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My name is Kathy, and I have a problem. I am a frequent flier mile and hotel reward points junkie. In just two short years this newfound obsession has enabled my Arlington, Virginia-based family to enjoy some great FREE travel: Our crew of five flew round trip to London during the peak summer travel season for FREE. My sweetheart was able to accompany me on a work trip to Chile and Argentina last spring for FREE. We are flying roundtrip to Colorado for a winter ski vacation this December for FREE. And when I had a health issue, I flew in a friend to help care for me, with just one day’s notice, for FREE. Are you noticing a theme? Who doesn’t want to fly for free?
Southwest Companion Pass
I’m super excited, because a great perk guaranteeing much more free travel landed in my inbox recently–the Southwest Companion Pass. The Companion Pass allows me to designate an individual to fly for free with me on any Southwest flights for the rest of this year (the year in which I earned it) and all of next year! What’s more, my Companion will fly for free even when I redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards points for my own ticket (i.e. we both fly free).
Sounds great, right? So, how can YOU earn free travel with the Southwest Companion Pass?
Is the Southwest Companion Pass right for you?
Before we get into the nitty gritty, it’s probably best to ask yourself IF this is really the right perk for you to pursue, as it does take some effort to earn. If you’re not going to be able to maximize travel on Southwest, then you might be better served by accumulating points elsewhere.
In my case, I live in close proximity to three airports all served by Southwest; Southwest flight prices from those airports tend to be quite reasonable and on par with other airlines; and Southwest serves several destinations I frequent (the airport closest to my parents’ house, the airport closest to where my parents spend the winter, airports nearest to several close friends, our spring break destination, and some interesting international options). So, for me, planning to shift a lot of our travel to Southwest for the time we have the pass makes sense. Look at your own situation and try to determine how much you would actually be able to use the pass. If the answer is “not much” then there are many other great travel rewards you can pursue instead.
So, go ahead and assess your own situation and calculate where and when you would use the pass (check out the Southwest route map above and start dreaming!), and how much value it would have for you (what would those flights cost if you were paying out of pocket?). In our next post, we will get into the details on how you can earn your own pass. Stay tuned!
Congrats for your first post. Very informative and useful. I should start switching airlines!