The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by Vacation Pointers. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Southwest Companion Pass Promotion 2026
Want to hear something pretty hard to believe? In the last 8 years our family has not paid for one single plane ticket. Now that would be easy if we hadn’t traveled anywhere, but not the case! In just the last 7 years we have flown to Costa Rica twice, the Dominican Republic, Cancun, Chicago, Charleston, California, Puerto Rico and Florida countless times. And for each of those flights our only cost was the taxes for each ticket. What’s our secret? It’s the Southwest Companion Pass promotion!
Part of our free flying is thanks to the Southwest Companion Pass trick. Despite all of the changes made to the loyalty program this year, Southwest is still our favorite airline for families for a lot of reasons. But the biggest reason is the Southwest Companion pass that makes it possible for our family of 5 to only have to buy 3 plane tickets when we travel. So if you want to know how to take advantage of the Southwest Companion Pass promotion or how to use the Southwest Companion Pass, you’re in the right place! In this post I’ll cover how to get the Southwest companion pass, how to use it, and how to keep it!
Southwest Companion Pass Offer
What is the Southwest Companion Pass?
The Southwest Companion Pass is essentially an unlimited Buy One Get One Free plane ticket for flights booked with Southwest Airlines. Anyone who earns this perk can book a flight (paid for with either cash or points) and then add a companion who flies with them on the same flight for the price of taxes, which for domestic flights is $5.60 each way.
How to get the Southwest Companion Pass
To earn the companion pass you’ll either need to fly 100 qualifying one way flights or earn 135,000 tier qualifying points in the same calendar year. Now unless you fly A LOT, it would be really difficult to earn it via actual flying.
However, the 135,000 points can be earned a few different ways. They can be earned through reward miles from flights you paid for in cash (not miles), through credit card sign up bonuses, through credit card referral bonuses (referring friends and family to their own cards) or points earned through Rapid Reward partners.
So which way do we earn it? You probably guessed it…
Credit Cards!
So which credit cards do I need to get the Southwest Companion pass?
As I mentioned above, to earn the Companion Pass you’ll need to earn 135,000 points in the same calendar year. That high number is easily achieved by combining the sign up bonuses from 2 Southwest Credit Cards. It can be a combination of one personal Southwest credit card and one business Southwest credit card OR 2 Southwest business cards.
You can have more than one Southwest business card at a time, but you can only hold one Southwest personal card at a time. Southwest will also give you an honorary 10,000 points toward the companion pass just for having a Southwest credit card bringing the total amount of points needed down to 125,000.
Now, which 2 Southwest cards you decide to apply for is up to you! If you decide to go with the personal and business card route, you can apply for the cards in any order, but with the current 100,000 point promotional offer on the personal cards that expires on September 17, 2025, I am recommending to start with one of those cards (see the infographic below).
If you are applying after the current promotional offer on the personal cards (after September 17, 2025), I would start with a business card because it won’t count toward Chase’s 5/24 rule, but you do need to be under 5/24 in order to qualify… which is another good reason to apply for this card first.
Southwest Credit Card Changes
Southwest made some pretty significant changes to their credit cards this year, and with the introduction of assigned seating and charging for baggage, it’s more important than ever to hold a Southwest credit card.
Perks available to ALL Southwest Credit Card Holders
- First checked bag for free along with up to 8 additional passengers in the same reservation
- Group 5 boarding for your entire party
- No foreign transaction fees
- 25% back on in-flight purchases
- 10,000 boost of Companion Pass qualifying points each year
Southwest Business Cards
How to access these offers: To access business card offers on a desktop, click on the images above and then choose the correct business card from the banner across the top of the page. On a mobile device, click on the images above and then click on the 3 lines in the top right corner of the screen, then choose the business card you’d like to apply for from the list.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card has a $149 annual fee and a welcome bonus. See the card link for the current welcome offer.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card has a $299 annual fee and a welcome bonus. See the card link for the current welcome offer.
All information about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card has been collected independently by Vacation Pointers. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Perks Unique to Each Particular Business Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
- Standard or Preferred seat selection within 48 hours prior to departure when available
- 15% off promo code each year
- 6000 anniversary points
- 3x earned on Southwest purchases
- 2X at Grocery stores and Restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per year
Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
- Complimentary Preferred seat at booking: Select a preferred seat for no charge at the time of booking.
- Upgrade to Extra Legroom seat within 48 hours prior to departure when available.
- 9,000 bonus points on each cardholder anniversary
- 4x earned on Southwest purchases
- 2X at Gas stations and 2X at Restaurants
- Earn 2 points per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when booked directly with the hotel
- Earn 2 points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
- Up to $120 credit towards Global Entry or TSA precheck every 4 years
Southwest Personal Credit Cards
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card has a $99 annual fee and a welcome bonus. See the card link for the current welcome offer.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card has a $149 annual fee and a welcome bonus. See the card link for the current welcome offer.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card has a $229 annual fee and a welcome bonus. See the card link for the current welcome offer.
