emeraldtx

I'll be getting my first-ever companion pass June 1. I owe great thanks to this board!! I had never even heard of the cp before. I do a lot of my southwest flying through reward tickets by transferring Amex miles. When I read on Amex that they'll be doing away with those July 1, I did a bit of googling to see where I might best use future Amex miles. I wound up on this board, and after a bunch of reading saw the companion-pass stuff... and then the Southwest credit-card signup-points offer... and after some lengthy calculations, it was apparent I could easily pull off the companion pass! Yay! I'll be waiting until June 1 to transfer the last few points I'll need via Amex. So THANK YOU to this board!!

Now my question:
It says that you can change the companion 3 times during the year. My husband will be my primary companion. At some point, I will probably want to take a trip with my son or sister, so I'll switch it to them. That makes switch (1). Then transfer back to my husband switch (2). So I'm guessing that if I switch it again, it'll stay with my son/sister, or whoever I switch it to for the rest of the year, as that would be switch (3), correct? If so, you can basically only switch it once to one other person if you have someone you mostly use it with?

I'm also wondering if I can delay designating the original companion? In other words, I may find that the first trip I want to take will be with my son... in which case that would eliminate one of the aforementioned changes, correct?

Help, oh companion-pass pros!

swa2xna

You are correct as outlined below. You get your initial designation followed by 3 changes. The 3rd person remains your companion pass until it expires or you requalify.

With regard to delaying designation, you can wait however long you want to designate your companion but your pass still becomes active (and the clock starts) when it is issued.

Hope this helps.

emeraldtx

Very good, thanks! So I'll just wait to designate my companion until the first time I use it. Appreciate the quick response!

nsx

There's a little risk in waiting until the very last day to do your transfer. Sometimes a program pulls the plug early. I don't expect that from Amex, but don't get me started on Choice...

I suggest doing enough transfer to get you within a couple credits of 100. Save the last one or two for June 1. Then your risk is truly minimal.

Oops: the transfer is available through July 1, so you gave yourself a month of leeway. That should be fine.

emeraldtx

OK, now I have another questions! Posting it on this same thread to keep the board clean, and hoping someone will come along to answer.

I'm super-excited about this companion pass, and I'm already planning some trips.

The question I have now is whether your companion can join you mid-trip. I want to use a RR ticket to go to Vegas. I would like to pick up my sister (as companion) in Austin, which is a scheduled stopover on my reward ticket. Is that doable?

Thanks in advance!

irabk

You call it mid-trip. Where your companion flies from or to is irrelevant as long as they are YOUR companion. You both board together. If you are meeting her in Austin and both fly to Vegas, she is your companion. You could not switch it around, joining her in the middle of her trip on a companion pass.

emeraldtx

OK, but the "you both board together" is the part I want to make sure about. I'll already BE onboard. It's a stopover (no plane-change) on my trip; I'd like her to board & join me. Is that doable?

gregorygrady

Shouldn't be a problem. If the gate agents computer doesn't recognize you are on the plane and come try to snatch your companion off the flight, just show them your Companion Pass card. Worst case is that this will require a little effort on your part, but it is for a free ticket, so definitely worth it!!!