CP for flight that spans 2019-2020

[pi2000]

Hi, I have a CP and I'm planning a trip over New Years (Dec 25-Jan 2) with  my companion.    I'm nearly at the 110k points to qualify for a CP in 2020.    

Should I book the flight now (for myself) and then add the companion later after I qualify for 2020?    Or can I add my companion to the outgoing flight and then the return flight later?   When can I add the companion to the 2020 flight?

Not sure how to approach this, thanks.

[SWDigits · Accepted solution]

Here's what I would do.

Actions to take now:

• Book flights for you only as two separate one-way tickets.
• Add your companion to your December 25th reservation.
• Assuming you have points to do so use points to book a ticket for the other person for the January 2nd flight.

You'll have two flights booked for yourself, one companion flight booked for the other person and one rewards point flight booked for the other person.

Actions to take when you qualify for the 2020 Companion Pass:

• Get in touch with Southwest (I recommend via Twitter, the handle is in the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page -or- the chat function within the Southwest app).  Don't post any personally identifying information in a public forum.  You will want to request to rebook the points flight as a Companion Pass booking.  You'll have already paid the taxes and fees if you had used points to make the reservation so you'll simply get your points refunded with no additional dollar impact.

As a side note, you can double check your Rapid Rewards account to confirm the current expiration date of your Companion Pass.  In the "Snapshot" section you should see wording that reads, "Your companion [name] earned through [date]".

Hope this helps!