Southwest’s Companion Pass is one of our absolute favorite Basic travel strategies. We have been able to utilize this buy one get one free perk many many times over the years. We all know 2020 was a rough year. Many people who earned the Southwest Companion Pass kind of missed out on utilizing this buy-one-get-one-free travel.
Great news- SOUTHWEST EXTENDED THE COMPANION PASS!
Last year, Southwest originally extended the companion pass for those who had it expiring on December 31, 2020. Originally they pushed back the expiration to June 30th, 2021. Now, Southwest just added another extension to that. It will now expire on December 31, 2021. This is a FULL YEAR extension. I am super excited that they decided to extend this. This won’t necessarily affect those like me who earned companion pass in 2020 and have it through 2021. I am still happy about this change. Maybe Southwest will give those who have it expiring on December 2021 an extra perk in a few more months. (I can be hopeful, right?).
Rapid Rewards Companion Pass 2021 Members Bonus
Southwest is also helping their Rapid Reward Members get to Companion Pass quicker for 2021. ALL active Rapid Rewards Members as of December 31, 2020, will get a Companion Pass Qualifying Points bonus. Members will receive 25,000 Companion Pass Qualifying Points, as well as 25 qualifying one-way flights. This is set to happen over the next week according to thepointsguy.com. This means that instead of earning 125,000 points for 2021, you only have to earn 100,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points. This makes it easier to earn the pass by using just one Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card Bonus.
As for qualifying flights, typically you need 100 qualifying one-way flights. Now, you would only need 75 additional one-way flights to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass.
Southwest A-List Members
Don’t worry A-listers, Southwest has some perks in store for you too. All existing Rapid Rewards members as of December 31, 2020, will be getting a boost to earn that coveted A-List status. Southwest will also be giving its Rapid Rewards Members 15,000 qualifying points and 10 qualifying one-way flight segments. Again, the points will be automatically deposited within the week.
This makes earning A-List easier to earn status as instead of the normal requirements of 35,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TPQs) and 10 flights for A-List, you would need 20,000 TQPs or 15 flights. As for A-List Preferred, which is normally 70,000 TQPs or 60 flights, you need 55,000 TQPs or 40 flights.
Remember, that if you had status in 2020, your status would have been automatically extended for 2021. So if you want to earn status through December 31, 2020, you would need to hit the above requirements of 20,000 or 70,000 TQP’s to get A-List or A-List Preferred. This seems a little bit more feasible as we hope travel picks up for 2021.
Basic Review
I really love flying Southwest as they are so easy to book flights on points. Lately, flights have been extremely cheap. This makes it seem like I can really extend the value of my Southwest Companion Pass. Having an easier way to earn A-List or A-List Preferred would give the Southwest Companion Pass Extension even more value. I might even have to try to get A-List this year. I hope this helps brighten your day and you can enjoy your Southwest Benefits through 2021!
