How to quickly earn the Southwest Companion Pass

Did somebody point out bringing a delegated buddy or member of the family for (nearly) free on any Southwest flight you are taking?

Incomes Southwest’s coveted Companion Move is not straightforward — besides when it’s. The service has been recognized to run promotions the place you may earn a Companion Move for taking a single round-trip flight, and proper now, you may earn it with a single Southwest credit card welcome offer. Even with out considered one of these promotions, Southwest bank card spending might help you fast-track your solution to the Companion Move.

Maintain studying to seek out out why the Companion Move is so precious and how one can earn one this yr.

Associated: Southwest Rapid Rewards: Complete guide to earning, redeeming and maximizing points

With Southwest’s Companion Pass, you may deliver a buddy or member of the family you designate as your companion with you on any Southwest flight. You may solely have to pay the taxes and charges in your companion’s ticket, identical to you’d on an award ticket. Consequently, for those who earn a Companion Move, you will have over a yr of purchase one, get one (almost) free Southwest flights.

The power to deliver alongside a journey companion for almost free just isn’t distinctive to Southwest. Many bank cards supply some type of a single-use companion fare, permitting you to deliver a journey companion at a closely discounted charge.

Nevertheless, the magic of the Southwest Companion Move is that you need to use it as many occasions as you need till the move expires. Even for those who had been to fly day-after-day of the yr, your companion might include you for simply the price of taxes and charges. It even applies to award tickets, permitting you to redeem Rapid Rewards points for your self and produce your companion with out utilizing further factors.

TPG values Southwest factors at 1.35 cents every per our February 2025 estimates, and incomes the Companion Move can successfully double the worth of your factors (or money) when flying with a companion on Southwest.

Keep in mind, you are not restricted to flights inside the decrease 48 states. Over the past a number of years, Southwest has expanded to (and inside) Hawaii and added short-haul international flights.

Every day E-newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Every day publication

Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s specialists

Moreover, you may change your designated Southwest companion as much as thrice per calendar yr. In different phrases, you may have 4 completely different companions within the first calendar yr, then three within the second yr (for as much as seven complete throughout the lifetime of your Companion Move). It is value noting that even for those who swap again to a earlier companion, it nonetheless counts as considered one of your three allotted modifications per calendar yr.

Associated: 15 lessons from 15 years of having the Southwest Companion Pass

Easy methods to earn the Southwest Companion Move

Incomes the Companion Move requires accruing 135,000 qualifying factors or taking 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar yr. That appears like lots, however contemplating the mountains of factors accessible from Southwest credit card offers, it isn’t as troublesome as it could appear.

Plus, the Companion Move has a powerful shelf life: It is legitimate by way of the top of the yr during which you earn it, in addition to the whole yr that follows. In case you time it accurately, that may very well be almost two years of BOGO privileges.

So what are qualifying factors for incomes the Companion Move? It is necessary to notice that not all Speedy Rewards factors depend towards the 135,000-point requirement. Here is how Southwest defines factors that can depend:

Companion Move qualifying factors are earned from income flights booked by way of Southwest®, factors earned on Southwest Speedy Rewards® Credit score Playing cards, and base factors earned from Speedy Rewards® companions.

As you may see, all income flights booked on Southwest will depend towards incomes the Companion Move, as will factors earned on Southwest’s cobranded bank cards. The place issues get a bit trickier is the “base factors earned from Speedy Rewards companions” verbiage. Do all companions depend?

This page on Southwest’s web site gives some examples of companion exercise that can depend towards qualification:

• Speedy Rewards bank cards, together with welcome bonuses
• Purchasing and eating companions, reminiscent of buying flowers and consuming out with Rapid Rewards Dining
• Journey companions, reminiscent of companion lodge stays and automotive leases
• Residence and life-style companions, like Reliant Power and NRG Residence

Nevertheless, many issues don’t depend towards incomes the Companion Move:

With that in thoughts, here is a rundown of three methods to earn the Southwest Companion Move.

Associated: If you like the current Southwest Airlines boarding process, you’re in luck

Southwest bank cards

Factors earned from Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards, together with welcome bonuses, depend towards the Southwest Companion Move. Moreover, Southwest cardholders will take pleasure in an annual increase of 10,000 factors towards Companion Move qualification yearly. This may publish inside 30 days of opening your account after which once more by Jan. 31 of each calendar yr. This successfully reduces the variety of factors it’s essential to earn to 125,000.

Plus, three Southwest client playing cards are at the moment providing elevated welcome bonuses that embrace a Companion Move. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card are providing a Companion Move good by way of Feb. 28, 2026, plus 30,000 bonus factors after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.

