyatt or Marriott and then to Southwest
But you CAN first transfer points from Chase Ultimate rewards to either Hyatt or Marriott hotels, and then you can transfer Hyatt or Marriott points to Southwest Airlines.
However the transfer ratio is NOT 1:1, so you will “lose” some Ultimate Rewards points, but this is totally worth it to get a companion to fly with you for free for close to 2 years!
Transfer to Hyatt and then to Southwest Airlines
For example, you can transfer 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points to 20,000 Hyatt points and from Hyatt you can transfer 20,000 Hyatt points to 9,600 Southwest Airline points.
5,000 Hyatt points transfers into 2,400 Southwest Airline points, but you have to transfer in increments of 1,250 points and start with a transfer of 5,000 Hyatt points.
However, Hyatt offers a 5,000 bonus if you transfer 50,000 points, so you could transfer 50,000 Hyatt points and get 29,000 Southwest Airline points.
Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt and then to Southwest is a better deal than transferring them to Marriott (see below) since you need fewer Ultimate Rewards points to get 10,000 Southwest points.
Transfer to Marriott and then to Southwest Airlines
You could also transfer 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points to 30,000 Marriott Points and from Marriott you could transfer 30,000 points for 10,000 Southwest Airline points.
2. American Express Membership Rewards Points
American Express Membership Rewards points (the loyalty program of certain American Express credit cards) can NOT be transferred directly to Southwest Airlines.
Transfer to Choice hotels and then to Southwest
But you can transfer 30,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 Choice hotel points and then transfer 30,000 Choice hotel points to 9,000 Southwest points.
3. Hotel Transfers
If you have points in certain hotel programs, you can transfer them to Southwest to get the extra 10,000 points needed for the Companion Pass or you could just buy the points needed and transfer them to Southwest.
I have had personal success with transferring Wyndham and Choice hotel points to Southwest and having them count towards the Companion Pass status, but don’t have personal experience with the other programs.
I suspect that they do currently count towards the Companion Pass status, but you may want to transfer a small amount first to confirm that they do count towards the Companion Pass before making a larger transfer.
It took from 1 day to 11 days to transfer the points in my experience.
a. Best Western
5,000 points convert to 1,200 Southwest points, so you’d need 25,000 Best Western points to earn 6,000 Southwest points.
You can buy points at $10 per 1,000 points, so 25,000 Best Western points would cost $250 to buy.
b. Choice Hotels
6,000 points convert to 1,800 Southwest points, so you’d need 33,333 Choice hotel points to get 10,000 Southwest Airline points.
But you can buy miles at $11 per 1,000 points, but are limited to only 20,000 points per year. So you’d need $198 to buy 18,000 Choice points (points are transferable only in multiples of 6,000) or 5,400 Southwest Airline miles.
This is the cheapest way among all the options to get extra ~6,000 Southwest points for the Companion Pass.
c. Hyatt
5,000 points convert to 2,400 Southwest points, so you’d need 15,000 Hyatt points to get 7,200 Southwest Airline points.
You can buy 15,000 Hyatt points for $360.
d. Marriott
The rate varies, but 30,000 points convert to 10,000 Southwest points.
You can buy 30,000 Marriott points for $375.
e. Wyndham
8,000 points convert to 2,400 Southwest points, so you’d need 24,000 Wyndham points to get 7,200 Southwest points, because points transfers can only be made in increments of 8,000 points.
You can buy 8,000 Wyndham points for $88. So you’d spend $264 to buy 24,000 points Wyndham points which can be transferred to 7,200 Southwest points.
4. Dining
Earn 300 points after enrolling in the dining program and spending at least $25. I don’t have personal experience with this, but am curious to learn more from readers.
Ali comments that the 300 bonus for the dining program does not count toward the Companion Pass, but miles earned from dining does.
5. Car Rental
Southwest Airlines has numerous promotions for earning miles through rental car partners.
I do know that a previous rental earned me 600 points towards the companion pass status.
6. Flowers
Teleflora offers 1,000 Southwest points on flower purchases of $29.99. However, you don’t earn miles on the delivery charges.
7. Hotel Stays
Many hotels offer 600 Southwest miles bonus per stay, so it could make sense to earn Southwest miles for a few of your hotel stays.
8. Southwest credit card
Points earned from spending on your Southwest credit card do count towards the Companion Pass status.
