Southwest finally announced that they too will extend their members elite status.
That follows other North American airlines like Alaska, American, Delta, United, and Air Canada as well as hotel chains like Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott.
Expiration dates extended:
- Companion Passes that were set to expire on 12/31/20 will now expire on 6/30/21.
- A-List and A-List Preferred members who earned their status without a promotion that were set to expire on 12/31/20 will now expire on 12/31/21.
- A-List and A-List Preferred members who completed a status match or challenge and met the challenge requirements that were set to expire on 12/31/20 will now expire on 12/31/21.
- A-List and A-List Preferred members who were in middle of a challenge will now have until 10/30/20 to complete the challenge and have their status through 12/31/21.
- Travel funds that expired, will expire, or were created between 3/1/20-9/7/20 will now be valid through 9/7/22. However once you use those funds, they will expire 12 months from when you book the new ticket.
- Alternatively, you can convert travel funds into Southwest points at the same rate that a paid ticket would cost with those points if the funds expired, will expire, or were created between 3/1/20-9/7/20. Southwest points never expire, can be used for anyone, and they can be redeposited for free at any time, however you won’t earn points when flying on a points ticket.
Tier requirements lowered:
- Southwest will effectively lower the requirements to earn a companion pass valid through 12/31/21 by 25,000 points, so you can now earn one by racking up 100,000 points through flying and opening or spending on Southwest credit cards.
- Southwest will effectively lower the requirements to earn A-List status from 35K points to 20K points via flying.
- Southwest will effectively lower the requirements to earn A-List Preferred status from 70K points to 55K points via flying.
I’d guess that Southwest is hoping that travel returns to normal later this year. If it doesn’t, I’d expect them to extend the 2020 companion pass validity again. But for now, this creates an incentive to still earn a 2021 companion pass.
These changes will go into effect shortly, what do you think of them?
Can someone please issue an amber alert for JetBlue?
Leave a Reply
29 Comments On "Southwest Extends Companion Pass And Elite Status And Makes It Easier To Earn In 2020; Convert Travel Funds To Points!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
What about the CPs that were earned this year and already are due to expire end of 2021?
No changes for now.
I’ve tweeted JetBlue a couple of times. The pressure is now on. And when they move, they’ll always be remembered as the last mover. When once upon a time they were the innovator.
It’s a bad look, but their customer service have been garbage for a few years now.
A sad fall from the top of the pack.
I wonder what’s taking them so long. What does extending Mosaic really cost them? What they lose by not extending is far more.
Do you think converting to points is a good option? I like that it’s transferable…
Southwest miles are transferable?
No, not to another account but you can book a ticket for someone else with points, as opposed to travel funds which must be used by the original ticket holder.
Yes. You can book tickets for anyone using points.
June 2021 for the CP (and possibly extending it again until December 2021) is nice. Guess my next CP will be earned in January 2022.
Why not go one step further and extend CP’s expiring Dec 31, 2021 by a few more months as well?
Yeah I’m in the same boat. Got it on Jan 11, 2020 – perfect timing for 2 full years, or so I thought. I’ll be lucky to get 12 months out of it.
But, on the other hand, our family is safe and healthy so I’m grateful the CP extension is our biggest gripe.
Where is the option to convert travel funds to points?
“These changes will go into effect shortly”
I see the amount of points for Companion Pass was adjusted. But I don’t see anywhere on the website to be able to change the travel funds to points.
I have a travel credit expiring 10/22/20 and based on the email I received it doesn’t seem my travel funds will be extended, since they don’t expire prior to September 2020.
Dan you read this a bit differently than me. I hope you’re right but my travel funds right now still say they expire in October 2020.
You’re misreading what I wrote.
Thanks for replying dan.
You said “ Travel funds that expired, will expire, or were created between 3/1/20-9/7/20 will now be valid through 9/7/22.” I booked a flight in Aug 2019 for an April flight. On March 15th, the price of the flight went down, so I called and got the difference in lower fare as a travel credit. So while the travel funds “were created” in the valid timeframe, since they were funds that expired after Sep 2020, I don’t believe they will be extended
SW updated my expiration date today! You were right @dan, of course.
If I convert to miles, then I’m short a few miles for a ticket, can I use miles and money to pay for a single ticket?
No, they dont let you use miles and money, if you are short you need to buy extra miles.
Thank you Dan for posting this, as soon as I checked my email I got a message from Southwest stating everything I just read here. Appreciate you posting travel news so fast.
Has anyone received information regarding the extension of LUV voucher expiration dates? I called SWA yesterday and was advise not at this time but wanted to check if someone may have received a different response.
Can I convert travel funds of my son into points and add them to my account?
Yes, but you’ll face a hefty transfer fee which makes it not worth doing IMO. Better to just keep points in your son’s account and then use those points to pay for your ticket.
dan. are you sure theyre not extending “A list” for those that have it as promotion? i called up SWA and they told me even those who got it as a promo! (i have a promo thru 5/31/20)
Anyone know if that means the 3 changes to my companion per a calendar year will apply to next year as well? For example my companion pass now expires end of June 2021 that means I can make 3 change this year and 3 changes next year?
is the extension applicable for LUV Vouchers as well?
My companion pass was extended through June 2021 and I am on the verge of earning a new companion pass that would have begun Jan 2021. With the extension due to the virus, will my new companion pass be extended through the middle of 2022?