Get 2 for 1 Travel with the Southwest Airline Companion Pass

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The Southwest Companion pass can be an incredible deal. It lets you and a companion fly for the price of one, whenever you travel together on Southwest Airlines. It can be used an unlimited number of times, on both paid and award travel, for up to two 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, you should try to get the Southwest Companion Pass. The easiest way to get the Pass, plus around $3,200 of free Southwest Airline tickets, is by signing up for two separate Southwest Airline credit cards.

Using the pass is easy. Every time you buy a ticket or book one with points, your companion gets a ticket for only the cost of the fees and taxes (typically $5.60 per segment). With the price of flying cut in half, many couples find themselves jetting around the country much more than they would otherwise.

While most Southwest flights are domestic, Southwest has 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 Rica, Montego Bay, Nassau, Puerto Vallarta, and Punto Cana, as well as to locations all over the United States.

This strategy isn't for everyone. If you mostly fly internationally, only fly a couple of times per year, aren't well served by Southwest Airlines, don't have a frequent travelling companion, don't like Southwest, or otherwise aren't going to have the opportunity to take a few Southwest Airlines flights per year, it isn't worth the effort to qualify for the pass. But, if you and a companion have an opportunity to take several Southwest flights per year, getting the pass is one of the most valuable things you can do to get more for your travel dollar.

The easiest way to qualify for a pass is by signing up for two Southwest Airlines credit cards

It is very hard to earn the Companion Pass the “normal” way. It would require flying 100(!) qualifying one-way flight segments, or purchasing enough Southwest flights to earn 110,000 base points (during a single calendar year). Points you earn from spending with a Southwest credit card also count, but depending on the number of additional points you need, it can be very difficult to spend your way to 110,000 points.

For many people, the only realistic way to qualify for the pass is by collecting the sign up bonus for at least one Southwest Airline credit card.

• The easiest way to qualify for the pass is to sign up for both Southwest Airlines business cards. When you are done spending the total of $8,000 to qualify for the signup bonuses, you'll have earned at least 148,000 Southwest Airlines points, way more than enough to qualify for the pass. You could also sign up for one of the business cards and one of the personal cards. If there is a 60,000 point promotional offer, the Priority card is probably a better option than the Premier Business card.
• The good news is that even the smallest business entitles you to apply for a business credit card. You don’t need to be incorporated, you don’t even need to have earned any money yet. If you have some sort of business—consulting, selling stuff through eBay, working on your novel, etc.—you can qualify for a business credit card. If you don't have an EIN, just use your personal social security number on your application and fill in your business revenue (even if its zero). Unlock Extra Reward Points with Business Credit Cards.
• If you aren't willing and able to get business cards, collecting a Southwest credit card signup bonus can give you a big head start, but you'll still need to earn the rest of the points in some other way. Chase limits you to a single signup bonus from a Southwest personal card every 2 years. The only way to collect two signup bonuses during the same time period is to get at least one business card. Signing up for a single card will get you about half-way to the goal, but you'll need to earn the other half through flying, credit card spending, online shopping, or hotel bonuses (see below).
• If you go with a personal card, we recommend choosing the "Priority" version. It gives you 7,500 anniversary points each year, a 20% discount on inflight purchases, and four free upgraded boarding groups each year. It has a $149 annual fee, but you'll receive a credit for the first $75 of Southwest purchases each year, which drops the effective annual fee to $74. For anyone earning the Companion Pass, the Priority version is a better option than the "Plus" or "Premier" version.



Southwest Credit Card Guide

Other Ways to Earn the Points You Need

If you are not willing and able to get the business card, there are some other ways to earn the extra points you need. These methods reduce the number of additional points you need to earn through flying and credit card spending. Just be aware that any special promotional points you earn, beyond the regular points offered for these activities, usually doesn't count.

• You can earn extra points for many online purchases, by using the Rewards shopping portal. Visit this site first, click on the store you want to want to shop at, and shop like you normally would. You'll earn extra Southwest points with every purchase, plus whatever you earn from your credit card. Promotional reward rates DO count towards the pass.