To qualify for the Companion Pass, it may make sense to pay a convenience fee (~3%) to get the extra points needed for the Companion Pass. I don’t normally recommend paying a fee to use your credit card, but it could make sense to meet the minimum spending required for a sign-up bonus or for the Southwest Companion Pass.
You can use your credit card to pay your mortgage, pay your taxes, pay your rent, and pay your college tuition bill.
If you’re looking for more ways to spend money on your credit card, check out the 40+ ways to meet the minimum spending on your credit card.
9. Flying
You also earn Companion Qualifying points by flying on Southwest.
You earn 12 points per $1 on Business Select fares, 10 points per $1 on Anytime fares, and 6 points per $1 on Wanna Get Away fares.
You’d need to spend $833 in Business Select fares, $1,000 in Anytime fares or $1,667 in Wanna Get Away fares to earn 10,000 Southwest points.
10. E-Rewards
Reader Ali confims that transfers from e-rewards count towards the companion pass. But it is cumbersome to fill out e-rewards survey.
Bottom Line: The credit card sign-up bonus is still counting towards the Southwest Companion Pass, and it may be worth it to transfer points into your Southwest account to get to the 110,000 points needed for the Companion Pass.
If you don’t have any points to transfer, the cheapest way to get 6,000 Southwest points is to buy 18,000 Choice hotel points for $198 and then transfer them to Southwest.
Please comment if you know of other ways to earn Companion Pass qualifying points!
Disclosure: I don’t get paid any commission for the links to credit cards in this post.
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I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
I opened two SW accounts earlier this year with the plan of applying for the companion pass. I didn’t realize I needed the points on the same account. I opened one in my name and one in my wifes. Is there anyway to combine the points or do I need to open a business account? I really don’t want to open another account and worried that I am out of luck and just wasted $175 in annual fees for nothing. I might want to cancel these cards before my annual fee comes due again.
I forgot to mention that one of the accounts is a premier account if that helps. Should I be able to add both of our names to the account and be able to combine the points that way?
@Robert – You can’t combine the points from one account to another. However, the annual fees aren’t waster because you still get ~$833 in travel for the 50K sign-up bonus.
I am so happy that my bonus points did post in time for this year. (I goofed and should have waited until January 13, but oh well). I even made my payment early (due date was Jan 3rd) hoping points would post. I was sweating it, but it only took about a week to post after payment! My account is up to 121,000 points. However, I cannot find anything on the RR website about the companion pass status now. Does this go away after you qualify, and they will send you the postcard to get the companion pass? I only see A+ info now, and cannot see CP info anywhere on my account. Can anyone “ease” my fears or tell me what I am doing wrong? Thanks so much!!!
@Rebecca - You can check your Companion Pass status at this link —> http://www.southwest.com/account/rapidrewards/companion-status You should get an email asking you to designate a companion soon. Congrats!
Will HHilton miles converted to Southwest RR work towards a companion pass?
I just bought 50,000 Marriott points and am looking to convert them to Southwest, but I’m struggling to figure out exactly how to do that. I looked at the mileage converter on Inside flyer, but it’s super confusing and makes it seem like I have to transfer through several partners to get it back to Southwest with the most points intact. Can you help??
@K2 – Hilton points don’t convert to Southwest.
@Cathleen – Click on this link to convert your Marriott points directly to Southwest! https://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morerew.mi
Just an FYI. My Wyndham points transfered to my SW after just 2 days. FAST!!
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You can now buy Wyndham points. $440 for 40,000 which transfer to 12,000 RR Points 3.6 cpp
@Shelley @OC_Matt – Good to know! Thanks for sharing.
I’m missing something. Can anyone help? I got the credit cards, spent and will have more than the 110K requirement, but the people at Southwest just referred me to their terms and conditions and said I will not earn the companion pass. Thoughts?
“Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from revenue flights, points issued on Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Cards, and points earned from Rapid Rewards Partners. Purchased points and points earned from program enrollment, Tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and Partner bonuses do not count toward Companion Pass status.”
so…..what’s up? is SWA now enforcing the policy,bonus points don’t count toward companion pass? Anyone know for sure?
@mnmfischel Are you sure all 110K points posted to your account in one calendar year?
Did you “spend” and additional 10K or purchase the points elsewhere and transfer to Southwest?
@mnmfischel First rule of a deal like this, do not call and inquire about it!!! I’ve had several deals like this ruined in the past because of people calling to inquire how it works and the company then changing the terms for everyone. Many people on this site have reported they have received the pass, so please be patient. There is a link on here to check your companion pass status, please use that and be patient (the rr system is currently under yearly maintenance).
