How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass & Why It’s the Gold Mine of Travel Rewards

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I started getting into the world of travel rewards three years ago. Initially, I was skeptical about “travel hacking” and “travel rewards,” thinking it was too complicated and not worth the effort involved. It must be too good to be true, right?

That quickly changed when I read about the Mad Fientist traveling around the world to 14 countries for under $1,000. This sparked me to go through the Travel Miles 101 email course. Sources that I trusted were both saying the same thing – with a moderate amount of time and effort, travel rewards were the real deal!

Those resources completely changed my thinking, and I dove in head first. Now I have a deep understanding and excitement for travel rewards. We’ve earned over ONE MILLION points over the last three years and have enjoyed dozens of free flights. By far, our biggest win with travel rewards has been earning the Southwest Companion Pass in June 2017 and then for a second time in March 2020!

What are travel rewards?

If you haven’t read my introduction to travel rewards, I would highly recommended checking it out as a starting point. Put simply, travel rewards are points and miles that you can earn from signing up and using certain credit cards. Some cards have lucrative signup bonuses, for meeting a minimum spending requirement within the first few months of owning the card (for example: a 50,000 point signup bonus for spending $3,000 within the first 3 months). These points can be redeemed for free flights and hotel nights, letting you travel the world for a fraction of the cost.

What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

The Southwest Companion Pass essentially acts as a Buy-One-Get-One free coupon. It allows the pass holder to take one designated companion on ANY Southwest flight they take, for the rest of the calendar year and all of the following year. For example, if you earn the pass in 2020, you would get to use this benefit for the rest of 2020 and ALL of 2021! It doesn’t matter if the flight is paid for with dollars or points, your companion flies free every time.

We earned the Companion Pass for the first time in June 2017, meaning we got to utilize it for 18 months total. In that timeframe, we used it 8 times, which included trips to Portland, Denver, Washington DC, Dallas, and Southern California a few times. If we roughly estimate $300 per flight, that would be $2,400 of free travel!

We earned it for the second time in March 2020, and I already have plans to use it for trips to Arizona, Atlanta, Southern California, and Hawaii! That’s already $2,000+ of value achieved in the first year!

The best part is that almost anyone can replicate this strategy easily and inexpensively.

Related Post: How to Vacation to Hawaii for (Almost) Free with Travel Rewards

How do I earn the Southwest Companion Pass?

To earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you need to earn 125,000 Rapid Rewards points within one calendar year. This may sound daunting, but it’s pretty straightforward. The best way to accumulate this many points is through the Southwest credit card signup bonuses.

Update: Southwest announced that all current Rapid Rewards members will receive 25,000 qualifying points towards Companion Pass status. This means that you’ll only need to accumulate 100,000 more points, instead of the 125,000 that was previously required. Earning the Companion Pass in 2020 will still mean that you’ll have it for the rest of the year, and ALL of 2021.

Currently Chase offers 5 different Southwest credit cards: 3 personal cards, and 2 business cards.

There are a couple important rules to be aware of with these credit cards:

1. Chase only approves new applicants that have signed up for less than 5 new credit cards (with any company) within the past 24 months. This rule is commonly called the 5/24 rule. If you are new to travel rewards, this probably won’t be an issue for you, but it’s something to keep in mind if you start signing up for additional cards.
2. You can’t hold two Southwest personal cards at the same time.
3. Avoid applying for more than one Chase personal card and one Chase business card within a 90-day period. When possible, apply for one card and then wait 30 days before applying for the other card. This helps maximize your chances of being approved.

Steps for earning the Southwest Companion Pass:

Step #1 – Sign up for the brand new Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business credit card. Spend $5,000 on the card within the first 3 months. You’ll earn 70,000-80,000 Rapid Rewards points for the signup bonus (depending on what offer is currently available), along with 5,000 points for the spending. Note that this card has a $199 annual fee. At a rough valuation of 1.5 cents per point, this equals $1275 of free travel! If you’re looking for a card with a lower minimum spend and lower annual fee, you could apply for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business credit card instead. For this card you would need to spend $3,000 within the first 3 months. You’ll earn 60,000 Rapid Rewards points for the signup bonus, along with 3,000 points for the spending. Note that this card has a $99 annual fee. At a rough valuation of 1.5 cents per point, this equals $945 of free travel. It’s important to note that you CAN’T get BOTH business cards. You need to choose one.

