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Re: Extending Companion Pass

aphar438
Explorer B

Southwest needs to follow Best Western Hotels & Resorts who extended my Diamond Elite status until December 2022!!!! 

 

I'd like to see Southwest take the lead to keep it loyal customers flying. I have $3000 SWA credits for flights I had to cancel. Both my A-List and companion pass will expire before travel is able to resume near normal. C'mon Southwest. Be the first.

 

Extend my companion Pass benefits for an additional year

Maintain my A-List during this same time

Re: Extending Companion Pass

tramhuynh
Explorer C

I'm definitely interested to see what Southwest will do here as well considering my trips this year will be heavily impacted for both Companion Pass and A list.  Looking fwd to seeing what SWA will do!

Re: Extending Companion Pass

MusicCityTiger
Explorer A

Have to agree with everyone else on this.  We use our Companion Pass for Caribbean and Yucatan/Mexico travel all through the spring & early summer each year (before hurricane season), and as of this weekend Southwest has pushed their international service restart date back another month now, to June 6.   CP extension or "freeze" option would be great for sure!

Re: Extending Companion Pass

rickdoc
Explorer C

My wife and I were planning to use our pass extensively this spring and summer.  Even if we were not required to shelter in place here in Maryland, there would be no place to go.  I chose Southwest because they are the most customer oriented airline that I have flown.  I'm hoping that they will continue that ethos and extend the Companion passes once we can take to the skies again.  In the meantime, I hope that all of us, including their staff and their families remains safe and well, especially those who are out there keeping the airline running.  

Re: Extending Companion Pass

briancarmen
Explorer C

See what Delta is doing for their frequent flyers 

 

we are extending your 2020 Medallion Status an additional year through January 31, 2022; and all Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) from 2020 will roll over into 2021 - an industry leading move. ”

 

https://www.delta.com/us/en/coronavirus-update-center/extending-skymiles-benefits?mkcpgn=EM_MKTG_CPI...

Re: Extending Companion Pass

gsking
Aviator C

The difference is Companion Pass arguably costs SWA more than any elite status on other airline.  I don't believe any of them give free seats to companion travellers.

 

The best thing you can do to help them help you is :

 

1. Leave your existing travel funds in place instead of demanding a refund.

2.  Try to fly as soon as practical and help get their business back to normal.

 

The more cash they have to work with, the less likely they'll have to squeeze more of it out of their preferred passengers.

Re: Extending Companion Pass

arcangta
Explorer C

To Southwest - please remember we spend huge amounts of time and money getting our companion passes. I have seen some suggest adding a few months on to make up.  Anything helps but many of us utilize these passes for Spring and Summer travel and I just dont know if we are going to be ready to travel by then. Extending our companion passes for January Feb and March example is not the greatest travel time. Thanks for your consideration.

Re: Extending Companion Pass

garcjesu
Explorer C

I agree. But not only that, after the Virus blows over many people, including people like us, are not going to travel right away because we will need time to re-establish our lives and work and start earning income once again to pay our bills and etc. There is no way people are going to start travelling the next day after the virus is over. Realistically and ethically, Southwest should extend our companion pass as well as our A-list status for another year. It is really hard to earn the companion pass and A-list status for them to not extend the pass another year. I do not believe it is fair nor a smart idea for Southwest to not extend our passes/statuses since we are basically their best customers. I have already reached out about this a few weeks ago, and this is what they said so far...

 

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.

We understand Passengers not wanting to travel during this time, that said, even if a Member has not taken advantage of Companion status, the validity time is specific, and we do not extend the allotted time without a Member meeting the qualification requirements. We’re sorry that were unable to respond to your request favorably, and we appreciate your loyalty. Please know that we have included your feedback in our weekly summary, which is made available to our Senior Leaders. We hope that you will continue to look to Southwest whenever your plans take you to the cities that we serve."

 

I really do hope they change their answer or else I will be extremely disappointed with SW.

Re: Extending Companion Pass

TJ_Mahal
Explorer C

Due to this virus effecting some of the summer months thus far (May and June), and not being sure as to what July will hold, I hope Southwest follows suit with some of the other major airlines that are extending the statuses for their higher level members through 2021. A number of people do the majority of their travel in the summer months and I again hope Southwest takes this into account. 

Re: Extending Companion Pass

timjstark
Explorer C

I echo many of the sentiments previously noted in terms of support of Southwest in the hope that they will continue to be an industry leader and innovator by extending the time frame for Companion Pass eligibility.  

While this unprecedented situation adversely affects all airlines' bottom lines, Southwest has always been the at the forefront of caring for its customers.  That is why we went "All In" last year in supporting Southwest by flying only Southwest and obtaining a Southwest credit card in an effort to earn a Companion Pass, but also to cement our future relationship with the airlines for years to come.

Many other businesses that we have dealt with during these past weeks have been remarkable in their treatment of us in terms of cancelled trips/events.  Just one of the many examples is: REI which fully refunded a scheduled April trip within a day of our request even before the lockdowns took full effect.  

They did the right thing and I trust that Southwest will do so as well.