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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.
Cheapest Way
The cheapest way to get the extra 10,000 points needed for the Companion Pass (assuming you got 100,000 points from 2 Chase Southwest credit cards) is by buying 30,000 Marriott hotel points for $375 and converting them to 10,000 Southwest Airline points.
10,000 Southwest points are worth $167 towards the cheapest Wanna Get Away Fares, so you are paying an extra $208 ($375 for 30,000 Marriott points – $ 167 worth of Southwest points) to get to Companion Pass status as soon as possible.
$208 is about 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.
I haven’t personally tried this, but I do know that my Wyndham and Choice hotel points did count towards the Companion Pass status when I transferred them in August 2011. So I’m speculating that most hotel points will count towards the Companion Pass status.
Please comment if you converted Hyatt or Marriott points to Southwest points and had them count towards the Companion Pass status!
Update: Reader Josh comments that a transfer from Marriott to Southwest does count towards the Companion Pass and that it took 3 days to post.
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.
a. Best Western
5,000 points convert to 1,200 Southwest points, so you’d need 41,667 Best Western points to earn 10,000 Southwest points.
You can buy points at $10 per 1,000 points, so 42,000 Best Western points would cost $420 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.
c. Hyatt
5,000 points convert to 2,400 Southwest points, so you’d need 20,000 Hyatt points to get 9,600 Southwest Airline points.
You can buy 20,000 Hyatt points for $480.
d. Marriott
The rate varies, but 30,000 points convert to 10,000 Southwest points.
You can buy 30,000 Marriott points for $375. This is the cheapest way among all the options to get an extra 10,000 Southwest points for the Companion Pass.
e. Wyndham
8,000 points convert to 2,400 Southwest points, so you’d need 33,000 Wyndham points to get 10,000 Southwest points.
Currently you can’t purchase Wyndham 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 10,000 Southwest points is to buy 30,000 Marriott points for $375 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.
* If you liked this post, why don’t you join the 3,000+ readers who have signed-up to receive free blog posts via email (only 1 email per day!) or in a RSS reader …because then you’ll never miss another update on the Southwest Companion Pass.
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! 
Do you recommend applying for the personal and business card all in one day from two different browsers to get the 100k? Thank you
Southwest gift card purchases count double if you use the credit card. $5kis a lot of travel credit, but if you are going to use the CP, it isn’t unreasonable to pre-pay $2,000 for SWA travel for the next 2 yrs. That gets you 4,000 pts toward the CP and reduces the rest of your required spend.
@SC Parent- only issue with that is if did 2 cards you already have 100k RR pts worth $1667 of WGA fares, which will take a decent amount of time to burn.
I didn’t know about this Companion Pass last year when I signed up for the Southwest Chase Credit Card in September. So does that 50k points count toward companion pass this year??? Or did I already lose out on that chance?
Also, my husband signed up for the same credit card, can we combined our points?
Daraius
Do you know about how long it takes for hyatt points to show up on my Rapid Rewards account? I too waited to activate my Biz and personal card til Jan 1st and the 100k posted this weekend. I transferred 20k UR points to Hyatt and then to RR on 1/2 but they have not shown in my acct yet. Thanks! Keep up the good work!
I can confirm that Marriott points transfer still count as CPQP. I initiated the transfer Friday and the points posted today as CPQP.
Another thing I will point out, I had 50k points post on December 28th, 2011 counting as 2011 spend towards companion status, I called the 214 customer service number and kindly asked if there was anything they could do to move the post date to 1/5/2012, for 2012 Qualification and they did. Waiting on my second 50k to post now and I will have CP for 2012/2013.
@Maury – I prefer to spread out my Chase applications, but you could try that. However, the 50K offer is only available currently for the personal card not the business card. So it may be better to apply for the personal card now and the business card later on.
@SC Parent - I didn’t know of that option. Thanks for sharing.
@Steve – I guess it depends on how much you fly!
But that is a quite a bit of flying.
@Emily Lai - Unfortunately, it counts towards 2011, and not towards 2012. If you husband has the card, you can’t combine points but he can book tickets for anyone.
@Dirtbag Traveler - It took about 10 days for a transfer from Hyatt to US Air, so I suspect it may take that long for a transfer to Southwest.
@Josh Foley – That’s great news. Thanks for confirming. I’ll update the post to reflect!
Not sure if this will work, but waiting now for when my points post to see if they will count. If you do it through spending you need to chareg 10K. If you utilize the southwest reward mall for purchases you can wait on you can earn at a higher rate. For example I am remodling a bathroom so I made purchase at lowes and home depot at a rate of 4 points per dollar (it is now 3) but if they count toward CP that will greatly reduce my spend requirment to get there.
Thanks for this… I applied in december from the old links you previously posted. Had applied for Sapphire preferred in nov. Got both the personal (auto approved after a few days) and business (had to call in) approved, applied on the same day. Looking forward to 2 years of 1/2 price travel for 2!
Dairius: I clicked through your own link and into the business link and it still says 50,000 for the Southwest Business card. Please confirm. Thank you
Can anyone confirm if doing a $10k balance transfer in the first 90 days from opening a chase southwest credit card would do the trick? I have heard conflicting news if the balance transfer points would count.
@Scott - Please let us know if bonus mills from the Southwest mall counts towards the Companion Pass. It would be great if it did.
@Matt - Congrats! The tough part is deciding where to go!
@Maury – You’re right – I clicked on the wrong link. The link in the Hot Deals tab still lets you apply for the business card!
How long did the 50,000 RR points post after you paid off your credit card statement? I paid it last week and still havent seen my points.
Do you have any tips for being reconsidered for the SW biz card besides reallocation of credit? I know you have a post on Citi biz cards but wasn’t sure if you had one on Chase. Thanks!
I just xfered 50k Hyatt points to RR (got 30k RR points for them) and saw this:
Thank you for your request. Your Gold Passport points have been converted to miles. Please allow up to 4-6 weeks for the miles1 to appear in your frequent flyer account.
I had 50,907 points post on 12/21/12. I just called the 214 Customer Relations number and asked if there was any chance of changing the posting date to sometime in January. I spoke with a woman named Claudia and she told me that they have never been able to change the posting date and that there was nothing she could do for me. Anyone have any other approach I might be able to use?
^^ 12/21/11*
You can also buy gift cards for WN partners like Hyatt, etc. for double points.
It has not been reported, to my knowledge, whether WN shopping mall bonus points count as CPQPs. I made a purchase of Sears gift cards on Cyber Monday through that mall and I have been checking every day, but no points have appeared yet.
Whatever spend you put on the WN Visa through the mall, of course, will give you the regular 1 point per dollar.
Balance transfers used to work for CP, not sure lately. There is usually a 3% fee, though, making it an expensive way to get points.
D – do you know if Hilton, Starwood, or Priority club can convert to RR points?
@Eric – The points should post a few days after your statement closed. Is the Rapid Rewards number on your personal Chase card the same as your Rapid Rewards number? Sometimes Chase will issue you a new Rapid Rewards account and you have to call to get the 2 accounts merged.
@arjun – Call the Chase business reconsideration number and explain why you want the card. You may have to reduce a credit line from another card to close a credit card to get approved.
@Shannon - It says that for every transfer you make to airlines via Hyatt, but in my experience the points transfer quicker than 6 weeks!
@Brandon – Once the points post it is unlikely that you can get them to post later. However, you may have luck in calling and asking a rep to extend your statement period so that the statement closes in a different period. But it is too late for that now
@toomanybooks – Thanks for the tip! Would love to know how bonus points from the mall count towards the companion pass!
@jayk - You used to be able to transfer them to Southwest, but not any more.
Just moved 20k over to Hyatt
Do I actually need to provide some sort of business info or actually have a business to get the business card?
@Matt MSP - Great! I’m curious to learn how long it takes to transfer over.
@Nick - Check out this post.
Does buying points directly from Southwest not count toward the Companion Pass requirement? Otherwise, 10,000 points is only $250 vs. buying from Marriott and then transferring. Thanks for the help.
Nevermind, I finally found the answer myself on the SWA website. Buying points doesn’t count.
Data Point: Transfers from erewards do count towards companion pass.
