Redeem 90K Starpoints For 120K Southwest Points And Get 2 Years Of Southwest Companion Pass Status Plus 7 Nights In A Marriott Hotel!

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On Sunday, Southwest stealthily changed their program rules without advance warning, removing hotel point transfers as a method to earn Southwest Companion Pass.

After an apparently controversial campaign to write to Southwest, file DoT complaints, and raise awareness of the change on social media, Southwest agreed to give a 3 month grace period to transfer hotel points and have them qualify to earn Companion Pass status. Southwest has posted about their change of heart here.

If you earn 110K Southwest points by 12/31/17 you’ll earn Southwest Companion Pass status that will be valid until 12/31/18. 

With Southwest Companion Pass you’ll get to bring a companion with you for free on all Southwest paid tickets, Southwest award tickets, and Southwest tickets booked with AMEX or Chase points, though you need to call AMEX or Chase to actually book travel on Southwest. There is no limit to how many times you can use the companion pass.

Southwest still offers 2 free checked bags. Plus you can cancel revenue tickets with no charge and use the funds for a future flight. Point reservations can be cancelled for free with the points redeposited back to your account.

Until 3/31/17 Southwest will count hotel point transfers towards companion pass status.

After 3/31/17 only points from the Southwest credit cards, from flying on Southwest, and base points earned through transactions with Rapid Rewards partners will count. However hotel transfers made by 3/31 will combine with points earned from Southwest credit cards and paid flights to earn companion pass status by earning 110K points by 12/31/17.

Note:
-Transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards don’t count towards Companion Pass.
-You can’t transfer Starwood points directly to Southwest, but you can transfer Starwood points to Marriott at a 1:3 ratio and then transfer Marriott points to Southwest.
-You can transfer 50K Chase points to 50K Hyatt and 50K Hyatt points into 30K Southwest points and those points will count for Companion Pass status.
-You can transfer Chase points to Marriott at a 1:1 ratio.
-You can earn Companion status from signup up and spending on Southwest credit cards.
-You can transfer points to another Marriott member to complete an award.
-You can transfer points to another Starwood member living at your address.

If you use the regular Marriott Rewards transfer chart you would need 310K Marriott Rewards points to transfer 110K Southwest points.

However it’s a much better deal with Marriott’s miles+nights. 270K Marriott Rewards points would give you 120K Southwest points and 7 nights in a Marriott category 1-5 hotel. You’ll also earn Southwest Companion Pass status with that award!

A transfer of 90K Starpoints into 270K Marriott Rewards points will make that happen.

You must call Marriott at 800-321-7396 if you want to book a miles+nights package.

-It will take 2-3 days for the points to reach Southwest and your Southwest account will be updated to Companion Pass status within a few days of the transfer.
-The 7 night electronic hotel certificate expires in 1 year, though Marriott currently will extend them for 1 additional year if you contact them.
-You don’t need to choose the hotel at the time of a nights+miles redemption.
-The certificate must be used at one property for 7 consecutive nights.
-You can have the certificate issued in anyone’s name.
-You can use more Marriott points to get yourself into a higher hotel category or you can save points if you already earned Southwest points this year and don’t need 110K points for the Companion Pass.
-You can upgrade your hotel certificate by paying the difference in points later on.
-Some agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate, but not all agents will do that.

You can view hotels by category and tier via the “find” button on this page.

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-120K Southwest points will net between $1,800-$2,400 of free flights. Thanks to the companion pass you can bring someone along for free, which will mean you can use those points for $3,600-$4,800 of free flights. Plus of course you’ll get a 7 night category 1-5 hotel stay. Not a bad deal for 90K Starpoints!

-If you wanted 7 nights at the tier 3 Ritz-Carlton Herzliya you would need 420K Marriott or 140K Starpoints for that stay and 120K Southwest points with Southwest Companion Pass Status.

-If you wanted 7 nights at the category 7 Renaissance Tel Aviv Hotel you would need 330K Marriott or 110K Starpoints for that stay and 120K Southwest points with Southwest Companion Pass Status.

There is also a 5 night hotel+points option that can save you some Marriott points, but officially that’s only available for Marriott timeshare owners. 5 nights and 120K Southwest points would cost 235K Marriott points. That’s 35K fewer Marriott points than are required for the 7 night package. On rare occasions some reps will book the 5 night packages for non-timeshare owners.

You can buy Starpoints here if you need some extra points to top off your account.

American Express is a DansDeals.com advertiser

-The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express offers 25K points for spending $3,000 in 3 months.

-The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express offers 25K points for spending $5,000 in 3 months.

