Southwest Will Allow Hotel & Other Transfers To Work For Companion Pass Eligiblity Until March 31st, 2017

At the start of the year it was announced that Southwest would no longer allow the following points to count towards the companion pass:

  • Points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs
  • e-Rewards
  • e-Miles
  • Valued Opinion
  • Diners Club

According to The Points Guy, they have decided that these transfers will count towards companion pass status until March 31st, 2017. This is great news (and maybe much needed news for Southwest after they erroneous sent out an e-mail stating some customers had qualified for a companion pass or A-List status). I hate no notice changes and I don’t think they are a good move from a long term business perspective as they shatter any trust customers have in your brand.

I also know some readers have transferred and even purchase points to SPG/Marriott in order to use Mariott’s flight + hotel packages to get the companion pass. I just hope people didn’t transfer to other programs already. You can read more about the companion pass here.

 
    William Charles
  • On January 5, 2017, 00:24

View Comments (31)

  • I will probably redeem for a Category 9 Marriott. I've previously read that it is best to do the Cat 1-5 redemption and upgrade with points in case I don't need a Cat 9. Is this still the case and will the amount of points be the same? Thx

    • Honestly I don't have any personal experience with this, hoping somebody else can help!

      • Found the answer in the Wiki on the thread at FT. Apparently, you just pay the difference in points when upgrading to a higher category. So just do the cat 1-5 if you don't have plans.

  • If I transfer points to SW before March 31, will they still count towards the CP after March 31? For example if I transferred and had 100,000RR before March 31, could I still earn the companion pass by receiving 10,000 more RR (through flying) after March 31?

  • The language on the website still says not eligible on transfers, has anyone actually done it or should I wait. Also if anyone has an official screenshot from SW that we can use as proof to allow if somehow they don't honor it.

  • What does this all mean? So If I transfer enough hotel points to SWA to get companion pass prior to March 31st, will this comp pass be good till Dec 2018?

    I am somewhat confused.

    • Yes, it just means any hotel points transferred prior to March 31st will qualify.

  • If we don't have the required 90k SPG could we transfer Amex MR to Starwood and then to Marriott for the Hotel+Flights package?

        • No idea what the transfer ratio works out to be. I think it'd only make sense if you were a little short on 90k SPG points, obviously doesn't make sense to transfer for the full 90k

  • Is there a normal time frame for when i points transfer has to begin with Marriott to get the points in time? a few days? a few weeks?

  • The funny thing is that all the blogger hype at this being the last chance ever for most people to get the Companion Pass without flying or excessive MSing means that the transfers will be totally slammed and devalue the product for the next two years. Before the change, it was something that could be found with a search but was not broadcast from the rooftops as this is today. Southwest should have announced the change around fall of last year but instead sprung it on people unsuspectingly on January 1, when people had made their year end points purchases already. To their credit, they are eating it - big time - while regular joes and business travelers will pay higher buckets or deal with sold out flights.

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