You were right on! Took 10 days for my transfer from Hyatt gold passport to come thru on my rapid rewards. Cp meter now says 100% looking forward to putting these 110k miles and the cp to good use
@John - No, buying points don’t count.
@Ali - Thanks for that tip! I’ll update the post to reflect it.
@Dirtbag traveler – Awesome! Thanks for confirming and enjoy the 2 years of free flying.
Wondering if I can cancel current SWA Chase card (Premier), then apply for both SWA Plus and Business to get the 100k. Premier SWA Chase is the only card I have and never applied for any other Chase card in the past.
What do you think?
I would love to get on this deal to take advantage of 2012/13 companion tix.
@Andy – You can usually get 1 Chase card per card type. I’d wait a bit after cancelling and then applying for the card. But even then, no guarantees that you’d get the bonus again. Please let us know if it words!
I signed up for the 25k personal card. I sent a secure message asking if I was going to get 25k or 50k of points and if they could move my statement close up earlier. They replied saying they couldn’t move the day but they would match my 25k offer with another 25k. I should get a total of 50k. Now I have to play the waiting game for my statement to close on 2/1. Hopefully I can get the points ASAP. I have a Vegas trip planned in mid March.
Thanks!
@Darius – 9000 miles from Hyatt posted today. Still waiting on the 100k from my CC signups (even though first statements closed a few weeks back). I might be a couple hundred short but I have $400 in GC from my Amex Plat credits, so I could do a quick weekend to MDW or DEN to get some more miles. We’ll see if this all works out!
@Eric – You’ll get the points when your statement closes (a few days later). Have a great trip!
@Matt MSP – Have you checked whether Chase has the same RR number as yours? Sometimes they open new accounts. You can also find the RR number on the front of your personal card.
@Darius – looks like my business card’s purchase points (23) posted but not the signup bonus (50,000). Are they processed at the same time? Or should I wait a while before calling in. Also looks like I’m still waiting for my personal card to close, so no rush on that.
@Matt MSP – They usually are processed at the same time. I’d call or send a secure message and ask what’s going on!
@Paul – I’ve got this listed on the Hotel Credit Card tab, but thanks for the tip!
What are the chances that Airtran systems will be merged with southwest sometime in 2012/2013 so that our companion passes could be used for more flights?
Question…. I have had the plus card for a year. I just applied for the business card and I was accepted, so 50k points. Is there a link to apply for the Premier card for the 50k points? I really need to find a way to get the extra 50k so I can have 100k.
Thanks!
@Ali – I really don’t know! I’d like to use the Companion Pass for international flights on the Air Tran routes as well!
@Dan – The link to the Premier card doesn’t work any more (for 50K points), but perhaps there will be a better offer later this year.
Hi Darius and everyone, thanks for all great information. I saw that Josh confirmed few weeks ago that transferring of Marriott points qualifies for the Companion Pass. However, recently I received Mega Bonus Miles from Marriott and those were transferred to Southwest and they weren’t qualified for CP. So I called Southwest customer relation and they confirmed that only bonus miles and transferring of Marriott points do not qualify for CP. Just wonder if anyone has the same experience.
I am tempted to try transferring Marriott points since it worked for Josh but I wonder if it doesn’t count, anyway to retrieve the points back as I would like to keep my Marriott points if possible other than transferring them for CP. Any suggestion or comment on this? Thank you very much for any time and help.
@docomo: I transferred 30k marriot points yesteday in order to gain 10k SW points and hopefully a companion pass. I will report back once the points post. Also, I transferred 2500 hyat points for my wife last week (as a test) and I do confirm that the 2400 SW points which came through did count towards the companion pass. Of course, SW can change its systems at any time, so things can change.
@Docomo – My understanding is that bonus points from hotel or other partners don’t count, but the base points count. But as Ali points out, the system which codes the transfers could be updated anytime. Transfering points are not technically supposed to count towards the Companion Pass, but it does for now. You can’t take your points back once you transfer them, but you could transfer a small amount just to check.
@Ali – Thanks for helping out!
data point as of 1/24: The 30k marriott transfer to 10k southwest points DID qualify towards companion pass. Also, the Hyatt transfers are also still working as of today. Just reached my companion pass today (50k sw personal + 50k sw business + 10k marriott transfer). Need 225 points for my wife to get hers (since she only got 9600 from transferring hyatt points). thanks for this post Darius!!
@Ali - Thanks for confirming that this still works. How long did it take for the points to transfer over?
@Darius: The Marriott request was sent Monday morning, and the points posted into southwest account by Tuesday Night (I was checking every couple hours!!)
I made the Hyatt request in 2 batches (since I wanted to confirm that they counted towards companion pass). The first batch posted within 2 days (Last Monday – Wednesday). The send batch took four days (Last Thursday – This Tuesday). Hope that helps!!!
Also, I do not think the rapid rewards dining bonus of 300 counts towards the companion pass. The regular dining points do seem to count, but the 300 point sign up bonus nor the 10 point bonus for dining reviews do not count.
I’ve looked all over my RR account pages, and I cannot find progress towards CP. Ideas?
Thank Ali and Darius for your response. So I guess both Marriott and Hyatt transfers work for qualifying CP. Just wonder what is the minimum transfer for both programs? In fact I just need around 5000 to 6000 points so wonder if I can transfer from other hotel program and still be qualified for CP. Marriott, Hyatt, Carlon, Hilton or SPG would be great, thank
@Ali – That information will helps others a lot – thanks for posting it! I’ll update the post with your update on the dining bonuses.
@Matt MSP – Log in to your account and click “My Account” above your available point balance on the right, click on “My Rapid Rewards” in the middle of the screen. Scroll down and you will see a box on the left with information on your Companion Pass status. You can also click “View all my points” on the left side and you will be able to filter your points by Companion Pass status.
@Docomo - Hilton and SPG don’t let you transfer points to Southwest. You can transfer from Marriott or Hyatt, though.
This may be a silly question, but… once you get the companion pass, do you get to keep your 110,000 RR points to use towards flights for yourself?
Or does Southwest deduct them from your account once they issue the companion pass?
@Jill - That’s not a silly question. You get to keep your 110,000 RR points and use that to book travel. That’s effectively 220K points since your companion is flying free!
Is there any way to apply for business card with out having a real business.?
I am IT professional ..and applied and got personal Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier with 50k bonus. How I can apply for business card ?
@Pankaj – Here are earlier posts on business cards which may help.
Darius,
I just purchased the 30K Marriott points, do I need to call to transfer these points to Southwest? How long should I expect to wait before the points post? Thanks for all your hard work. Us who are new to the game truly appreciate it.
Is there anyway to get this offer using American Airlines miles? For instance, can American points be transferred to a hotel program and then to RR?
Hi Darius!
I just applied and got approved for both the Southwest Personal and Biz cards and hope to have 100K rapid rewards very soon. Like everyone else, I will have to think of a creative way to get the additional 10K to reach companion pass status. On to my question…
I was wondering if I can book a flight and get rapid rewards points that way, but not actually fly on the flight. If I’m not mistaken, if I cancel a flight, Southwest issues me credit that can be used on other flights as long as it’s within a year. I’m wondering 1) If I’ll be able to keep my reward points for booking that flight and 2)your opinion if this is a cost effective way of doing things. I’m trying to maximize “value”
Thanks,
Ben
@Nathan – Readers have commented that it takes a few days for the points to transfer. I believe that you have to call Marriott to process the transfer.
@Colorado_Mom – Unfortunately, I don’t know of any way to transfer miles from American Airlines to Southwest which makes sense.
@Ben – Congrats on getting approved for both cards! If you don’t fly on the flight you won’t earn miles for it. But you will earn miles on the amount you paid for the ticket if you charge it to your Southwest credit card. So you’d have to charge $5K on the card to get the 10K points (since you earn 2 points per $1 for Southwest purchases). But you’d have to use $ 5,000 credits. Much better to transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points or buy Marriott points and make a transfer. Good luck!
Darius,
My points from Marriott transfer showed up today and it now says that I have 110K+ and have received the companion pass. What happens now? Does Southwest send you a form to fill out? Can I call to book a flight and tell them who my companion will be? Thanks for all the info. This may be the most amazing thing for the next 2 years. I only hope they add more direct flights from NYC.