-If you have the Platinum Card® from American Express or the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN you can call to have your Starwood account upgraded to Gold status which will then be matched to Marriott Gold as well!

-The Chase Marriott card offers 87,500 Rewards points (also transferable to 29,167 Starpoints) for spending $3,000 and adding an additional user card. After hitting the signup bonus it’s not worth spending on this card. You’ll get 3 Marriott Rewards points per dollar by spending on a Starwood card instead!
You can view credit card offers by clicking on the “Credit Card Offers” tab on top of the DansDeals banner to view links for card offers. You can click on the link that says “View all card offers by issuing bank” and scroll down to view all card offers from the bank of your choice.

Will you go for Companion Pass status before the hotel point transfer opportunity ends?

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61 Comments On "Redeem 90K Starpoints For 120K Southwest Points And Get 2 Years Of Southwest Companion Pass Status Plus 7 Nights In A Marriott Hotel!"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Bagbag

Does it make sense to transfer majority chase UR points for this promo (to Hyatt etc)? I only have 10k starpoints at the moment.

Ryan

Any idea how long it takes for CP status to post after the points hit the account? Can I expedite the process by calling in once I have 120k points in the account?

Dan

@Bagbag:
That would depend on how often you’ll utilize the companion pass.

@Ryan:
It’ll happen automatically within a few days.

not sure

which question should one ask themselves on whether or not it is worth it to get the companion pass assuming they have the amount of points?

Ryan

I have 58000 SPG points, can we transfer chase UR points?

Dan

@not sure:
You need to figure out how often you’ll utilize the pass through 12/31/18.

@Ryan:
Chase transfers to Marriott and Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.
270K Marriott=120K Southwest+7 hotel nights.
50K Hyatt=30K Southwest.

Craig

Is it possible to transfer points to someone else’s account, and in doing so get them the companion pass? I don’t fly Southwest, but my Dad does and if possible I’d like for him to get the companion pass.

Netlevy

What about the Southwest credit card?
We can get some bonus sign-up points from that too no?

M

Can’t one also just transfer UR directly to Marriott?

Daniel

What happens if we leave after 3 days instead of staying all 7 nights? Can they penalize me in any way? Thanks Dan!

Mike

Dan- thanks again. If one person books the cerificate under the name of a gold member would that gold member be able to use his gold benefits?

Dan

@Craig:
Yes, you can transfer your hotel points to your dad and he can transfer them to his Southwest account.
And you’re a good son 🙂

@Netlevy:
Yes.

@M:
Yes.

@Daniel:
Lol, of course not.

@Mike:
Yes.

not sure

and in your estimate- how many times should one utilize this in the next 2 years to make this worth it?

Dan

@not sure:
Worth is subjective based on how you value and use your points.

Was it “worth” it for me to throw out the first pitch and sit behind the dugout for game 7 of the World Series?

The answer depends on too many variables.

Miriam

Can I transfer Amex points to become Starwood points?

Bob

Can give this to others as well. I was able to gift my wife 270000 Marriott points from my account. We needed to specify which package she wanted to buy and have them buy it. They allow for a once a year exception to the 50000 point transfer limit to redeem for a specific award. I believe this will work for non family members as well. Also within 50000 points will allow for Spg transfers (Spg to Marriott, Marriott other Marriott, other Marriott to Spg) to others at a different address.

J

Where can i find the catagory (1-7) OF THE hotel ? i cant find it on the websitr

john

any chance the 7 day voucher could be used at an SPG hotel?

Josh

If i do this transfer and later on decide i want to stay at a 7 star marriott opposed to a 1-5, how many additional points per night would it be? thanks!

david

Sorry for the offal question. Why would Marriott give me 7 nights if i transfer away there points to Southwest?

Anonymous

I have 40k spg an 120k chase points. Can i do that?

eli

How do i transfer mariott points to southwest?

Dan

@Miriam:
Yes, but at a 3:1 ratio.

@Bob:
Nice.
Though you can always change the address on a SPG account to transfer to anyone.

@J:
There’s a link in this post.

@john:
No.

@Josh:
The exact difference as if you had redeemed it in the first place.
See the chart in the post.

@david:
Because they do.
I don’t expect it to survive the merger next year though in its current form.

@Anonymous:
40K SPG=120K Marriott.
120K Chase=120K Marriott.
So you need another 30K Marriott or 10K SPG.

@eli:
Read the post.

Mark

I’m assuming that you have to choose your companion up-front and keep the same companion till the end of 2018. Is that correct?

(asking because if I can change companions for each flight, I could fly with a different kid each time as is very common) I doubt it though!

