You Can Now Change Your Southwest Companion Online. Here’s How.

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best deals in travel. This coveted pass allows you to bring a companion on any Southwest flight for just the cost of the taxes and fees. Even better, if you can time it right, the Companion Pass will be valid for almost 2 full years.

The holder of the Companion Pass can change their companion up to 3 times each calendar year. Up until now, you had to call to make the change, but it’s now possible to change your companion online.

Here’s how to do it.

How To Change a Southwest Companion Online

The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to bring a designated companion on any Southwest flight for just the cost of the taxes and fees ($5.60 each way on a domestic ticket). You can change your companion online up to 3 times each calendar year.

All you need to do is log in to your Southwest account and click on My Account. Then, click on Change Companion. You’ll need to remove your current companion from any booked tickets before you can do this.

You’ll need the following information for your new companion:

• Name
• Birthday
• Address
• Email address
• Phone number

Strangely, there’s no place to input your new companion’s Rapid Rewards number. After your new companion is added, check to see if a new account was created for that person. This happened to me recently, and I had to call Southwest to merge the new account with my existing account.

Currently, you can only make this change using a computer. However, a spokesperson for Southwest says the airline is “exploring opportunities to integrate this into the Southwest app experience.”

You should be able to book travel with your new companion the same day, but the change could take up to 48 hours to process.

How To Get a Southwest Companion Pass

There are 2 ways to get a Southwest Companion Pass: earning 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year or by flying 100 flights in a calendar year.

For the majority of people, earning 135,000 points in a year is much easier than flying 100 flights. Southwest credit cardholders get a 10,000-point boost each year, so they only need to earn 125,000 points in a year.

While that’s definitely a lot of points, they are easier to earn than you might think (even without stepping foot on an airplane). That’s because Southwest credit card welcome bonuses are Companion Pass qualifying points. Additionally, points earned from credit card spending, shopping through Rapid Rewards Shopping, using Rapid Rewards Dining, or using Southwest’s hotel and car partners count toward Companion Pass qualification.

Final Thoughts

Southwest Companion Pass holders now have the ability to change their designated companion online. This is great news and makes the Companion Pass even more user-friendly. The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to bring a companion on any Southwest flight for just the cost of the taxes and fees. It’s a fantastic deal that can save a lot of money (or points) on Southwest flights, especially since it’s valid for up to 2 years.