Earlier this year, Southwest Airlines brought back its promotion to earn a limited-time Companion Pass. If you registered, booked a flight between Aug. 28 and Aug. 30 and completed travel by Sept. 30, you’d earn a coveted Companion Pass valid from Jan. 8 through March 8, 2024.
I’m not a frequent Southwest flyer, but I am a Southwest Rapid Rewards member, and the carrier does offer extensive service from my home state of Florida. So, I started thinking. Could I take a quick trip solely for the sake of earning this Companion Pass, thus creating buy-one, get-one flights for a few months next year?
As it turns out, I was able to do this with little hassle and minimal out-of-pocket expense.
Here’s why I flew to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) — and back — on the same day, all because of a promo.
Related: How to use the Southwest Companion Pass
Booking the flight
When the promotion launched and I hatched my plan, I knew I couldn’t take just any flight. These were must-haves when I began searching:
- Low cost: First, I needed a flight with a relatively low cost. After all, the Companion Pass will only be valid for two months, so spending several hundred dollars on a flight would make it harder to recoup that cost by using the perk.
- Florida departure: I live on Florida’s Treasure Coast, which gave me relatively easy access to a trio of Southwest airports: Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). I focused my searches on these three gateways.
- Minimal hassle: I love working remotely, but I wanted to make sure that I could still get my work done during the day. Additionally, I didn’t want to deal with a flight at the crack of dawn or a late-night arrival, thus missing valuable time with my family. For this to work, I wanted to minimize my inconvenience.
So, I began searching.
I started on Southwest’s route map, a handy way to see all the carrier’s nonstop flights out of specific airports. It even gives you a starting price for one-way flights, helping you zero in on destinations with the carrier’s lowest fares.
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Palm Beach options were limited (and expensive), and Orlando itineraries also weren’t great in my search. However, I was thrilled to see that flights from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta (and back) were priced at less than $50 each way.
With a target route in mind, I then moved on to Southwest’s handy low-fare calendar (side by side with my own Outlook calendar). And on Tuesday, Sept. 19 — a day on which I was mostly free — I found a flight for a total of $107.36.
This would mean leaving my house around 7:45 a.m. (around the same time my wife normally leaves with my daughter to drop her at school en route to work) and getting back home around 7:30 p.m. With inflight Wi-Fi and roughly three hours on the ground in Atlanta, I knew I would still have a large part of the day to work like normal — and the price sure was right.
I booked the flight using my Chase Sapphire Reserve to earn 3 points per dollar and to ensure I was covered in the event of delays or cancellations. I could almost taste the free trips I’d book for my companion once the pass arrives in January.
But first, of course, I needed to take the flight.
Flying to Atlanta and back
The morning departure from my house went according to plan, and I even used part of my drive to have a call with a team member. While I hit some standard South Florida traffic, I parked in the on-site garage around 9:40 a.m. It was a short walk to Terminal 1, where I used Clear (thanks to The Platinum Card® from American Express, which offers statement credits of up to $189 per year when you charge your Clear Plus membership fee to the card) and TSA PreCheck to clear security comparatively quickly — though I did hit a small delay thanks to the new scanners in use at the checkpoint.
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The terminal was rather busy, but I sent a few emails and had a quick call with another team member before we started boarding. I checked in right at the 24-hour mark and was assigned B07, so I had no problem finding a window seat in Row 17. The entire boarding process was smooth, and we pushed back from the gate two minutes ahead of schedule.
After a quick taxi, we took off at 10:58 a.m., making a quick turn to the north en route to Atlanta.
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NICK EWEN/THE POINTS GUY
I connected to the inflight Wi-Fi for $8, which I charged to my Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card (and then erased using the card’s $300 annual airline incidental credit). While the card isn’t available to new applicants, you can request a product change from an existing Marriott card from Chase.
The information for the Ritz-Carlton card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The flight was uneventful, and we touched down in Atlanta at 12:19 p.m., arriving at Gate C22 at 12:25 p.m., 20 minutes early.
After deplaning, I grabbed a bite to eat at a place specializing in make-your-own salads before walking to Terminal F (gotta get those steps in!) and checking into The Club at ATL, a Priority Pass lounge that you can access on a wide variety of credit cards.
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NICK EWEN/THE POINTS GUY
I worked from there, including two additional calls, before walking back to Terminal C for my return flight.
Boarding was yet again uneventful, and with B22 on my boarding pass, I snagged a window seat in Row 21 — and even enjoyed an empty middle seat on the less-than-full flight. We pushed back one minute behind schedule but only taxied for nine minutes before taking off at 4 p.m.
I again connected to the Wi-Fi for $8 using the credit from my Ritz card, and I worked until close to landing. The wheels hit the runway at 5:32 p.m., and we parked at the gate at 5:36 p.m. (four minutes before our scheduled arrival).
Total cost to earn the Companion Pass
So, when all was said and done, how much did this jaunt cost me? Here’s a complete breakdown:
- Flight: $107.36
- Round-trip drive to FLL (calculated based on IRS reimbursement rates): $141.48
- Lunch in ATL: $12.41
- Wi-Fi on flights: $0 (ordinarily $16, but these were covered by the fee credit on my Ritz card)
- Parking at FLL: $15
- Total: $276.25
Perhaps most importantly, I was able to do this entire trip at a very minor inconvenience. I used some of my drives to and from the airport to talk to my team members, and I got in several additional hours of work on the flights and in the airport.
The day after the flight, I got an email from Southwest confirming that I had met the requirements to earn the Companion Pass.
Unfortunately, the terms of the promotion indicate that the pass won’t be awarded to my Rapid Rewards account until Jan. 8, 2024, and only then can I designate my companion and start booking trips for her.
There’s a chance that one (or more) of the flights I want will be sold out by that point, but Companion Pass tickets aren’t subject to inventory restrictions. As long as there’s a seat — regardless of the price at the time of booking — I can add my companion for just the taxes and fees.
Bottom line
Saying I got some odd looks when I told some friends and family members what I was doing would be an understatement. After all, “I’m flying to Atlanta for the day to earn a Southwest Companion Pass” isn’t the most normal thing to hear.
However, I’m excited about the prospect of designating my daughter as my companion and taking her along on a handful of flights in early 2024. While this deal is now closed for registration, Southwest has a history of doing things like this from time to time, in case you missed this round. For less than $300, I’ve unlocked the potential to enjoy a ton of additional travel — which means more memories for me and my family.
And that doesn’t seem far-fetched at all.
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