Yoni

Anybody have recommendations for great category 1-5 hotels for a family to stay at using this marriott certificate? I’m thinking ideally nice vacation spots – Florida, Arizona, California, Hawaii (?)…

Dan

@Mark:
“You can change your designated companion and request issuance of a new Companion Pass up to three times each calendar year that you maintain Companion Pass status.”

@Yoni:
Sample hotels here:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/95926

Perpetually Perplexed

Can Starwood hotels be used with the 7 night certificate?

Bob

@Dan: not sure how strongly the Spg t&c is enforced but officially need to have shared residence for 30 days. “Generally, Starpoints may transfer if both SPG Members are active, consent to the transfer, and share the same residential mailing address that is not a P.O. Box, APO or SPO address for a minimum of 30 days prior to requesting the transfer. SPG Members may be required to provide proof of residency prior to Starwood transferring the Starpoints between the two accounts.”

Eli

@Dan:
I do not see it

anon

@Eli: not to be snarky but it’s in bold red type and it’s a phone number, again read the post

john

Do names have to match? IE can i transfer my 90k spg to my marriott account and then 270k marriott to wife’s southwest account ? (for her to get companion pass – since i already have)

MW

FYI- You can also transfer amex rewards to spg (at 1/.33) then back to marriott (1/3), effectively getting 1 to 1. In addition, you can also buy 50K marriott pts. per year at $12.50 per 1000, which may be worth it if you are several thousand points short. Thank you Dan!

tier 5

if i transfer 180k starwood into 540k marriot. I can book the highest levl marriot hotel? does that come with airline miles too…where do the miles come in other than getting the southwest companion- say i want to fly a diff airline…

Bob

@john: if my understanding is correct, the name on account making the package purchase must be the same as the southwest account. However, see my post earlier comment about how I gave my wife the 270000 points.

FlyFirst

Thanks Dan! What a great detailed post!!!!

Hershy

Does the Marriott voucher need to be used for one stay or can be broken up to multiple stays

john

dan- which marriot 7 night package would be the best package if i wanted to go to NY to hawaii airline wise for two people?

Hershy

@Hershy: -The certificate must be used at one property for 7 consecutive nights

Kim

Hi Dan, I’ve read through a couple times, and was abut to go for it and decided to check Southwest Companion pass verbiage. Not sure if below was just recently added, but wouldn’t this mean transferred points from SPG/Marriott would not actually work? I am just a little concerned after reading this. Hoping I am just not reading it right, what do you think?

“Purchased points, transferred points transferred between members, points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs, and e-Rewards, e-Miles, Valued Opinions and Diners Club, points earned from program enrollment, tier bonus points, flight bonus points, and partner bonus points (with the exception of the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase) do not qualify as Companion Pass Qualifying Points.”

dhammer53p

@Dan:
@not sure, we used the Companion Pass for 5 different long weekend trips. Had the pass for a year, so my wife flew 5x’s fir free x’s an average of $200 per ticket. We saved $1000, but would we have taken multiple weekend trips? 😉

Avi

Hi Dan

In the past month or so I already transferred 180,000 SPG points to Marriott and booked hotel rooms for yeshiva week. From your experience do you think Marriott will allow me to change the booking to a Hotel plus Air Package?

Dan

@Perpetually Perplexed:
No.

@john:
See http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/103860#comment-1299384

@MW:
Yup.
Better off buying SPG and transferring points to get to 90K though than buying Marriott.

@tier 5:
Yes.
You can do other airlines. Click on the link in this post.

@FlyFirst:
Thanks.

@Hershy:
Read the post.

@Kim:
That goes into affect 4/1/17.
Read the links in this post.

@dhammer53p:
Yup, hence the tough to nail down valuation.

@Avi:
As long as the hotels are outside their cancellation policy just cancel them and do this.

Daniel

Hi Dan, do you know the best thing to say to the agent if I am a non-timeshare owner and want to book the 5 night package? Or do you think I book the 7 night package and then say I want to change it to a 5 night package will they refund me the difference in Marriot points? Thank you!

ACER

Until when is the hotel+airfare packages available? I can reach 270k Marriott before the end of March but don’t have it at the moment. Also, how do you transfer points between spouses with Marriott? Spg makes it so easy online, couldn’t find how to do it with Marriott (assuming it’s free) Thanks!

Gary

Dan, I believe you were strongly advocating protesting SW”s lack of notice. I personally want to thank you because I’m sure your efforts were instrumental in getting SW to provide a 90 day grace period.
Mavel Tov!!!