Perks Unique to Each Particular Personal Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
- 3,000 bonus points on each cardholder anniversary
- 10% off promo code each year
- 2x earned on Southwest purchases
- 2X at Gas stations and Grocery stores on the first $5,000 in combined purchases per year
- Standard seat selection within 48 hours prior to departure when available
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- 6,000 bonus points on each cardholder anniversary
- 15% off promo code each year
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 3x earned on Southwest purchases
- 2X at Grocery stores and Restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per year
- Standard or Preferred seat selection within 48 hours prior to departure when available
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
- 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available
- $75 Southwest® travel credit each year
- 20% back on inflight drinks and WiFi
- 7,500 bonus points on each cardholder anniversary
- 4x earned on Southwest purchases
- 2X at Gas stations and 2X at Restaurants
- Preferred Seat selection at booking when available
- Standard or Preferred seat selection within 48 hours prior to departure when available
- Upgrade to Extra Legroom seat within 48 hours prior to departure when available
All information about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card has been collected independently by Vacation Pointers. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Strategy Using the 100,000 point personal card offer (expired 9/17/25)
Typically, the best time to apply for these cards is late October through mid November. The reason being that if you time it right and your welcome bonuses don’t credit to your account until early in a calendar year, then you will have the Companion Pass for almost 2 full years. Southwest will award you with a companion pass for the remainder of the year in which year earn 135,000 points plus the entire following year.
HOWEVER, with the 100,000 point welcome offers on the Southwest personal credit cards (now expired) I am recommending that you start with a personal card before the offer expires on September 17, 2025. See the graphic below for my current recommended strategy (assuming it has been more than 2 years since you last earned a Southwest personal card bonus).
So because you want your sign up bonus to credit in the following year, it’s really important to not meet your minimum spend on any card until January at the earliest. If you earn 100,000 points in December and 60,000 points in January, those 100,000 points will NOT count towards your companion pass. And that would just be sad. Like, really really sad.
So theoretically you could apply for the business card in late October and begin working towards your minimum spend and stop using it when you get close. Then apply for a personal card in November and stop using it when you get close to that minimum spend. THEN when January comes around finish up the rest of your spending on both cards so that your bonuses hit at the end of your next statement period.
So if you get a personal card that earns 50,000 points and a business card that earns 80,000 points (the one with the $299 annual fee) and then add in the points you will earn just from spending the minimum spend, you should have at least 137,000 points!!
** It’s important to note that you do not need to “cash in” those points for the companion pass. You earn the companion pass AND you get to keep those points you’ve earned to book flights!!
How to Earn 2 Companion Passes with 3 Credit Cards
Below is a plan for 2 people who want to earn 2 companion passes by opening just 3 credit cards. The point values listed below are typical offers we see on these particular cards but could always change. Be sure to check my referral page for the current offer and feel free to reach out on Instagram if you have any questions about your particular situation.
- In mid December (no earlier), Player 1 opens a Southwest Business Performance Card for 80,000 points but does not finish the minimum spend until January.
- Anytime after that (depending on how quickly you can finish the minimum spends), Player 1 refers Player 2 to a Southwest Business card for 80,000 points. Player 1 will receive 20,000 referral points.
- Then Player 1 refers Player 2 to a Southwest Personal card for 50,000 points. Player 1 will receive another 20,000 referral points.
- Both Player 1 and Player 2 need to WAIT to finish their minimum spend requirements until January.
If all goes according to plan, Player 1 should have a total of 125,000 points (80k from business card bonus + 5k from spending + 40k for referrals) and Player 2 should have 136,000 points (80k from business card bonus + 50k from personal card bonus + 6k from spending) and you should end up with 2 companion passes for your family with 3 sign up bonuses!
Because Player 1 is depending on the points earned from meeting the minimum spend on the Performance Business card, you’ll want to make sure you don’t open this card until mid December when you’re sure that your statement will close in January. This will ensure that those extra 5000 points hit your Southwest account in the year you need them too.
2 Companion Passes with 3 Credit Cards Using 100K offer
For anyone wanting to take advantage of the 100,000 points promotional offer that expires on personal Southwest credit cards on September 17, 2025, follow the timeline in the infographic below. It’s very similar to the method described above but will result in more points and requires Player 1 opening the first card before September 17.
How to use the Southwest Companion Pass
How do I add my companion on Southwest?
To designate your companion just log into your Rapid Rewards account on Southwest.com and click on My Account at the top of your screen. If you are eligible for the companion pass you should see a section in your profile that says “Choose Your Companion.”
How to book a companion pass fare
This part is super easy. Once the person who has earned the companion pass has booked their own flight, just go to your account page and then look under “My upcoming trips.” On the bottom right hand corner of this box, you will see “Add Companion.”
Then all you have to do is follow the prompts, pay the taxes for your companion’s flight, and you’re all set!
Does the Southwest Companion Pass work with points?
