If you are someone who is actively planning on earning a companion pass and have started to work towards it you may have asked this question:
Can I retroactively use the companion pass for a flight purchased before the pass was awarded?
The answer is mainly yes and slightly no, but we will get to that shortly. You may ask yourself,
Why would someone want to purchase a flight before they are awarded a companion pass?
If you are a frequent southwest flyer you may notice that 3 to 4 times a year they have really good sales for destinations if booked 7 days to 3 months in advance. However, after these sales end, the price could jump by many multiples of the sales price. Here is an example of why a person might want to buy a ticket before they earn the companion pass in hopes that they can later or retroactively add their companion passenger.
Lets say it is January and a particular individual knows they will earn a companion pass by the beginning of February. In this example, Southwest is having a great sale for flights for March that happen to be half the price of the normal fare. Buying two fares at this price would most likely cost you the same as buying one fare later and then adding your companion through your pass. So this individual may be tempted just to buy both tickets in January and call it a day. However, if the person is confident that they will be earning the companion pass before they actually fly in March, there is a chance that they will later be able to retroactively add their companion to their itinerary. If this works out, the cost per person would be a 1/4th of the normal fare, which really drives in the savings.
Going back to the original question of retroactively adding a companion pass for a flight purchased before the pass is awarded. The reason why the answer is yes and no is simple. A passenger can retroactively be added as a companion to your flight itinerary as long as the flight has an available seat. This is where the risk lies. By relying on the companion pass to add your guest to your ticket before the companion pass is awarded you run the risk of your companion not receiving a ticket.
A possible way to insure that you will be able to use the companion pass and that there will be a seat available on the flight is to purchase flights for you and your future companion at the same time. Make sure both you and your future companions flights are on separate itineraries. Then when your companion pass comes, if you cannot add your companion because the flight is full, you could cancel your companions original airfare purchase, theoretically freeing up one seat. At this point you may be able to add your companion to your ticket.
It is important to mention that this approach may not work. Airlines frequently overbook flights. You canceling one flight may result in the plane still being full and a companion not being added. If it is important that your companion make the flight, I would not risk canceling their flight in an attempt to “free” up a seat.
Most of the time, a flight will not be sold out a month in advance assuming there are no out of the ordinary circumstances related to the destination or time of year (holiday, events, ect.). I would still recommend purchasing both flights on two separate itineraries. It is ideal to purchase your future companions flight with Rapid Rewards miles not cash or credit card. The reason I suggest this is because you plan on canceling your “future companions” flight because you plan on being able to add them as a companion through your companion pass at a later date. If you do cancel your companions originally cash or credit purchased flight because you were able to retroactively add them with your companion pass, the refund will come as a credit for a future flight for the value of the original fare. At the surface this sounds great however the credit is tied to your companions name.
Since your companion does not hold the companion pass, this credit is good for only one flight. A flight for your companion alone.
If your companions original purchased flight was made with miles, a canceled flight will result in the miles being credited back to the account they were withdrawn from. Miles can be used to buy anyone flights. That is, the refunded miles can be used to by you a flight later in which you can add your companion to. Just to reiterate, the miles used to purchase the original “future companion” fare can be anyone’s miles.
Does it work?
Here is the proof
I purchased a flight for myself and my guest on separate itineraries on 12/9/15.
Obviously there is no place to add a companion to my flight.
On 1/12/16 I was awarded the companion pass (good for 23 1/2 months) and was able to name a companion.
At this point an option appears to add a companion to your previously book flight.
After adding the companion to my itinerary, I was able to cancel their originally purchased itinerary. This resulted in the miles being credited back to my rapid rewards account and the $11.20 worth of fees being refunded back to my credit card.
It is important to notice I had about 2 months before my flight was scheduled to take off. The closer you get to your flight, the more likely the flight will sell out making this approach more complicated.
*I was able to retroactively add my companion to my flight to phoenix.