This is great! It's also awesome to see that you can trigger the airline credit with just the taxes and fees. I may just have to change my selected airline to Southwest just for this reason because this happens to me a lot!! Thanks for the walkthrough Brandon.
Hi Brandon, I have been using the companion pass for years but I have only been tracking our free flights since 2018. I love your tutorials and have learned some hacks from you but this actually not the best way to use your points and your companion pass. My husband and I have traveled Internationally and domestically up to 11 times per year for free on Southwest. I cannot find a single travel blogger that shows the best way (all of the tips and tricks) to maxinmize and get the best value for your points and companion pass. For example, right now I have ROUND TRIP tickets for BOTH my husband and myself to Cabo San Lucas March 2023 for 11,122 points TOTAL. Getting the companion pass is just the begining, using the pass the most effective way is where you get the most out of this amazing benefit. This year I even took my travel experience to a new level by combining the SW companion pass benefits with another credit card travel program to get lounge access, Clear in addition to TSA Pre-Check, even taxes on the tickets for free. Also free upgrades on rental cars, food, hotels and more. All of these benefits and still paying what a budget traveler would pay while evlevating the entire travel experience. Of course, I offset any and all credtit card annual fees or it would not be a true value. I accomplished all of this by opening a maximum of only 3 credit cards. Again, I cannot find any content on this anywhere. I would love to share what I have learned but have no interest in doing my own video. Reach out if you would like to collaborate.
Questions.... Great job on video btw... My question is, what filter or app or system you using to make a sharing screen video with u in it showing what u doing at same time???
Great question. My setup is pretty cheap but efficient. First, I use LumaFusion as my editing software. Is has a simple green screen setting that works well. I also bought green screen fabric from B&H photo for about $100. There are even cheaper ones I believe. Then, I just have my camera and some lights. I screen record on my iPad to gather the content to show on the screen then layer my green screen image on top. The green screen layer happens with the click of a button. Very easy. You can tweak it a little to ge the right amount color needed to match well with the screen background. Hope that helps!
To be honest from what I see, the southwest companion pass seems like gold for you since you do a lot of domestic travel but FOR ME it would be pretty useless since like 90%+ of my travel is international but that’s just me. Plus I don’t think I’ve flown a southwest flight in my life which is crazy, but they aren’t really big where I live so mainly fly delta then AA and United. Enjoy your trip though, nothing feels better than basically free travel!
@@thebrandonboydshow We've used Delta American Express Platinum for years to get the Companion Pass 1x a year. Sure seems like Southwest Priority Card is a better deal. And Delta has too many stops now from Indy to Reno. Rare to find a one stop flight and then means a 10-12 hour day flying compared to 6-7 hours on SW.
We've used Delta American Express Platinum for years to get the Companion Pass 1x a year. Sure seems like Southwest Priority Card is a better deal. And Delta has too many stops now from Indy to Reno. Rare to find a one stop flight and then means a 10-12 hour day flying compared to 6-7 hours on SW.
That definitely changed things. We are big fans of the SW companion pass. Really good deal if you can utilize it enough. I still keep the delta business platinum. The 1x companion pass is hard to pass up.
Great walk-through! One question...when you book a trip and add a companion, can you purchase Early Bird Check-In to ensure being in the A Boarding Group?
Will any type of flight qualify or if you booked the wanna fly away and that type of flight is no longer available you can't book the companion flight or you have to upgrade your flight to match theirs?
Great information! Thanks as I just earned my companion pass this month. I have a follow up question, as I assumed the companion pass literally is for any companion. I was looking at multiple trips with more than just my wife. So my question is, if I fly with say my wife first, brother second time, and a friend a 3rd time, I am done for the year? Also, if I fly with my Wife first, then my brother second, and then third time with the wife I am also done for the year using the companion pass except for my wife?
That’s a good question.. I’m guessing no? Ever find out? He’s not clear on this video, or the previous vid, on explaining exactly how it works! Do you get the pass for any flight you book for nearly two years? Or is it once a year, or is there a limit, can you not book round-trip and get it?
When you earn 125k points you automatically get companion pass. You also keep your 125k points. No need to cash them in to get the pass. Then, when you book flights using those points you can use companion pass for any of those flights as long as there is seat availability. No limits. Just use the points as normal with the side benefit of taking someone with you for FREE!!!
So do you keep the 125,000 points, or are they forfeit for companion pass? Not clear on this video or the previous CP vid in explaining how it all works imo! Can you get the pass for any flight you book for nearly two years? Or is it once a year, or is there a limit, can you not book round-trip and get it? I like the videos but I feel like I need to go do more research to fully understand it.
Great questions. First, when you earn the 125k you keep those points and use those to purchase your flights. You don’t forfeit the points to pay for companion pass. Just use the points as you normally would to book flights. As you use them your points balance will go down. However, as you are booking and using points you get to have someone travel with you for free. Think of companion pass as just icing on the cake while you continue to use your points as you always have. There is. No limit on how many companion flights you can book during the time you have it. You can book one way and round trip flights when using companion pass. We typically book one ways even if we are traveling the same airline just because the reservations are easier to modify if we need to do that. I hope that helps. It is difficult to answer every question in a single video. But I always enjoying responding to comments. If you have any more questions, just let me know. We love having companion pass. Usually Southwest will run promos for large bonuses on their card around November/December. That is the perfect time to pick up the card. Just make sure you earn ALL of your points in the same calendar year. I will put out another video later in the year laying out the timing of when to act on applying.
