One of the perks of the Southwest Companion Pass is that you are allowed to change your designated companion up to 3 times per year. Previously, it required calling in to do it over the phone, but now it is possible to do it online very quickly and easily. I started the year with my daughter as my companion but had switched it to my wife for a few trips this summer. Now that we will start traveling again for my daughter’s soccer season, it’s time to change it back.
To start, log in to your account and you will see this box on the right side of the screen:
Notice in the picture above, the “Change Companion” button is greyed out. This is because I had a companion reservation for two flights still active. In order to change your companion you must have no future flights booked with companion reservations.
Once that trip was completed last week, I was ready to make the change. Clicking the Change Companion button brings up this form:
I find it interesting that you can’t just select from your pool of frequent travelers stored in your Southwest account or by adding their Rapid Rewards number, but regardless, it just takes a minute to fill out the form. Double check the information is complete then click Save Companion in the lower right. That brings up a confirmation box that looks like this:
Your new companion will show up immediately and can then be added to any future trips you have booked already. One thing I recommend you check is that once you make your first booking for the new companion, make sure their Rapid Rewards number and Known Traveler Number (KTN, if applicable and saved in their Rapid Rewards profile) for TSA Precheck is correctly showing up on the new booking. When I made the change this week it was not a problem and everything connected properly, but in the past, we have had issues and needed to put the KTN back in for TSA Precheck benefits.
TL;DR: It is now quick and easy to change your Southwest Companion Pass designated companion online. With the ability to change it up to 3 times per year, you can strategically plan an approach to get maximum value each year, but keep in mind you cannot change your companion until all of your existing companion linked flights are flown or canceled.
