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Future travel booked now eligible for Companion Pass

rpoplin
Adventurer C

My family booked 3 trips for next year and I just hit the points needed for a companion pass. Since most the these trips have been booked with points can I cancel my wifes flight and add her back with companion pass? And if so, if a flight was book using credit card, can the credit be applied to my account (not credit card) and credit be used for any other family member in the future or only companion?

5 REPLIES 5

Re: Future travel booked now eligible for Companion Pass

elijahbrantley
Aviator A

Great questions, and congrats on CP!  They require a rather complex answer. 

 

Assuming you booked Wanna Get Away fares, while you CAN cancel her flights and get the money back in the form of travel funds, you CANNOT use those travel funds for other people.  With that said, even though you can't use those travel funds for others, I would indeed go ahead and cancel her paid flights, hold the funds for future travel, and add her back as your companion.  While this option may not get money back in your pocket, you might find that the needs to travel on occasion without you, and if/when that occasion arises, you can use her travel funds for those flights where she doesn't have you to get her the CP use.  In this case, I would recommend calling in to SW and getting an agent to help you with this change; frankly, that would be easier than making the change yourself online.

 

NOTE: If you cancel the paid reservation for her and add her as a Companion, she will have her own reservation/confirmation number and will likely have a different boarding position from the rest of your family.

 

ALSO NOTE: If you happened to book Anytime or Business Select, you can cancel her flight for a full refund to the original form of payment and add her back as your CP.

 

Hope this helps!

-A List, Companion Pass holder

Re: Future travel booked now eligible for Companion Pass

bec102896
Aviator A

@rpoplin

 

Congratulations on earning the Companion pass!

 

Just wanted to add you could use the the travel funds to pay for her security fee $5.60 each way for domestic travel or as @elijahbrantley said she could use the funds if she traveled on her own but only the ticketed passenger can use the travel funds and they are valid for a year from when you booked that original reservation.

 

Hope this helps!

Blake 

Re: Future travel booked now eligible for Companion Pass

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@elijahbrantley wrote:

Great questions, and congrats on CP!  They require a rather complex answer. 

 

 



One additional consideration: maybe that from among your traveling party if your wife would definitely not ever use her travel funds, then consider a different companion nomination if another family member (or friend?) would be able to do so, or maybe another person could go on the same trips you already have booked.

 

Balance this out with any trips you already have planned or that may come up where you would want to add your companion but aren't currently booked - since you can change companion a limited number of times but I just wanted to plant the seed that during some portion of the year maybe you can benefit from a different companion and change to your wife when it makes sense - depending if she would ever use the travel funds to fly without you.

 

One example where it has made sense for me in the past with my wife - she can use the travel funds to fly one-way to meet me somewhere, and companion pass to fly back or vice versa. 

 

Hopefully this doesn't over complicate the situation. But as @elijahbrantley said if your wife can use the travel funds, then that's the obvious choice to cancel and rebook her as companion, and then you are clear to add her to any other flights you already have booked or that will come up in the meantime.

 

 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Future travel booked now eligible for Companion Pass

rpoplin
Adventurer C

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I need to look at best option for future travel. Lucky that only one flight was book via payment, the others have been points so I assume if I paid using my points they would be credited back to my account. 

Re: Future travel booked now eligible for Companion Pass

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@rpoplin wrote:

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I need to look at best option for future travel. Lucky that only one flight was book via payment, the others have been points so I assume if I paid using my points they would be credited back to my account. 


Correct, if you cancel a points booking the points will be returned to your account. This is a great way to "hold a spot" for a future companion. 

 

You'll have to call to make a direct swap if the flight is sold out. Otherwise if there are tickets for sale, you can cancel and then add companion. 

 

Note: you can't hold both for any significant duration of time, so don't add companion and then cancel the points booking some days later as the software may flag you for double-booking the same passenger and cancel one or both.

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.