Get 2 for 1 Travel with the Southwest Airline Companion Pass

Airfare Booking Strategies, Credit Card Reference

The Southwest Companion pass lets a couple travel for half-price, whenever they fly on Southwest—on both paid and award travel. It can be used every time you fly on Southwest, for up to 2 years.

If you are part of a couple or family, do much of your travelling in the North America, and live in a city well served by Southwest Airline, the Southwest Companion Pass is probably the best travel deal out there. Signing up for 2 different Southwest Airline credit cards unlocks the Companion Pass, plus around $3,200 of free travel on Southwest Airlines.

While most Southwest flights are domestic, they have been expanding internationally and are about to expand to Hawaii. With the companion pass, two people can fly, for the price of one, to Aruba, Belize, Cabo, Cancun, Liberia and San Jose in Costa Rico, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Nassau, Puerto Vallarta, and Punto Cana, as well as all over the United States.

For most people, signing up for credit cards, just to receive travel benefits, good reward earning rates, or lucrative signup bonuses, isn't an irresponsible thing to do. It won't kill your credit rating—it just might improve it. But, if you have a problem with credit, or you aren't organized enough to avoid unwanted credit card fees, you'll need to stick to our other strategies for discounted travel. For more information, see our Credit Cards 101 guide.

The “normal” way to earn a Companion Pass is by taking 100!!! qualifying one-way flights, or earning 110,000 points, in a calendar year. You’d have to fly on Southwest a lot, to earn one strictly by flying. Points you earn from spending with a Southwest credit card count, but most people don’t have an extra $110,000 to spend on their credit card.

For many people, the only realistic way to qualify for the pass, is by signing up for both a business and personal version of the Chase Southwest Airlines cards.

Signing up for two cards will get you most, or all the way, towards qualifying for a pass. The signup bonuses are typically 40-60,000 points. By the time you are finished with the initial spending requirement on two cards, you will have nearly (or more than) enough points to earn your pass. You can earn any additional points you need, with additional credit card spending, flights, or with points earned via certain partners.
To take advantage of two signup bonuses, you must apply for at least one business card. You can only qualify for the signup bonus for one of the personal versions of the Southwest card every two years. If you want to combine the signup bonuses from two cards, you'll need to apply for at least one business card.

The good news is that even the smallest business qualifies you to apply for the business version of the cards. You don’t have to be incorporated, you don’t even have to have earned any money yet. If you have some sort of business—consulting, selling stuff through eBay, etc.—you can qualify for a business credit card. Unlock Extra Reward Points with Business Credit Cards.

Southwest Credit Card Guide

If you qualify at the beginning of the year, you can earn a companion pass for almost two years. When you qualify for the companion pass, it is valid for the remainder of the year that you qualify, and the entire following year.
Because Chase lets you earn signup bonuses every 24 months, you can have nearly continuous access to a Companion Pass, by signing up for two cards, every two years. If you qualify towards the beginning of the year, you will be eligible to get the signup bonuses again, shortly after your pass expires at the end of the following year. If you are entitled to business cards, you can time things, so that you have completely continuous access.
While reaching 110,000 points in a year will get you the pass, it doesn't actually cost any points to get the pass—you can use them to book lots of free travel instead. Once you are finished acquiring the pass, you’ll have enough points for more than $3,200 worth of free airfare. Since Southwest airline points are worth about 1.3 - 1.8 cents each, you can use your 110,000 points for about $1,600 worth of tickets. And because you have the pass, you’ll get $1,600 worth of companion tickets as well.
Unfortunately, the Chase 5/24 rule limits your ability to take advantage of this strategy, while also signing-up for other credit cards. If re-qualifying for a Companion Pass is important to you, you are limited to a maximum of three other new credit cards every two years. The simplest approach is probably to have one adult keep under this limit, while the other adult freely applies for any desired credit cards.

Other Points that Count Towards the Pass

There are other ways to earn points that count towards Companion Pass qualification, besides the normal route of flights, credit card signup bonuses, and credit card spending.

Any points you earn from purchases through the Southwest shopping portal count, as do points earned from the Southwest Dining program, and with websites (like RocketMiles) that give you Southwest points for making hotel bookings. However, with any of these "partner" programs, only the base-level points count. Any special sign-up or bonus points don't count. For example, if RocketMiles has a base rate of 2,000 Southwest points for your hotel reservation, but is offering a promotional rate of 10,000 points for a particular hotel, only the first 2,000 points will count towards qualifying for the pass.

Referral bonuses you get for referring friends to the Southwest credit card count. You can earn 5,000 points per referral, and a maximum of 10,000 referrals during the year.

Keep in mind that points that you transfer in from other programs, such as Ultimate Rewards, do not count.

Tips for using the Southwest Companion Pass

If you fly for work, you can book your ticket through a corporate travel portal, and then add your companion, after the fact.
If you frequently fly as part of a family, two adults can each qualify for a companion pass, to allow up to 4 people to fly for the price of 2.
When you get the pass, you must designate a companion. You can then change your companion up to three times, before the pass expires. If you are taking a trip with someone other than your normal companion, you can switch to have them fly for free, and then switch back to your normal companion.
You don’t have to get your companion’s ticket at the same time that you purchased your original ticket—you can call to add them later. So, if you have already booked an upcoming trip with your current companion, you can lock in your price for a new trip with a different companion, and then wait to switch the person on your pass, untill after the earlier trip is completed.