• You can earn 10,000 points for each person you can get to sign up for the Southwest card (up to 50,000 points per calendar year). To earn these points, you need to go to Chase's Refer a Friend website], invite your friend, and they have to apply by clicking your "referral link".
• You can earn thousands of points every time you make a hotel reservation. You'll need to book through Rocketmiles.com or SouthwestHotels.com. Rocketmiles tends to have a lot more options, but SouthwestHotels.com sometimes has some higher bonuses. It is worthwhile to check them both. Prices are competitive with other online booking sites, but can be higher than a discounted rate you can get from the hotel or through some other site, so make sure you aren't overpaying for your points.

• You can earn points when you dine at many restaurants through the Rapid Rewards dining program. Just register your card, and whenever you eat at a participating restaurant you'll earn extra Southwest points.

Unfortunately, points you transfer to Southwest from other programs (such as your Ultimate Rewards account) don't count. Check out this page for more details on what does and doesn't count.

You don't have to spend your points to get the pass—You get to spend them on 2-for-1 travel instead

While you need to earn 110,000 points (in a year) to qualify for the pass, you don't need to actually spend any of your points to get it. As long as you accumulate enough points, the pass itself is free.

That means that you get to spend the points for free airplane tickets instead. 110,000 points is worth around $1,600 of "Wanna Get Away" fares (without needing to worry about award availability). The value per point is basically fixed, but because of the way taxes are handled, you'll get slightly more value from less expensive flights, and slightly less value from more expensive flights.

If you wait to spend your points until you've earned your pass, your companion will get a free ticket for every one that you get with your points. 110,000 points will be worth a total of around $3,200 in free tickets.

For example, a $150 Southwest flight normally requires around 10,000 points. But, with the companion pass, you'll get two tickets for the same cost. With 110,000 points, you could purchase at least 10 of these tickets for yourself, and get 10 more for your companion.

Timing your credit card applications to maximize your Companion Pass

You'll need to plan carefully if you want to have nearly continuous access to a Southwest Companion Pass, rather than just getting one as a one-time event.

• If you qualify towards the beginning of the year, your companion pass will be valid 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. With ideal timing, you would apply for your credits cards in mid-December, start spending on January 1st, and qualify during the first couple months of the year.

If 50,000 or 60,000 point bonuses are available on the personal cards, or you have other ways to earn some additional points, you can sign up for the cards in October or November, get most (but not all!) of the initial spending done before the end of the year, and then finish the required spending to earn the bonuses very early in the following year. By getting most of your spending done in the prior year, you'll receive the bonus points earlier in the year, but the money you spent before the end of the year won't count towards your points total.

• If it is already later in the year, you might want to wait until next year to qualify. Set a calendar reminder for December, to remind yourself when it is time to sign up.
• Because Chase lets you earn signup bonuses every 24 months, you can repeat the process around every two years. You can cancel the card at the end of your first or second year. Once 24 months have passed since you got the card, you are entitled to reapply and earn the signup bonus again. With the right timing, the pass can last for almost two years, and there may only be a short gap between the expiration of your first pass and the qualification for your next one.

Re-qualifying for the Companion Pass while signing up for lots of other credit cards

If you've received 5 new credit cards in the last 24 months, Chase won't approve you for either a personal or the business version of the Southwest Airline credit card, regardless of your credit rating or income. This is often called the Chase 5/24 rule.

If you want the Companion Pass, and you've already gotten a few new credit cards in the past two years, you need to prioritize getting the Southwest Airline cards before you hit this limit. You may need to postpone getting the Sapphire Reserve, Freedom Unlimited, or other credit cards, until after you've signed up for the Southwest Airlines card. If you are going to utilize business cards, get the business versions first, and choose the Ink Unlimited card instead of the Freedom Unlimited card, as none of these card will count against the 5 card limit (Note that even though they don't count against the limit, you won't be able to get them once you are over the limit via other cards).

If you want to re-qualify for the pass via signup bonuses, one person will need to stay under the 5 card limit. When you hit your 24 month anniversary, you'll need to have only had 4 new non-business cards since you got your Southwest cards. You will then be able to sign up for your new cards.

Additional 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 to your reservation afterwards.
• If you frequently fly as part of a family, two adults can each qualify for a companion pass, allowing 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 each calendar year.  If you are taking a trip with someone other than your normal companion, you can adjust your pass 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, until after the earlier trip is completed.

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