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Southwest Companion Pass 2025 Promo Offer: BOGO Flights For a Year
A limited time promo makes the Southwest Companion pass easy to earn with one credit card sign up bonus. Spend $4,000 within three months to earn a promotional Companion Pass that will get you BOGO travel through February 28, 2026 (and 30,000 points).
What Is a Southwest Companion Pass?
A Southwest Companion Pass lets you name a person as your companion. Then they can fly with you anytime you fly and only pay about $5 in fees each way. (International flights will have higher taxes). These BOGO flights last for as long as you hold a Southwest Companion Pass — there is no limit on number of flights!
You can also change your companion 3 times per year.
Generally, you need to earn 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year to earn a Companion Pass. But for this promotion, you can earn a promotional pass with just one credit card offer.
Since earning our first companion pass in 2015, we have exclusively traveled on Southwest for domestic flights. For much of that time, my husband and I EACH held a companion pass. That means both of our kids were flying domestically for $5 each!
February 2025 Promotional Offer Explained
Instead of earning 135,000 in a calendar year, you can earn a promotional pass with any of the Southwest personal credit card welcome offers.
With these offers, you will have to spend $4,000 in three months. You will then earn 30,000 bonus points as well as a promotional companion pass that is valid through February 28, 2026.
You can use that Companion Pass as many times as you want during that period. All travel has to take place before February 28, 2026.
Pros of this offer
- Fast way to earn a (shorter) Companion Pass: you’ll have it as soon as your statement closes following when you spend $4,000
- Doesn’t require business card to get it
- Still allows a pathway to extend your Companion Pass. You can then apply for a Southwest business card and work on getting to 135,000 total points earned throughout the year and that will extend this promotional pass
Cons of this Offer
- You’ll have fewer point to use with the Companion Pass
- Companion Pass is a promotional one that is valid for less than a year
Promo FAQs
Q: If I do this promo, will I have to wait until 2027 to get the Companion Pass again?
A: You can only get a bonus on a Southwest personal card every 24 months, so if you open a card for this promo you will not be able to open any Southwest personal card until 2027 (24 months after you earn this offer).
However, you can use one of our other Companion Pass tricks (2 business cards or 1 business card with referral bonuses) to extend your promotional Companion pass or earn it again.
Q: What if I’m in the process of earning a Companion Pass?
A: It may be trickier if you need the previous 50,000 point offer to earn your Companion Pass through 2025. The end date on this promo is listed on referral links as March 23, 2025. You could use the in flight offers which are usually for 50,000 points before then. If you’re at an airport before then, you can usually find the QR code on a sign in the Southwest terminal.
Q: Can you do this with a personal card this year and a business card next year?
A: This specific offer is only available for personal cards and will “use up” your one Southwest personal card every 24 months.
Q: How can I apply for this offer?
A: If your spouse or partner has a Southwest card, they may be able to generate a referral link from Chase. If you don’t know anyone with a referral link, we’d appreciate if you apply through one of our affiliate links found in this article.
Q: Is it better to do this offer than earn the regular Companion Pass?
A: Earning a Companion Pass the “normal way” will get you more points and a Companion Pass for a longer period of time. But that doesn’t mean this promo isn’t a good offer for you! This is a great way to get it sooner.
I also think this offer gives you some great flexibility. After earning this promo pass, you could also open a Southwest business card to get the rest of the way to 135,000 points.
Q: Can I use this promo + a business card to earn a Companion Pass through 2025?
A: Yes! If you get this offer and then open a Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, you will be about 6,000 points short after accounting for bonuses and spending. You will have until December 31, 2025 to earn those points, which you could get by spending, flying revenue flights, or referrals. I’d also suggest looking at Rapid Rewards Shopping, as you can often get miles for offers like trying out Blue Apron.
Q: I got denied for a Southwest business card this year. Will this offer help me earn my Companion Pass?
A: Yes! We’re actually compiling data points right now and evidence strongly suggests that if you have 3+ business cards from Chase, you have a very high chance of denial for another business card. You could apply for this personal card and earn a Companion Pass quickly. Then I’d suggest closing out business cards you have that are older than 12 months and eventually applying for the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card to top off your points earning to 135,000 points and earn the pass through December 2026.
Am I eligible?
Under 5/24
You also need to qualify under Chase’s unofficial “5/24 rule” which means you need to have opened fewer than 5 credit cards (from any issuer) in the past 24 months.
