bsdstone

Interesting. I might have to give this a go.

EC Traveler

Sorry - I may be missing something.

In order to get Companion Pass, you need only get exactly 100,000 SWA correct?

Is there a reason the thread focuses on the 120,000 Southwest redemption instead of the 100,000 Southwest redemption?

I actually have the MR award points in my account, just waiting for January 1st to make the request to get 2017 + 2018. I was only going to request Cat 5 package with 100,000 SWA miles (for 250,000 Marriott points) but want to be sure I'm not missing something.

I think its simply 'value' ... agree that 1MR = 1 SWA is a good value so doing 270k makes most sense, just want to be sure.

Thanks!

nsx

That part is correct, but you need 110k, not 100k.

EC Traveler

I've been called an idiot before ... and now I'll call myself one.

For some reason I thought it was 100k, not 110k. That would be the answer.

THANKS!!!

SAPMAN

I am looking to have 40k bonus points from a new SWA card (opened in Nov) toward the CP. (I have enough Marriott to make up the rest).

I understand I should not get to my Spend Limit for the bonus points too early so they POST in Rapid Rewards after 31 Dec.

Questions:
1. Am I ok to spend in late DEC and then it will not post into SWA Rapid Rewards until my credit card cut off on 6 Jan? Or will it post to SWA as soon as I hit the spend threshold or "back date" it to when the bonus was earned?

2. About how long after the Cr Card statement cut off do the points show on SWA Rapid Rewards?

3. I think I read that the CP is activated about 3-5 days after the 110,000 points are posted on SWA. Correct?

Thanks. Timing is important as I want CP thru 2018, but hopefully have the CP active by 15 Jan as I have a flight scheduled on the 18th. ( I have already bought my ticket and, as a backup, used points for my companion - which I will cancel if CP is available in time)

nsx

1. Yes, but it's not foolproof. Much less than 1% chance Chase surprises you with a billing date change. For a Jan 6 statement date you pretty much have to take this chance, because reaching the threshold too close to the statement date often results in a one-month delay in posting the bonus. Something like 5 days before statement drop is a reasonable deadline for posting your transactions to meet the threshold.

2. 1 to 2 days, I think.

3. Should be 1 day.

rsteinmetz70112

Keep in mind that that this is close to the annual year end processing which can last a couple of days. I don't know but this year since New Years Day is on a Sunday there could be issues, and there is the new reservation system.

SAPMAN

Thanks everyone. I also saw another thread on similar topic. As I don't really need the companion pass active to reserve until about 17 January (I do have a regular reservation that I can cancel - used points), I will wait until 31 Dec to charge the "over the top" $$.

I do understand the "short statement" and Chase can cut - off when you do not expect, especially if you have a recent new card.

Bottom line, If I only get 23 months use vs. 24 months - that will be fine.

pinniped

I know I had a year in there when I got a CP mostly on Alamo credits. I don't believe that's possible anymore...

Regarding this particular approach, I'm a huge fan of the Marriott Travel Packages in general, and a 2-year Southwest CP is icing on the cake. ^ I believe the TP's will be there for calendar 2017, but I could easily see their final day being Dec 31, 2017 - e.g., Jan 1, 2018 is a combined program with something different. But that's just a guess on my part - nothing more.

If one intends to use the hotel stay at a full-service, non-resort Marriott or Renaissance, that Ritz card from upthread becomes more valuable. It confers Gold status, which is the first legit elite status in the Marriott program. At most mainline non-resort hotels, it's a meaningful status with lounge access, etc.

If you don't know what hotel you want to book when you redeem the award, that's okay: redeem the Category 5 Travel Package. It can always be upgraded later if you find a Cat 6 or higher hotel that you like. But you can't go the other way: if you redeem Cat 8, you are more than welcome to use it at a Cat 5, but they don't refund any points.

flyer4512

If possible you want to make the entire spend so that all 42K CPQP post to our account in 2017. That will give you 42K CPQP so you need 68K more for companion pass.

I only see options where Marriott will let you transfer up to 140K Marriott points for 50K Southwest points so you would still be 18K points short of companion pass and would have to transfer another 70K Marriott points for 25K Southwest points to get you over 110K.

Using the above scenario you would be transferring 210K Marriott points to Southwest for 75k CPQP.

You would be Much better off doing a vacation package and getting 120K Southwest points plus a 7 night hotel stay for 60K ( 270K total Marriott points) more Marriott points

HPN-HRL

Just a quick thanks to nsx for highlighting this option back in November. I had been planning on having extended family earn a CP by getting one RR CC and supplementing with Choice (if I got lucky during Daily Getaways in April), flights early in the year, and MS. I ended up having one of them apply for the Marriott CC and both of them buy SPG pts in December; CP was issued this past weekend. Now that hotel xfers will no longer be counted after 3/31/17 I'm very glad I tried the Marriott method instead.

nsx

Aw, shucks.

For a couple days there I was upset that I might have caused Southwest to shut down this opportunity without notice. It's always a tough judgment call whether or not to shine light on a good deal. In this case I figured the bloggers had already told everyone about the Companion Pass opportunity but the SPG-Marriott part was a little complicated for newbies.

For many years I have believed that Southwest should restrict Companion Pass qualification to A-listers, namely people who buy tickets on the airline. With so many non-customers exploiting the CP opportunity I think the CP is at risk of dying unless Southwest moves to limit it.

HPN-HRL

You may well be correct about this; I believe that the new CPQP is probably WN's last attempt to keep CP alive, but see the factors below:

1) If CP redemption goes utterly crazy between now and 3/31 or so I could see this being the last year of "CP as we know it" - either dropping the program or adding a requirement along the lines of making A-List. (But if the average CP earner doesn't use the CP more than 3 or 4 times in 2017, maybe it won't matter.)

2) If CP survives as something to be earned in 2018, I wonder if the post-3/31 requirements will be enough to keep the program healthy. Non-frequent WN Customers (unless they are willing to do extensive MS) will really only have the "2 Chase CC bonuses + 6000 other points" option - I could easily see the combination of the new CPQP rules and 5/24 cutting down the number of people who earn CP to a small enough number that makes CP sustainable.

My best guess at present is that CP will be earnable in 2018 (60%/40% if I were an oddsmaker), but I am thought of as an optimist by many of my friends...

flyer4512

I wonder how many people really get CP without flying, sure it sees like EVERYONE is doing it but how many people is that. The average thread here is the same 15 -20 folks posting over and over. I'm sure a LOT of people are getting CP via the TP deal but I wonder if it's as many as it seems and how often they actually use it

Over 4 CP flights a year is not doable for many people as you have to both be able to get the same time off and have quite a bit of vacation time also.

If you have kids unless you have 2 CP's you are paying for them and need to schedule around school, etc

Even with the hotel and flight paid for vacations are still not cheap, We spend at least $3000 every week (Sat - Sun) we go to Florida, the rental car alone is ~$300 and another $100 for off site airport parking.

I'm retired and my wife gets 6 weeks and 3 days vacation. we Use CP ~5 times per year.

That being said I have CP for 2017 and we are getting CP for my wife for 2017/18 as there really is no downside for us in redeeming a TP.

toomanybooks

I remember back in about 2006 I was the only guy I knew talking about the CP. I got laughed at by everyone I knew who were all on UA/DL/US/AA.

Now there are multiple Facebook groups with many thousands of members (plus God knows how many bloggers and their audiences) pounding the CP. There used to be absolutely none of that.

I think a LOT of people are getting the CP.