Why is it that, after years at home, stuck in the back-and-forth of your domestic routine, or in the ups and downs of your job, you spend a week traveling somewhere pleasant or strange, and that one week blazes larger in your memory than all those years? This happens to me often: Travel appears to offer an enlargement of time. And it's not just me. The clerk at my post office can recall in detail her 10 days in Hawaii and the pineapple ice cream she ate on the sunny shore many years earlier. Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers unpacks the sojourn across an unusually long travel book, while D.H. Lawrence rambled for nine days in Sardinia in 1921; his book about the experience, Sea and Sardinia, rambles on for hundreds of pages.
Southwest makes it easier to change your Companion Pass online
18.09.2024 - 10:45 / thepointsguy.com
Southwest Airlines' Companion Pass is one of the best travel perks in the industry. With the pass, a friend or family member can fly with you for free (plus taxes and fees) on Southwest flights an unlimited number of times until the pass expires. While this might seem like one of those "too good to be true" scenarios, it's completely legit and just as good as it sounds. In fact, I've personally been a Companion Pass holder for almost 15 years.
Once the pass is earned, it's valid through Dec. 31 of the following calendar year (as long as it's earned through the traditional method and not during a special promotion). This gives you up to two years to use the pass, offering many opportunities for your designated companion to fly with you on your next trip.
Related: How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass
But did you know that you don't have to fly with the same companion on each and every flight? Southwest lets you change your companion up to three times per calendar year — and that is in addition to the initial selection of your companion. And since your pass is typically valid over the course of two calendar years, this allows up to seven people to fly with you for free.
And while changing your designated companion has always been a slight nuisance, Southwest just made it significantly easier. Up until recently, you'd have to call Southwest and request a change. But now, changing your companion can be done all on your own, right within your Southwest account.
As of September, Southwest is making it significantly easier to change your companion. Initially, when you earn the pass, you have the opportunity to designate a companion. There's no change to this process, and identifying your initial companion can be done online through your Southwest account or over the phone with Southwest directly.
However, you can now also make changes to your pass online. Previously, the only option was to call Southwest. While the actual process only took the agent a few minutes, it would typically require a lengthy wait on hold, depending on the time of day.
To change your Southwest Companion Pass online, you'll first want to sign in to your Southwest account either through the app or online. From there, you'll see your Companion Pass information, with the option to change your companion. Within your account, it'll also tell you how many more times you can change your companion this year, which is incredibly helpful.
Related: How to earn and use the Southwest Companion Pass
Once you select the option to change your companion, you'll then have to fill out your companion's information. Again, you'll be notified of the number of companion changes you have left for the calendar year.
However, the big issue that you'll
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