@mnmfischel check your status here after yearly maintenance is complete.
http://www.southwest.com/account/rapidrewards/companion-status
The 50k signup bonuses are still counting at Companion Qualifying Points in 2013.
If I use my Chase Rapid Rewards card at Southwest.com to buy a cruise, do I get extra Companion Pass qualifying points in addition to the points for using the credit card?
@mnmfischel @ J .M. – The points still currently count! The reps almost always say that they don’t count.
@Alex – I’m not sure, but I don’t think you earn extra points unless there is an offer to earn extra points for booking a cruise (besides the points you earn on your credit card).
Hi Daraius, Thank you for all your insight and inspiration. I got the personal and business cards in Nov. ’12 (after three hoca phone calls to the reconsideration line for the business, whew!) and completed the spend on both cards this month, Jan. I was wondering if applying for the Choice Hotel credit card with Barclay’s might be a way to go to get the companion pass. 8000 pts after first spend and another 24000 pts after first stay. So with a 50.00 dollarish stay you would have 32,000 pts to then transfer to get the companion pass. Please let me know if you think it might work or am I missing something. Thanks again
@Brennan - A reader commented that a points transfer from Choice in January didn’t count towards the Companion Pass status. My transfer in December counted, so I’m transferring points again to see if it still counts. That said, you can buy Wyndham or Choice hotel points and transfer them to Southwest. I know that Wyndham points count towards the Southwest Companion Pass based on my experience today.
To second Rob S, as of today in 2013 this still works. My Companion Pass status for the year is 46% – 51,123 miles – after my first card closed its statement this month.
Approval for the personal card took longer so I have to wait until next week for the statement to close and the points to post… I’ll comment here if anything strange happens. Thanks for the amazingly helpful posts, Darius
@SW screener – Congrats and thanks for confirming that it still works!
Re Wyndham points, mine posted the next day. FYI-The Wyndham points only transfer to SW in multiples of 8,000 points.
@Kim – I had the same experience!
Hi MMS, I found your post and will start traveling quite a bit this year. I don’t have A-list yet. I do have 125,000 Marriott points to transfer to SWA which would give me 50,000 SWA Points and in turn A list status and a good start on companion. In your opinion, will this work for me? Thank you for the help.
@Chet Bratton - Welcome! Unfortunately, you don’t earn A-list points except for flying or actually spending money on the Chase Southwest Premier card. But the points from Marriott should count towards the Companion Pass and you could always get another 50K from a Southwest credit card.
Hi,
Would points received for a balance transfer count towards a companion pass? Transferring for every $3,000 you transfered, the fee would be $90 but you’d get 3,000 points. If they counted towards companion status you could do this for $6,000, receiving the 6,000 miles you’d need for elite status and it would only cost $180. Of course you’d need to do it as one or two transactions to avoid paying the higher fee of $75 per transfer. But if you usually charge and pay off that amount on another card anyway, wouldn’t that be the best way to earn companion status? Cost would be $180.
@Amy – You’d also pay interest from the day you make the transfer and I have no personal experience with points from the balance transfer counting towards the companion pass.
Do points transferred from Hertz gold plus count towards a companion pass? I have a bunch sitting in my account that I’d love to transfer, especially at 600 hertz to 1,200 southwest
@Julia – No personal experience, but I’d guess the do. But Hertz points could save you more with a 1 way car rental etc.
I was just granted one each of the SW Plus Business and Personal cards with the 50K bonus.
Has anyone tried buying SW Gift cards from SW to see if you can get the 2pts/$1 bonus rewards? The wording is “2pts/$1 on all SW Airlines Purchases. A gift card through their site should count as a purchase, right? Maybe I will try a $10 GC and see what happens.
@Adam – Congrats! I believe that it does count towards 2 points per $1, but do a test to make sure that is still the case.
Did you ever verify if Choice point transfers still count?
@Brian – They did count in January.
Applied both personal and business Premier cards through links in your website back in Dec. Thank you! After meeting the $2k spending on both cards and flied a couple of SW flights, now I only need 65 points to meet the 110,000 companion pass requirement. Hyatt point transfer asks for minimum 5000 points, is there some other quick way to get the 65 points? Also you mentioned above that Premier card spending does count towards A-list status?
@Jamie – You could buy flowers, enroll in their dining program and complete a dine, or spend $65 on your card and wait until the next statement closes. You earn 1,500 A-List points for every $10K spend on the Premier card.
