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If you're new to using points and miles to book flights, you may be asking, “What is the Southwest Companion Pass?” The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to fly with one other person for free (plus taxes and fees). You may think of it as a buy-one-get-one-free coupon.
Many travel experts consider the Companion Pass to be among the best travel perks in the industry because this isn't a one-time pass. You can use it as much as you fly, as long as there's a seat available. It doesn't even matter whether you use points or cash.
To help design your strategy, we’ve summarized the ways you can accelerate your progress to earn the Southwest Companion Pass.
Page Contents
How Do I Get It?
You can earn the Companion Pass by reaching either the required number of flight segments or qualifying points in a single calendar year.
Earn the Southwest Companion Pass via Flights
For those that fly a lot, it's possible to earn the Companion Pass by taking 100 one-way flights on Southwest. This qualification method is completely separate from earning the required number of points—if you earn the pass through flight segments, it doesn't matter how many points you earn.
According to Southwest:
“A one-way qualifying flight is defined as a one-way revenue trip on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city, including any intermediate stops and/or connections on Southwest Airlines.”
While it's great that you can earn the Companion Pass via flights alone, flying 100 segments in a calendar year isn't practical for most people.
Earn the Southwest Companion Pass via Points
The easier path to the Companion Pass is by earning 125,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. You can earn these points through sign-up bonuses and spending on Southwest co-branded credit cards, which is a much more likely path for many.
But where should someone start to earn this sum of points?
Strategies to Earn 125,000 Southwest Points
Earning 125,000 points can feel like a huge goal to hit. Fortunately, Southwest provides several different methods to earn the required 125,000 points, and you can mix and match the earning strategies that best suit your needs. Here are the most widely used options:
- Spending on cobranded Southwest credit cards
- Flying on Southwest Airlines
- Booking hotel stays and car rentals through Southwest
- Rapid Rewards Shopping
- Rapid Rewards Dining
Southwest Co-Branded Credit Cards
All of the ways listed above can help you incrementally earn points toward the Southwest Companion Pass, but the fastest way is using the co-branded Southwest Chase cards. There are three personal and two business Rapid Rewards cards.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
- Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
- 3,000 anniversary points each year.
- Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases.
- Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
- Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
- All points earned count towards Companion Pass®.
- 2X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases and Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
- 2X points per $1 spent on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming services
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Each of these cards provides an array of benefits tailored to your budget and needs. We think the Southwest Priority Card is the clear winner of the group for providing long-term value for Southwest flyers. Check out our full review of the Southwest Priority Card for more details.
If you decide to make one or more of the co-branded cards part of your Companion Pass strategy, make sure that any bonus points post in the calendar year you intend to qualify. For example, if you sign up for an offer of 40,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first three months, you want to make sure you don't cross the $1,000 spending threshold until you are ready for the full bonus to post to your account.
Flying
Even if you won't reach 100 flight segments, flying with Southwest can help you qualify with points. Southwest awards points for flying based on the type of fare you choose and the amount you spend:
- Wanna Get Away Fares – 6 points per dollar
- Anytime Fares – 10 points per dollar
- Business Select Fares – 12 points per dollar
Given that Southwest pays 6X per dollar on base fare (excluding taxes), you would earn ($486.29 X 6) 2,917 redeemable miles for booking the above flight.
While these points can add up quickly, it's important to remember that travelers only earn Rapid Rewards points when they fly. That means you won't get any closer to your goal with flights booked for family members. Fortunately, the other strategies listed below will work regardless of who is traveling, as long as you attach your Rapid Rewards number to the reservation.
Hotel Stays
Recently, I had a trip to Chicago scheduled, so I decided to check out if there were any opportunities. Searching Southwest Hotels through Booking.com, we find our first possibility.
If you wanted to buy additional points, there are options for that too. For example, it looked like I could pay $76 more to get 15,000 Rapid Rewards points instead of 11,000 points.
Unfortunately, the price you see on the page where you select the hotel and room type doesn't include the taxes. When I clicked through to the page to complete the reservation, the cost jumped from $814 to $942.
Make sure to compare the Southwest Hotels price with other options. The same room shown above could also be booked directly with Marriott for $866, which would save you $76. However, don't forget to factor in the value of the Rapid Rewards points and progress toward the Companion Pass. Rapid Reward points are generally worth 1.3-1.5 cents each. 15,000 extra Rapid Rewards would have a minimum value of $195, and the Companion Pass itself could be invaluable.
Keep in mind that most of the major hotel loyalty programs don't award points or recognize elite status when you book through a third-party site.