Thanks, Nathan
@Nathan – Congrats! You’ll get an email from Southwest and if you log into your account you should be able to designate your companion online. You’ll also get a card in the mail. Here’s to tons of flying for you!
Have you considered using Squareup.com Darius? I can tell you that it worked for me to meet my minimum spend for the BA companion toicket. @ 2.75% with $10k Spend, comes to $275, which seems less than buying points from the hotel stays. In general, spending any extra to obtain a certain status is only practical if you have trouble meeting the minimum spend.
“@Ben – Congrats on getting approved for both cards! If you don’t fly on the flight you won’t earn miles for it. But you will earn miles on the amount you paid for the ticket if you charge it to your Southwest credit card. So you’d have to charge $5K on the card to get the 10K points (since you earn 2 points per $1 for Southwest purchases). But you’d have to use $ 5,000 credits. Much better to transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points or buy Marriott points and make a transfer. Good luck!”
I disagree pretty strongly. Paying $300 to get the status is definitely still worth it (one flight and that investment pays for itself), but it’s still a cost. It’s pretty likely that one would do a bunch of flying on southwest in the next couple years given the companion pass, so the gift cards will go pretty quickly. For instance, if you take one $250 per month, that’s 20 months (less than two years!) to clear out the gift cards. Furthermore, they don’t expire and since they’re cash, they can’t get devalued. So it seems like a pretty easy case to not buy Marriot points.
May I transfer my Marriott points to my husband’s Southwest account?
@Ben – Buying Marriott points and transferring to Southwest is easier than squareup, but costs a little more!
@Ed – I’m not sure if many folks can afford to pay off a $5K charge immediately. If not, they will likely get killed with the interest charged, so much better to pay $208 to get the Marriott points needed to transfer to Southwest. But you’re absolutely right to not buy the Marriott points if you will spend $5,000 within 2 years PLUS the 110K Southwest points earned.
@Deb – I don’t have any personal experience with that!
One more question before I apply (and start flying all over the place, yippee)… when do they charge the annual fee for these cards? Is it right away? Or after the first year? I can’t seem to find info on that in the terms and conditions.
@Darius – I currently do not have a Marriot account nor do I have a Sapphire preferred card so squareup was a good alternative for me. The device that hooks to your phone is free and linking your account is straight forward. Money posts end of business day as well. I had a good experience with it with no issues so far… other than trying to game the system!
@Jill - The fee for the Southwest cards posts during the 1st statement because it isn’t waived for the 1st year.
@Ben – Ah…I see!
Darius;
Do you know whether one person’s Marriott Points can be transferred to another person’s Rapid Reward Points account in order to get the CP? I have lots of Marriott points and my wife has lots of Rapid Reward points but not enough yet for a CP.
Darius;
Sorry, just saw that you already answered this question.
I transferred 50K points from Hyatt to SW to get the bonus 6k points. You get bonus if you transfer more than 50k points. I received the 24K SW points already but not the 6K points. Do they come in separately? It’s only been a week, but I am nervous. Couldn’t find the information at flyertalk, google search, etc. I emailed them but still waiting for an answer from them.
@paul - No worries!
@Vito – I don’t know how long it takes, but I suspect you’ll get the extra 6K points. I’ve never transferred 50K points, so don’t have any personal experience to share.
Daraius,
If I signed up for the Marriott credit card and received the 50,000 bonus points, would they be transferrable to RR points and also count toward the Companion Pass?
Paul, here is part of a response I received from Marriott:
If you would like to make a reward redemption for a frequent flyer award
now, you may do so by calling Marriott rewards at : 801-468-4000.
You would need a Marriott rewards account in your husband’s name
transfer points to him and then send the miles to the Frequent Flyer
account that is in his name as well.
@Dan - You should be able to transfer your Marriott points from the Marriott card to Southwest and have them count towards the Companion Pass. However, this isn’t supposed to happen, so it could stop counting towards the Companion Pass anytime!
@Deb & @Dan – I researched this and you can transfer Marriott points to your legal spouse or domestic partner’s account, provided you send in a signed form to Marriott. Thanks for checking with Marriott and commenting!
Darius, Got an e-mail this morning that Southwest is offering 1500 pts per order through Teleflora. If you ordered 7 of these for their least expensive flower arrangement ($29.99 + $15 delivery charge), you would have 10,500 points for $315. Plus you can score points with whoever you send them to, though those points won’t count toward your RR account!
Promo code is WNRREUB and the offer is good through 2/15.
@Up&Away - Thanks! Scoring points with Emily is more important than the Companion Pass.
Would you recommend applying for the Chase Mariott CC and using the 30K bonus to transfer over or would applying for 3 Chase Cards be more detrimental than just spending $375?
You said that “Points earned from spending on your Southwest credit card do count towards the Companion Pass status.” After receiving my card I only had a few days before the end of my first statement and spent $116. When I look at my year to date companion qualifying points it shows 116 so it looks like that the money I spent did count towards the companion pass. Any thoughts on this?
@TravltheWrld – I’d hold off on applying for another Chase card, and would buy the Marriott points. It is ~$200 once you factor in the Southwest points earned.
@Andrew – Points earned from spending on your Chase Southwest card do count towards the Companion Pass status. Am I not understanding your question?
I just wanted to let follow up. Previously I stated that spending at the rewards mall may be a way to get points for CP faster. My points from that spending just posted and unfortunately they DO NOT count toward CP.
I just wanted to follow up and confirm the Chase CC bonuses are still counting towards CP. My second card posted the points on Monday. I bought $4k in gift cards to make up the points difference.
One issue I had was that the points posted to my RR account on Monday, but the companion pass status did not update (it listed points needed as “0″ but also said that I had not gotten the CP yet). I gave them a call yesterday and they were able to push the system into giving me the status. I’m all set with a companion and have booked a ticket already!
Thanks so much, Dairius!!
@Scott Childers – Thanks for circling back and letting us know that points from the rewards mall didn’t count towards the CP. Did the base points count, but not the bonus points or did nothing count?
@Ed - Congrats and thanks for sharing!
did some more researching. my points did not count however another poster in flyertalk said his does. turns out is is based on purchase date not postdate. since my purchases were made in late Dec they did not count toward 2012 CP, so theoretically my next round of purchases made in Jan should count. Base spending did count.
@ Nathan 1/27/12 and Daraius, You can transfer points from Marriott to Southwest without calling, but it says it can take up to six weeks to complete the transfer or you can call and pay an expedite fee to do it more quickly. I just transferred normally because I got my second SW card [Business just the other day] so it will likely be a month or so before I get my second batch of 50,000 miles. I am looking forward to the CP! Thanks again D!
Update on 1/28/2012 I transferred 30,000 Marriott points to 10,000 Southwest points online [not by calling]. Today on 2/9/2012 the 10,000 Southwest points posted and are counted toward the Companion pass [but not A-List]. The 6 week delay stated on the Marriott site appears to be very conservative. It took just under 2 weeks for me. That mimicks the 2 weeks it took for Daraius by calling in.
Can you pls point me to where I can chk how many points I need for my companion pass , I already have some SW points + i applied for the 2 CC .
SO before buying hilton points to transfer I wanted to chk how many i need to make the 110k mark.
@Scott Childers – Very interesting to know that purchases last year didn’t count, but those this year do count. Thanks for sharing!
@Marriott Marty – Congrats on your Southwest Companion Pass! Nice to know that it takes only 2 weeks for the transfer to come through.
@Amod – Log into your account. Click on “My Account” and then “My Rapid Rewards.” When you scroll down on the page, you’ll see details on your Companion Pass status.
Could youjust set up your Paypal account with the SW Credit Card and send a payment to yourself via another account?
@TK – I wouldn’t recommend that because it is against PayPal’s terms of service and could flag your account to Chase.
Sorry but previously posted on different heading.