Thanks for the tips. Are the credits from dining posted pretty quickly? I was also thinking to buy magazine from the RR mall but it seems like it may post after 30-60 days. I also have a Budget rental that I can credit to RR, do you know how long that will post?
Once I qualify for the 110,00 points needed for the Companion Pass is there a physical pass that is mailed out? Or is it just online? Does it take some time after you qualify before you are allowed to use the pass or is it immediate? I am going on a trip at the end of March and would like to have the pass by then. I am just worried my points will not post by then. I have both the business and personal card. Would calling them to change my statement posting date to an earlier date have my points post faster? Thanks for the help!
@Jamie – I can’t remember how long it took the last time, but it should post in 2 to 3 weeks. I know that you can buy flowers (send it to someone tomorrow!) and the points will post 2 to 3 days after delivery.
@Michael – You can activate the pass online as soon as you cross 110K Companion Pass points. Changing to an earlier statement closing date may help, but sometimes the reps extend the billing cycle to change the date for a future period.
I recently got the Choice CC and the sign up bonus is 8,000 points after 1st purchase and 24,000 points after 1 stay. I am wondering if I could book a really cheap hotel, like $40, but actually NOT staying at the hotel. Would I still get the 24,000 points? I am planning to transfer those points to SW CP. Has anyone done it before and got the points?
There is a Choice Privilege card link available through FlyerTalk that gives 24000 pts on the first purchase and 16,000 more on the first hotel stay. With no annual fee, that is more than enough to finish the companion pass requirements.
@Happy Feet – You’d need to check in at least to trigger the stay.
@JD - Thanks! But many folks don’t like using a Chase application for only 40K points, but as you point out, it is an option.
Daraius, the Choice card is actually a Barclaycard. Just out of curiosity, why would it be a problem if it was Chase? Is that due to Chase not liking many applications?
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@JD – Ooops, my mistake. In that case, it is an easy card to get for most. With Chase you can ‘t apply for more than 1 business and 1 personal card and they have lots of cards from which to choose from,so the Choice hotel card won’t be a top pick.
Hi Darius,
I just transfered 11250 points from Hyatt to Southwest, any idea how long will it take to be effective ?
I already got my 52k miles from SW RR personal and waiting for monthly statement to get the other 52k from SW RR business… I am hoping to hit 110k the soonest possible to use the companion pass for a trip in late april
Thx
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Can my husband open a business account and have the points go to my rewards if I get a card on his account?
@Jaype – Give it about a week.
@michelle – You could try it, but it will be a big pain to get the points if they don’t post, so I wouldn’t do it.
Do you actually have to reach 110k points in your account at a given moment or just earn 110k total although you may use some of your points along the way? In other words, lets say I get 100k from the 2 cards but then use those points on flights. Then I later earn 10k more points from spending. Would this qualify since I have earned 110k total points but only may have a balance of 10-20k?
Thanks for the great info!
@Nathan – Your points balance doesn’t matter as long as you have earned 110K within 1 calendar year. So you should qualify.
@MillionMileSecrets Great! Thank you for the fast reply.
I transferred 50k UR pts to Hyatt earlier today and they show in my Hyatt account. When I go to convert to SW Rapid Rewards, it only says I can transfer 48,750 yet I see 50k to the left in my account summary on the same page. Anyone else experience this issue? I need all 50k to get the 24k + 6k bonus for 30k SW RR total.
@Nancy - Perhaps try logging out and then logging back in to your Hyatt account or try calling them to see why you can’t transfer the full 50K?
Tried logging out/in last night and this morning, even separate computers. I was afraid to call since I just transferred the points…..don’t want them to give pushback or question my motives.
YOU MUST READ THIS!!!
You guys are forgetting about the easiest way to earn the extra 10,000K witch is to book $2,500 worth of flights on southwest travel on both cards (which would give you double points and add up to 10,000 points) and then cancel the tickets as soon as the points post,but with this you have to know a few simple things
A)Only book business select fares as those are very simple to cancel without penalty
B)Make sure to book flights a few months away so that you give yourself plenty of time for the points to post and cancel the tickets
C)I would recommend that you book a few cheaper flights that would add up to $2,500 rather than one expensive flight in order not to draw attention to your credit card for making such a large purchase
Sent email to Hyatt Passport customer service and posted on FlyerTalk. There has to be some explanation as to why I’m not able to use all 50k points. I’ve seen it posted on several blogs after first reading it here that it was possible, so I’m still holding out hope.
