Has someone mentioned bringing (almost) designated friends and family on the southwest flight you take?
Getting Southwest’s coveted companion pass is not easy. Carriers are known for running promotions where you can win a companion pass to receive a single round-trip flight. Southwest Credit Card Welcome Offer. Even without any of these promotions, Southwest credit card spending can help you quickly track your path to your companion pass.
Continue reading to find out why companion pass is so valuable and how to win it this year.
Related: Southwest Rapid Rewards: A Complete Guide to Earn, Redemption and Maximizing Points
What is the Southwest Companion Pass?
and Southwest companion passyou can take friends and family that you have designated as your companion on Southwest Flight. Just like award tickets, you will need to pay taxes and fees on your companion ticket. As a result, if you earn a companion pass, you will receive one free flight if you purchase for more than a year.
The ability to bring travel companions almost free is not unique to Southwest. Many credit cards offer some form of disposable Companion fareyou can take your travel companions with a huge discount rate.
However, the magic of the Southwest Companion Pass is that it can be used many times until the pass expires. Even if you end up flying every day throughout the year, your companions can come with you just for tax and fee costs. Even awarding tickets applies and allows you Redeem reward points quickly For yourself, bring your companions without using any additional points.
TPG value Southwest Points are 1.35 cents each according to the February 2025 estimate, and by earning a companion pass, you can effectively double the value of your points (or cash) when flying with your companion in Southwest. You can do it.
Remember, you are not limited to flights in the lower 48 states. Over the past few years, Southwest has expanded Added short distances to Hawaii (and inside) International flights.
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Plus, you can Change the specified Southwest companion Up to three times per calendar year. In other words, you can have four different companions in the first calendar year, then three different companions in the second year (with a maximum of seven total over the lifespan of the companion pass). It is worth noting that even if you return to your previous associates, it counts as one of three assigned changes per calendar year.
Related: 15 lessons from 15 years with a Southwest Companion Pass
How to get a Southwest Companion Pass
To earn a companion pass, you must either earn 135,000 qualifying points or 100 eligible one-way flights in a calendar year. That sounds like a lot, but considering the mountains of points available from Southwest Credit Card Offerit’s not as difficult as it looks.
Plus, the companion pass has an impressive expiration date. It is valid by the end of the year when you make it, and the entire year that follows is valid. If you spend your time right, it could be a Bogo privilege for nearly two years.
So, what are the qualifying points to earn a companion pass? It is important to note that not all rapid reward points count towards the 135,000 points requirement. Here’s how to define the point where the southwest is counted:
Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from earning flights booked from Southwest®, points earned on Southwest Rapid Rewards® credit cards, and base points earned from Rapid Rewards® partners.
As you can see, all earnings booked at Southwest will count towards earning a companion pass, just like points earned on Southwest Cobrand credit cards. What makes things a little more difficult is the phrase “base points we earned from Rapid Rewards Partners.” Are all partners counted?
This page The Southwest website offers several examples of partner activities that count towards qualifications.
- Fast reward credit cards including welcome bonus
- Shopping and dining partners, etc. Buy flowers I’ll eat out with Fast reward meals
- Partner Travel partners such as hotel stays and car rentals
- Home and lifestyle partners like Reliant Energy and NRG Home
However, many things don’t count towards getting a companion pass.
With that in mind, here is a summary of three strategies to get a Southwest companion pass.
Related: If you like the current Southwest Airlines boarding process, you’re lucky
Southwest Credit Card
Points obtained from Southwest Rapid rewards credit cardsCounts on the Southwest Companion Pass, including a welcome bonus. Additionally, Southwest Cardholders enjoy an annual increase of 10,000 points towards their Companion Pass Eligibility each year. This will allow you to post within 30 days of opening your account and then re-post in the calendar year by January 31st. This effectively reduces the number of points you need to earn to 125,000.
Additionally, three Southwest Consumer Cards currently offer advanced welcome bonuses, including companion passes. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premium Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card We offer a companion pass until February 28, 2026, offering 30,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening an account.
Southwest Premier Card information is collected independently by Point Guy. The card details on this page are not reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
It may be the best time to add one of the above to your wallet. And the sooner you win a welcome bonus, the more you can use the promotional companion pass.
