357 Points Away from Companion Pass... waiting on points to post..

[jdotfontana]

I am only 357 points away (you really can't make this stuff up) from my companion pass. Naturally, I leave everything for the last minute so now it's December 28th and over the past few days I have made purchases through Rapid Rewards Shopping earning me approximately 1,100 points. My question is if they don't post prior to 12/31, will they still go towards my companion pass since they were earned in 2016?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[franktravel]

HI 

No they will not..  Your points must post by 12/31 before midnight.  On Jan 1st we reset to zero for qualifying for Companion.  Here are two things you can try.  When I rent a car through Alamo while traveling the points post the day after I return the car. You may want to go to your local airport rent a car for the day and return it the same day just to get the 600 points.  Make sure you reserve you car through your Rapid Rewards account.  This may work for you.... But not sure because I have used Alamo for years.  Or you may want to fly a day trip to a destination close to you.

Good Luck.  Great perk! 

[jdotfontana]

Hi Frank! So when I inquired via email to customer service, this was their reply 

Dear Justin,

Thank you for contacting us about qualifying for a Rapid Rewards Companion Pass. As you already know, to earn a Companion Pass, a Member must fly 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 110,000 Qualifying Points within one calendar year. Qualifying Points earned from one of our Partners count toward Companion Pass qualification for the year in which they are posted to the account. However, if the points were earned in 2016, then they will count towards 2017 requalification, regardless of when the points are posted to the account.

Not sure what to take from that? It's a little confusing the way they worded it. 

[franktravel]

My take is.  The points earned in 16 and post in 2017 will go towards 2017 requalification. 

[joemcr]

That's great news Justin!  Thanks for posting.

Customer Service made the distinction between earning points and posting them.  If you posted a valid SW Customer Service response, the only reasonable way to interpret it is that you can earn points in 2016 that count toward requalification, even though you won't see them posted until 2017.  That saves me too!

[PDFelter]

How did this turn out? Did you get the companion pass?  

[joemcr]

Yes!  Just learned today.

[joemcr]

Wait! I take it back.  It's unresolved because I received a couple of those hoax emails from SW first saying Congrats!, then explaining they made an error.  Probably won't know if I qualified for a few weeks.

[LindseyD]

@joemcr,

We'd be happy to take a look at your account and let you know for sure - contact our Customer Relations Department at 1-855-234-4654. One of our Representatives will be able to offer clarification on whether you qualified for the Companion Pass. 

[joemcr]

Thanks Lindsey, but I did what you suggested, and Customer Service apologized that the current training and instruction is for Customer Service agents to NOT assist customers in ascertaining immediate eligibility (due to qualifying December activity).  Her recommendation is that I wait it out, and learn if SW determines if I qualified for a 2017 Companion Pass from December activity several weeks from now.

Seems to me it shouldn’t be difficult for SW to make that call now (as you suggested)...... and in the meantime I cannot make use of the perk.