Southwest Airlines Companion Pass

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Southwest’s Companion Pass is one of the best hacks in the Travel Hacking world!

So why is it a big deal?

It's like a buy-one-get-one-free deal on flights!

How to earn the Companion Pass

You will need to earn 135,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year.

The traditional way is that you'll need to fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year. The other way, which is the fastest and easiest, is that you’ll need to open up a Southwest Personal Card and Business card. The timing here is key here and I’ll discuss it more below!

Once you earn the companion pass, for the rest of that calendar year and the next calendar year, you can select a person who will then fly with you anytime you fly and only pay about $5 in fees each way.

You can use the companion pass as many times as you want until it expires
!

How awesome is that??

TIMING IS KEY

Timing is very important when it comes to getting the companion pass.

The best time to earn the companion pass is earning it earlier in the year so you can get the rest of that year PLUS the next calendar year!

Sign up bonuses vary, and often during the year, you will be able to earn the Companion Pass just by earning two sign up bonuses.




Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

  1. Make sure you’re under 5/24 with Chase (click here to know the Chase 5/24 rule). Apply for either a Southwest Business or Personal card around October.

  2. Let’s say you applied and get approved for a Southwest Business card on the month of October, you can use the card but DON’T MEET THE SPEND not until January 1st of the following year! A lot of people make this mistake where they meet the minimum spend way earlier. Try to leave at least $500 dollars of spend on that specific card just to be on the safe side.

    3. Apply for a Southwest Personal card the following month (November), you can use the card but DON’T MEET THE SPEND not until January 1st of the following year as well!

    4. After January 1 of that following year, you can let loose and MEET THE SPEND ON BOTH CARDS!





    AND VOILA! YOU HAVE EARNED THE COMPANION PASS!!


WHAT NOT TO DO

  • Don't transfer points from another card: Some rewards cards, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, will let you transfer the points you earn on them into your Rapid Rewards account. But transferred points are not Companion Pass-eligible.

  • Don't try to buy your way to a Companion Pass: Points that you purchase directly won't count, nor will points transferred between members, or converted from hotel and car loyalty programs.

  • Know Chase's "One Southwest Card" rule: If you already have a Southwest consumer card, you likely will not be eligible for another. Similarly, if you've already earned a sign-up bonus from a Southwest consumer card within the past 24 months, you likely cannot qualify for a different consumer card.

  • Don't forget about Chase's 5/24 rule, which has to do with how many sign-up bonuses a cardholder can snag in a two-year period. The "One Southwest Card" rule doesn't apply to Southwest business cards, so you could potentially apply for, say, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. But depending on your situation, if you’ve recently applied for several other cards in addition to those two, you still may be denied.

Southwest Cards that will help you earn the Companion Pass

As I mentioned above, sign up bonuses vary on Southwest cards.

You will need to check the current offers and make sure that you’ll get at least 135,000 Rapid Rewards points when you apply for both a Personal and Business card.



Southwest Personal Cards:
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card


Southwest Business Cards:
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

How to Book with Southwest Companion Pass

You will need to book your flight first then you can add your companion. You can either do this over the phone by calling Southwest Airlines (1800-435-9792)or by doing it online by logging in with your Southwest Airlines account.

The way to do this is you need to log into your account and find your booking. You should see a link to “Add Companion” to your reservation, fill out the information. and you should be good!