JT27MP

Does anybody know of Mariott hotels or partners in Jerusalem, Israel?

ACER

@JT27MP: the only 2 are the one Dan mentioned above.

dhammer53

@JT27mp, did you try this > http://www.marriott.com/hotel-search/jerusalem.hotels.israel.travel/

Check the Starwood site too.

Google reveals answer to question.

e849chil

How would I take advantage of this if I have recently depleted my points?!!??? I only have 75k chase left. It seems as though it would make sense to purchase points from SPG and Marriot but is there an annual max?

leaf

Just a data point from today 01/06/2017.
I called Marriott to order a Hotel plus Air package with Southwest as the designated transfer airline.
I asked the rep for the 5-night package. She said we no longer offer those. I said I had seen it online, etc. etc. No luck.
Being that so many had reported no success with the 5 night package, I decided to just take the 7 night package without HUCA.
As she was getting my information I mentioned that I really was disappointed that I couldn’t get the 5 night package because it’s so hard to find 7 consecutive days of availability….
Anyway she put me on hold to do the transfer and she came back and said you’re all good to go, you should see the SW points within 3 business days.
Then, I log into my account and see that instead of deducting 270k, she deducted 235k and there is a 5-NIGHT TRAVEL CERTIFICATE!
Don’t know how I got so lucky, but it looks like the reps can easily do it. (No I don’t own a Marriott timeshare, I’m just Gold status from cc).
Now, I just hope nothing changes and the 120k transfers smoothly to SW.
Thanks again to Dan and the entire community at DansDeals Forums!

Bert

I am hoping someone can help me with a simple question. I am buying 90k SPG from someone else to get this SW Companion Pass.
Account holder does not want to change the address or information on his account, recommended I set up a Marriott account in his name and he can transfer to it.
Will I then be able to transfer those Marriott points to a SW account in MY name?

Bob

@Bert: Marriott will only give the southwest points to the name on the Marriot account. HOWEVER, despite their limit of 50,000 points transferred points a year, they will allow for a larger transfer to redeem a specific award. Here’s what you need to do.
1. Open a Marriot account for the person who has the miles.
2. Open one for yourself as well.
3.He needs to link his SPG account to his Marriot account.
4.He needs to transfer 90k points to Marriott. Now he’ll have 270k Marriott points.
5.Give him your Marriott info or better yet be on the phone with him when he calls Marriott. He must specify that he’d like to transfer 270k to your Marriott account for you to purchase this specific package. (I needed to Huca once to find a rep who would do it.)
6. They may need to confirm that you want this package and your Southwest RR information.
7. They’ll make a one time exception for the 2 of you and transfer the points and purchase the package.

Bob

Marriott will only give the southwest points to the name on the Marriot account. HOWEVER, despite their limit of 50,000 points transferred points a year, they will allow for a larger transfer to redeem a specific award. Here’s what you need to do.
1. Open a Marriot account for the person who has the miles.
2. Open one for yourself as well.
3.He needs to link his SPG account to his Marriot account.
4.He needs to transfer 90k points to Marriott. Now he’ll have 270k Marriott points.
5.Give him your Marriott info or better yet be on the phone with him when he calls Marriott. He must specify that he’d like to transfer 270k to your Marriott account for you to purchase this specific package. (I needed to Huca once to find a rep who would do it.)
6. They may need to confirm that you want this package and your Southwest RR information.
7. They’ll make a one time exception for the 2 of you and transfer the points and purchase the package.

Mark

@Dan: ““You can change your designated companion and request issuance of a new Companion Pass up to three times each calendar year that you maintain Companion Pass status.””

This is great. It means I would likely take 6 flights with a companion over the two-year period.

Next question. Is it worth doing this whole thing (converting 90k starpoints to 270k marriott points to convert to Southwest points to get companion pass) for just 6 flights? Also I usually have 2 Delta Companion Certificates each year that I use for this purpose that would probably end up going unused if I fly Southwest instead. I don’t know if I would use the 7-day hotel benefit, but I think we could force ourselves to use it at some point (don’t know exactly how a family of 7 could properly use it though).

Anonymous

@Bob: Did this- worked perfectly. Thanks!

Chh

Are there even nice hotels in category 5 that someone can actually enjoy for 7 nights?!

Dan
Anonymous

@Dan: Thanks Dan. Looks like mostly airport hotels under these categories. Gonna try to get 60K extra points before mid march to go for category 7 instead.

chh

@Dan: can you upgrade a package at a later date? meaning add points to get cat 7 instead of 5?

Dan

@chh:
Yes.

Sarah

Can I do anything with 45000 spg points?

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