Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Companion Pass - reservation cancellation

HappyFlyer1
Explorer C

So I have a Companion Pass (which I love greatly).  What happens if I make a reservation for myself (paying dollars) and for my companion (free, with a small fee), and then it turns out I am not able to travel on that flight but my companion would like to travel on that flight.

 

Can my companion travel by herself on that flight using the ticket we already bought?  I am not looking for a refund for the amount I paid for my ticket.  Essentially, I want to use the money that I paid for my ticket to allow my companion to make the flight.

 

This question is important since I may have made a reservation far in advance for $100, reserved a companion flight ($5.60), and now (2 days before the date of travel), tickets for that flight are selling for $300.  If my companion wants to take that flight without me, it would be great if I didn't have to cancel the $100 ticket and buy a new $300 ticket.

 

Can my companion just show up at the airport and get on the flight without me there?

 

Thanks.

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Companion Pass - reservation cancellation

franktravel
Aviator B
Solution

No!  You must take the flight for the companion to fly.  You can not switch and give your $100 ticket to her. If see wants to fly she is going to have to purchase a new ticket.

 

If you try to send her on the flight with out you it is possible that they will take your Companion Pass away from you.... Not worth it.

 

Good luck! 

Re: Companion Pass - reservation cancellation

DancingDavidE
Aviator A
Solution

At least you get the $5.60 back for the same taxes on the new fare.

 

If you were unsure about your probability to take the original flight but certain that the companion would travel either way, I would consider booking your companion in points instead to lock it in as a separate reservation for future trips.

 

Then if seats are still available in the days before the flight and your plans firm up, book companion and refund the points reservation.

 

Don't cancel the points reservation if the flight doesn't have seats available...which if the fare was $300 then there won't be (m)any left.

 

If your companion's schedule is flexibile, maybe there is an equivalent flight that still has WGA fares available that would work, although this may be early morning or late-night - might not be worth the $200 difference. Otherwise I think the only way is to pay the going rate.

 

I wouldn't advise sending the companion without you being present, its definitely against the terms.

 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Companion Pass - reservation cancellation

Blkarr
Explorer C

My husband couldn't make an upcoming trip, so I made another reservation after reading comments on this issue. I got an email this morning saying "my" flight had been cancelled. We were going to wait to cancel the companion pass trip, just in case his back started to feel better. You can't have two flights scheduled at the same time, which makes sense with security issues. So, if you make a second reservation, cancel the companion flight first or at least remove  the companion from the original flight til you know it is definitely not going to work out.

Re: Companion Pass - reservation cancellation

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Southwest recently instituted and began enforcing a duplicate reservation policy:

 

Prohibition of Multiple/Conflicting Reservations: To promote seat availability for our Customers, Southwest prohibits multiple reservations for the same Passenger departing from the same city on the same date, or any multiple reservations containing conflicting or overlapping itineraries (such as departures for the same Customer from multiple cities at the same time). Furthermore, without advance notice to the Passenger or purchaser, Southwest may cancel such reservations, or any other reservations that it believes, in its sole discretion, were made without intent to travel. With the exception of Southwest gift cards, funds from proactively cancelled reservations by Southwest will be returned to the original form of payment. Reservations paid for with a Southwest gift card will have the amount applied from the gift card held as travel funds for use by the Customer on a future Southwest Airlines flight.