A month ago Southwest Airlines ran a convoluted promotion meant to boost bookings through September 30, and also January 8 through March 6, 2024.

• Travel must have really slowed down for these periods, with Southwest seeing a lot of empty seats

• And that offer – for a 50% off future ticket purchase promotion code – must not have done the trick.

Southwest is back with another offer to boost travel during these exact same periods. This time they’re offering a short-term companion pass as the reward. Meet their conditions and a second person travels with you for just the cost of taxes for two months, whether you buy yourself a cash ticket or use points.

• Register and then purchase one round trip or two one-way flights by August 30.
  
• Travel by September 30
  
• Earn a companion ticket valid January 8 – March 8, 2024.

If you already have travel booked through September 30, consider cancelling and rebooking (if the price of the ticket hasn’t gone up too much) to qualify for this offer. They ran a nearly identical offer in the spring.

What’s especially interesting about the two month promotion companion pass is that – just like a regular annual one – you can change your selection companion up to three times during the companion pass’s validity. Normally that’s limiting, say if you earn a companion pass for 22 months as I’ve done a couple of times recently. However changing 3 times during a two month period is far more flexible.

My current companion pass, earned in January 2022, runs through December 2023. I buy a ticket for myself, my wife is my companion (so most trips cost us just TSA fees for her travel) and then I redeem Rapid Rewards points for my daughter’s seat.

If you live in a big Southwest city as I do (they’re the largest carrier in Austin) and you have the time to take advantage of the offer, it’s a good one.