Car Rentals
While I personally have found that Autoslash works best for rentals, you might want to search the Southwest Book a Car service. With some agencies offering 4X and others offering 2X plus upfront bonuses, every point helps toward the Companion Pass.
Before you start your search have a look at the Special Offers page to see what deals will work with your trip.
For a quick 3-day trip to Florida, you could earn 1,700-1,800 additional points.
Rapid Rewards Shopping
Being a Southwest Loyalist, you won't want to miss out on these opportunities either. Many of the places you shop online could help pad your balances when clicking through Rapid Rewards® Shopping. You can find many of your favorite retailers with 850+ shopping partners listed. Popular stores include Home Depot, Macy's, Nike, and so many more.
To earn credit for your purchase, just visit the shopping portal page before clicking on the merchant's website. The shopping portal will track the value of your purchase and award points based on the multiplier shown for the merchant. Here's a helpful video explaining the shopping portal.
Rapid Rewards Dining
If you eat out frequently, you may want to investigate the Rapid Rewards Dining® program too. Unlike shopping programs that require clicking through a specific link before your purchase, the dining program is automatic; you'll get credit just by using the credit card you have registered with the dining program to pay your check. This means you'll earn points at restaurants without even thinking about it.
Registering for a dining program has absolutely no impact on the points you normally earn through credit card spending. For example, you can add the American Express® Gold Card which earns 4x Membership Rewards at restaurants. If you pay with this card, you'll earn Amex points like normal, but the dining program will recognize a purchase on the card you registered and award extra Rapid Rewards. Since the Southwest credit cards only earn one point per dollar on dining, it's a good idea to register one of the top cards for restaurant purchases.
The dining program also frequently offers a sign-up bonus for registering for the program and completing at least one dine at a participating restaurant.
It's important to note that the company that runs Rapid Rewards Dining® (Rewards Network) also manages dining programs for many of the other hotel and airline loyalty programs. You can only register a credit card with one dining program at a time.
For example, if you previously registered the Citi Prestige® Card card with Alaska Mileage Plan Dining, registering the same card with Rapid Rewards Dining will remove you from the Alaska program. Here's our post on the other dining program options.
Which Points Do Not Count Towards the Companion Pass
The list of points that do not qualify isn't surprising, but is important to know:
- Purchased points
- Points transferred between members
- Points transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs (such as Marriott Bonvoy)
- Points earned from e-Rewards, Valued Opinions, and Diners Club
- Points earned from Rapid Rewards program enrollment
- Points earned from tier bonus
- Flight bonus points
- Partner bonus points
You should remember what points qualify and work under the assumption that everything else does not. When in doubt, check Southwest.com or run a small test before you commit to a strategy.
Final Thoughts
The Southwest Companion Pass is easily one of the most valuable perks available in award travel, and can potentially save you thousands of dollars on flights while you hold it.
Earning the 125,000 points required for the Companion Pass can appear daunting, but Southwest offers a bunch of different ways to accumulate the points you need to secure the pass for 2022 & 2023.
Plan on getting the Companion Pass in 2022? Let us know in the comments.
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Looks like I missed the companion pass by only about 2300 points. Didn’t realize it until 12/29/22. Wish there was a way to earn a quick 2500 points that would post immediately. Guess you really have to earn all your points by the end of Nov so they will post with the first of Dec statement.
When do you actually get credit for the “spend” or acquisition of the points?
For example, I qualified for companion pass in November in a year that we spent more money that normal on our Southwest Credit Card; which means I am set for 2023 and my focus shifts to what can I do to hit again in 2023 for 2024.
Now that we are in the holiday season and spending money on big ticket items etc. is it smart to hold off on paying the credit card balance until January so that you are awarded the spend/points in the 2023 calendar year on purchases made towards the end of 2022 -OR- do you get credit for those points at the time the card is charged regardless of when its paid?
The points usually count to whichever year the statement closes. So, December 23 purchases will count toward 2023 if those purchases don’t appear on a statement until 2023.
I had earned companion since last August 2021, currently half year is gone and reached companion again until end of 2023; kept a spreadsheet of all companion flights since I had earned companion and to any flight i have booked
To end of 2022, saved over $3000 in airfare on 1 person alone; let me just say, majority of all my flights are booked by points, a couples of island hop to 1 round trip, did paid in revenue…LOVE SOUTHWEST!
That’s awesome! It’s really neat that you’re keeping track of exactly how valuable this perk is to you.
I signed up for the a Southwest Rapid Reward’s Card in June of 2021. I have 110,788 points as of now. Do you know if I will qualify for the 25,000 point boost towards the Companion pass and when those will be given. I am scared that I will not hit the 125,000 points by December. Thank you for your help.
