How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass

Travel Tips

Nov 18

Do you want to book BOGO (Buy One Get One Free) Southwest flights for up to TWO years? You can with the Southwest Companion Pass! The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to fly 1 person for free with you on ANY Southwest flight you take plus the cost of taxes and fees, which are generally $5.60 for one way domestic flights.

You can use this pass on as many flights as you want, including flights booked with points, from the time the pass is earned until the end of the following year. (For example, if you earn the pass in April of 2025, it will be good for the rest of 2025 and all of 2026!

Earning the Southwest Companion Pass is easier than you think! Keep reading to see how!

How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass

You must earn 135,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year (from January to December) in order to earn the Southwest Companion Pass.

Depending on the offers at the time, this is fairly easy to do if you open just two Southwest credit cards and earn the sign up bonuses on both of them. (The two bonuses should equal close to 125,000 points)

You can only hold one Southwest personal card at a time, so I usually recommend:

1. Opening 1 business Southwest credit card and 1 personal Southwest credit card and earning the welcome offers in the same calendar year.

2. Opening 2 Southwest business cards and earning the welcome offers in the same calendar year.

(Be sure to wait at least 30 days between the two applications)

Southwest Personal Credit Card Options:

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Southwest Business Credit Card Options:

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

(I personally prefer the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus, Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority, and Southwest Performance Business credit cards!)

Not sure if you qualify for a business credit card?

YOU PROBABLY DO! Read here to learn how to apply and to see if you are eligible.

Timing Is Everything!

Timing is important when working towards a Southwest Companion Pass! It is ideal to earn it as early in the calendar year as you can so that you can enjoy the pass for as long as possible! (Example: If I earn the pass in March of 2025, I will have the pass for the rest of 2025 and all of 2026. If I earn the pass in December of 2024, I will only have the pass for December of 2024 and all of 2025)

Another reason that timing is important is that you need to have ALL of the 135,000 points earned and posted to your account in the same calendar year in order to qualify for the pass. If you earn ALMOST enough points by December of a calendar year or accidentally earn a sign up bonus in December instead of January, your points toward the companion pass will reset on January 1st and you’ll have to START ALL OVER on January 1st because the points need to be earned in a CALENDAR YEAR (January 1-December 31), not in any 12 months. For that reason, I recommend working toward a Southwest Companion pass and having your points post for the given year earlier in the calendar year versus later in the year.