Step #2 – Sign up for one of the Southwest personal credit cards. I would recommend the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus credit card, since it has the lowest annual fee of $69. Spend $1,000 on the card within the first 3 months. You’ll earn 40,000-60,000 Rapid Rewards points for the signup bonus (depending on what offer is currently available), along with 1,000 points for the spending. At a rough valuation of 1.5 cents per point, this equals $615 of free travel. There is also a Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier card and a Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card. It’s important to note that you CAN’T get more than one Southwest personal credit card, so choose the one that works best for you.

Other Ways to Accumulate Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

If you do this strategically, you can get the necessary 125,000 Rapid Rewards points, or at least get very close. There are other ways to accumulate Rapid Rewards points including:

• Flying on Southwest flights
• Shopping and dining partners, through Rapid Rewards dining
• Home and lifestyle partners.

You can also refer a spouse/family member/friend to sign up for one of the cards, which will earn you 10,000 points.

Once you meet the minimum spending requirement on the cards, the points should show up the next time your credit card statement posts. The points get sent straight into your Southwest Rapid Rewards account. Once 125,000 points reach your Rapid Rewards account, the Companion Pass will be earned automatically, giving you the option to denote one companion. (Note: you can change your companion up to 3 times per calendar year, so choose wisely).

To maximize the length of time with the pass, meet the minimum spending requirements as early in the year as possible. This way you get to use the pass for the majority of 2020 and the entire year of 2021! Be sure to earn the signup bonuses during the SAME calendar year, or you won’t qualify for the Companion Pass.

What if I can’t meet the minimum spending requirement?

$6,000 between the two cards in 3 months should be doable for most people by putting all of their everyday expenses on the cards. If for some reason you’re having trouble meeting the minimum spends, you could explore pre-paying some of your bills (electric/utilities, auto insurance) or purchasing gift cards to places you shop often (grocery stores, Amazon, gas stations, Costco). This is called “manufactured spend.” The key is to NOT spend more than you normally would, instead just moving some of your spending up so that it can be put towards your minimum spends (which is why the gift card technique works well).

Sometimes you can explore paying your rent or mortgage payment with a credit card through Plastiq. The benefit if doing this is that you can meet the minimum spend requirement very quickly and earn the Rapid Rewards points for the signup bonus. The downside is that Plastiq charges a 2.5% fee on credit card transactions, so this should be more of a backup option.

If I don’t have a business, can I still get a business credit card?

It goes without saying that your credit card applications need to be 100% truthful, do NOT lie about having a business just to be approved. That being said, the definition of a small business is flexible when it comes to business credit cards. Your business needs to be legitimate, but it doesn’t need to earn a high income, or even any income, to qualify.

If you’ve been thinking of starting a business, but haven’t done so yet, it can still work. If you have no idea where to begin, think of a way that could earn you a small amount of side income.

For my business credit cards, I used this blog, as it earns a small income and has various expenses associated with it.

Here are some examples of qualifying businesses:

• Owning rental property
• Renting out an extra room on Airbnb
• Walking dogs through Rover
• Driving with Uber or Lyft
• Reselling tickets on SeatGeek
• Blogging
• Podcasting
• Selling items on eBay or Craigslist
• Freelance writing

If you have a well established business that makes a high income, use your employer identification number (EIN) on your credit card application. If you have a small business that makes a low income, use your social security number instead. It is common for small business owners to get a business credit card in order to keep their personal expenses and business expenses separate for tax purposes.

What are the benefits to earning the Southwest Companion Pass and why is it the gold mine of travel rewards?

There are many benefits to Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program and earning the Companion Pass:

• Only requires signing up for 2 credit cards
• Low minimum spending requirement (just $1,000 for the personal cards, and $3,000-$5,000 for the business card)
• Can utilize the Companion Pass for up to 23+ months (depending on when you earn it)
• BOGO for any Southwest flight you take, whether the flights are paid for with dollars or points
• Point redemptions are easy, any flight that you can buy with cash is able to be paid for with points, there are no blackouts or restrictions.
• Southwest flies pretty much everywhere domestically, and also has a growing number of international destinations (Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean)
• Southwest points never expire, even if you close the credit cards
• Extreme flexibility – Southwest doesn’t charge any fees for changing or cancelling flights. Also, if you notice that a flight has gone down in price (either $ or points), you can re-book the exact same flight and receive the difference in fare (travel credit if purchased with $, or the points deposited back into your account)!