The 25k boost should already be reflected in your account. Note that this isn’t bonus points, rather it’s just Companion Pass-qualifying points. The easiest way to see your progress is to log into your Rapid Rewards account and go here: https://www.southwest.com/loyalty/myaccount/rapid-rewards.html
On 11/10/2020 swa had a companion pass promotion. I flew from Reno to Las Vegas and back the same day to get the pass
We have been members since 2000. Did I do something wrong (pilot error)?
Want to take my wife on a trip somewhere warm.
We need to know why we didn’t get the pass.
Thanks for your help,
Marc van hees
Note: Original comment has been edited to remove personal information.
Hey Mark, you’ll need to contact southwest to get some answers. We wrote about the opportunity, but we don’t have any way to help with how southwest awards the CP for this promo.
Hi! I’m so confused! So, we have traveled a ton this year AND I took a credit card with southwest and I’m showing 75k points towards this companion pass. It’s showing I need 125K. Does this mean the 25K for 2021 you talk about is maybe included in my 75K total? I have recruited several friends and family members to sign up for their cards, and had an email that said I will get 20K points for each referral, so I think I could hit the 125K mark by the EOY. My girlfriend and I are planning a ton of travel into 2022 and beyond, and think this companion pass would be an awesome tool for saving and traveling cheap. My question is, should I try to hit the points before the end of this year and then would have it for the remainder of 21 AND 2022, and then they offer like 80k points for getting a business card, which I would do in January to try to hit it for 2023, does that sound right? I realize the 80K would mean I would still be 40K short in 2022 but think maybe a couple referrals and our points for travel would meet that?
Southwest has launched increased offers on biz and personal cards around mid-October for the past several years. I’d recommend waiting a little longer to see if something good pops up that could help you decide whether to push for 2021 or qualify in 2022.
I’m not 100% sure how Southwest is displaying the 25K “boost” towards companion pass. Based on my (limited) flying this year, and the fact that my account shows around 30,000 towards CP, I’d guess the 25K is already included in the total.
I was wondering if you can tell me how many points I need this year to qualify for a companion pass for 2021?
Members need to collect 100,000 qualifying points in the 2021 calendar year to earn the Companion Pass. Normal qualification is 125,000 points, but Southwest has provided all members with a 25K boost for 2021 qualification.
I hate credit card companies keep changing their rules. It is not fair. As long as they honour the previous rules ti will be fine. But they keep raising the required points to be qualified. As a consumer there is nothing we can do?
So my son finally got the SWA Performance card after a long period of hearing nothing. He applied under the 80k points offer. I got the 80k offer and I’m now shopping for the personal card for SWA to get the other 40k. Happy Days are here again.
I’m really hoping they come out with another credit card promotion that involves receiving the companion pass. My girlfriend and I were able to have the companion pass the last two years via this method and got about $3500 in value out of it. Earning the points required even with sign up bonuses will be hard for us.
wish southwest will expand to europe and israel
I hope the companion pass program sticks around forever. I don’t travel much now, but will in the distant future.
so my daughter got the card in the mail without any explanation for the 70k points after missing out on the 80k by just hours. She was given the message that it’s going to think about it when she applied. My son has not heard yet (he applied when it was 80k) and I’ve been urging him to call the recon line but he has not done that yet.
We have to work, to travel, its an excellent way to work and have quality of life, remarkable!!!
This change seems caused by their Boeing 737 Max news 🙁
Great summary. It’s getting harder and harder to earn rewards these days, but thanks for the tips!
I’m SO Happy that I got the 80k offer. My daughter missed it by a couple of hours. My son is still waiting to hear if he got it (80k) (his was not an instant approval like mine). Now I can finish the CP requirements soon (by early January) by getting the personal card and finishing spend by Jan 1st.
This is really great information on companion passes
This news makes we reconsider if I should go for the companion pass next year. If credit card sign up offers are attractive, I may consider doing so. I’m glad southwest points no longer expire.
The companion pass is still a great deal if you can use it, even at 125,000 points in a year. I have used it in the past and definitely nice to fly your kid for free!
Still worth it for Hawaii, though the AS CP is “easier” to get
Excellent deal for some travellers profiles, not for an always single person, but it’s attractive as loyalty program in this market.
muy buen resumen, gracias por la ayuda
Harder and harder to get rewards these days…
Until the next recession (not that I’m wishing for that!) this trend will continue.
It is the first time I read about the compagnion pass. I find it fascinating. Does it exist in other companies?
Companion pass going up is another example of the inevitable reward points inflation. Still a great deal I think.
