3 Things I Learned About My Southwest Companion Pass

Earlier this year, I detailed my road map to earning a Southwest Companion Pass. Shortly after my post, I crossed the 110,000 points threshold to earn my golden tickets.

I have only used the companion pass once for an upcoming trip to Chicago in October. Since I book the trip in May, I have learn 3 things about using the Companion Pass.

1. A Companion Can Only Be Added After A Ticket Is Purchased

When I purchased my ticket to Chicago, I could not figure how to add a companion to my ticket. My first thought was that I had to add 2 tickets to my cart and then link my companion to the trip. Wrong!

Then I though that I added one ticket to the cart and during the check-out process there would be
a place to add my companion. Wrong!

After a quick call to Southwest, I learned that I needed to purchase my ticket first then add my
companion to the itinerary.

To do this, log into your Rapid Reward Account and click on "My Travel."

 
Find the flight you want to add the companion. Under the itinerary is "Add A Companion."

After clicking the link, the process is self-explanatory.

2. Sales Are Great Even After You Purchase Your Ticket

This one has more to do with Southwest than the Companion Pass. After purchasing a ticket on
Southwest, its not a one and done situation. If Southwest has a sale and your ticket is now cheaper,
Southwest allows you to get a credit for the difference. Book the flight with points? The difference in points will be credit to your account instantly.

To get your refund, find your itinerary and click "change reservation" link directly under the reservation.

The system will ask you which flights (outgoing or incoming) that you want to change. Next, you will see your options to change your ticket and the price of the new ticket. Complete the steps and Southwest will eventually show your savings.

3. Changes on an Itinerary with a Companion Requires an Extra Step

Twice since booking the Chicago trip, the price of the ticket has dropped. I booked the trip with points and the drop in price/points has saved me 2,000 points per ticket. However, I encountered a problem when I went to make the change.

When I tried to change the ticket as I showed above, the following error appeared:

Itineraries with companion tickets require you to cancel the companion ticket before making any changes. This is one thing Southwest needs to fix. Its time consuming to make ANY changes to these type of itineraries.

Find the companion ticket's confirmation number and go to Southwest's homepage. On top of the page, click the "Air" button and then click "Cancel Reservation"

After cancelling the companion reservation, you can then make a change to the your reservation.

The final step is to add the companion back to your itinerary. I am going to repeat this:

Don't Forget To Add The Companion Back To Your Ticket!

I forgot to do this for two weeks after making one of my changes. That could have ended badly!

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best travel tools out there. However, at times, getting it to work can be like calculus.


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