In effort to reach companion pass obtained both business and personal SW cards which should yield 100K towards CP. Chase ultimate rewards transfer to Hyatt was instantaneous for 10K. Hyatt to Southwest was done on friday 2/9 and posted to SW on 2/14 showing on line that it counted towards CP but not A list.. Very quick as was informed could take 2-4 weeks. Spoke to Chase and moved closing date up. Hopefully wont take too long to post on Southwest once statement closes. Other sites report semi monthly review. Does this mean sign on bonus only posts 2 x month? Hoping to obtain CP tic for late March. Thanks
@Guest – Thanks for sharing! The sign-up bonus will post a few days after your credit card statement closes. You can book your ticket now using points (to lock in a low rate) and add your Companion to the reservation once you get the CP. Good luck!
Maybe I missed this in the other CP posts of 2011, but I need some help. I’m 72 points short of my CP for 2012-2013! And I don’t want to wait for my CC statement to post in mid-March. What hotel programs allow the least amount of points to transfer at a time? I transferred from Hyatt before but the minimum is 5000 at a time. Thanks!
Southwest had a promotion going where you would receive 1500 bonus points from shopping with Teleflora instead of the normal 1000. Well the bonus points just posted to my account from a 2/6/12 purchase and surprisingly it counted toward my companion pass. The promotion expired for the 1500 but I wonder if the 1000 is still applicable. Has anyone had any experience with the 1000 teleflora bonus counting towards their companion pass?
@Matt MSP – You can call Chase and ask them to move your statement date up. Or you could just buy flowers for the 1K bonus!
@Andrew – Thanks for sharing! I checked my account and the 1,500 points for a Valentine’s day purchase counted towards my companion pass. I’ve read that the 1,000 point bonus also counts & included it in the list, but don’t have any personal experience.
Can I transfer points from my wife Marriott account to my southwest rewards acct? My wife account has 4600 points? Is there minimum for Marriott ?
@Matt I had the same problem – I was waiting for my 50,000 [and 26] points to post for my business Southwest card and I only received 26 points. I called and found out that if you only have a few days in your first cycle, the bonus miles post on the next cycle. I called back and moved up my next cycle to get the points quicker [no problem] but the CSR said you can do that only once every 6 months…
@Naresh – I believe that you can transfer points from your wife’s Marriott account to your Marriott account and then to your Southwest account. You’d have to fill out a form on paper to do this. However, the minimum appears to be 10,000 Marriott points to 2,000 Southwest points.
@Marriott Marty – Thanks for helping out!
I just bought my 30,000 marriot points today and I am looking to do my SW transfer on Tuesday! I got the SW cards last week and I am going to call to see if I can move the closing date up on both cards? Do you guys know how far can they move it up? Can they set the statement closing date the same day you call for example
!!! I am hoping to get these points by end of February but not sure if I am too ambitious!?
@Troy – I doubt they’ can move it up to the same day you call, but I’d love to hear what you managed to get them to do!
Called to push statement end date up and the csr advised that it will actually delay getting the bonus points and it is best to leave it as is. I didnt push it futher i can wait i suppose. My statement closes in about 2 more weeks
@Troy – 2 weeks will go by real quick!
Troy, I learned that lesson the hard way. Had to wait an extra 15 days! Anyways after another small Hyatt transfer, I finally have 111,978 CPQ miles today! Just waiting for the CP to activate so I can sign up. WOO HOO!
@Matt MSP – Good deal!
@ Matt or anyone else, how long do the transfers usually take? I did my transfer Marriot to SW on Sunday.
And thats good to know Matt that trying to push your statement date up can actually make it take longer to get the points! Doesnt make sense but oh well. CONGRATS on the CP! Thats my goal!
I think the first time I did a transfer thru Hyatt it was instant into Hyatt and about 6 days into SW. This time it took about 4 days into SW.
Anyone know how long it takes the CP to show up as Active once I hit 110k?
I’m not exactly sure how many but it was very quick–a day or so. The comments from this blog helped him get CP! (Two credit cards, Marriott transfer). Thanks!
Would a transfer of rapid reward points from my wife’s account to mine, count towards CP?
Nevermind…I understood that RR points CANNOT be transferred between accounts.
I was able to get the 70k Marriott card approved after calling for reconsideration. Online submission of the Marriott CC app was declined as I had recently applied for 2 southwest cards. Companion Pass seems nearer…
does anyone have the link to figure out how many points have qualified for the CP? I see the A list tracker, but cannot find the CP status tracker. I saw it once, but cannot find it now.
thanks.
@ Victor : Log into your account. Click on “My Account” and then “My Rapid Rewards.” When you scroll down on the page, you’ll see details on your Companion Pass status.
one other question…. I see it does not count toward a list, but the cp is the highest level they have. with that do you not get wifi on the plane, and pre-board, etc. Or because it bypassed the Alist levels it is only a CP addon?
@victor: you will not get pre-board and wifi, as those only come with achieving A-list/A-list plus status. Normally people who reach CP status would already have A-list, but this is obviously an awesome exception. These are great questions for this blog (and horrible questions to ask Southwest Customer Service, alerting them to the “glitch”)
@ everyone! We got our companion pass today! We Already booked 2 trips with the 110,000 points. Still have tons of miles for more trips! Come to think about it, these were my 1st points redemptions since starting to collect miles/points in December!
Thanks Daraius and the rest for your contributions! If I was running a blog these 2 southwest cards would be my top “hot deals” if you live in the US. I know southwest doesn’t have much as far as international routes right now and they don’t have first or business class seating but there are some great places/destinations in our own backyard!
Is there an actual conversion rate between Mariott to SW because I need in between 5,000 and 10,000 SW points (20,000 and 30,000 Mariott points) but I noticed you can purchase Mariott points in increments of 1,000.
@TK it looks like its 3/1 conversion . 3 Marriot points = 1 RR point. As you show in your comment-> 30,000 marriott=10,000 RR. Buy as many as you need to get you there!! 25,000 marriott points would be in between 5-10k RR points 25,000/3= 8333 RR points.
Thanks everyone for helping out and posting your experience!
@Troy – I swapped the Southwest card with the United Explorer from #6 to #3 on the list because of the Companion Pass. Emily and I will also be using our Companion Pass to explore more of the US.
I got my 50k bonus points on southwest business card on 4th March , I applied card 2 months back and annual fee $99 was charged like 2nd March. If I want to cancel this card do you see any issues since I just applied 2 months back . I have personal southwest also. I got no fee from my personal card for first year somehow
but this time they charged me $99.
Will they refund $99 if I cancel in next few days ? please suggest what to do?
@Pankaj – Why the rush in cancelling the card? Keep it for a while and re-evaluate after 9 months.
@ Daraius, cool. When did you update the SW cards to number 3 on your” hot list”? Just recently? Agree it is better than the United offer. The reason I think the SW card is at least as good as the AA cards is that not only can you get 100,000 miles just like AA but there is no “big” spend requirment like AA, just 1st purchase. Plus the companion pass it makes like 100,000 * 2 because we will be using the pass on each point redemption! I know the lack of international destinations and that you cant redeem for a $5,000 1st/business class ticket knock it down a level for a lot of people.
My only objective of getting business card was to get bonus points and I already have same personal card …for sure I am not going to use this business card it will be just sitting .. so since I got my points and if I cancel no annual fee ….:)
@Pankaj, If it were me I would pay the annual fee. You just opened the card 2 months ago. If you got your points and just cancel your card i would be nervous of having a bad relationship with the credit card company. I would keep it until next year and decide then is it worth the fee. You will also get 6000 RR points on the anniversary which are worth about the same as the annual fee. Like Daraius said “whats the rush”? Your call however!
Hi Daraius,
I just checked the business and premier chase SW cards and they are only set to 25k bonus miles each. Do you happen to have a link to the 50k bonus business card, as I see your link still works to the premier for 50k bonus.
@ Kyle, the 50,000 business card is on his link. Just scroll down towards the bottom and you will see the premier personal card and to the right the business card.
@Troy – I swapped it out after you suggested I take a look at it! The Companion Pass is a great deal and close to 2 years of free flying is very neat. Thanks for helping out with the comments.
@Pankaj – If you’re in this for the long haul, it is best to not give the banks reason to flag you. As Troy points out why do you want to risk a bad relationship with the bank.
@Kyle – What Troy said! You have to scroll to the bottom to see the 50K business offer.
