Southwest promotional companion pass offer [Targeted for corporate travelers]

Southwest Airlines is offering a short-term promotional companion pass to some members who book two round trips through a company travel program for dates between January 18 to February 28, 2021. The promotional companion pass will be valid from 3/1-6/30/21. Between severely reduced business travel and the likelihood of continued quarantine restrictions even for domestic trips for quite a while, I just don’t see either two business trips before the end of February or a companion pass that is only valid from March to June having widespread appeal / utility. However, if you are booking company travel on Southwest, it’s worth logging in to see if you are targeted.

The Deal

• Southwest Airlines is offering a promotional companion pass that is valid from 3/1/21 to 6/30/21 when you first register and then book and fly two qualifying Southwest round trip flights through your company’s travel program between January 18 and February 28. 2021
• Log in here and scroll to the “promotions” tab to register.

Key Terms

• Register for this promotion, then book and fly two qualifying round trip Southwest® flights from January 18 to 5pm CST on February 28, 2021 (the “Promotion Period”) to earn a Promotional Companion Pass* valid for use between March 1 to June 30, 2021.
• To register for this promotion, you will need to provide your Southwest Rapid Rewards® account number at the time of registration. If you do not have a Rapid Rewards account number, you may register for an account by going online to Southwest.com/rapidrewards to become a Member. Rapid Rewards accounts are free.
• Registration must be completed prior to booking and commencement of travel. Valid on new qualifying revenue flights booked during the Promotion Period for travel during the Promotion Period and flown within the Promotion Period. Member’s Rapid Rewards account number must be entered at the time of booking Member’s qualifying flights to earn a Promotional Companion Pass valid for use between March 1 and June 30, 2021.
• A qualifying flight is a round trip revenue flight on Southwest Airlines® from an origin city to a destination city and back to the originating airport or carrier-recognized co-terminal.
• Travel booked or flown prior to registration for this promotion is not eligible for the Promotional Companion Pass offer.
• Charter flights, group travel, Southwest Vacation® Packages and reservations made using Rapid Rewards points do not qualify for this promotion.
• Valid on Southwest Airlines published scheduled service.
• Changes made to the itinerary after purchase may eliminate qualification for promotion.
• The Promotional Companion Pass is valid from March 1 to June 30, 2021 and allows you to designate one person to fly with you, free of airline charges (does not include taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way). The designee to fly with you, free of airline charges (does not include taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way), may not be designated until March 1, 2021.
• No points or tier or Companion Pass qualifying points will be awarded for flights taken by the Companion when flying on a Promotional Companion Pass or Companion Pass reservation.
• You may change your designated Companion up to three times while you have Promotional Companion Pass.
• If you earn Companion Pass in 2021 by earning 125,000 Companion Pass qualifying points or flying 100 qualifying flights, any changes to your designated Companion during the time you have Promotional Companion Pass will reduce the number of changes you can make to your designated Companion in the 2021 calendar year. For example, if you earn a Promotional Companion Pass through this promotion, change your designated Companion twice during the validity period for Promotional Companion Pass, and later in 2021 earn Companion Pass, you would only be able to change your designated Companion one more time in 2021. Companion Pass is not transferable.

Quick Thoughts

As noted at the top, this promotion seems pretty limited in scope given that you will need to first register and then book two paid (revenue) round trip flights on Southwest (note that trips booked before registration do not count) between now and the end of February. Then you’ll get a promotional companion pass that is good from 3/1-6/30/21, but you can’t even designate a companion until 3/1 and thus can not book travel for your companion until March 1st (even if you completed your two round trips this weekend). Given the very short term dates (and current travel situation), I can’t imagine this would appeal to many people even if it were widely available on any booking.

When you add the fact that your two round trips need to be booked through your company’s travel program, that makes it even harder to make use of this promotion and thus I just can’t imagine this will appeal to many members.

That said, if you can make use of it, this would definitely be a reason to consider Southwest over other airlines. I thought it was particularly interesting to note that they will allow you to change companions up to three times even on the 3-month promotional companion pass. If you then go on to earn a companion pass this year with 125,000 Southwest points (or qualifying segments), any changes you make during the promotional period will count against your 3 max changes per calendar year (but you would get 3 more changes in 2022 if you earned the full pass). That’s cool for someone who is still taking business trips right now and who anticipates taking a few tips by air with different companions during a pandemic. I get that there are many people traveling right now, but the more I type the more niche this offer feels.

If you think there is any chance that this would apply to your situation, it is worth registering right away since you must register before booking a qualifying trip. While I’ve labeled this promotion as targeted, I’m not sure whether it actually is. The terms indicate that “To register for this promotion, you will need to provide your Southwest Rapid Rewards® account number at the time of registration. If you do not have a Rapid Rewards account number, you may register for an account by going online to Southwest.com/rapidrewards to become a Member.”. It seems you may be able to register even as a brand new member.

Overall, I’ll be giving this one a miss since the Frequent Miler company travel program is “earn miles without flying”, which doesn’t match well with the requirements for this promotion – but if it’ll work for you, be sure to register sooner rather than later.

H/T: Slickdeals

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