We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Can You Transfer Ultimate Rewards Points to Southwest for the Companion Pass?

  • Million Mile Secrets

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook or Twitter!

    Million Mile Secrets reader Robert writes in:

    Can I use the transfer of ultimate rewards points to southwest to complete my companion pass?

    What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

    The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best ways to save money on airline tickets for travel within the US.

    2 Southwest credit cards and 10,000 extra points can get you $3,666 in Southwest travel and a Southwest Companion pass so that your companion can fly free (pay just the $2.50 security fee) for two years!
    Our Southwest Companion Pass!

    You get the Companion Pass after earning 110,000 Companion Pass qualifying points a calendar year.  You can earn points in a variety of ways.  But not all points qualify towards the Companion Pass.

    Ultimate Rewards Points

    You earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points with a Chase credit card which earns Ultimate Rewards points or by shopping at the Ultimate Rewards portal.

    Unfortunately, you can’t transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly to Southwest and have them count towards the Southwest Companion Pass.  That would be too easy!

    But there is an indirect way to earn Companion Pass points from Chase Ultimate Rewards points…

    Other Ways to Earn Companion Pass Points

    Robert can earn points towards the Companion Pass by:

    Marriott and Hyatt Transfers

    Robert can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt or Marriott hotels points and from Hyatt or Marriott to Southwest.  Currently, transfers from Hyatt & Marriott do count towards the Companion Pass status, but could change at any time.

    But he will lose some Ultimate Rewards points in the transfer because the transfer ratio is NOT 1:1.  But it could be worth it to top-off your Southwest account for the Companion Pass!

    1.  Hyatt Transfers

    Robert can transfer, say, 5,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to 5,000 Hyatt points i.e. a 1:1 transfer ratio.

    He can then transfer 5,000 Hyatt points to 2,400 Southwest points.

    Hyatt gives you a bonus for transferring 50,000 points.  So if he transfers 50,000 Hyatt points to 24,000 Southwest points, he will get a bonus of 6,000 extra Southwest points for a total of 30,000 Southwest points.

    You Can Transfer Ultimate Rewards Points to Hyatt and Then to Southwest

    The terms say that it could take up to 4 to 6 weeks for the miles to appear in your Southwest account, but in my experience they transfer within 1 week.

    2.   Marriott Transfers

    Robert can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott points in a 1:1 ratio.

    Here’s the transfer ratio from Marriott points to Southwest.  Robert is better off transferring his Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt instead of Marriott because the transfer ratio is worse with Marriott points (unless he uses a Marriott vacation package).

    With Marriott, you get a better transfer ratio the more points you transfer.  So it makes sense to combine your points with your partner and then transfer points.

    The terms say that it could take up to 6 weeks for the miles to appear in your Southwest account, but in my experience they transfer within 1 week.

    However, Marriott has vacation packages which are terrific deals if you have a LOT of Marriott points.

    Marriott Vacation Packages is a Great Way to Get a Southwest Companion Pass & Free Hotel Stays!

    For example, you can redeem 270,000 Marriott points and get 120,000 Southwest points (enough for the Companion Pass) AND 7 nights in a category 1 to 5 Marriott hotel!

    You can’t redeem these packages online, but have to call 800-321-7396 for them. Marriott also lets you transfer your Marriott points to your partner and then redeem them for an airline transfer or for a vacation package.  So that’s an easy way to combine your points in one account.

    Bottom Line

    Transferring Ultimate Rewards points directly to Southwest will not count towards the Companion Pass.

    But you can indirectly transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott or Hyatt and from there to Southwest and have the points count towards the Companion Pass!  Remember, that this could end at anytime though.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)