Thanks, great review, will forward to a friend who is starting with miles. My first companion pass was used for traveling on long weekend style trips to see relatives with one of my kids. You can change the named companion up to – I think – 3 times each calendar year. So I was able to alternate kids and plan for great one on one time with each.
The second cp we got was used by my spouse to travel with my daughter to tournaments with her travel softball team for two seasons before she was recruited with a college scholarship to play softball.
The Southwest companion pass is really great for family travel.
Thanks for the tips, I will try them out. But it’s frustrating how the airlines keep making harder and harder to get the benefits
Great summary! This really helps!!
It is very interesting and at some point it would be good to write down since the food is very expensive if you pay it every time you fly
Not surprising as simple as it was to get prior with CC signups. Airlines are never going to make it easier to qualify for status – the bar only ever moves in one direction.
Wow!! That was a nail bitter! We applied for the 80,000 RR new SW Biz Card – finally got an approval phone call 16 days later!!
Yay – now we have a shot at SWP for 2020/2021 —HAPPY!!
It’s quite reasonable increase instead of it being gutted.
I don’t know… I never really got into the Companion Pass rat race. There are so many solid deals popping up with traditional miles and points (look at the AA 5-6K miles to New Zealand yesterday, Delta 22K to Zurich, etc.). Southwest has its place, but it isn’t what it once was in my opinion.
Even Southwest isn’t immune to market pressures. Or greed. Take your pick. ?
Jacked moved by Southwest! boo!!!!!
Perhaps, but if we’re being honest, the CP at 110k was pretty low-hanging fruit… and even now, with the SWA cards regularly offering LTOs for 60k sign-up bonuses (or now even 70k for biz card), the 125k hurdle is still well within reach.
So, if you work up points quickly enough, you can reach the needed 110,000 points. After that, or down the road, you need 125,000 points. This is the type of “moving the goalpost” that is so frustrating.
I didn’t have much interest in the companion pass until now, but after reading this post I feel stupid for missing out on it for such a long time…
I guess they timed it perfectly, as I just may not be able to get it with the new requirements.
Another devaluation in the miles/points game. It does not surprise me anymore!
I think it was only a matter of time before they raised the points required.
Wow, Great summary! This really helps!!
The companion pass is awesome. This our second round of having it. What I am trying to figure out is the best way to stack booking flights. Is there any better option than going through the Chase portal to Southwest then using the CSP for 2x on travel charges?
Booking a paid Southwest ticket through the Chase travel portal (and redeeming points instead of cash to pay) is usually only a good deal if you have the CSR card to get 1.5 cents per point. If you have the CSP, you’ll get more value transferring Ultimate Rewards to Southwest and booking an award ticket. The advantage here is also that you can cancel for free up to the day of departure. That said, if you also might use your Chase points for a longhaul flight in the future, it might be best to just buy the Southwest ticket (by paying money) and save the Ultimate Rewards for a ticket that would be more expensive to buy.
Sad to see them raising the requirements, I guess they had too many and this was the easy way to reduce the number of people with companion passes.
Hard to know the reason. No doubt the programs are always watching each other, since it’s most certainly a competition for customers. And, if everyone else is reducing benefits, there’s no need for you to maintain higher benefits.
Yes, I actually noticed Wyndham award rate hike!
I hear you. Southwest seems to be liked by lots of people. I know it’s shocking but I haven’t flown them yet. They have been constantly higher with price where I have wanted to go. I know sometime I would like to fly them. I won’t be trying for their pass until I see if I like them.
I can see why people would like their pass since you can use it more than once. I was surprised to see the increase and I am not even trying for the pass.
Ive never been particularly impressed with Southwest. I am based in BOS and generally prefer Delta & Jetblue over SW. I have the CP until end of 2020 so need to use it as I still haven’t had a chance to yet.
Unfortunately, this is the name of the game in the loyalty industry at the moment. You can’t rely on anything so best to earn and burn IMO.
The companion pass works very well for the person that has a dedicated companion to fly with on Southwest Airlines destinations, but maybe not so valuable for a single person without a dedicated travel partner.
More honorable? I don’t know about that… SWA devalues their points the same as others. The only difference is, perhaps, that SWA usually gives notice of changes.
Southwest squeezing the bottom line…
What makes this most attractive to me is how another big name keeps moving the goal post. I keep trying to book a flight and they keep upping the points required. Maybe Southwest is more honourable.
We keep spending while the companies keep increasing the threshold. Brilliant. This is life 🙂
This is certainly an excellent deal for those who like to travel coach and have a consistent travel companion. For those of us who travel with various people and aspire to premium cabins, the companion pass not a particularly useful benefit.