Yes! This is the beauty of having a companion pass. Not only are you earning all of those points in the process of qualifying, but you get to keep those points to book your flights. Then once you have your reward trip booked you can name a companion. Your hard earned points go twice as far!!
Especially when you can find a super cheap flight like we did a few years ago to Costa Rica. When flights first opened back up in early 2021, there were some amazing deals to be found. We were able to book direct fights to Liberia, Costa Rica for just 3,901 points each way plus tax. That low price coupled with our companion pass made for an EPIC deal.
How much are Southwest points worth?
Earlier this year Southwest made some considerable changes to the value of their points. While they were at one time tied to the current cash price of a flight, they are now variable and can fluctuate based on factors like the specific route, time of booking, and demand.
On average Southwest points are now valued at 1.3 cents per point. Having a Companion Pass can significantly increase the value of your points when booking a second “free” flight. So for someone who plans to utilize a companion pass, those points are worth quite a bit more.
Southwest Companion Pass Extension
So after spending all of that time and effort earning it, you may be wondering how to keep the Southwest Companion Pass. As I mentioned earlier, your companion pass is valid for the remainder of the year in which you earned it, plus the entire following year.
Technically you can extend the length of your companion pass by meeting the criteria we went over above (lots of flights, lots of spending on Southwest cards, etc.). But the easiest way to keep your companion pass is by repeating this process over again in 2 years.
The current fine print allows for customers to receive the signup bonuses from Southwest credit cards every 24 months. So if you want to do this, be sure to check your statements to see when you received the sign up bonus and confirm that 24 months have passed. Theoretically, if you planned on repeating this process every 2 years you would be pushing back your welcome bonus eligibility by several weeks to months each time so it won’t be exactly every 2 years in between earning a new companion pass.
You also need to make sure that your credit card has been closed before applying for a new card. If you are interested in earning the bonus again on a particular card, just be sure to close it at least 2 weeks before you apply.
Does a Southwest Companion have to be the same person every time?
The quick answer is NO. Southwest allows you to change your companion 3 times in a calendar year. So if you plan an anniversary trip with your husband in the spring but then want to go visit family with one of your children, you are allowed to change your companion for that trip. In our family we try to be strategic as to when we schedule trips so that we can get the most value out of our companion pass throughout the year.
How to change a Southwest Companion
Good news! Southwest now allows you to change your companion online! To change your companion you’ll have to log into your Rapid Rewards account online. You’ll see this box on the right side of the screen with a button that reads “Change Companion.” In our experience the changes have always been instant.
Conclusion
Well, that should cover it! This Southwest Companion Pass trick has literally saved us thousands of dollars and allowed us to fly with our whole family several times a year. Earning it does take a little bit of strategy and organization, but I can attest that the benefits are beyond worth your time!
If you still have questions please leave them in the comments. Or for a complete list of companion pass rules and regulations you can visit Southwest’s website.
More on Our Family’s Free Travels
- Hyatt Andaz Costa Rica Review
- Costa Rica with Kids: A 10 Day Itinerary
- Points and Miles for Beginners: How to Take Your Family on Vacation for Free
- 5 Reasons Travel with Young Kids is Worth the Headache
- How to Survive Airport Security With Kids
- Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana Review
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6 Responses
New follower here!!
So you mentioned in this blog that “ You also need to make sure that your credit card has been closed. It does not matter how long the card has been closed, just that it is not currently active when you apply.”
My question with this is, if you close the credit card, don’t your points disappear?
I got the southwest rapid reward plus card maybe about 3 years ago. You’re saying I’d have to close that personal credit card and reapply to get the sign up bonus again. If I do that, wont that erase the history of having that cc and hurt my credit score?
Could I upgrade my card to the Personal SW premier CC instead of cancelling?
I have just always heard that you don’t want to cancel credit cards, just downgrade to the $0 annual fee card and keep the balance at zero.
Also, do you have to have a business to apply for the business cc? Or could you do a personal cc in November wait 90day and apply for the next level up personal cc?
Hi! Once your points are credited to your Southwest Rewards account they are no longer connected to your credit card. So if you close the credit card your points will be safe and sound! Normally you would want to downgrade a card if possible, but since there are no “no annual fee” Southwest credit cards and you cannot have more than one personal Southwest Credit card, your only option is to close the card and reapply. Hope that answers your questions!
I noticed above that Brittney asked if you have to have a business to apply for the business credit card? – I was wondering the same thing
You don’t need a business in the sense that you might think. To qualify for a business card you really just need some kind of side hustle that makes a little extra income. When I opened my first business credit card my business was reselling my kids toys on facebook marketplace. So the good news is, if you think you don’t qualify, you probably do!
Can I get the companion pass once I earn the points through the business credit Card? Or do I have to get a personal credit card as well?
Most people will need both card bonuses in order to earn enough the 125,000 points required in a calendar year. But you can also do it with 2 business cards, or 1 business card and 2 referral bonuses. You just can’t open 2 personal cards within 24 moths of each other. Whatever it takes to get to the 125k will do the trick!