Here is a quick update on my progress toward the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass. You can see more detail on my strategy for earning it at this post.
So far the following activity has posted to my account and has counted for Companion Pass qualification (100,955):
- Transfered 50,000 Hyatt points to Southwest for 30,000 RR points
- Transfered 30,000 Choice Hotels Points to Southwest for 9,000 RR points
- Rapid Rewards Dining totaling 1,962 RR points year to date
- Rapid Rewards Shopping totaling 126 RR points year to date
- Hotel Stays totaling 1,200 RR points year to date
- 500 RR points transferred from E-miles surveys
- 600 RR points from an Alamo car rental
- 50,000 Southwest Visa sign up bonus
- 7,576 in Southwest Visa credit card spending
I have had some activity that did not count which I backed out of my calculations:
- Rapid Rewards Dining bonuses: 10 points per restaurant review — does not count for Companion Pass
- Rapid Rewards Dining bonuses: earning thresholds (earn 1,000 RR, get 300 RR) — does not count for Companion Pass
- Choice Hotels 300 RR bonus promo points offer above the normal 600 RR per stay credit — does not count for Companion Pass
I have some pending activity that has not posted yet which will complete the companion pass this month:
- 4,456 in Southwest Visa credit card spending
- Choice hotels transfer of 6,000 Choice Points to become 1,800 RR points
- Hotel Stays totaling 1,200 RR points
- Hertz Car Rental totaling 600 RR points
- Dining totaling 445 RR points
- Another 1,000+ in Southwest Visa spending not done yet
The majority of the spending done on my Southwest Visa has been Vanilla Reload cards at C.V.S. and Amzn Payments. I also put all other no-bonus-category spend on the card as it comes up. I have used work-sponsored travel to help complete the companion pass and save me a few reload card fees as well. I should have the companion pass by March 1st if not sooner! With Southwest introducing the new international routes to the Caribbean I am excited to start using it for some much needed beach time! Once the pass is earned I will have 120,000+ points available to use and can also transfer Chase UR points as needed beyond that.
I will provide one last update in March when I have earned the pass with a summary of all activity I did to earn it and details on how long each activity takes to post to your account once completed. Most items come within a week or less!