Just want to report I got my companion pass today! Two SW cards and a 30,000 Marriott points transfer. @Pankaj – Although you can cancel any card within 30 days of the annual fee appearing on your statement, I am following D’s advise with Chase. I have however churned many B of A cards without paying the annual fee [Alaska x4, Hawiian FIA and BofA, etc.]. But I am also concerned about getting blacklisted [however B of A does not seem to mind so far]. In fact, the SW cards are the first ever that I will be paying for the annual fee [for the first year]. If anyone has any information on B of A black listing anyone, please post here. Thanks.
@Marriott Marty – Congrats on the pass and thanks for sharing!
I have 7 year of relationship with chase and always I paid in full ..my primary checking and saving account are with chase and I have 4 credit cards including this business card. I never cancelled any card with chase as of today .
Do you still think that cancelling this one card in 7 years will impact my account with them ? Please suggest me based on my profile with them . What I should do ? I will go with your suggestions
@ Pankaj I think you really want to cancel the cards so go for it the. I think you know where daraius stands from his prior comments. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. I was actually delighted to pay the annual fee on both cards to get this deal! Its a steal so you could at least throw them a small bone! Haha
@Pankaj – I can’t say because I don’t know for sure how Chase will reach. But I do agree with Troy – this is such a good deal that I feel that I should pay them something!
@Troy – Thanks for helping out and I do agree that this was a great deal!
Thanks a lot for your suggestions !! I have decided NOT to cancel this ..thanks again..
Anybody have any experience with using Membership Rewards to transfer to hotels to then transfer to SWA and have it count for the CP? I am interested in using the 30k to Choice aand then to SWA for the 10k needed for the CP. Thank you for your response.
@Pankaj – I’m not saying to not cancel it. Just don’t cancel it as soon as you’ve got the bonus!
@Maury - I believe Choice points currently count towards the CP, but don’t have any personal experience with ti.
@Pankaj I forgot to mention that I got the third degree from Chase on my [2nd] business SW card – they pointed out exactly how many credit cards I had [one was cancelled, but still showed in their system]. I assume you will play the 3-4 Chase cards a year game, so it is not worth cancelling just after the miles post on Chase. I am thinking of cancelling my and the wife’s Barclary US Air card [only 25,000 but stacks with the 40,000 consumer card] after the miles post. By the way, I plan on flying on SW to the October show in Chicago so I can learn some more and meet some folks! Also for clarification you can ask for and get credit card companies to waive the annual fee if you request it when you cancel within 30 days of the STATEMENT date that the annual fee posts. For B of A that is 50% the first statement and 50% the second statement [probably depending on how many days are left in your first statement cycle.]
Just got my CP too! Setting aside reservations by phone, Dan you book the two tickets (the regular one and the CP) simultaneously online, or can you only book them serially online (e.g., book the regular ticket and then wait for the book CP link to show up after what I understand is a few minutes)?
*Dan=can
@ blockus, book your ticket then wait for it to show in your account then you can add companion
I will share in this post also…. You can get the Personal Plus and Prem card as well as the Biz card on SW. I applied for all three on the same day, and only had one inquiry. Had to call in for two of them, but all approved. Was given 150K for the $5 charge on each. I did have them push up the closing date. The CP was just approved today.
Congratulations! You can choose a companion to fly free all year.
@Marriott Marty – Chase is usually good at looking at your history and asking you the tough questions if they feel that you’re applying just for the bonus. Thanks for sharing!
@Blockus – You can book your ticket online and once the flight appears in your account you can add your Companion as long as Southwest is still selling seats on that flight.
@Troy – Thanks for helping out!
@victor – Thanks for sharing!
Hey Darius, love this site and the community in the comments sections.
Just want to let you know my Marriott points posted on 2/27 and counted towards the companion pass, and that I just got my first statement on one of my southwest cards and the 50k miles counted toward the companion pass on 3/6.
Thanks for this amazing information. I can’t express how excited I am for all my almost free flights, and how excited my girlfriend is for her actually free flights.
@John - The comments and interaction is my favorite part of blogging. Thanks for sharing and congrats. The amazing thing is that you can redeem points and still use the Companion Pass so you’re paying only the $2.5 per segment in taxes and fees!
I am new to the companion discussion. I have six in my family (spouse, 4 kids). I’m assuming that if I did get companion status, I could only get one free ticket. I was hoping I could use points for three people and use the companion feature for the other three.
@Greg – I believe the companion pass is only good for the main account holder and someone he designates as his companion and both of you have to be on the flight. I would maybe explore having your spouse also go for the companion pass so you can each designate one of your kids as your companion taking care 4 of the people in your family. Combined, if you have your wife get the status you’ll have ~220K rapid rewards points between you… that is more than enough to plan a great trip for 6 people given you and your spouse also get companion pass status.
@Greg - Ben’s correct. The Companion Pass only lets you designate ONE companion, but nothing prevents your spouse from earning a separate Companion Pass and with the 200K points it should be easy to get some free travel. And later you and your spouse can always get the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Ink Bold (50K sign on bonus each or $833 in Southwest flights if transferred to Southwest, possible doubled with the Companion pass), which will give you lots more free travel.
@Ben – Couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks for helping out.
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Hey Big D, so in general you’re saying to get this companion pass
- get SW personal card
- get SW business card
- buy Marriot points
- do it all within a year…(btw is there an ideal month to get it all done or does it matter?)
@Ryan from MA - You got it. We don’t know for how much longer the credit card points will count towards the Companion Pass so best to do it sooner rather than later. Also, the sooner you do it, the longer you can use your Companion Pass.
I have the Southwest card and have earned the 50,000 miles. I have been told the 50,000 miles will not be applied towards a compaion pass since it is a promotion through Chase. Please clarify for me if I am wrong.
Hi Amanda. They DO count as of right now, Customer service is incorrect. Lots of points count when they aren’t supposed to. I think southwest is just trying to discourage people from opening cards just for this reason but its best not to ask customer service lots of questions about it.
Where is the link that he had on his website?
@Amanda – The points on any credit card are not supposed to count towards the Companion Pass. But they currently do! Check your Companion Pass status online. Though this could change any time.
@Andrew – Thanks for helping out!
Just wanted to note: I didn’t realize, before buying Marriott Rewards points, that you can only transfer points to Southwest miles in increments of 10,000. Since I only needed 6000 more RR miles, I only purchased 18,000 Marriott Rewards points, only to find out that I need 20,000 in order to transfer them. Another 48+ hour delay for me! I hope this keeps some other folks from making the same oversight.
@Lindsay – Thanks for sharing! And hope you get the CP soon.
I can certainly say that Choice points do count for the Companion Pass. I transferred from Choice and it showed as counting. It does take around a week however to post.
One more comment, hah – 30,000 Marriott Rewards get you 10,000 RR (3:1), but 20,000 Marriott Rewards get you 5,000 RR (4:1). The smaller amount is even less worth it – 10,000 MR get you 2,000 RR (5:1).
Boo.
@Maury – Thanks for confirming!
@Lindsay - Looks like they’re trying to get folks to transfer larger amounts. But I don’t know why!
Just an update, applied for the Personal and Busines for my wife same day in late April. Business approved, personal declined, but a quick call to the reconsideration line and a shift of 5K from Sapphire the cards were on their way.
100K Points are in my SW account and counting toward CP.
Now off to transfer Marriott rewards points to her Marriott account then on to SW.
Next step, rinse and repeat for my next application. Looks like a bunch of trips with the kids to Florida to see the grandparents are coming soon!
Thanks for your detailed explanation and the links.
I have a general question about Marriott. I don’t have a Marriott credit card, but just signed up for the awards program on the Marriott. I looked into buying a the 30,000 points and having them transferred to Southwest, however for the life of me I can’t find my account number. Is it somewhere on my account information? I need an account number to buy the points, than transfer. Thanks!
@Jim H - Very nice. Thanks for sharing, and way to maximize the Companion Pass for the family!
@Ben – Your membership number should be in the email they sent you after signing up.
Can I open another card in my husband’s name and put my rapid rewards number on his card to acquire the other 50,000 needed points? I already have been approve for the premier last month and have the 50,000.
