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In the past couple of weeks, I received a similar question from 2 friends with the Southwest Companion Pass:
What’s the best way to use Southwest points linked to your companion’s account to still get 2-for-1 flights?
This is a great question! It’s possible to transfer Southwest points from one account to another. But you have to pay to do this. And it’s NOT necessary because there’s a workaround that will still allow you to add a companion to your reservation.
Even if you don’t have the Companion Pass, the booking trick I’ll share could be a helpful way to save money on Southwest flights.
My wife and I have been taking advantage of savings with Companion Pass for almost 4 full years. We saved nearly $3,000 on Southwest flights alone in 2017!
If you’re planning to earn the Companion Pass (or already have it!), this booking trick might come in handy!
Book a Southwest Flight Using Points From ANY Account!
On occasion, my wife will accumulate Southwest points directly in her frequent flyer account. She usually earns these points after taking paid flights to visit friends and family. But because the Companion Pass is linked to my account, and my wife is my designated companion, she can’t book an award flight for herself and add me as a companion.
So when we want to use the points in her account to take advantage of the Companion Pass, we simply:
- Log-in to my wife’s frequent flyer account
- Redeem Southwest points for an award flight and enter my information on the passenger details screen
- Log-in to my Southwest account
- Add my wife as a Companion
Here’s the secret – you can use Southwest points in your account to book flights for friends and family!
Once you enter the Southwest frequent flyer number on the passenger details page and book the flight, the reservation will be linked to that flyer’s account. If that person has a Companion Pass, they can just log-in to their account and click “Add Companion”
For folks without the Companion Pass, you can still use this booking trick to use someone else’s points to book your flight. For example, my mom has been generous enough in the past to allow me to use points from her account when I was running low. Even then, I’m still able to add my wife as a companion to the flight!
The same goes for folks who collect Chase Ultimate Rewards points. You can transfer points directly to your Southwest account. Then, use points to book a Southwest flight for friends or family! And if those friends or family have the Companion Pass, they can add their companion to the reservation!
Earn the Southwest Companion Pass to Save BIG on Airfare!
Link: Southwest Companion Pass
Link: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
Link: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
Link: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
To earn the Companion Pass:
- You must fly 100 one-way flights (within a calendar year) on Southwest
OR
- You need to earn 110,000 Southwest points (within a calendar year)
An easy way to earn nearly enough points for the Companion Pass is by opening 2 Southwest co-branded Chase credit cards. The bonuses often fluctuate between 40,000 and 60,000 points each. Here’s a look at the current offers for all 3 Chase Southwest cards:
| Card Name | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card | 40,000 Southwest points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card | 40,000 Southwest points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card | 60,000 Southwest points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening |
Keep in mind, due to recent changes, you can no longer apply for 2 personal Chase Southwest cards. But you can still earn a huge amount of eligible Companion Pass points by applying for 1 personal Southwest card and the Southwest Premier Small Business Card.
Fortunately, lots of folks qualify for small business cards without even realizing it! You can apply as a sole proprietor with your social security number, without needing to register your business with your city, state, or the IRS. For example, I qualify for small business credit cards thanks to my eBay side hustle.
Bottom Line
You can use Southwest points in your account to book a flight for ANYONE!
This is especially useful for folks with the Southwest Companion Pass. For example, I sometimes use Southwest points in my wife’s account to book an award flight for me. Then, the reservation appears in my account and I can add my wife as a companion.
If you have any Companion Pass booking tricks, I’d love to hear in the comments!
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Question! We just got our shiny new Southwest card in the mail and plan on earning the companion pass in the next month or two. I am wondering if I can purchase flights now (before earning it) for August and then when we do earn it, just add my husband on as a companion? Or do only flights purchased after earning the pass apply to companions?
AWESOME thank you for this answer, just what I needed! The rules say that “you” need to purchase the ticket to be eligible for companion pass, but the RR# of the ticket itself is the key to the eligibility for companion pass, not who PURCHASED the ticket.
Great article. Thanks for tip about using someone else’s account to book a trip and then go back and add companion. They way you described worked like a charm.
the only way paying to transfer points to your acct makes sense.. is if that acct doesn’t have enough pts to cover a flight and they wont be earning any points.
This is true. Thank you for commenting.
Seriously? This is a ‘secret’? You forgot to mention a 3rd party can buy you a paid flight to which you can add a companion. Now click on my card linkz!
Yes, it’s definitely a secret for those who have unnessarily paid to transfer points to other accounts in the past.
LULZ. no its not.
Can confirm: I just did this yesterday for the first time, in fact. Ate through all my wife’s points for a big trip I’m planning, then started in on mine (her account is the one with the companion pass this time.) Worked flawlessly – I was worried the flight wouldn’t show up for a while after booking, but nope, it’s instant.
Awesome! Thank you for sharing your experience!
We have a companion pass that’s good through 2019. When that ends, Do you cancel your southwest cards and reapply to be able to qualify for the bonus points again to get the companion pass again?