Southwest Companion Passes are now easier to modify
Southwest’s Companion Pass offers one of the most generous travel benefits in the industry. The pass allows you to fly with a family member or friend for free on Southwest flights (plus taxes and fees), an unlimited amount of times, until the pass expires. This might sound like a “too good-to-be true” scenario, but it is legit. The Companion Pass is valid until Dec. 31, the following calendar, if earned the traditional way and not through a special offer. This gives you up to two years to use the pass, offering many opportunities for your designated companion to fly with you on your next trip.
Related: How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass
But did you know that you don’t have to fly with the same companion on each and every flight? Southwest allows you to change your companion three times in a calendar year, and this is on top of the first selection. Since your pass is valid for two years, you can bring up to seven passengers with you. You had to call Southwest in order to request a change. But now, changing your companion can be done all on your own, right within your Southwest account.
Changing your Southwest Companion Pass
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
As of September, Southwest is making it significantly easier to change your companion. When you first earn the pass you can designate a partner. There’s no change to this process, and identifying your initial companion can be done online through your Southwest account or over the phone with Southwest directly.
However, you can now also make changes to your pass online. Prior to this, you could only call Southwest. Sign in to your Southwest account, either online or through the app, to change your Southwest Companion Pass. You’ll then see the Companion Pass details, along with an option to switch your companion. Within your account, it’ll also tell you how many more times you can change your companion this year, which is incredibly helpful.
Related: How to earn and use the Southwest Companion Pass
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You can now change your designated companion online. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
Once the option is selected to change your designated companion, you will be required to enter your companion’s details. Again, you’ll be notified of the number of companion changes you have left for the calendar year.
Information needed to change your designated companion. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
However, the big issue that you’ll notice is that there’s nowhere to enter your companion’s Southwest Rapid Rewards number. Southwest creates a new Rapid Reward number for travelers, according to reports. This isn’t an issue for many, even if the traveler already has a Rapid Reward account. Your companion will not be able to see the details of your flight in their account, which could be a problem for some. You can call Southwest at 800-435-9792, but this will require the agent to make another change to the designated companion. This counts as one of the three companion changes you are allowed to do in a year. Hopefully, the option to add your companion’s Rapid Rewards number online will be added sooner rather than later.
Related: 15 lessons from 15 years of having the Southwest Companion Pass
Things to know when switching your Southwest companion
Despite being a true no-strings-attached pass, there are some things to know along the way to set you up for success. Your designated companion is allowed to repeat themselves. You can change your companion to Sarah and back to Joe again, but it will still count as a change. You are able to change your companion to Sarah and back to Joe again, but it’ll still count as a change.
Additionally, the individual listed must be your companion both at the time of booking and at the time of travel. In the above example, you will not be able change your companion until your flight with Joe has been completed. If you added Joe to your flight earlier in the year, then you will need to cancel Joe’s flight first before changing your companion from Joe to Sarah. Once your flight with Sarah is complete, you can then add Joe back on as your companion.
Just be mindful that there has to be at least one seat available for purchase when it comes to booking a companion ticket. You’ll want your companion added as soon as you can if you are booking during high travel periods. You can book a passenger’s seat using points and “save” it for a future date. Once the companion is added, you can change that booking to one of a companion. And in the rare situation when the flight is sold out before a companion is added to the flight, keep on checking as there’s a very high probability that a seat will ultimately become available.
Bottom line
I’m glad to see that Southwest now allows travelers to change their passes online and avoid a potentially lengthy hold time on the phone. It’s also important to know how many changes are left for the year. This will help you plan. There are some bugs in the process, such as not being able add your companion’s rapid rewards number. This is something that will hopefully be resolved in the future. For now, you can still call to get the correct account associated with the ticket.