Companion Pass activated on both our accounts. 5 credits cards (2 SW personal cards for me & 1 personal + 1 business card for my wife + 1 Marriott 70k card) = atleast 14 roundtrip(~15k miles/trip) tickets until 12/31/2013.
@amanda – I’d suggest putting your number on the account.
@Roshan – Nice! Thanks for sharing. And if you ever run out of points, you can transfer points to Southwest from the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Bold.
How can I tell if my 50K bonus miles are counting to the companion pass?
Before I buy Marriot pts I want to make sure that I am only 10k pts shy and that the Marriot pts as well as the SW bonus pts will indeed count to the companion pass?
(In other words can I see the pts that are accruing toward the companion pass?)
Also my first card has the pts transfered to SW but I opened the per card recently; I’m not sure if I should wait to buy the mariot pts till the SW pts have been posted or if I need to act now while the offers are still working?
One more question: Do SW points expire?
@Cynthie - Log in to your account and click “My Account” above your available point balance on the right, click on “My Rapid Rewards” in the middle of the screen. Scroll down and you will see a box on the left with information on your Companion Pass status. You can also click “View all my points” on the left side and you will be able to filter your points by Companion Pass status.
Southwest points don’t expire as long as you have some activity in your account for 24 months.
I wanted to let you know that my Companion Pass went active last night, I added my husband as my Companion, and added him to one of my reservations!! SO EXCITED!
Thank you SO MUCH for all the information and assistance.
Presuming this is all still around in January 2014 – I will be on it then using his credit for a second round.
I was wondering if anyone can help. I’m still trying to earn the points toward companion status still, but I was wonder if I can buy 2 tickets to NY (me and my gf) using my points, complete companion status and than call Southwest to get a refund on one of the tickets after I designate my gf as my companion. Is that possible? Thanks.
@Lindsay – Congrats! It really is a great feeling to add someone for only $2.5 in taxes per segment.
@Ben – You can cancel Southwest tickets for free online. So you could redeem points for 2 award tickets and later cancel one and get the points back.
Hi Daraius!
Thank you so much for sharing all the great information. I think I’m hooked to your blog so much at this point that I check it atleast 3-5 times every day.
I have a noob question – so I just applied and got approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. It was a difficult decision because I was trying to weigh applying for this vs applying for the two versions of the southwest card and going for the Companion Pass. In the end the sure 50000 points/cash seemed the better option than the possible 100,000 miles + CP.
However, I am wondering what my chances are of still getting approved for those 2 cards in order to get the companion pass. I know this is not a perfect science, but given your experience, could you tell me an estimate or suggest anything I could do to maximize my chances of getting approved?
Here’s some info about me:
My creditsesame score is 716 (before the sapphire application). Creditkarma shows 689.
I have had the Chase Freedom card since September 2011. One of my Chase applications got declined more than 6 months back. I have 7 inquiries on my Creditsesame (which is what Chase pulls the credit information from) including 3 inquiries by Chase.
I have never been late on a payment and try to minimize average balances. My oldest account was opened almost exactly two years ago (will drop after April 20).
@Tausif Salim – Thanks for your kind words! I’d suggest trying later for the Southwest Companion Pass because folks are still getting the credit card bonus sign up to count towards the Companion Pass status. Even if they don’t, you still have 50,000 Southwest points to use, which is not bad at all.
If you got approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you may be able to get the business Southwest card approved as well now. And you could try later for the other personal Southwest card. However, I’d suggest having scores above 700 before applying for credit cards. In my experience applying for business credit cards, Chase likes seeing businesses with longer histories even though they may not be very profitable. Good luck!
Would you suggest applying for the business card immediately so that hopefully they don’t make a separate credit inquiry or waiting till after April 20 (when my first hard inquiry on my file drops)? Also, my creditkarma score is 703 and not 689 like I previously thought!
What’s the latest confirmation that the Marriott transfer and Chase bonuses are still counting towards the companion pass? I’d just like an updated confirmation before I drop $375 on Marriott points.
@Tausif Salim - Business and personal inquiries from the same bank are almost always different inquiries on your credit report.
@bdr0380 – The comments suggest that they are counting, but only you can decide if it is worth doing or not. There’s always the possibility that it will stop working.
@bdr0380 – I purchased Marriott points and then transferred them by phone on March 12th – they posted into my SW account and counted toward companion pass on March 14th. Hope this helps you with your decision.
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Hi Guys. I wanted to let you know that I’ve reached companion pass status through getting the Business Premier, Personal Premier AND the Personal Plus card. I got the Premier Business and Personal back in February and points posted by early March. Based on experiences here, thepointsguy and slickdeals, I decided to apply for the Plus card in the middle of March. Was not instantly approved, so I moved some credit around and was approved. I was asked why I wanted another Southwest card and I told them the truth; the bonus. Was warned I may not get it. Got my card and moved up my closing date and the 50K points just posted in my Southwest account! Companion pass status and 150K in points. A great deal!
It says my companion pass status is not active yet. Does anyone know when I can designate a companion and how long it takes? Thanks!
@Dan - Thanks for sharing your experience.
@Ben – You usually get an email a few days later confirming your companion pass status. If you can’t wait until then, you can call Southwest and manually designate a Companion. It takes just a few minutes to complete.
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I already have the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Personal card and received the 50,000 bonus points when I signed up back in January. Earlier today (before I found your site) I applied for the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Personal card figuring I’d get another 50k points. However, I don’t want to pay the $99 annual fee if I’m not going to get the bonus points. The application required further review so should I call and cancel the application or do you think I will get the bonus points again?
Hi Dan,
Those two personal cards are considered in the same family so you won’t get approved for both unless Chase makes a mistake no matter how good your credit is. The only way to get both 50,000 bonus points would be through 1 personal card and 1 business card. If you apply for a business card be ready to be grilled on what your business is or is going to be. I had to call them to reconsider my application and talk to someone for 20 minutes. I basically had to explain my entire business plan and they only approved me for a $2000 limit since my business was brand new. This can be a hypothetical business so be prepared with some business idea you may have if you don’t already have a business. But my 50k from the personal card posted last month and the 50k from the business card posted a few days ago and both counted toward my companion pass.
@Dan R @Andrew - Some folks have had success getting the bonus on both cards, but I don’t have any personal experience. Usually, Chase doesn’t let you get the bonus again for the same type of card, but I don’t know if Chase considers the Plus and Premier version to be different. But you could make a strong case that they are different card products. You could call the reconsideration line and see if you can get approved for the Premier version.
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Thanks. I’ll let you know what happens. Do you know if it makes a difference when filling out the chase application if I put in my chase online account credentials to prefill the app? Should I put my existing rapid rewards number on the app?
@Dan R - I don’t know if it makes a difference if you log into your chase account, but I always fill it up manually.
Hi D,
I’m 22 with great credit(have had a CC since 17)–not once have I missed a payment. I recently payed down a lot of my cards and it shot my credit score back way up. I just received by personal and business chase SW cards, and will hopefully be enjoying that Companion Pass very soon. Thanks to your site I feel comfortable in knowing which cards I should/shouldn’t apply for, so I give my thanks. I’m wondering, since I just now started to get into this whole rewards/miles thing, which would be the next best card for me to apply for. I was thinking I could apply for one or two more, then call it good for the next 6-8 months.
Would my best bet be something like applying for 2 Citi Thank You Premier cards? Maybe a chase sapphire and a hotel CC(starwood/marriott)? Or how about that chase BA card?
Also, right now I have 1 CC with BofA, 1 with CapitalOne, 1 with Discover and now 3 with Chase(including my 2 new SW cards….or maybe it’d only be 2, since 1 of them is a business card)
Thanks in advance!
@Kyle – It depends on what you’re trying to get out of the cards. Airline travel within the US or outside? Travel in coach or business/first? I like the 2 Citi AA cards for 50K each for a total of 100K, the Chase Sapphire Preferred/Ink Bold/United Explorer are also nice as is the SPG card. The Citi TY cards are good for up to $665 in air travel or ~$500 in hotel gift cards. But what are you looking to get out of it. Any particular places you want to travel to?
