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How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass
I thought I’d start off with an update on my travel plans as of late to give you an idea of what real world redemptions look like. Prior to multiple kids, we were trying to go to our favorite spot in Costa Rica yearly. Then we took Alder as a 5 month old, thinking we were those “super cool” parents who weren’t afraid to travel internationally with a small baby. It was a low grade disaster- ha! So that mixed in with Zika concerns/consecutive pregnancies meant we took a big hiatus. But, since the swimmers aren’t firing anymore, I’m in the clear!
Southwest had a flash sale about a week ago for routes out of Colorado and the Costa Rica round trip tickets were only 17,500-25,000 points/person in January! This was too hard to pass up so I transferred points from Chase to Southwest and then booked the two RT tickets for 50k points and $156 taxes and fees. We will be taking a 3hr shuttle down to Mal Pais and staying at Mal Pais Surf Camp in their open air ranchos. This place is a short walk from the beach, has a killer pool, offers cheap surf board rentals, and has great beginner surf. We love it!
Additionally, I’ve been wanting to experience Europe because I’ve only ever been to London, but Thomas doesn’t have a big draw there. So I recruited a buddy and we found reasonable award tickets to Ireland this fall. We were open to lots of destinations so I scoured the Air France promo flights out of Denver (15k pts one-way to lots of European countries), thinking that would be our best best bet. My buddy is a teacher and only had one specific window she could swing, so that made the search a bit harder. In point travel, flexibility is key for the best redemptions. Ultimately, I found 13k point nonstop flights from Chicago to Dublin via Aer Lingus which we can position to with cheap award flights using Southwest (both transfer partners of Chase). Then two of the hotels are under the Hyatt banner (The Liberty Dublin & The Landsdown Kenmare), so we can use points transferred from Chase for those as well.
**Note: Rental cars in Ireland only seem to accept World of Mastercard’s CDW insurance (collision damage waiver), not any other credit cards rental card coverages. So, you’ll like need to factor this add-on into the purchase. Irish Car Rentals seem to have the best rates with the option to add in CDW online.
Southwest Companion Pass
Now onto the good stuff! One of the most ridiculously awesome things in the points and miles world is the Southwest Companion Pass. I had loosely heard about this years ago but figured it was only for people that flew on SW an absurd amount (i.e. over 100 flights). As it turns out though, you can qualify for this unicorn of a deal through, drumroll… credit card bonuses!
The companion pass allows you to designate a “companion” to fly with you for free (outside of taxes and fees which are $5.60 domestically) whenever you fly for the rest of the year in which you earn it and all of the following year. You can change your who your companion is up to 3 times a year.
How to Earn It
You will need to earn 135,000 Rapid Reward points in one year. This can be done by opening up one Southwest personal card and one Southwest business card, or two Southwest business cards. The bonuses on the personal cards range from 50,000-60,000 points and the business card bonuses range from 60,000-80,000. Between the bonuses on the cards and the spending to meet the bonus, you should have over 135,000 points.
*My favorite personal card is the Southwest Priority Card. It has the highest annual fee at $149 but also gives the most value for those who fly SW often (7,500 bonus points on each account anniversary, $75 Southwest travel credit each year and four upgraded boarding certificates yearly).
Additionally, as a Southwest credit card holder, you’ll be given 10,000 points towards the companion pass (if you apply before January, you’ll get them January 31st, or if you apply after you’ll get them 30 days later). Do note that the 10,000-point boost only counts towards Companion Pass qualification — they are not redeemable Rapid Rewards points.
Timing
To get the most out of your companion pass, timing is important. To maximize this, you’ll want to apply for both Southwest cards towards the end of the year. Then you need to wait until January to finish the minimum spend to get that bonus in the next calendar year. If you accidentally finish the spend and earn the bonus in December on the personal card, but then get the bonus on the business card in January, you WON’T be eligible because the points weren’t all earned in one calendar year.
Or, you can play it safe and start working towards this come January. This is potentially a better option if you don’t have any early year travel planned. That said, it’s common to see elevated offers on these cards towards the end of the year, and I know I spend more around the holidays, so you’ll have to weigh the options for yourself.
You need to time your card applications carefully. Business card applications from Chase can take a few weeks to process, so I’d start the application process as early as October 15. You can try applying for both a business card and a personal card on the same day and it might get approved. Or you can apply for one first, wait 30 days and then apply for the other. Remember, the minimum spend must be completed within 3 months, but not before January 1st to ensure you get the full 2 years of companion benefits.
Earn the companion pass in December, 2023- get companion pass through December 31, 2024
Earn the companion pass in January, 2024- get companion pass through December 31, 2025
Qualifying for the Companion Pass
Southwest cards are issued by Chase so you’ll need to be under the Chase 5/24 rule. If you are at 4/24 then you’ll want to apply for the business card first (doesn’t count towards the 5/24).
Unfortunately, you can’t get a bonus on a personal card if you 1-already have a Southwest personal card or 2- you’ve received a bonus on one in the last 24 months. If you do currently have a personal card but it’s been over 24 months since you received a bonus, you should cancel the card and then reapply in 30+ days.
Conclusion
This perk can be incredibly substantial, especially for families. Say Thomas and I both had it, named two of our kids as companions, and took two family trips and one couples trip a year, it could save us ~250,000 points or ~$3500 over two years in flight costs. It’s pretty dang awesome for the right person!
To traveling the world with our families!
Hoov