Not a Current Cardmember of a Southwest Personal Card
You also won’t be able to apply for these cards if you are a current cardmember who has a Southwest personal credit card. If you have been holding a Southwest personal card for more than 24 months, you can cancel it and reapply for this offer after waiting 7-21 days. Make sure your balance has been fully paid when you go to cancel your card, or your waiting period might be longer.
Have Not Earned a Bonus on a Southwest Card in 24 months
You are only allowed to earn a bonus on 1 personal Southwest card per 24 months. If you earned a bonus more than 24 months ago, you can apply.
Which Southwest card is best?
You can see our full comparison here.
I think the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card offers the best value by far, even though it has the highest annual fee. The $149 annual fee effectively drops to $74 after the $75 annual statement credit.
The Southwest.com statement credit is extremely easy to redeem, you can even buy $75 of Southwest Giftcards on their website each year and the credit comes off on my statement automatically. You could also use it for taxes and fees or in-flight food and beverages.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card also offers 4 upgraded boardings (instead of the 2 early bird check ins) and more points on your card anniversary.
welcome offer:
Earn 50,000 points
after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee:
welcome offer:
Earn 50,000 points
after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee:
More on Companion Passes
The traditional trick to earn a Southwest Companion Pass involves opening one business and one personal Southwest credit card. You’ll earn more points and have the Companion Pass for longer if you earn it the traditional way. This promotional pass is a great option for people who don’t have a side hustle or small business.
This year, we added an extensive module on the Southwest Companion Pass to our free course. This includes videos on how to get the best prices on Southwest!
Sign up for the free course here and scroll to the bottom for the Southwest lessons.
Designating your Companion
Once you earn a Companion Pass, you will receive an email from Southwest will invite you to designate your companion. When you log into your account, you should also be prompted to designate a person.
Keep in mind, you can change your companion 3 times in a calendar year, so you do have some flexibility. But after the 3rd change, your companion will be locked onto that person.
After designating your companion, you will also receive a physical card in the mail that says “Companion Pass” with your companion’s name. We have always just stuck this in a drawer and never looked at it again. We’ve never needed it.
How to Book with a Companion Pass
If you already have a flight booked, you can now add your companion to it. You can always do this over the phone if you want to. Or generally it can be done online. Log into your account and find your booking. You should see a link to “Add Companion” to your reservation. The reservation screen is very similar to booking a regular ticket.
You always have to book your flight and then add your companion separately. You can use your Rapid Rewards points to book more than one ticket. So if you are a family of 4 with one companion pass, you can book 3 tickets together from one Rapid Rewards account and then add the companion. You and your companion will also always have separate reservation numbers so it is an extra step on check-in. You will need to check in separately.
We love that Southwest doesn’t charge change fees and will just deposit your miles back into your account as long as you cancel at least 10 minutes before your flight leaves!
Occasionally we have run into problems with adding a companion to our reservation.Sometimes because we have 2 companion passes, we need to call in to add the 2nd companion because the screens error out and tell us we already have added a companion to the reservation. Sometimes if we want to change a reservation and have already added our companion to the reservation, we need to call in to do so. Southwest customer service is always helpful and friendly so really, don’t be afraid to call and ask for help!
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Hi,
If I use this promo + a business card to earn a Companion Pass through 2025, will I have 2 companion passes under my name until the end of Feb 2024 and then just 1 until the end of 2024? Or just 1 the whole time? Thanks!
Sarah
You can only ever have one companion under your name. My player 2 and I each have our own companions since we have 4 kids and our personal experience has been interesting with having both of them on a reservation at a time.
In the offer where you have 3 months to charge the 4,000…what if I charge that amount in one month? Does it get me the card quicker? or do I have to wait the three months?
I would like to earn a companion pass that is good for 2 years–or better than the ones for an year. Where do I find that?
Thank you love your tips Kaitie!
In our experience of earning the companion pass last year, we received the companion passes within 30 days of meeting the spend, so yes, you would earn it faster.
I have an old Southwest card from 3- 4 yrs ago. Do I need to cancel it before applying for the new one? I still have 4000 points from that card. Will I still have those points if I cancel the card?
You won’t lose the points because they are already safe in your SW account. Yes, if it is a personal card and you want the personal card bonus, you do have to cancel and then reapply.
Is this information accurate? I just called Chase Credit Card bc and there’s no such offer.
Offers can be released through different channels at different times. I’m not sure why a Chase rep would say there is no such offer when it was advertised on some of their channels. But to be honest, we have a lot of instances of the reps giving wrong info. You can google the offer and find it.