Thanks for the quick response! I was hoping to take a trip to belize, Spain or Italy within the year. Doesn’t make a difference to me if it’s coach vs business. I wouldn’t mind being able to apply points towards a nice hotel, either.
@Kyle – I’d suggest the 2 Citi AA cards at the same time and the SPG card for the hotels (using the cash and points option to get more cheap nights). The Sapphire and Ink Bold together will also get you to Europe, but the AA cards have a lower total minimum spending required.
Daraius,
My husband is ready to gamble to try and get the companion pass for Southwest by applying for the Premier card. He got his plus card Feb 2011 and was approved for the business card March 16, 2012. We are waiting until the 17th to apply for the Premier personal card since he is only 50,000 away from companion pass. I know they may NOT issue the bonus points but we are hoping they do since he’s never had a Premier card. QUESTION: should we cancel the personal plus card now and apply Tuesday for the Premier, or should we leave the Plus card open and apply for the Premier? (I know not to switch the cards.) Also, it asks in the app for your current user Id and password. Is there any reason not to put this in, or will it maybe trigger a NO bonus points by adding it?
@Tammy Horvath – You can cancel the personal card now, or offer to do it when you call the reconsideration line. You could cancel it now, and the reapply for the Premier later on. A great reason for wanting the Premier instead of the Plus is because points earned on the Premier count towards the A List qualifications and because you get a larger anniversary bonus on the Premier card (in case you need to explain why you cancelled 1 Southwest card only to apply for another one).
I usually don’t enter my current user ID and password, but I don’t really know how that impacts an application.
Went the buy 30,000 Marriott points for $375 route. Purchased the points from Marriott on Friday and they appeared in my Marriott Rewards account / were transferred over to Southwest on Saturday. To my surprise they appeared in my Southwest account this afternoon! And they are still being counted towards the companion pass!
Thought processing these would take way longer. Thanks so much to everyone who’s contributed to this thread!
A question and maybe a tip. One, I am about to apply for the Southwest business card. I got the Sapphire in late January and the Personal Southwest in March, when I applied for about 6 cards. My question is, if I wait until early May will they likely have a problem with that many credit applications? Everything else on credit is great, 790+. The (maybe) tip. It seems like Wyndham points transfer to southwest at 8,000 Wyndham points to 2,400 Rapid Rewards. So, during the Daily Getaways you can buy 32,000 Wyndham points for $110, which is 9,600 Rapid Rewards which is the least expensive way to (almost) get the extra 10,000 for the companion pass.
Working on CP status for my wife, after applying for a personal card (instant approval on March 27, received card on April 3, made a quick purchase on the card, received 50k bonus on April 14) and a business card (pending approval April 9, called reconsideration line April 10, got approved after shifting credit balances around, received card on April 16). I just wanted to mention that purchasing Choice points now gives a 10% bonus, so you only need to buy 17000 Choice points (plus 1700 bonus) to get the 18000 needed for converting to 5400 SWA points. Saves $11
Thanks once again for your great site! It’s going to make travel for our family of four much easier, having two CP statuses through the end of next year!
@Anon- Congrats and thanks for sharing!
@Brian – You could try for the business card now, since you can usually get 1 personal and 1 business card. However, you may need to call the reconsideration line to get approved. Thanks for the tip – I planned on posting on it later this week!
@Keith – Congrats! And thanks for sharing.
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Daraius,
Thanks, thanks, thanks! My husband just got the Southwest Personal Premier card. We canceled the personal Southwest Plus yesterday. We already got the 50,000 bonus points from the business card and already spent 10k. The rep confirmed the 50K bonus for the card, so as long as we don’t get the letter that says you can’t get a bonus again, it looks like we got the companion pass. All thanks to you. I’ll let everyone know when we get the 50k. I hope we are as lucky as the others who have got it for each card, the Plus and Premier.
@Tammy Horvath – Congrats, and I suspect you will get the 50K points to count towards the Companion Pass.
Both my husband and I were each approved last night and are waiting for the cards. Can we use one rapid rewards number to combine the points…50k each to get us close to companion status? Or does it have to be kept separate? Thanks so much!
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Hi,
On last Friday I tried to transfer 5000 points from MY Hyatt account to my wife’s Southwest RR account, but today I found 2400 points showed up on MY Southwest RR account. Anybody has the similar thing happened before? is there a way to transfer my Hyatt points to my wife’s RR account?
FYI, just to confirm, buying Choice points and converting to Southwest points still does count towards Companion Pass status. The SWA points took 8 days to appear in my wife’s account. Also took advantage of the 10% bonus on buying Choice points (offer expires at the end of this month).
@Heather – I wouldn’t use the same Rapid Rewards account, but you (or your husband) would need another 60K points to get the Companion Pass.
@Smlee - You could transfer Ultimate Rewards points to your wife’s hyatt account and from there to Southwest.
@Keith – Thanks for confirming that it still works!
How do you transfer ultimate chase rewards to Hyatt account? I only see an option for transfer to another card….
Application for the business card denied. Spoke to two reconsideration agents but they think my credit history is too new (2 years) to be approved for a business which has no track record (start up). I was planning to start a sports merchandise “business”.
@J Murphy – at the left side of the Ultimate Rewards site, click on the ‘Transfer Points to Travel Partners”, then you will see the Hyatt and other travel partners.
Can anybody confirm that transferring the Best Western points qualify for the Companion pass? How long will this take?
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I got approved for both so I am VERY happy, I think I am going to use my Square to charge up points seems cheaper and easier since I already have the service. One Question I was wondering, I have about 1,000 points right now from flights but I was wondering if I would be considered A-List or A-list preferred along with the CP. I hope this is still working, if not I got a lot of points in the end.
Thanks for all the info- just got my new card (after calling the reconsideration line) and used it tonight- when I activated I wasd told closing isn’t until May 22,so do I have to wait that long to pay it/see my points? what are my options?
hmmmm…I looked at my ultimate rewards page…no choices on left for transfer….. I will look further…
@J Murphy :-I had this issue since I have 2 chase cards 1.Chase Freedom 2) Chase sapphire preferred.
If I use my freedom card link to ultimate rewards I don’t see transfer options but if I select/switch preferred card it shows the transfer link ….I am not sure which card you have but if you have sapphire card then you should see transfer option for sure ..let us know what you see..
Just a happy story to report after following all of MillionMileSecrets tips:
Applied for the SW Business Card, got denied by Chase due to too many apps, called reconsideration line, got approved. And after making a purchase and paying first bill, my Southwest Companion Pass (good for this year and next) arrived in the mail last week.
Thanks Dariaus!
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Hi Guys. I wanted to let you know that I’ve reached companion pass status today!! thank you all.
It’s not active yet but I am hoping that in couple of days it should be active ..
Can someone explain me how long this will be valid ..someone say it will be valid up to Dec 2012 and some says up to Dec 2013.
Please can someone confirm?
@Pankaj It will be valid all of this year (2012) and all of next (2013). I’m shooting for ours too!
@Tammy thanks so much!!
Do you have any reference where this is listed ..that it will be valid for next year too ? Did you called southwest ?
@Tausif Salim – I’d call again and explain that you were thinking about the business for a long time and even dabbled in it for a while, but now want to focus on it a bit more.
@Smlee @Pankaj @Tammy Horvath – Thanks for helping out!
@Bruce @Pankaj – Congrats and thanks for sharing!
@Pankaj No need to call Southwest. Go to http://www.southwest.com and hold your mouse over the Rapid Rewards drop down, in the drop down click on Companion Pass, then click on the “learn more box” under Companion Pass status, under the Program Terms and Conditions: click on the question (What are the Companion Pass Rules and Regulations?). In the second paragraph it states: “Companion Pass qualification will be based on a calendar year. A Companion Pass Member will maintain his/her Companion Pass for the remainder of the calendar year in which status is earned, and the entire calendar year immediately following. To continue their Companion Pass privileges, Members must re-qualify each year. (For example, a Member who earns a Companion Pass on July 15, 2011 will maintain the Companion Pass for the remainder of 2011 and all of 2012. Beginning January 1, 2012, the Member must complete 100 qualifying one-way flights or accrue 110,000 Qualifying Points by December 31, 2012, and upon doing so, the Companion Pass will be extended to December 31, 2013.) ” I hope this helps. God bless!