..following up with Big Boy
Couldn’t you also book a fully refundable hotel reservation on Expedia/Priceine/Travelocity and do the same thing? (Once miles post and companion pass received…cancel your reservation for a full refund?)
For those wondering about Hyatt, after calling them they are confused themselves. The first rep said you could only do 48,750 at a time and there was no bonus for 50k transfers(even though right above transfer information it lays out the bonus for 50k transfers). So I called back and got a new rep who said it’s a glitch and they have no timetable to correct. So he transferred the 50k for me to Southwest and it shows in my account as 24k and 6k miles which is what was expected. Crazy process but now to wait to see how long it takes to post to SW.
Are you sure that Teleflora works towards the companion pass?
It says… All Rapid Rewards rules and regulations apply. Total points include 1,000 base points. Bonus points do not count toward tier status or Companion Pass status.
@Nick: I’ve made 4 purchases at Teleflora and all have counted towards Companion Pass. I actually had a points issue with one and spoke to a Customer Service Rep who confirmed that they do.
Has the Teleflora deal expired? I went to the site through the link above and it says that the promotion code (WNRRRG) has expired. Has anyone tried ordering today? I’ll be very sad if I missed it by 1 or 2 days.
I just read the Teleflora site again and I believe that code was for a special promo. But it looks like the regular 1000 pts for $29.99 is still a/v, right? Also, if I were to purchase flights on SW, when do those points post? At the end of the billing cycle or after the flight is completed?
Thanks.
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Hi. I’m really new to all of this, so I’m reading the posts with great interest. Big Boy posted the idea of booking flights on SWA and then cancelling. That seems like a great idea, but won’t the points be taken off my card after I can cancel the flight?
@Nick - The base miles from Teleflora worked for me.
@Sarah - Points for Southwest flights will post once your flight is complete.
@Teresa - I wouldn’t intentionally book a flight which I didn’t want just for the points. There are other ways to earn the points.
I am really close to earning my companion pass. I’m 2600 points off at this point. We’re under a deadline to buy tix and we’re worried that by the time we’ll have earned the points by our next billing cycle, our tix will have become way more expensive than what we’d prefer to pay (points wise). I think in your post it said you can buy points on southwest and then use that for your companion pass tier. I was confirmed yesterday after speaking with a RR agent with SW that buying points does not go towards your companion pass tier. The only way to earn the companion pass is to either fly with SW or to earn miles through the Chase cards. Do you have any insight on this?
I am currently on a call with Choice Priv. customer support because the transfer of 12,000 CP to Southwest is not working. Despite entering my SW Rapid Reward # in the field correctly on Choice Priv. website, the site is giving an error of: “Please correct errors indicated in red: Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Account Number:” This is being displayed despite me correctly entering my Rapid Reward number and clicking “Submit”. Will let you all know how this pans out.
@Matt – Buying points doesn’t count towards the Companion Pass. See this post for more details. You can always buy your tickets with points now and add your companion once you get the pass. See above for more ways on how to get Companion Pass points.
Do I need a sapphire or ink card to transfer UR points to any other program?
Also, it looks like Hyatt points are worth less than when you originally wrote the article. 1 mile for 2.5 Hyatt points. So 20,000 Hyatt points will only get you 8,000 SW RR.
I bought 16000 Wyndham points today, and transferred them to SW for 4800 RR points. Hopefully mine will transfer as quickly as everyone else has posted (1-2 days). These will put me in striking distance of the companion pass as of the end of my billing cycle.
How does booking work with the companion pass? Are tickets purchased at the same time, or does the companion pass holder buy their ticket and then elect to get the companion’s ticket?
@Adam – You need the Ink Plus/Bold or Sapphire Preferred to transfer UR points to airline or hotel partners. Here’s a post on how to use your Companion Pass. And 5,000 Hyatt points gets you 2,400 Southwest points.
My Wyndham points transferred over to SW RR in less than 24 hours and I can confirm that they count toward Companion Pass, same price as Choice Hotels, but closer to the exact number of miles that I needed.
And I see where I was wrong about Hyatt. They appear to offer 1 mile for 2.5 Hyatt points for generic miles, but as you said SW is an exclusion with 2,400 for 5,000 Hyatt Points.