Hi Katie! Can you clarify that the 5/24 rule with Chase is for personal cards only. Business cards don’t typically count against the 5/24, unless otherwise stated, correct? I’m at 4/24 and was hoping to start looking at other banks and their business cards to keep my points earning going. I’ve been loosely following your 3 year 2 player strategy and I think I’ll need to start closing cards with Chase this year.
Business cards don’t count towards 5/24 but Chase seems to be restricting business card approvals right now for people who have 3+ Chase business cards.
hi Kate the referral code showed a screen you have to fill out to see if you are eligible to refer a friend.
yes, you do have to fill that out to generate your own referral. Or do you mean you’re looking for our referral and the link didn’t work?
Hi Katie, while talking to SW’s customer service today about a different issue, I asked about this promotion. I was told by 2 reps that they are not running this promotion right now. Is it real?
Southwest isnt’ running the promo, Chase is (the bank) — the Southwest reps don’t know about the credit card promos!
I just applied for this card and promotion (I’ve been waiting for it). I’d like to book my flights now and I can meet the spending limit quicky, but of course it will take time to actually have to companion pass. If I book the flights before I officially have the companion pass, can I still add the companion to those flights once the pass is earned?
yes, you can!
Hi Katie, I just got approved for the priority card and should meet the companion require within the first month. If I apply for the business performance next month and meet the $5000 fast, that will most likely hit the 135,000 companion pass by May. Should my companion pass extend to Feb 28, 2028? current promotion Feb 28, 2026 + 2 years from the regular 135,000 points requirement or it will end 12/31/2027? Thanks
It would end 12/31/2026. Anytime you earn 135,000 in a calendar year, you get the pass for the rest of that year + the whole next year. The promo pass is separate, it can’t be extended officially. But the 30k points you earn from the offer will help you earn 135k in a calendar year (2025) and if you do that, you’ll have your pass through 2026.
Thank you very much
Hi Katie. I am working on the typical Companion Pass. This new offer messes up my timing. If I apply for the personal card using your hidden referral link, will I still get the 65k bonus or will Chase switch me to the current offer?
The 65k offer is the “airport” offer — not a referral link — and yes, if you use it, you will get 65,000 points! You can always take a screenshot as you’re applying so you have the proof!
hi Katie! thanks for all your tips! I started working on the 2 player companion pass strategy in Jan. My husband opened a business card first and just reached his spending. should I now have him open the personal one with this promo?
we were hoping to earn his companion pass first so we can have a one child fly free at least while I work on mine. so I have no cards towards the pass.
what’s the best strategy? we both can open business cards and are under the 5/24 rule
Did he open the Performance card for the 80k offer? Are you trying to earn 2 CP or just his?
My husband just qualified for the Promo Companion Pass after spending $4k in his first billing statement with the Priority card. The 30k points transferred to his RR account the day after, but no Companion Pass yet. I’ve been reading online that many people are still without theirs. Do you have any data on how long it’s taking this year? I read it could be up to 8 weeks but seems like most people got them within 1-2 with the same promo in 2024…Thanks!
I haven’t seen any data points yet! Hopefully it comes soon.
I got my points from this offer a week ago, but still haven’t gotten the pass! Should I be worried? I have a flight I need to add a companion for mid-April!
It should post soon! If it doesn’t, you could reach out to customer support
FYi there seems to be a mismatch on the promotion dates between Chase and SW.
I signed up on 2/8 for the 30k points + CP offer through Chase for the SW RR Plus CC. Qualified in 1st month and was awarded the 30k points and have the CP noted in my point history but no CP available in my account. Called SW and they said I am ineligible for the CP offer since I signed up in the promotion dates for their prior January offer ending 2/10/25 (offer: 50k points, no CP).
After disputing with SW rep on the date discrepancy they said to file a complaint with SW.com (corporate) and see what they say. Countless people on Reddit are in the same boat: signed up for this offer prior to 2/11 through Chase (who was advertising it), awarded the 30k points and have CP noted in account activity but no active CP.
Others signed up after 2/11 and are having CP active in their account immediately on statement closing.
Recommend contacting SW on their website > file a complaint > Rapid Rewards and confirm the dates you opened the card and adding any screenshots or details confirming eligibility. Otherwise there is likely no amount of “waiting” time necessary for processing since they are auto-processing those who opened after 2/11 and have an active discrepancy in dates w/ Chase.
Thank you for the update on this and the details for anyone in the same boat! Hopefully with these steps people can resolve it soon.