Southwest Companion Pass??

[HeatherC]

Not sure why this never occurred to me before, but I am wondering if I can transfer points from my dh's card to mine or vice versa to earn the 100,000 points and companion status for the year? Is that allowed?

Thanks!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Not sure why this never occurred to me before, but I am wondering if I can transfer points from my dh's card to mine or vice versa to earn the 100,000 points and companion status for the year? Is that allowed?

Thanks!

I don't know, but that seems like it wouldn't be allowed. If it was, you could just transfer 110,000 points back and forth between accounts for perpetuity to always get the companion pass.

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

Not sure why this never occurred to me before, but I am wondering if I can transfer points from my dh's card to mine or vice versa to earn the 100,000 points and companion status for the year? Is that allowed?

Thanks!

No

 

[Gillyrose779]

Nope- not allowed.

 

[mfly]

Points that are transferred from one RR account to another are not CP qualifying points.

One of you could apply for another SW Visa and earn the 50k bonus again - that would be the quickest/easiest way to earn CP.

 

[pbb&j]

I don't know if you have Marriott points available to you, but earlier this year I used Marriott points to buy one of the Marriott Travel Packages. It was 270,000 points, and for that you got a 7 night stay at a category 5 Marriott hotel (you choose the category), and 120,000 Southwest points, which was enough for the companion pass. You can choose a different airline, but I wanted the companion pass. It does not earn you A list status, however. The whole transaction only took about 2 days, and the companion pass is good until the end of 2017.

 

[hsmamato2]

No it won't count. another pp noted you could apply for another card in YOUR name,and get to that 110k... remember it's within one calendar year of earning, so you need to get those points between Jan 1,2016- if some were earned dec 31 2015, they won't count. There are some hotel programs that you can transfer points into swa and it will count towards the pass, but you lose points in the process.

 

[hsmamato2]

@pbb&j I have a question (sorry OP this OT for you and your question) when you did the package, did you have to book/stay at the hotel before you got the swa points in your account? or just book it,and you got them?I'm asking b/c say you booked using the points for that package in Jan 2016, but your stay didn't occur till August 2016, when would you see the swa points?

 

[pbb&j]

@pbb&j I have a question (sorry OP this OT for you and your question) when you did the package, did you have to book/stay at the hotel before you got the swa points in your account? or just book it,and you got them?I'm asking b/c say you booked using the points for that package in Jan 2016, but your stay didn't occur till August 2016, when would you see the swa points?

No, the stay and the southwest points are separate. You end up with a 7 night certificate in your Marriott account (it looks like the 1 night certificates that members often earn). I think it's good for a year, but apparently people have had luck getting the expiration date extended. The Southwest points posted to my Southwest account within 2 days, if not the next day, and then the companion pass was ready to use.

It is a great deal if you're sitting on some Marriott points. A nice thing about the hotel stay certificate is that I bought the category 1-5 certificate because it was the least amount of points to get enough for the companion pass, but it sounds like you can add points to it later, if say you decide to stay at a category 8 hotel instead. I don't think you can typically do that with those 1 night certificates.

One thing to keep in mind is that to maximize the value of the companion pass, do it early in the year so that your companion pass will be good for the current year, and then all of the next year. Most of those points traveler blogs have LOTS of details on doing this. It was not my original idea!

Another thing I learned is that you can transfer a large chunk of Marriott points to another member as long as you make an immediate transaction with them. Typically, they'll only let you transfer 50,000 points per year. I transferred the full amount of the Marriott Travel Package from my husbands's account to mine, and then bought the travel package in my name because I wanted the SWA companion pass in my name. At first they told me no, until I read them what it says on their website!

 

[hsmamato2]

Thanks!

 

[PerfessorZ]

I have nothing to add except... I love this forum! I've gotten so many great ideas to save money and earn lots of rewards here.

Ok, maybe I have one small thing to add. I signed up for 2 different SW Visa cards this year & have earned my companion pass. I have about $1500 worth of air travel booked for our November trip already (on points + companion pass alone) & will have enough points left over to book roughly another $1500 worth.

Next year, I'll help my wife do the same and we'll alternate years who is earning the 50k bonuses and Companion Pass. Since CP is good through the end of the year you earn it plus the entire following year, we should have one or both of us with CP status in perpetuity - or until the rewards program changes its rules.

 

[Narnia_girl]

Butting in with a question...
We have about 75,000 IHG (Holiday Inn) reward points, 15,000 Marriott points and 15,000 Hilton Honors points. Could I put all those toward the companion pass goal? We were planning to spend them on free hotel nights for our upcoming road trip, but I'm wondering if they would be better spent going towards companion pass? (if that's possible).

 

[hsmamato2]

Butting in with a question...
We have about 75,000 IHG (Holiday Inn) reward points, 15,000 Marriott points and 15,000 Hilton Honors points. Could I put all those toward the companion pass goal? We were planning to spend them on free hotel nights for our upcoming road trip, but I'm wondering if they would be better spent going towards companion pass? (if that's possible).

you'd have to read up carefully on terms and conditions, but the amount you have wouldn't get you far in CP points.... Not 100% sure of which hotel programs points would work for this (I know Hyatt does for sure) but the transfer rate is usually around 3 hotel points=1 SWA cp qualifying point. at best. million miles secrets has good info,just search on their site. you REALLY need to do your homework when planning this tho.....