Great question. After the min spend on the card we just went through the southwest shopping portal and collected large chunks of points for meal delivery services among other things that quickly got us to where we needed to be. Not just random spending. These were things we actually used. TurboTax was another service we used that gave us a big bonus. Go through that shopping portal and see what’s available. You might be surprised. Makes it much easier to get companion pass.
If you earn 125k rapid rewards points in a calendar year you can get companion pass for the remainder of that year where you earned it and the entire following year. Pretty nice deal. This is an ongoing promotion so you can continue to earn it every year.
Its kinda hard to know with this tutorial as you almost blocked everything. There must be a better way to block your information without blocking the whole page😅. Well its like listening to a podcast thats not being described well. Good info though 😂
When you check in on the app 24 hours prior do you have to do anything different? Would you check in for both or do you and your companion have to do it separate?
Great question. I’ve only added the companion for BOGO on an iPad or computer. The Southwest app is available obviously. However, I don’t have any personal experience in doing that. I would imagine you could. I just don’t have first knowledge of it.
This is great! It's also awesome to see that you can trigger the airline credit with just the taxes and fees. I may just have to change my selected airline to Southwest just for this reason because this happens to me a lot!! Thanks for the walkthrough Brandon.
It helps to cover those fees. The $5.60 isn’t that much, but I like getting it covered. By the time we book several flights per year it does add up.
@@thebrandonboydshow Since international flights have much higher taxes and fees, it makes this really worth while. Great tip!
I've repeated this part; am not certain I am hearing correctly: he used an EXPIRED credit card? Thanks.
Hi Brandon, I have been using the companion pass for years but I have only been tracking our free flights since 2018. I love your tutorials and have learned some hacks from you but this actually not the best way to use your points and your companion pass. My husband and I have traveled Internationally and domestically up to 11 times per year for free on Southwest. I cannot find a single travel blogger that shows the best way (all of the tips and tricks) to maxinmize and get the best value for your points and companion pass. For example, right now I have ROUND TRIP tickets for BOTH my husband and myself to Cabo San Lucas March 2023 for 11,122 points TOTAL. Getting the companion pass is just the begining, using the pass the most effective way is where you get the most out of this amazing benefit.
This year I even took my travel experience to a new level by combining the SW companion pass benefits with another credit card travel program to get lounge access, Clear in addition to TSA Pre-Check, even taxes on the tickets for free. Also free upgrades on rental cars, food, hotels and more. All of these benefits and still paying what a budget traveler would pay while evlevating the entire travel experience. Of course, I offset any and all credtit card annual fees or it would not be a true value. I accomplished all of this by opening a maximum of only 3 credit cards. Again, I cannot find any content on this anywhere. I would love to share what I have learned but have no interest in doing my own video. Reach out if you would like to collaborate.
We are doing it for the first time. We have the abbreviated type for 1 and 1/2 month. Thanks for the instruction.
Thank you sir. Just booked it! FYE: The first reservation said "Only 1 Left" and we did it and still got the companion pass.
Heck yeah!!!!!! Nice work. Companion Pass is a game changer for travel in my opinion. We utilize it very often. Glad it worked out for you!
Worked just as advertised. Thanks.
Yes sir!
HELP! The add companion button is not there!
Questions.... Great job on video btw...
My question is, what filter or app or system you using to make a sharing screen video with u in it showing what u doing at same time???
Great question. My setup is pretty cheap but efficient. First, I use LumaFusion as my editing software. Is has a simple green screen setting that works well. I also bought green screen fabric from B&H photo for about $100. There are even cheaper ones I believe. Then, I just have my camera and some lights. I screen record on my iPad to gather the content to show on the screen then layer my green screen image on top. The green screen layer happens with the click of a button. Very easy. You can tweak it a little to ge the right amount color needed to match well with the screen background. Hope that helps!
Thank you Brandon.
Thank you!
To be honest from what I see, the southwest companion pass seems like gold for you since you do a lot of domestic travel but FOR ME it would be pretty useless since like 90%+ of my travel is international but that’s just me. Plus I don’t think I’ve flown a southwest flight in my life which is crazy, but they aren’t really big where I live so mainly fly delta then AA and United. Enjoy your trip though, nothing feels better than basically free travel!
I use them all. For years I stuck mostly with Delta. Southwest has been pretty positive overall for me so it was a good fit.
@@thebrandonboydshow We've used Delta American Express Platinum for years to get the Companion Pass 1x a year. Sure seems like Southwest Priority Card is a better deal. And Delta has too many stops now from Indy to Reno. Rare to find a one stop flight and then means a 10-12 hour day flying compared to 6-7 hours on SW.
