I am SOOO SOOO SOOO SOOO SOOO excited to see that Southwest will start servicing some Caribbean routes starting July 1! These include Aruba, Montego Bay, and Nassau. This morning I announced they they have extended their booking schedule from June 6 to August 8, so you can actually book these new routes!
This now means you can use your Southwest Airlines companion ticket on these routes. While the companion ticket is already extremely valuable, this makes it even more worthwhile in my opinion! You can read more about the Southwest Airlines companion pass here.
I checked out the Southwest route map and currently there are none stop flights from the three destinations to the following:
- Aruba flies direct to Orlando, Atlanta, and Baltimore
- Montego Bay flies direct to Orlando, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Chicago
- Nassau flies direct to Baltimore and Atlanta
While the route map also states there are many other routes to these destinations with a stopover, none of them are coming up as valid routes. The only valid route I am able to find is from Boston. I tried all the east coast airports and none worked, but maybe they will start to come available over the next few days. If you are in Baltimore though (or close by) you currently have great access and the prices are very reasonable. Flights are pricing out as $126 to Aruba and $208 for the return – a total of $338, which is great! When booking with points, unfortunately, the taxes are decently high as they are considered international routes. From the US to Aruba is only $2.50, but the return will cost you $89.50.
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While i can book aruba and Montego Bay. I cannot book Nassau
Can you use CP on Aruba routes that have AirTran on them?
@Daniel – As long as you book your flight via Southwest then yes.
A quick question: My CP expires the end of 2014. If say I book a future travel on Feb 2015, but book it today, can I still add my companion on this trip?
@Monica – Eric is correct. The companion pass can only be used during the validity of the pass, doesn’t matter when the ticket is booked.
Your point about taxes made me go check this out and glad to see it appears the fare is the same both ways but taxes are just higher on the return. The points price is identical each way at 8700. About damn time they added these routes, only wish they had done so last year as my companion pass just ended. Will have to go for it again sometime.
Monica, coming from someone who had the companion pass, I can tell you that unfortunately the answer to your question is no. It is not about when you book, it is about when you fly. After December 31, 2014, your companion will no longer be able to fly with you for free regardless of when you booked the flight.
Thanks for your reply, Eric.
Grab those flights to Aruba, Montego Bay and Nassau before SW changes its mind. SW has no real loyalty to the cities they service. They are discontinuing service to multiple cities this yr, including to Key West from Tampa, Orlando and New Orleans effective June 2014. We typically fly out of NOLA and the flights are always packed. http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/09/3807989/southwest-airlines-pulling-up.html
Don’t forget San Juan. It’s been around for a while. Going there with CP next month. Can’t wait for Cancun and Cabo to convert to WN.
@Liz, Passenger numbers don’t equal profitability WRT NOLA, Key West, etc
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