Southwest Rapid Rewards - Do I have to rebook CP ticket if I find lower fare and rebook myself

So, one way of my RT ticket from GEG-MCO has dropped somewhat (I actually have 3 RT's for my family booked on points), so I would like to rebook the same itinerary at the lower points. My question is, do I also have to rebook my CP ticket for my husband, does it stay the same, or does it automatically do it? I am sure I will be watching and rebooking this itinerary for several drops over the next few months so I would appreciate any help! We are new to CP, so unsure of the ins/outs of using it. TIA!

In my experience, yes. When you go to change or cancel your res, the website will dump the CP reservation before you can rebook yours. No big deal, your CP can get the very last available seat on any flight you are on!

In order to make *any* changes to the CP holder's itinerary, even if just rebooking for less points, you must first cancel the CP booking. It can take anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours, though, before all their systems process the cancellation. During that time, you won't be able to make changes to the CP holder's itinerary - you'll keep getting a dumb 'Oops' error telling you that you must first cancel the CP booking even though you already have an email stating that the CP reservation was cancelled.

See the master 'bug' thread for more details.

Short answer is that you must cancel the CP before you can even price a changed itinerary while logged in.

What I have been doing is first guaranteeing that there are plenty of seats by trying to buy 8. I then cancel my flight and the CP is canceled automatically. I get a refund for the CP fees. I then immediately book the new flight at the lower price using the TTF from the previous reservation and use ftnoob's CP shortcut (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16482417-post9.html) to rebook the CP.

If the seats are tight, not likely if the price has gone down, then I phone it in. They will hold the CP while changing your flight. They will then relink the CP after your change.

Short answer is that you must cancel the CP before you can even price a changed itinerary while logged in.

What I have been doing is first guaranteeing that there are plenty of seats by trying to buy 8. I then cancel my flight and the CP is canceled automatically. I get a refund for the CP fees. I then immediately book the new flight at the lower price using the TTF from the previous reservation and use ftnoob's CP shortcut (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16482417-post9.html) to rebook the CP.

If the seats are tight, not likely if the price has gone down, then I phone it in. They will hold the CP while changing your flight. They will then relink the CP after your change.

Trust me...having been to this dance more times than I can count, Ink's process...or something reasonably close like 6 phantom seats instead of 8 LOL...is the best way to approach this.

Short answer is that you must cancel the CP before you can even price a changed itinerary while logged in.

When your flight is canceled, you can typically change it once for free at southwest.com/rebook or southwest.com/rebook2. When you do this, the companion reservation is neither canceled nor moved to the new flight. You have to cancel it separately and book a new one either the regular way or by using ftnoob's trick.

I was the alpha tester today on cancellation by Southwest with a Companion Reservation attached. The inconvenience was mitigated by (1) the fact that I had enough notice to avoid the trip to the airport, and (2) traveling a day later turned out to be more convenient.