[Dead] Southwest companion pass with $4k spending is back.
 

Looks like the southwest companion pass is back with credit card application and $4k spending.

You only earn 30K points on this offer and only good till Feb 28 2025 not Dec 31, 2025

Any workaround to the "This product is available to you if you do not have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card" language? Any experience with cancelling ASAP and then applying again immediately? ("Offer ends 3/11/24.")

Thanks.

Not immediately, best to wait for a month... so you can right now. and then apply after 3/1

I also think there is stipulation to the bonus, you cant get the bonus again if you have gotten a bonus in the last 24 months

It's based on when you got the bonus. If you earned the bonus on a personal card in the last 24 months you can not sign up or get the bonus till after that time has passed.

It looks like the business card (which have their own 24 months restriction individually) do not currently have the offer.

I know Chase terms say "up to 8 weeks" for Companion Pass to be activated. But we've got some WN reservations the week of 3/22 that would be lovely to have this for. Are there any data points from past promotions on how quickly the spend registers, gets qualified, and they add the CP?

I just applied this week but don't have my card yet. Or Chase Offers. Any good ideas to MS or hit this $4k spend quickly? I planned on doing a 1040ES for Q1 but realized that doesn't open until 3/1 and I'd like to get this done in the next few days using Google Pay/Samsung Pay/PayPal.

Most of the savings account or CD funding avenues I found seem closed. What about a refundable deposit on a hotel/property? Any ideas what high end suite would be over
$4k and fully refundable? And any concerns if I then cancel it as long as I've spent the equivalent (say on Q1 taxes in March 2024) to the refund amount on other transactions before the promotion period?

Most bonuses do not post until the statement closes and get transferred from Chase to SWA. Regular CP generally hits the account that day or next.

as to taxes, you can pay Q4, then the overage on your taxes can be applied to 2024. (if you have not filed yet)

I have had luck calling in to get my statement date changed to speed things up. When I get my card, if I know I can hit the spend in a week, I will have them change my statement date to 2 weeks away. Make the charges, give them a few days to post, then statement date will hit. Typically within a couple days of statement, your SW account will update with points/rewards.

Which credit bureau do I need to unfreeze for Chase query?

I called tonight to request a statement date change and was told that they cannot change the statement date for the first statement but subsequent statements can be changed. My statement date is 3/1 which is soon enough for my travel but a little surprised they would not do this.

I'm also in this situation, wanting to use the CP for a trip starting in late April.

If I understand correctly, wife and I can make separate reservations using points (that we already have), and then once the CP is issued, cancel her reservation and immediately add her via CP.

And try to make sure we hit the $4k spending a few days before whatever statement closing date is fairly close before the trip. I'm not quite clear what the statement closing date is, since there's been no statement yet. I signed up for automatic payments "on the due date" and the first auto payment is scheduled for Apr 23. So I'm assuming that means my first statement closing date is shortly after March 23 and therefore I need to get going on hitting the $4K by then (unless I want to cut things REALLY close with the April closing date which would be just several days before our trip.

I guess I'll make an big estimated tax payment ... those still qualify (for bonus spending), I presume.

I just did this same routine. Booked all flights using points for both myself and my companion. Once the CP posted, canceled all companion points flights and rebooked with CP.

Call chase and they will tell you the exact date your first statement will close. I wouldn’t cut it too close for posting purposes so as soon as you can hit the $4k spend requirement, I would do it. It did take my CP about 6 total days (3 business days) to post after the statement closed but there was a weekend in there so account for those factors and see if the timing works for you.

Tax payments are great for these situations!

Is there a site (for tax payments) that charges less fee than the 1.87% at pay1040-DOT-com ? (Yes, I'm aware eftps-DOT-gov charges nothing, but you can't use a credit card there).

No. 1.87% is the lowest. Still good if you need to finish the spending. The bonus alone is worth it.

My wife’s statement closed Sunday and by noon Monday the companion pass showed up in her Southwest account with a link to add a companion. DO NOT USE THAT LINK TO ADD THE COMPANION. If you use the link like I did it will take your name, birthdate and address but does not have a place for your rapid rewards number. It then automatically generates a new RR number. I called SW and the lady was able to add my correct RR number but she was very clear that it counted as one of her 3 changes. A second lady I spoke with says they alway recommend calling and having them add the companion.

I had the same problem. Using the link created a new RR account for my kid. Which I had just created one to get a RR number for him. Lucky it was both brand new. So the agent basically just tossed the account I created and now we’re using the system generated account.

This happened one time but the other two times it figured out who she was and assigned it to the right person.

It is so STUPID for them to not have you enter the correct RR number in the first place.

Does it matter if your companion has their Rapid Rewards number added correctly or not? A companion with status is the only scenario I can think of where it would matter.

If they are added with the wrong number - sure, they can fly just fine. It would just treat them as a different person, and they would need to log into the app with their "alter-ego" number.

can I just call and ask the statement to close the next day?

It would also require you to manually add their known traveler number.

According to the person I spoke to, the first statement date could not be changed. YMMV if you want to call and give it a try.

After meeting the minimum spend requirement, I got my 30k+ Rapid Rewards bonus points last Tuesday but still haven't seen the limited validity companion pass reflected in my Southwest account yet. Plan accordingly if you have close-in travel plans where you are trying to take a companion with you.

When you say you go the 30k, has your Chase statement closed and posted? How many miles does your CHASE statement show? (statement, not month to date)

Chase statement closed 3/26 and I see the points in my Rapid Rewards account as of the same date.

Here's what the statement says:

Okay - at least two reasons your points do not show on your SWA account.

1 - for some very rare reason, they just did not get transferred correctly. Seems that 95% of folks get miles in 1-2 days but a few get delayed

or

2 - You did not use the correct SWA RR number when you applied for the card and those miles went into another account in your name. Since chase does not show the SWA RR number, this can be frustrating. Have you gotten points from this card transferred to SWA before, or was this the first statement?

My RR points from Chase showed up in my Southwest RR account on 3/26 (the same date as my Chase statement closing date). I got the companion pass posted to my Rapid Rewards account today (4/2; exactly one week later).

Today, I received the "Congrats! You earned Companion Pass." email from Southwest (the pass was actually in my RR account on Southwest.com yesterday and I had already used it to add my companion to my existing trips). Hopefully this timeline helps someone else who is waiting for the pass to hit their account. I was stressing out about potentially having missed a requirement or detail in the process until it showed up for me.