What is the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass?
Basically, the Southwest airlines Companion Pass is a level of status within Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program that allows the holder to bring their designated companion on any flight with them for free (plus taxes starting at $5.60). This is a buy-one-get-one-free pass wherever Southwest flies, even international flights (taxes are higher for these flights, but it is still an amazing deal). But wait, it gets better! Your flight can even be booked on points, and your companion can join you just for taxes. The Companion Pass also lasts for the entire year in which you earn PLUS the following year. That means if you time it right, you can get almost two years of BOGO flights from one pass!
Why you should want your own campanion pass
Being able to bring a friend, spouse, child, etc. on any flight for free is a game changer. It opens up the entire US for weekend getaways since the cost is now so cheap. Living in Colorado makes this great for us. Southwest has (at last count) 77 different destinations from Denver. But even if you don’t live in a major Southwest hub, you are still one stop away from dozens of destinations.
We’ve also used Southwest to connect us to international gateway airports for award flights. Sometimes either the award your booking doesn’t allow you to connect to your home airport, or there isn’t availability. That’s where Southwest and the Companion Pass can step in. You can now build you own connection before or after your award trip to make your award trip complete.
How to get your companion pass
Now for the hard part. It does take a little work to get your own Companion Pass, but I do mean a little. You’ll need to earn 125,000 eligible Southwest Rapid Rewards points in one calendar year. That may seem like a ton, but it is well within reach. 2021 will mark the eighth consecutive year my family has held a Companion Pass. All of those passes were almost entirely due to accruing credit card points. Almost all points you earn with Southwest are eligible for a Companion Pass. The main exceptions are points transferred in from outside programs (Chase Ultimate Rewards and hotel loyalty programs). What IS eligible is more important. Points earned from paid flights, using their shopping or dining programs and points earned from their Rapid Rewards Credit Cards. The last one is the major way to earn them because sign-up bonuses also count towards your Companion Pass!
The current bonus on the personal cards will earn you 80,000 points and the business cards will earn you 100,000. We’ve always earned the pass by combining one business card sign-up with one personal card sign-up bonus, when the bonuses were much lower. Now by completing one sign-up bonus along with a few partner offers you could get your companion pass much easier. Once you’ve earned your Companion Pass, the points are still yours to keep and use for flights. Since the points are worth about 1.5 cents each, you’ll have about $1875 in points with which to book flights. If you always fly with your companion you’ll have an astounding $3,750 in free flights!!!
Timing your companion pass
As I stated earlier, your Companion Pass is valid for the year in which you earn it and for the entire following year. By earning the pass early in 2021, you would have it all the way through 2022. If you sign up for both the Performance Business card and any of the personal Rapid Rewards credit cards, and then meet the minimum spend for just the first tier on both cards early in 2021, you would have your companion pass for almost two full years. This is how we plan our pass every two years, alternating between myself and my wife for the past eight years. It is best to apply for the “Performance” business card first, then any of the personal cards (we recommend the Priority version for its annual perks). As always, we would love it if you used our links to support the blog. All versions of the Chase Rapid Rewards credit cards can be found here.
By completing the first tier of the Performance Business credit card ($5,000 in spend in three months) you will receive 70,000 points. Any of the personal cards will award you an additional 50,000 points (after spending $2,000 in three months). Combined you’ll get 120,000 points in bonuses and at least 7,000 more points for the spend on the cards. You’ll then have your Companion Pass for the rest of 2021 and all of 2022. You’ll also have at least 127,000 points to spend on flights. Even with the current lack of travel, there is a lot of hope that things will return later in 2021, and you’ll still have all of 2022 to use the pass.
What is the first place you want to fly, once you feel it is safe to do so? Let me know in the comments!