I experienced the same head fake of an email regarding Companion Status yesterday, and it was compounded by a conversation today where I learned how credit card points are apparently credited to our accounts. In short, I intentionally paid my SW credit card balance before the end of the calendar year in order to receive the points to put me over the 110K Companion Pass threshold. It turns out that those points don't get communicated over from Chase until the 6th/7th day of the next month - and thus they don't count as "earned" during the calendar month (or year) in which the $ leaves one's bank account. It's a different cut off period versus when flight points credited, which do adhere to a traditional calendar scheduled. When I pushed back, I was informed that the credit card points are a Chase thing and independent of Southwest, so SW's hands are tied. The disassocation seemed odd given that I initially went to the Southwest website to acquire the card, regularly see SW employees promoting it in the airport, and am guided to use it to book flights and with SW's other rental car and hotel partners at every turn. In fact, the only reason that I have the card is because of my SW loyalty and my association with the SW brand. I also just reviewed the latest 10-K from Southwest, and learned that SW has doubled the number of card holders and revenues from their partnership with Chase since 2011 - so it's clear that there is a relationship, and it's working out quite nicely. Further, I also flew at the end of December and would have upgraded to Business Select to get the points multiplier had the policy been clearer. Not particularly consistent with the transparency mantra... At the end of the day, I am torn. I am a member of the SW Customer Council and have been so impressed with all experiences with the company to-date, and I also appreciate human errors happen. But as another astute member said, consumers have more choices than ever - certainly with credit cards, and also with airlines (depending on one's location). This experience is so inconsistent with my past SW dealings that I am more bewildered more than anything else at this stage.
... View more