Can I Use My Southwest Points For Someone Else

How to avert Southwest's points transfer fees

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Did you lot know that information technology'southward possible to employ your points with the Southwest Companion Pass, even if you lot yourself don't have one?

Southwest gives you lot the option to transfer your points from one account to another. If your travel buddy has a Companion Pass, you lot can deposit your points into their account, and they can volume a flying for themselves, and a (almost) free flying for y'all past adding you as their "companion." The problem is that Southwest charges you to transfer miles.

Fortunately, at that place'southward a workaround that will still allow you to add together a companion to your reservation. If y'all're planning to earn the Companion Pass (or already accept information technology), this booking pull a fast one on might come up in handy. And the best Southwest credit cards are currently offering a promotional Companion Pass as a welcome bonus!! I'll explain.

**My husband and I used the Southwest Companion Pass to wing to Mexico for practically costless. (Photo by Sarah Hostetler/1000000 Mile Secrets)**

Book a Southwest flying using points from ANY account

I earned the Southwest Companion Pass in 2019. For those who don't already know, the Companion Pass allows you to bring a friend or family unit member with y'all — every single fourth dimension you lot fly Southwest — for just the cost of taxes and fees. That's a fantastic deal, and it works for both paid and award flights. The Companion Pass easily saved united states of america more than $1,000 in flights in only the outset few months I had it.

I'm currently (practically) out of Southwest points, now, notwithstanding… Merely my husband has a stash! I'll show you a trick we can employ to redeem his points with my Companion Pass.

My Companion Laissez passer is mine and mine lonely. Nobody else can use it, and I'thousand the merely ane who can make up one's mind who I desire to designate every bit my companion.

For case, my husband tin can't book an award flight for himself and add together me as a companion, because the Companion Pass doesn't belong to him! He is, all the same, my current Southwest "companion". This allows him to indirectly use his Southwest points with my Companion Pass. Here'due south what nosotros exercise:

Log into his Southwest account
Use his Southwest points to volume an award flight for me
Log into my Southwest account
Add him as a companion

Here's the Southwest Companion Laissez passer play tricks: You lot tin can utilise Southwest points in your account to book flights for friends and family unit — for anybody, actually. Your points don't take to exist for only your travel.

And then, one time yous enter the Southwest frequent flyer number on the passenger details folio and book the flight, the reservation will be linked to that flyer'due south account. If that person has a Companion Pass, they tin but log into their account and click "Add Companion."

For anyone without the Companion Pass, y'all can still use this booking fox to utilize someone else'due south points to book your flying. The same goes for those who collect Hunt Ultimate Rewards points. Y'all can transfer Hunt Ultimate Rewards points directly to your Southwest account. Then, employ points to book a Southwest flying for friends or family. If those friends or family accept the Companion Laissez passer, they can add their companion to the reservation.

Should transferring Southwest points ever exist avoided?

There'south pretty much never a reason to transfer Southwest points to another business relationship. That'south because you'll lose effectually 66% of the value by doing so.

See, Southwest charges you $10 for every one,000 points you transfer (you must transfer at least 1,000 points). Southwest points value tends to hover around 1.5 cents each, meaning if you transferred 5,000 points to your travel buddy, you lot'd spend $fifty for $75 in points. That'southward not worth it.

Additionally, transferring points from some other account doesn't qualify towards earning the Companion Pass. Nor does transferring points from Chase or American Express to Southwest.

How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass

When yous earn 125,000 qualifying Southwest points in a agenda year, y'all'll earn the Southwest Companion Pass. Nosotros consider the Companion Laissez passer to be the best deal in travel. With the sign-upwards bonuses yous tin can earn from Hunt Southwest cards, it'south not difficult to earn the Companion Laissez passer:

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

All the to a higher place cards currently comes with a sign-upward bonus of forty,000 bonus points subsequently spending $i,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

Yous can also open either (or both!) of these pocket-size business cards, which earn Southwest points that qualify toward your Companion Laissez passer quota:

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card – sixty,000 points afterwards spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening
Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card – 80,000 points after y'all spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening

Bottom line

At some point in your miles and points career, you may wonder: Can I use my Southwest points to book a flight for someone else?

The respond is a fierce yes – you tin can book a flight for anyone! And as humanitarian as that sounds, you tin fifty-fifty use this to your reward sometimes.

This is peculiarly useful for those with the Southwest Companion Pass. For example, my husband sometimes uses his Southwest points to book an laurels flight for me. Then, the reservation appears in my account and I can add him every bit a companion.

If y'all have whatever Companion Pass booking tricks, permit the states know in the comments.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Utilise Now

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Earn 40,000 bonus points later spending $i,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
7,500 ceremony points each year.
Earn 3X points on Southwest® purchases.
Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
Earn 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming.
$75 Southwest® travel credit each year.
4 Upgraded Boardings per yr when bachelor.
No foreign transaction fees.

Intro APR on purchases

Northward/A

Regular April

sixteen.24% to 23.24% Variable

Residue Transfer Fee

Either $five or five% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater.

Rates & Fees

Annual Fee $149

Other

Credit Needed Excellent / Good

Issuer Chase

Card Type Visa

Sarah Hostetler is a contributor to Meg Mile Secrets. She covers topics on points and miles, credit cards, airlines, hotels, and general travel.

Editorial Note: We're the Meg Mile Secrets squad. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader'southward comments. These haven't been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit bill of fare issuers which we often write near. And that's but how we like it! :)