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Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

sethisaballer
Explorer C

Hello fellow SW Luv'ers,

 

Apologies in advance for somewhat lengthy post...I want to get some insight from some of you SW experts out there.  So I recently got approved and received my Southwest Priority card.  I fly SW a decent amount every year (maybe 10 one way flights) so nothing crazy.  Therefore, I really did not think I had a shot at earning the Companion Pass.  Was really just looking at the 60k points as a way to get some free flights. However, I also did not initially realize that the 60k points go toward the 110k points needed.  So I would only need to earn 50k points by the end of 2019.  Nice, but still a tough feat for someone who dosen't fly that often.  But then my buddy who is a frequent SW flyer told me about booking hotels thru SW.com and how many points you can earn if booking with a "preferred partner".  I did some searching and saw how you can earn 15-20k points at certain hotels just for staying 3-4 nights!  So now I am definitely thinking about "going for it" with the companion pass.  I just want to make sure I am not wrong about anything I have stated above.  Because the hotels still are not cheap by any means, and I didn't really have anymore major trips left to plan for 2019.  So trying to weigh cost vs benefit and want to make sure I don't screw up and am out a bunch of $$.  Also, would love to hear other strategies for earning the points to get to companion status.  Thanks in advance! 

9 REPLIES 9

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

It sounds like you're on the right track, but doing a cost benefit analysis is highly recommended.  It wouldn't make much sense to spend a bunch of money on costly hotels or anything else if you aren't going to get more value out of the Companion Pass than you spend trying to get it.  While the wording on the Southwest hotels site is pretty unclear about points earned being CP qualifying points, all reports I've seen indicate they are.  Just be careful booking hotels, or doing any point earning for that matter, at the end of the year as you may run into problems regarding when the points post.  You can also utilize the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping site to earn CP qualifying points along with the points you earn using the Southwest credit card and good old fashioned flying.  Buying Business Select fares for the additional points earnings is a common method to get the most out of your flying.  Good luck with it if you decide to "go for it".

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

SWDigits
Aviator A
Two thoughts:

1. Terms and conditions of the program state in part, "Companion Pass qualifying points are earned from revenue flights booked through Southwest Airlines, points earned on Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Cards, and base points earned from Rapid Rewards Partners."

I would just want to confirm what counts as a "base" point for hotel stays, others here may be able to help.

Here is the source page: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/faqs.html?topic=rapid_rewards_program_terms_and_cond...

2. If you are a business owner then initial card sign up bonus and points earned through your business credit card also count toward CP. It's a no brainer if you are also able to get a business card with the sign up bonus.

Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

sethisaballer
Explorer C

 Yeah I see this same type of response on many posts which is why I just wish Southwest would fully clarify what points qualify you for what.  Even when I call their customer service agents don't seem to fully know.  I get so many "I think so's" or "let me check" shouldn't they be fully trained on this?  However, from looking at some other posts it does look like hotel points booked on SW.com do count toward companion.

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

SWDigits
Aviator A

@sethisaballer wrote:

  However, from looking at some other posts it does look like hotel points booked on SW.com do count toward companion.



I know that the x points earned for spending $x count, but it's the extra xx,000 point offers for some properties that I don't know about.

Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@SWDigits wrote:

@sethisaballer wrote:

  However, from looking at some other posts it does look like hotel points booked on SW.com do count toward companion.



I know that the x points earned for spending $x count, but it's the extra xx,000 point offers for some properties that I don't know about.

 

Technically they are not supposed to count. Practically, as of this writing they do.

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

SWDigits
Aviator A
@sethisballer before you go "all in" with your approach you may want to try a bonus hotel booking to make sure it posts to your Companion Pass tracker.

Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

sethisaballer
Explorer C

Why are they not supposed to count?  And if that's the case why is SW letting them count?

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@sethisaballer wrote:

Why are they not supposed to count?  And if that's the case why is SW letting them count?


Link originally pointed out to me by @chgoflyer :

 

https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/eoy-tier-communication.html

 

Hotel bonus seems to be in the category of "partner bonus" noted as excluded other than Chase, but meanwhile everyone on the community says that they are counting. 

 

I don't know if we have a defnitive statement why hotel partner bonuses are counting, but they seem to be.

 

 

 

 

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

Re: Ways to earn points toward Companion Pass

dfwskier
Aviator A

As said above , do a cost benefit analysis.

If you keep flying 10 one ways a year and your comnpanion flies with you every time, then the pass may be worth $2000 to you (assumes $200/ flight- probably a reasonable assumption). If the companion does not fly with you every time, then CP is worth less. If you fly more, then the opposite is true.