What if I don’t live near an airport where Southwest Airlines flies?

My favorite travel rewards credit card, widely considered one of the best options out there is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. We each applied for this card as well and it has since become my favorite to use for our everyday spending. It comes with a MASSIVE 100,000 point signup bonus for meeting a $4,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months. This card has a $95 annual fee that is waived the first year. Chase points are extremely valuable because they can be used to transfer to various partners including: Southwest, United, JetBlue, Hyatt, Marriott, among others. I would strongly recommend getting this card and keeping it for the long-term. (Note: Transferred points don’t count towards earning the Companion Pass).

Another great option is the Chase Ink Business Preferred. This card comes with an 80,000 point signup bonus for meeting a $5,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months, equivalent to $1,000 of free travel! This card has a $95 annual fee. We utilize this card for the high signup bonus, the free cell phone insurance, and rental car insurance perks.

After earning the Companion Pass, a great next step would be to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Ink Business Preferred. Then you can transfer those Chase points to redeem for additional Southwest flights!

How do I avoid paying annual fees on my credit cards?

As mentioned, the Southwest credit cards have an annual fee that will show up on your first credit card statement ($69/$99/$149 for the personal cards, and $99/$199 for the business cards). Clearly the benefit of the signup bonuses and the Companion Pass outweigh the cost of the fees for the first year. I recommend setting a calendar alert for 11 months after you’ve had the card. This will remind you that the annual fee is coming up again. At this point you can weigh whether or not it’s worth keeping the card.

A few things to consider:

• Many times you can call Chase’s retention department and request for them to waive the annual fee. This is a best case scenario because you get to keep the card for another year and avoid paying another annual fee.
• Closing a credit card will normally have a small short-term impact on your credit score, but it normally bounces back within a month or two. The longer you keep a card open, the more of a positive impact it will have on the length of your credit history, which in turn has a positive impact on your credit score.
• The cards give you an anniversary bonus of some Southwest Rapid Rewards points each year, which helps negate some of the fee.
• Each card has other perks available such as bonus points for certain spending categories, credits for Global Entry or TSA Precheck, upgraded boardings, and more. Be sure to consider these other perks when determining whether to keep a card long-term.
• Remember – by being a cardholder, you’re a customer of Chase. Think of it as a long-term relationship that you’re building. The best travel rewards strategy is not about opening and closing cards rapidly.

I would recommend keeping the card open unless you’ve found another Chase card that you prefer using, (for example the Chase Sapphire Preferred). If you can’t get the fee waived and you aren’t using the card, it’s fine to close it.

What if I’m interested in getting started with travel rewards, but don’t want to pay any annual fees?

As discussed in the previous section, most of the time the card benefits will outweigh the cost of the annual fee. However, it’s totally understandable to want to avoid paying annual fees if at all possible. My recommendation would be to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred, obtain the 60,000 point signup bonus and then re-evaluate after holding the card for one year. Remember, during the first year the $95 annual fee is waived. After holding the card for a year, you’ll see the $95 fee hit your account. At that point you can evaluate whether to keep the card (which is what I do), or you can downgrade it to a no-fee card: either the Chase Freedom Unlimited or Chase Freedom.

If you’re still hesitant, you could just start with the Chase Freedom Unlimited or Chase Freedom Flex right from the beginning. This lets you receive a $200 signup bonus (in the form of 20,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points) for reaching $500 of spending within the first 3 months. It lets you dip your toe in the waters of travel rewards – earning points without paying any fees. If you decide to continue on the journey, you could apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred later on when you’re ready. This is also the best option for people with lower credit scores or less credit history. These are both great travel credit cards to keep for the long-term.

Ultimately, there’s no one RIGHT answer – it all depends on your own travel dreams!

Final Thoughts

If you enjoy traveling, live near an airport that has Southwest, and are diligent about paying off your credit card bills in full every month, in my mind there is no better way of jumping in to the travel rewards world than by earning the Southwest Companion Pass. There’s a reason we’ve earned the Companion Pass twice and have used it for dozens of flights. Feel free to comment or reach out to me with any questions, I’m happy to help you get closer to your own travel dreams!

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