I currently have about 130,000 points on my Freedom but I do not have either the Ink/Sapphire card and I am afraid to open another credit card with Chase as I now have a total of 4 CCs with them. (Amazon, Freedom and 2 Southwest) What other options do I have for me to complete the 6k points? It would have been perfect to use my existing points that I have on my Freedom card. Thank you, MMS.
@Adam – The Hyatt website isn’t very clear about the transfer ratios!
@Ja - You can buy hotel points and transfer or place orders for flowers.
I thought about buying Choice points to top off the 110,000 miles I need, but I’m not clear why that’s better than taking a small hit on fees. Today, I paid taxes on two properties I own. I paid about $70 in credit card fees on about $3,100 in taxes (local governments tend to just be recovering their fees rather than gouging us).
So 3100 points for $70. That’s about evens out in value. For the same amount of money, I’m calculating that the Choice program would have given me about 2,200 points. Did I miscalculate? I think I’m on target with this. I know in a different post you mention this as an option, but I think it was more referred to as an option of last resort. I think it may play in our favor actually, but I could be missing something?
@Jay – It depends if you are paying taxes or not, but if so, it certainly works in your favor!
Hi Darius! I am desprately trying to get my companion pass earned. I’ve had the SW personal card for years now so those 50k bonus points came and went ;-( I recently applied and was approved for 2 seperate Chase Business accounts and made it very clear when I did that I would recieve 50K bonus for each since they are two seperate businesses- one based in CA, the other in NV- however both under sames ss#. Now I have received the 50k on one but they refuse to give the 50k on the other stating I already have one business card with them and this only applies to one business card per person even though it’s a diffirent business and also located in another state! I’m at a loss- I’ve been going round and round and round with them and aside of calling corporate ( that’s a last resort ) I don’t know what to do- between the cards I have with chase ( one being airtran which I earned a bonus of 32 credits and still have- btw; can I do any sort of transfer to my SW acct and use those as converted points?) I spend well over $70-$100k yearly on these cards & never been late once! Customer service mngmt doesnt seem to give two hoots if I threaten to cancel, they say “ok, I can take care of that for you” which of course makes me even angrier! Had I known (which I confirmed with over 10 phone calls to Chase themselves since applying and meeting the criteria of said second business card) that it was going to take 4 months and I’m still arguing with them- I would have just earned the points with another company. Now mind you- since applying for this card and not reciveing the points I have repeatedly been phoning Chase since January as well as SW to confirm that I was going to recieve and was eligible for these points, only up until 2 weeks ago has Chase told me “oh sorry, you already have a business account”- This entire time they have been telling me “don’t worry it will be on the next billing statement” and NOTHING! Please help, what is your best advice…..or any other readers advice- its all very much appreciated!!! Thank you!!
@Jamie - Sorry to hear that. You can transfer Air Tran credits to Southwest credits, but you can’t transfer them to Southwest points. Perhaps the best option is to cancel one of the business cards and get the personal card (when it is back to 50K) for the remaining points for the Companion Pass. That said, it is unfortunate that you were told that you would get the points and you didn’t.
Can you apply points from the Southwest Rapid Rewards point purchaser (http://www.southwest.com/buypoints/) towards a companion pass? I’m assuming they aren’t ‘qualifying points’, but I can’t see anything definitively saying so.
If I cancel my Southwest Personal & Business cards, how long must I wait to reapply for the cards and be able to receive the bonus points again?
@Carey to transfer points from Choice without getting that error, I found that if you go into your account info you can put in your SW # as a partner and then it should work to transfer.
I’m not sure why Teleflora is listed as a way to get points for you companion pass, as I see this message at the bottom of the page when I go to checkout:
Must provide Rapid Rewards account number at the time of purchase. Please allow six to eight weeks for point(s) to post to your account. All Rapid Rewards rules and regulations apply. Total points include 1,000 base points. Bonus points do not count toward tier status or Companion Pass status.
@Robert – Nope, they don’t count.
@Kyle – It has counted for me and other readers in the past, but your experience could be different.
Darious, did your second round of Choice points transfer in and count toward Companion?
thanks
MillionMileSecrets | January 14, 2013 at 7:43 pm |
@Brennan – A reader commented that a points transfer from Choice in January didn’t count towards the Companion Pass status. My transfer in December counted, so I’m transferring points again to see if it still counts. That said, you can buy Wyndham or Choice hotel points and transfer them to Southwest. I know that Wyndham points count towards the Southwest Companion Pass based on my experience today.
@Hurlba – It did count for me in January.