@Tammy – Thanks so much for details .
I just received companion pass status. Here’s how I got it. 100,000 from the two cards plus about $150 of spending = 100,150. I purchased 60,000 Wyndham points from the Weekend Getaway for $160. I converted 32,000 of those points for 9,600 SW points. I’m using the other 28,000 Wyndham points for a $100 gift card. For the remaining 250 points, I did a survey on E-Rewards which yielded 500 points. The Wyndham points took about 2 days to transfer and the E-rewards took about 5 days to post. Thanks to all for the great information on this website.
Question: Are the offers for personal and business 50,000 both still working? If I were to sign up for the personal and business card could my wife then sign up for a personal and use my SW rewards # to put her 50,000 into my rewards account? Essentially putting me at 150,000 points and qualified for the companion pass after first spend on each card? Thanks!
@Tammy Horvath – Thanks for helping out.
@Greg Schottmiller – Congrats and thanks for sharing!
@Matt – I wouldn’t suggest having your wife put your Rapid Rewards number on her application. However, if you get the Companion Pass, your wife can make an award booking in YOUR name, and you can then add her as a companion. There are currently 2 versions of the personal card and 2 versions of the business card, each with a 50K bonus. And you can always transfer points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Bold if you need extra points (but these won’t count towards the companion pass qualification).
Is it possible to apply and get approved for both versions of the personal cards and get the sign up bonus for each? (100,000miles) (Just an attempt to avoid the small hurdles of the business card approval). Thanks I appreciate the feedback!
I’m having some work done on my house and my contractor says he is a partner with American Airlines and I can get award points for the money I spend on my project. Have anyone ever heard of this before?
Seems to me a while back I saw an Alarm company advertising something similar; getting AA award for installing a security system in my home.
@Matt – A few readers have reported being able to get the bonus for both versions of the Southwest card, but I prefer 1 business and 1 personal since it is harder to explain why you need 2 personal cards for the same airline.
@Diane – I’ve heard of a homebuilder offering miles for building a home, but not a contractor for a home improvement project. Details please!
Thank you very much for your help…the personal and business card are on my next hit list now! Who knows I may just wait until the end of the year and apply for the other personal card and see what happens….just tell them I want to upgrade to the premiere…..
@Matt – You have to get the 110K points within 1 calendar year to get the Companion Pass, so you may not not have much time if you apply at the end of the year. And you usually don’t get points for upgrading a card to a different version.
My companion pass actually came through on my birthday yesterday (!) and I booked my first ticket with an added companion just now. Thanks again for the great post and for all of your great follow-ups in the comments.
@Anon – Thanks for sharing and belated happy birthday! Safe travels!
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I had some Marriott points in my account. I initiated the transfer on Sunday May 6th and they showed up on Soutwhest on Wednesday May 9th. And yes, they still counted towards the Companion Pass.
We earned a companion pass. Canceled the personal plus card and the same day applied for the personal premier card which gave us 50,000. We already had the business card which gave us 50,000 and we already spent 10,000 for a total of 110,000. Companion pass achieved! So it is possible to cancel one personal credit card and get the other to get the bonus points. Also, the southwest website says FINAL DAYS to earn 2 free flight with credit card sign up after first purchase. Just letting everyone know. Thanks for all the help and good luck to anyone who still wants to get a companion pass. Daraius, YOU ARE AWESOME!
I made a major rookie mistake and applied for my southwest cards at the end of 2011. The points actually posted on 12/28/2011. So no companion pass that way. The DW and I fly Southwest a lot so I am considering transferring 200,000 UR points to Hyatt and then transferring Hyatt to Southwest. If my math is correct the 200,000 UR points are worth about 2400.00 if I booked all of them on travel thru UR. If i transfer from Hyatt to southwest they convert to 96,000 points plus 20,000 bonus points for a total of 116,000 points. 116,000 points at 1.65 (southwest value per point) is $1914.00. So I’m losing about $500.00 value on the points but getting the companion pass….WIN!
Is my math correct here and will this work? I don’t need another rookie mistake added to my resume…lol
@MMS and others,
I would like to know how long does it usually take for the Choice points redemption to the Southwest Rapid Rewards…
I initiated one today…to complete my 110k
– wooooooooohooooooooooo..so happy 
– but not yet 
Could you let me know how long does it take usually, please? (The rep @ Choice said that it takes 6-8 weeks, but certainly that’s too long
)
Thanks in advance for your kind attention and inputs.
Best Wishes,
Srini
@Omkar – Thanks for confirming!
@Tammy Horvath – Thanks for confirming that you can get the bonus on both the personal and plus versions, and congrats on the Companion Pass!
@Jerry – You can still use the 50K SW points when you do get the Companion Pass! Your math is correct, though they Hyatt website suggests that you’ll get a 6K bonus for transfers in multiples of 50K Hyatt points to Southwest. However, Hyatt points are valuable if you stay at their top end Hyatts (Paris, Maldives, Tokyo etc.) which retail for $600+ a night, but only 22K Hyatt points. 200K Ultimate Rewards points transferred to United is 2 business class tickets to South America or Europe. But that doesn’t matter if you prefer to travel frequently within the US – in which case the Companion Pass is a better option.
Another potential option to consider is Marriott’s Flight and Hotel packages where 250K Marriott points will get you 100K Southwest miles PLUS 7 nights in a Marriott category 1 to 7 hotel.
@Srini – Folks have been getting the points transferred in 10 to 14 days, but your experience could be different. You’re almost there!
Hey Guys, Are these two statements correct concerning this card:
1. You earn 1500 tier points per 10,000 dollars spent up to 15000 tier points
2. You earn 1 companion tier point per dollar spent.
3. Do the double points earned on this card count toward tier points and / or companion tier points?
@Neil – I answered your question in the other post.
What should be the time gap for applying personal and Business Card or Premiere plus card. Me and my wife both got Southwest Personal card in last 60 days and I’m getting ready to enable both of us to have companion pass so that we can take kids with us for free.
@sunightpal,
As far as I know, and based on my experience – there is no minimum gap that you should maintain.
I applied for both the cards within a gap of one minute and I got both the cards (after calling the credit reconsideration line though). YMMV
@sunlightpal – You could apply now, but will likely have to call the reconsideration line to get approved.
@Srini - Thanks for helping out!
@MMS,
The rapidrewards.com website says that the 50,000 points offer ends today.
Do you know if this is the end of this deal? Please let me know.
Your inputs are greatly appreciated. If this is the end of it, I’ll go for the premier card too!
Thanks in advance for your kind attention.
Best Wishes,
Srini
Has any one determined if Hyatt points earned from promotions such as the 4x Miles promotion going on now will count toward CP (I know the T&C so no, but alas as we have found they often still do)? or will only the regular 600 miles count? I just got the Personal card and currently have 11000 CPQP. I don’t think I will be accepted for the Business Card as I have applied for 3 Chase cards in the last four months and have had to call the reconsideration line for two of them. Im trying desperately to get to the 110 prior to November for our trip to Disney and have an 8 night business trip which if the Hyatt Bonus points count I can hotel hope to take a HUGE chunk out of the 110,000. Any other reccomendations on how to use those 8 hotel nights to maximize CPQP if the Hyatt bonus points do not count?
@Srini – I don’t have any special knowledge (i.e. Chase hasn’t told me anything) of when the SW offer ends, since it is not one of my referral links.
@Tracy – I know that the base amount (600 miles) usually counts, but the bonus doesn’t. But I have no personal experience with this promo. Most folks who apply for Chase cards have to call the reconsideration line after the 1st application, so you could still get approved after calling the reconsideration line.
I signed up for the personal card and got 50,000 points (was rejected for the business card). Already called the reconsideration line twice (too new to chase and too new credit history). If my boyfriend signs up for the personal card can he transfer his 50,000 points to my account to count towards the companion pass. I probably will be traveling Southwest alot for work but not 60,000 points worth. I know direct transfer won’t work but what if he transfers those points to hotel points and then to me and then I transfer back to Southwest. Thoughts? Thanks!!!