The data for the Southwest Premier Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.

Now may very well be a good time so as to add one of many above to your pockets. And the earlier you earn the welcome bonus, the longer you’ll use your promotional Companion Move.

Southwest additionally has two enterprise playing cards that may speed up your progress to the Companion Move. You possibly can earn 80,000 bonus factors after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, or earn 60,000 bonus factors after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. Between these welcome bonuses and the ten,000-point anniversary increase, you will be greater than midway towards incomes the 135,000 factors wanted for a Companion Move.

Or, for those who mix earnings from considered one of these enterprise playing cards with these from a private Southwest card, you might qualify for a Companion Move with none further exercise.

Associated: Do I need a business to get a business credit card?

Chase software restrictions

Earlier than happening an software spree, keep in mind that Chase has restrictions on Southwest credit cards associated to welcome bonuses. The next verbiage seems on the appliance pages for the Precedence, Premier and Plus playing cards:

This product is on the market to you for those who should not have a present Southwest Speedy Rewards Credit score Card and haven’t acquired a brand new Cardmember bonus inside the final 24 months. This doesn’t apply to Enterprise Card and Worker Credit score Card merchandise.

Consequently, you may’t open a brand new Southwest private card if you have already got one or earned a welcome bonus on one inside the final 24 months. You may additionally need to make sure you’re accustomed to Chase’s normal software restrictions, together with the issuer’s infamous 5/24 rule and the final rule you could open one private and one enterprise card each 90 days.

As of now, Southwest’s small-business bank cards should not have the identical verbiage. As an alternative, the enterprise playing cards be aware:

“This new Cardmember bonus supply just isn’t accessible to both (i) present Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card, or (ii) earlier Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card who acquired a brand new Cardmember bonus for this enterprise bank card inside the final 24 months.”

In case you already maintain a Southwest bank card(s) and thus cannot use the welcome bonus to your benefit, all of the factors you earn from spending on these playing cards can even depend towards incomes the Companion Move. You would theoretically earn the move from bank card spending alone, however there are two different choices that ought to make the duty simpler.

Associated: How to qualify for Southwest Companion Pass with one credit card sign-up bonus

Flying with Southwest: How a lot do it’s important to spend to get 135,000 factors?

One other easy solution to earn points for the Companion Pass is by really flying with Southwest. If you do not have a cobranded bank card and plan to earn the Companion Move by way of flying in 2025, you will have to earn the total 135,000 factors or take 100 qualifying one-way flights. This interprets to the next spending on base fares (not together with any elite standing points-earning bonus):

• $22,500 on Wanna Get Away
• $16,875 on Wanna Get Away Plus
• $13,500 on Anytime
• $11,250 on Enterprise Choose

When you have journey deliberate this yr, contemplate reserving with Southwest to earn factors towards the Companion Move. However keep in mind, this technique requires flying on many paid Southwest fares to earn sufficient Companion Move qualifying factors.

Associated: Free bags and open seating: Why I choose Southwest every time

Use a mixture of bank cards and flying

For a lot of vacationers, the easiest way to earn the Companion Move will seemingly be some mixture of flying and bank cards.

To illustrate you open the Southwest Performance Business card and earn the total welcome bonus in early 2025. Let’s additionally assume you spend a complete of $10,000 on the cardboard, and a part of that spending is $2,000 on Wanna Get Away base fares, all of that are on flights flown in early 2025. You’d earn:

• Welcome bonus (for spending $5,000 within the first three months): 80,000 factors
• Flying: 12,000 factors ($2,000 x 6 factors per greenback spent on Wanna Get Away base fares)
• Southwest airfare purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($2,000 x 4 factors per greenback spent on Southwest purchases)
• Different purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($8,000 x 1 level per greenback spent)
• Bank card anniversary factors: 10,000 factors

This exercise would earn you 118,000 Companion Move-qualifying factors, placing you simply 17,000 factors away. You would simply make up that distinction by leveraging different incomes alternatives like Rapid Rewards Shopping or automotive leases by way of Southwest.

Since these factors will all hit your Speedy Rewards account in 2025, your Companion Move shall be legitimate by way of Dec. 31, 2026. That is plenty of BOGO time.

Do not forget that your bank card factors will not seem in your account till a couple of days after your month-to-month assertion closes, and factors earned from flights will not publish till a couple of days after you full the journey. Once more, timing is essential to make sure you earn the Companion Move and might use it for so long as potential.

Associated: Southwest unveils A-List perks for new assigned-seating setup