How To Earn the Southwest Companion Pass

Happy Friday! I hope you had a fabulous week! My little family temporarily reunites in just a few hours, so you can bet that I’m bouncing off the walls with excitement and nerves (the very best kind) as we speak. 🙂

Today’s post is either a reminder for long-time Whimsical September readers or great, brand new info for those who are new in the last year or so! From July 2014-December 2015 our family flew for free six different times using our Southwest Companion Pass, and I have all the details with how you and your family can do the exact same thing!

How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass

I was motivated to write this reminder post after talking with a girlfriend yesterday who is on her way to earning the pass this year. She couldn’t believe how easy it is to do, so I figured I’d share a quick “how to” here as well for those who are looking to fly more frequently without breaking the bank.

What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

This pass allows the pass holder to bring a companion for free on every flight they book. The pass holder must name the companion ahead of time and can switch the companion up to three times while holding the pass.

How long is the pass good for?

The pass is good from the time it’s earned until December 31st of the following year. For example, if you earned the pass today (4/15/16), it would be good until 12/31/17.

How is the pass earned?

The easiest way to earn the pass is to accumulate 110,000 points in one calendar year (January 1st-December 31st).

How do I earn 110,000 points in one year?

Okay. Get ready to take notes. Earning these points is SO EASY. Here’s how to earn this massive amount of points in one year.

1. Apply for the Southwest Premier credit card during one of their quarter-annual promotions where they offer a 50,000 point bonus. They normally only offer 25,000 points, but this won’t get you the pass. Wait until they offer 50,000. Get a copy of the card for both you and your spouse (if you have one). Spend $2,000 rather quickly and pay it off entirely. Within six weeks of paying off the card you will earn the bonus, plus one point for every dollar you spent (i.e. you should get 52,000 points deposited in your account).
2. Continue to use that card and pay it off entirely every month.
3. Watch the Southwest website like a hawk. As soon as you see them offering the 50,000 mile bonus again (don’t wait any later than August), apply for the PLUS card. Do the same as you did with the Premier card. Spend money quickly, pay it off, and earn your 50,000 bonus.
4. 50,000 miles from the Premier card + 50,000 miles from the Plus card + 10,000 random points from random expenses = YOUR VERY OWN SOUTHWEST COMPANION PASS! Boom!

Things to Know

1.) It takes approximately six weeks for points to be deposited into your Rapid Rewards Account (Southwest Frequent Flyer account) after you’ve paid off the card. This means you MUST pay off the card NO later than the beginning to mid November in order to have the points in your account by December 31st.

2.) There is an annual fee for the cards. I believe the Premier card fee is $99 and the Plus card is $69. WORTH IT. You’ll make your money back tenfold with your savings on free flights.

3.) We still continue to use the Premier card as our one and only credit card. We both have a copy of it from the same account. We canceled the Plus card about a year ago. This did not affect our credit in the slightest. In fact, if I’m being totally transparent, our credit score actually improved. I have no idea why, but it did. Opening two credit cards in one year and then canceling one of them the following year did not hurt us.

Earn the 50,000 mile bonus NOW!

According to the Chase Southwest Airlines credit card website, they’re currently only offering their standard 25,000 mile bonus. Again, you have to wait until you can earn the 50,000 mile bonus TWICE (once for the Premier card and once for the Plus card). I have a referral code for eight more people who will earn the 50,000 mile bonus if they use it. If you are seriously interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to earn the Companion Pass, please comment below with your email address and I would be more than happy to email you the referral code to apply for the Premier card. Again, using this referral code will earn you the 50,000 mile bonus instead of the 25,000 mile bonus currently listed on the website. I will send the codes to the first eight people who leave their email addresses.

In full disclosure, I will also earn a 5,000 mile referral bonus for every person who applies for and uses their Premier card. Thanks in advance!

I hope you find this information helpful! If you still have questions, I highly encourage you to jump on the phone with someone from Southwest who will answer any and all questions you may have. Their customer service department is so fabulous. Love them.

Note: This post is in no way sponsored by Southwest Airlines. 

PS: For more from my Travel section, click here.