Southwest Airlines Companion Pass is one of the best travel benefits in the industry. With this card, a friend or family member can fly with you for free (plus taxes and fees) on unlimited Southwest flights until the card expires. While this may seem like one of those “too good to be true” situations, it’s completely legit and as good as it sounds. In fact, I’ve personally been a Companion Pass holder for nearly 15 years.
Once earned, the card is valid through December 31 of the following calendar year (as long as you earned it the traditional way and not during a special promotion). This allows you to use the card for up to two years, giving you plenty of opportunities for your designated travel companion to fly with you on your next trip.
Related: How to Earn the Southwest Companion Card
But did you know that you don’t have to fly with the same companion on every flight? Southwest allows you to change your travel companion up to three times per calendar year—and that’s in addition to your initial companion selection. And since your pass is typically valid for two calendar years, that allows up to seven people to fly with you for free.
And while changing your assigned travel companion has always been a minor annoyance, Southwest has made it significantly easier. Until recently, you had to call Southwest and request a change. But now, changing your travel companion can be done completely automatically, right in your Southwest account.
Change your Southwest Companion Card
As of September, Southwest is making it significantly easier to change your travel companion. Originally, when you earned your card, you had the opportunity to designate a travel companion. There are no changes to this process, and determining your initial travel companion can be done online through your Southwest account or by calling Southwest directly.
However, now you can But also Change your card online. Previously, the only option was to call Southwest. While the actual process only took a few minutes for a staff member, it often involved a long wait, depending on the time of day.
To change your Southwest Companion Pass online, you’ll first want to log in to Southwest Account via the app or online. From there, you’ll see your Companion Pass information, with the option to change your companion. In your account, it will also tell you how many more times you can change your companion this year, which is super helpful.
Related: How to Earn and Use the Southwest Companion Card
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After selecting the companion change option, you will be asked to fill in your companion information. Once again, you will be informed of the number of companion changes remaining in the calendar year.
The big issue you’ll notice, however, is that there’s no place to enter your companion’s Southwest Rapid Rewards number. Reports indicate that Southwest will automatically generate a new Rapid Rewards number for travelers, and for most people, this isn’t a problem—even if they already have a Rapid Rewards account. This is because when you fly as a companion, you don’t earn points for your flights, so not having the flight linked to your account isn’t a big deal. However, your companion won’t be able to see the flight details in their account, which can be annoying for some.
But the main problem is if your companion has Southwest A-List or A-List Preferred StatusThey will not receive any benefits during your trip.
While you can always call Southwest to request that the correct Rapid Rewards number be linked to your account, reports have indicated that this method requires the agent to change your assigned travel companion. againCount towards one of your three companion changes during the year.
If you want to make sure the correct Rapid Rewards account is linked to your new travel companion, the best way is to call Southwest directly at 800-435-9792 and avoid the online process. Hopefully, the option to add your travel companion’s Rapid Rewards number online will be added soon.
Related: 15 Lessons from 15 Years of Owning the Southwest Companion Pass
What to Know When Switching Your Southwest Companion
Even though it’s a truly non-binding ticket, there are still a few things to know along the way to help you make it work. For starters, your designated travel companion can be a repeater. So let’s say Joe is your original travel companion and you want to fly with him in January and September, but you want your friend Sarah to fly with you between the two flights in March. You can change your travel companion to Sarah and back to Joe, but that still counts as a change.
Additionally, the individual listed must be your travel companion at the time of booking and at the time of travel. So, using the above example, you would not be able to change your travel companion to Sarah until your flight with Joe is complete. And, if you had added Joe as your travel companion for your flight later in the year, you would need to cancel Joe’s flight before changing your travel companion to Sarah. Once your flight with Sarah is complete, you would then be able to add Joe back as your travel companion.
Just keep in mind that there must be at least one available seat when booking a companion. If you’re booking during a busy time, you’ll want to add a companion as soon as possible. To ensure that your companion gets a seat at a later time while you have another companion assigned, you can always book the passenger with points to “hold” their seat and then change it to a companion reservation when that passenger is assigned as a companion. And in the rare case that the flight sells out before the companion is added, keep checking as there’s a good chance that seats will eventually become available.
The last line
I’m glad to see that Southwest now allows passengers to change their passes online and avoid long wait times on the phone. Being able to see how many changes you still have is great and can help you prepare for the new year. However, there are still some issues with this process, such as not being able to add a companion’s Rapid Rewards number. Hopefully this will be fixed in the near future, but for now, there is still the option to call in if you need the correct account linked to your ticket.
