Southwest is out with a new promotion today, similar to others we have seen over the past few years: book (by 6/27) and fly one round trip (or 2 one-ways) by 8/31 and earn a short-term Companion Pass good from 9/8 through 11/15 this year.
I am not sure if this offer is targeted or available to all Rapid Rewards members. I already have Companion Pass so it was not showing on my account, but it did show up on my wife’s and daughter’s accounts today.
It is worth noting that Basic fares do not qualify, nor do any existing bookings. While you have some time to travel, until the end of August, you do need to book quickly as the offer is only good until 6/27 so you must register and book in the next few days. If you earn this promotional Companion Pass you will even be able to change your designated companion up to 3 times during the offer window.
For someone who has multiple trips planned in the 9/8 to 11/15 window or one very expensive trip, it could be worth seeking out a quick day trip from your home airport on a cheap Wanna Get Away Plus fare if you can find one, assuming you don’t have any real travel plans not already booked through 8/31.
Last call on Amex to Hawaiian (to Alaska) transfers
If you are planning to take advantage of the window to indirectly transfer Amex points to Alaska (via Hawaiian), that window is quickly closing. After 6/30 it will no longer be possible to transfer Amex points to Hawaiian.
While much of the value of Amex and other bank points is their flexibility, which you lose once they are transferred, this is a rare case where a speculative transfer can make sense for many because 1) Alaska miles can be super valuable and 2) there aren’t many other easy ways to earn Alaska miles compared to many other mile currencies.
For us personally, we transferred another 100k Amex points from my wife’s Amex account to her Hawaiian account, then on to my Hawaiian account (free for Hawaiian credit card holders as I wrote about here), then on to my Alaska account. It was great to replenish some points as we recently used 220k Alaska miles for 4 business class tickets on American back from Europe next year.
