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Ready to earn the Southwest Companion Pass for buy-one-get-one flights through the end of 2027?
The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best deals for domestic and regional travel. Once you earn this perk, your chosen companion can travel with you on any Southwest flight — both paid and award flights — for the year in which you earn the pass, plus the next full calendar year. You only have to pay the taxes and fees associated with the flight, generally just $5.60 each way. This makes the Companion Pass as close as it gets to an unlimited buy-one-get-one-free offer!
Today, we cover an easy strategy to earn a Southwest Companion Pass for up to two years by signing up for one or more co-branded Southwest credit cards.
Page Contents
Earning the Southwest Companion Pass
Before you can maximize the Southwest Companion Pass, you have to earn it. So, let's go over exactly how to do that.
- You can earn a Companion Pass one of two ways:
- Earning 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year or
- Flying 100 segments on Southwest in a calendar year.
- Points earned from Southwest credit card sign-up bonuses currently count towards qualification.
- The Companion Pass is valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which it is earned plus the entire following calendar year.
Using the Southwest Companion Pass
- You can add a companion to both award flights (booked with Southwest Rapid Rewards points) and revenue flights (booked with your Southwest credit card or other “cash” payment method).
- Payment of taxes and fees is still required on a companion ticket (taxes start at $5.60 in each direction).
- You can only have one companion at a time.
- Change your designated companion up to three times per year, and even change your Southwest companion online!
- Your designed companion can't travel using the Companion Pass if the Companion Pass holder isn't also traveling.
Read More: How To Select Your Companion and Use Your Southwest Companion Pass
Leverage Southwest Credit Card Offers to Earn a Companion Pass
The easiest way to earn points toward the Southwest Companion Pass is to leverage credit card sign-up bonuses. Chase periodically offers higher Southwest credit card sign-up bonus offers in the lead-up to Companion Pass season.
Earning a sign-up bonus through one or more co-branded Southwest cards makes it much easier to earn the Companion Pass than trying to fly the required segments or earning points on spending alone.
Personal Southwest credit cards
Southwest offers three personal credit card options. However, you can only have one Southwest personal card at a time. You will not be approved for another card if you already have a Southwest personal credit card. You'll need to close your current card before applying for another.
This restriction means you won't be able to accumulate the entire 135,000 points required for the Companion Pass solely by getting two personal credit cards. However, scoring a sign-up bonus on a personal Southwest credit card will help you toward that goal.
If you're looking to add a Southwest personal card to your wallet, we recommend the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card (Rates & Fees), thanks to a ton of ongoing benefits that are far more valuable than the $99 annual fee. See our Southwest Plus Card review for all the details.
- 2X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2 points for every $1 you spend at gas stations and grocery stores on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on all Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 4X points per $1 spent on all Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Southwest business credit cards
Southwest currently offers two small business credit card options. Unlike the personal Southwest cards, you can have both Southwest business cards. However, you can’t have more than one account with either card — even if it is for a different business. If you have one of these cards already, you'll want to sign up for the other card.
- 4X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants
- 2X points per $1 on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel
- 2X points per $1 spent on rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per year
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Timing how you earn the Southwest Companion Pass
Before you take action on this strategy, one aspect is critical to understand: Your progress towards the Companion Pass resets to zero on January 1st, 2026. Thus, you'll want to wait to earn as many points in 2026 as possible if you want to earn the Southwest Companion Pass through 2027.
The welcome bonuses on the Southwest cards will post to your Rapid Rewards account when you hit the minimum spending requirement on the card and then your credit card statement closes. For example, if you hit the minimum spending requirement on December 10 this year and your statement closes on December 20, the bonus will count toward earning a Southwest Companion Pass in 2025.
However, if you hit the minimum spending requirement in January 2026, you give yourself a much better shot at enjoying the Southwest Companion Pass through the end of 2027. So, the strategy is to sign up for a personal Southwest credit card now, nearly meet (but don't exceed) the minimum spending requirement, but wait until after January 1, 2026, to finish the spending requirement.
This way, the 50,000 bonus points (via the currently available welcome offers) you earn from your Southwest personal credit card will count for 2026. Plus, this is around the time you'll earn the 10,000 bonus Companion Pass-eligible points for being a cardholder. That's 60,000 points that qualify for the Companion Pass — on top of your earnings from spending on the card.
Then, you can earn the remaining points by flying, spending on co-branded Southwest credit cards, applying for a Southwest business card, and so on. But we'll caveat that there's a much quicker path to nearly two full years of the Companion Pass, and it only requires applying for one card.
Expedite your path to the Companion Pass with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
Prefer the quickest and simplest way to the Companion Pass? You can nearly get over the 135,000-point threshold by applying for a Southwest business card. Given the current 120,000-point bonus on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), you could potentially earn your Companion Pass through this business card alone.
How exactly? After meeting the minimum spending requirement, you'll earn 120,000 bonus points. And you'll earn at least 10,000 bonus points from the money you spend on the card to earn that bonus. That leaves just 5,000 Companion Pass-qualifying points to come up with, and as we've hit on, there are lots of ways to accomplish this.
But just make sure to wait at least until January 1, 2026, to finish your spending to earn the card's welcome bonus, as this is key in extending your Companion Pass for as long as possible.
- Earn 120,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 9,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary.
- Earn 4X pts on Southwest® purchases.
- Earn 2 points for every $1 you spend at gas stations and restaurants
- Earn 2X points on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel
- Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- First checked bag free for Cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation.
- Cardmembers and up to 8 passengers in the same reservation will board with Group 5 giving them earlier access to overhead bins.*
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 4X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants
- 2X points per $1 on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel
- 2X points per $1 spent on rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
If you apply for both cards sooner rather than later and follow this strategy, you'll earn a Companion Pass valid through 2027 very early in 2026. That's about as good as it gets.
If you're afraid you can't get a business credit card, you'll need to earn the remaining points through flying, spending, or other Companion Pass-eligible earning methods.
Related: Why Southwest Rapid Rewards Is the Easiest Airline Loyalty Program
Our Take
The Companion Pass is an amazing benefit for couples and families. By earning 135,000 Companion Pass points in a calendar year, you'll unlock a Companion Pass for the remainder of the year plus the entire year that follows.
If you're close to earning the Companion Pass for 2025, getting a Southwest credit card and meeting the spending requirement by year-end can help you surpass the goal. However, that will only get you the Companion Pass through December 31, 2026.
The better plan is to apply now and start working toward the spending requirement but wait until after January 1, 2026 to finish the spending requirement. By earning the bonus in January, you'll start 2026 with at least 60k Companion Pass eligible points. Then, you can get a small business card or earn the remaining points through other methods to unlock the Companion Pass through December 31, 2027!
Either way, late autumn is the best time to apply for Southwest credit cards, as it gives you the option of either finishing your earnings for 2025 or getting a jump start for 2026.
- Earn 120,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 9,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary.
- Earn 4X pts on Southwest® purchases.
- Earn 2 points for every $1 you spend at gas stations and restaurants
- Earn 2X points on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel
- Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- First checked bag free for Cardmembers and up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation.
- Cardmembers and up to 8 passengers in the same reservation will board with Group 5 giving them earlier access to overhead bins.*
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 4X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants
- 2X points per $1 on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel
- 2X points per $1 spent on rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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