We've used Delta American Express Platinum for years to get the Companion Pass 1x a year. Sure seems like Southwest Priority Card is a better deal. And Delta has too many stops now from Indy to Reno. Rare to find a one stop flight and then means a 10-12 hour day flying compared to 6-7 hours on SW.
That definitely changed things. We are big fans of the SW companion pass. Really good deal if you can utilize it enough. I still keep the delta business platinum. The 1x companion pass is hard to pass up.
Thanks. Applying the companion pass is easy but it's not obvious how to do it.
Great walk-through! One question...when you book a trip and add a companion, can you purchase Early Bird Check-In to ensure being in the A Boarding Group?
what if you book your flight then when you go to add your companion there are no seats available?
thank you for the information, what do I add on email and phone number if my companion is a child?
Will any type of flight qualify or if you booked the wanna fly away and that type of flight is no longer available you can't book the companion flight or you have to upgrade your flight to match theirs?
Great information! Thanks as I just earned my companion pass this month. I have a follow up question, as I assumed the companion pass literally is for any companion. I was looking at multiple trips with more than just my wife. So my question is, if I fly with say my wife first, brother second time, and a friend a 3rd time, I am done for the year? Also, if I fly with my Wife first, then my brother second, and then third time with the wife I am also done for the year using the companion pass except for my wife?
When you get 125,000 points is companion Pass automatically added to your account or do you have to cash them in for the companion pass?
That’s a good question.. I’m guessing no? Ever find out? He’s not clear on this video, or the previous vid, on explaining exactly how it works! Do you get the pass for any flight you book for nearly two years? Or is it once a year, or is there a limit, can you not book round-trip and get it?
When you earn 125k points you automatically get companion pass. You also keep your 125k points. No need to cash them in to get the pass. Then, when you book flights using those points you can use companion pass for any of those flights as long as there is seat availability. No limits. Just use the points as normal with the side benefit of taking someone with you for FREE!!!
I do my travel internationally where southwest doesn’t go to so to me it’s not worth it and that’s why I value delta more
Makes sense.
I’m on my way to earning the companion pass. My question is after the two years is up how do you get another companion pass.?
thnak you!
I hope it was helpful!!!
So do you keep the 125,000 points, or are they forfeit for companion pass? Not clear on this video or the previous CP vid in explaining how it all works imo! Can you get the pass for any flight you book for nearly two years? Or is it once a year, or is there a limit, can you not book round-trip and get it? I like the videos but I feel like I need to go do more research to fully understand it.
Great questions. First, when you earn the 125k you keep those points and use those to purchase your flights. You don’t forfeit the points to pay for companion pass. Just use the points as you normally would to book flights. As you use them your points balance will go down. However, as you are booking and using points you get to have someone travel with you for free. Think of companion pass as just icing on the cake while you continue to use your points as you always have. There is. No limit on how many companion flights you can book during the time you have it. You can book one way and round trip flights when using companion pass.
We typically book one ways even if we are traveling the same airline just because the reservations are easier to modify if we need to do that. I hope that helps.
It is difficult to answer every question in a single video. But I always enjoying responding to comments. If you have any more questions, just let me know. We love having companion pass. Usually Southwest will run promos for large bonuses on their card around November/December. That is the perfect time to pick up the card. Just make sure you earn ALL of your points in the same calendar year. I will put out another video later in the year laying out the timing of when to act on applying.
If we use the points for booking, and the point balance goes down do I lose the companion pass status?
Great question. Nope, once you earn the required miles, use them up in any you wish.
My husband is working in Indiana if I fly him with my companion pass to meet at the destination we want to fly to would that be possible?
Great question. In order for the companion pass to work you have to fly together on the plane and be on the same reservation.
Do you and your companion still earn A List status if you fly more than 25 flights?
On average how much do you spend to reach this benefit?
Great question. After the min spend on the card we just went through the southwest shopping portal and collected large chunks of points for meal delivery services among other things that quickly got us to where we needed to be. Not just random spending. These were things we actually used. TurboTax was another service we used that gave us a big bonus. Go through that shopping portal and see what’s available. You might be surprised. Makes it much easier to get companion pass.
I got a Companion Pass. Is this something that Southwest offers every year when you hit a certain point total. Or is this just a special offer
If you earn 125k rapid rewards points in a calendar year you can get companion pass for the remainder of that year where you earned it and the entire following year. Pretty nice deal. This is an ongoing promotion so you can continue to earn it every year.
@@thebrandonboydshow thank you for your response I have learned a lot. And I love the Companion Pass I think it's a great deal.
Its kinda hard to know with this tutorial as you almost blocked everything. There must be a better way to block your information without blocking the whole page😅. Well its like listening to a podcast thats not being described well. Good info though 😂
When you check in on the app 24 hours prior do you have to do anything different? Would you check in for both or do you and your companion have to do it separate?
You have to check in separate but you board together. Your boarding position will be next to each other. Example 25,26
A phone app available?
Great question. I’ve only added the companion for BOGO on an iPad or computer. The Southwest app is available obviously. However, I don’t have any personal experience in doing that. I would imagine you could. I just don’t have first knowledge of it.
1st
Nice work!!!