Southwest also has two business cards to help accelerate progress on the companion pass. After spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening an account, you can earn 80,000 points. Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Cardor after spending $3,000 on a purchase in the first three months of opening an account, and then earning 60,000 bonus points, Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. Between these welcome bonuses and an anniversary boost of 10,000 points or more, it’s more than the middle to score the 135,000 points you need for your companion pass.
Alternatively, you can combine revenue from any of these business cards with those from your personal Southwest Card to qualify for a companion pass without any additional activity.
Related: Do you need business to get a business credit card?
Track application limits
Before you go to the application, don’t forget that Chase has it Southwest Credit Card Restrictions Related to welcome bonus. The following words will appear on the application page for priority, premier, plus cards.
If you do not have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card and have not received a new card member bonus within the last 24 months, you can use this product. This does not apply to business cards or employee credit card products.
As a result, if you already have one or earn a welcome bonus within the last 24 months, you will not be able to open a new Southwest personal card. You should also make sure you are familiar with Chase’s general application restrictions, including issuers. The infamous 5/24 rule And the general rule is that you can open one personal card and one business card every 90 days.
Currently, Southwest small business credit cards do not have the same word. Instead, business card note:
“This new card member bonus offer will be for (i) a current card member of this business credit card or (ii) a new card member of this business credit card that has received a new card member bonus for this business credit card within the past 24 months. Card members are also not available.
If you already have a Southwest credit card and are unable to use the welcoming bonus to your advantage, all points you earned from spending on these cards will also count towards earning a companion pass. In theory, you can earn a pass from credit card spending alone, but there are two other options that make the task easier.
Related: How to qualify for Southwest Companion Pass with 1 Credit Card Sign Up Bonus
Flying in Southwest: How much do you have to spend to score 135,000 points?
Another easy way Earn points on companion pass It’s actually flying southwest. If you don’t have a Cobrand credit card, if you plan to win an on-fly companion pass in 2025, you will need to earn 135,000 points full points or earn 100 qualifying flights. there is. This leads to your next spending on the base fare (not including the Elite Status Points Revenue Bonus).
- I want to get away at $22,500
- $16,875 I want to run away
- Anytime $13,500
- $11,250 for business choice
If you are planning a trip this year, consider booking at Southwest and earning points towards your companion pass. However, this strategy requires you to fly with many paid southwest fares.
Related: Free bags and open seats: Why choose the Southwest every time?
Use a credit card and flight combination
For many travelers, the best way to get a companion pass is probably a flight card and credit card combination.
Let’s say you open Southwest Performance Business Card You will also get a full welcome bonus in early 2025. Also, assume you spend a total of $10,000 on your card. A portion of that spending comes from flights that flew in early 2025. obtain:
- Welcome bonus (to spend $5,000 in the first 3 months): 80,000 points
- flying: 12,000 points (2,000 x 6 points per dollar spent trying to escape the base fare)
- Purchase Southwest Airfares with a Card: 8,000 points (2,000 x 4 points per dollar spent on Southwest purchases)
- Other purchases on your card: 8,000 points (8,000 x 1 point per dollar)
- Credit Card Anniversary Points: 10,000 points
This activity earns 118,000 companion pass qualification points and only 17,000 points. By taking advantage of other revenue opportunities, you can easily make up for that difference Fast reward shopping Or a car rental through the southwest.
These points will hit all Rapid Rewards accounts in 2025, so your companion pass will remain valid until December 31, 2026. This is a lot of Bogo time.
Please remember that your credit card points will not appear on your account until a few days after the monthly statement closes. Additionally, points earned from the flight will not be listed until a few days after completing your trip. Again, timing is important to obtain a companion pass and make it available for as long as possible.
Related: Southwest announces A-List Perks for a new assigned seating setup
Conclusion
The Southwest Companion Pass can be a very advantageous advantage, especially if you get it early in the calendar year and enjoy a (almost) free companion trip for almost two years. It’s never too late to plan your strategy to win a pass in 2025.
For qualified people, getting a great bonus from a Southwest credit card makes it easy (and quickly) a companion pass. You can earn a companion pass just by spending flights or credit card, but in many cases it is the easiest approach.
