Will the 3,000 Southwest Points From Rocketmiles Count Towards Your Companion Pass?

May 28, 2014 By Million Mile Secrets

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Million Mile Secrets’ reader Jeff commented:

Hey Daraius,
I wondered if you’ve had any experience or know anything about Rocketmiles? They seem to have launched recently and are offering Southwest bonus points for booking hotel rooms (3,000 bonus for the 1st night). Wondered if you’d heard anything about either point-maximizing recommendations (cheap hotels in certain cities with high points). And do the points count towards the Companion Pass?

Jeff is referring to the 3,000 Southwest point bonus currently being offered by Rocketmiles on bookings made by May 31, 2014. Normally, you can earn between 1,000 and 5,000 Southwest points per night, but you’ll earn an extra 3,000 points on your 1st booking with this deal.

Will The 3,000 Southwest Points From Rocketmiles Count Towards Your Companion Pass — Until May 31, 2014, You’ll Earn an EXTRA 3,000 Southwest Points on Rocketmiles Bookings…But Do They Count Towards the Companion Pass?

What’s Rocketmiles?

Link: Rocketmiles

Link: My Review of Rocketmiles

I’ve written about Rocketmiles and how you can earn airline miles for discounted hotel bookings that you normally wouldn’t earn miles and points for. You can choose which frequent flyer program you earn miles in, and sometimes there are bonuses, like the current deal with Southwest.

If You Choose Southwest Points, Will They Count for the Companion Pass?

Yes and no.

The regular points you earn through Rocketmiles WILL count toward the Southwest Companion Pass. So depending on the hotel, you could get 1,000 to 5,000 points per night.

But the 3,000 bonus points you’ll earn through the 1st booking promotion DO NOT qualify. You can use the miles for travel, but they will NOT be counted towards the 110,000 points you need to earn the Companion Pass.

Folks on Flyertalk have also confirmed that the 3,000 point bonus for your 1st booking DO NOT count.

But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use Rocketmiles, because the regular points you earn do currently count towards the Southwest Companion pass!

And here are other ways to earn some extra points for the Companion Pass.

Sometimes Rocketmiles’ rates are higher than booking through other 3rd party hotel sites. So definitely shop around before you book to make sure you’re getting a good deal. It’s not worth paying a lot more just to get some extra points.

Why Get the Companion Pass?

Link: A Step-By-Step Guide to the Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Companion Pass is by far the best deal for Big (domestic) Travel with Small Money!

Emily and I use our Companion Pass frequently to visit friends and family in the US. With the Companion Pass, your companion travels with you for almost free on both paid and award tickets!

You need to earn 110,000 Southwest points in a calendar year to qualify for the Companion Pass. And because the Chase Southwest 50,000 point cards are back, now is a good time to apply and earn a lot of qualifying points!

Bottom Line

You can earn Southwest points by booking discounted hotel rooms on Rocketmiles. And they’re having a promotion until May 31, 2014, where you’ll earn an extra 3,000 points on your 1st booking.

The regular Southwest points you earn through Rocketmiles WILL count towards the Companion Pass. But the 3,000 bonus points will NOT.

So if Jeff just needs a few more Southwest points to earn the Companion Pass, booking a hotel through Rocketmiles might be a good deal for him. But don’t count on the bonus!