The Easiest Way to Earn a Companion Pass
The most straightforward way to earn a Companion Pass is by opening one or two new Southwest credit cards from Chase, which is the exclusive issuer of Southwest cards.
In the next few lessons we'll walk through the specific card strategies for earning the Companion Pass.
You'll need to time when you receive your welcome offers so that you are earning 135,000 points in a calendar year and (yay!) a Companion Pass.
There are three Southwest branded personal cards to choose from and two Southwest branded business cards.
Annual fees range from $99 to $299 depending on the perks of the cards.
Each dollar spent on a Southwest credit card earns you at least 1 Southwest Rapid Rewards point but it is the welcome offer that is most helpful in earning a Companion Pass.
The Big Picture
Welcome offers vary, but typically during the year, you will be able to earn the Companion Pass just by earning two welcome offers and timing those to hit your Southwest account in the same calendar year.
Occasionally, the sign up bonuses will get you most of the way there and then you will need to top off your earning with a few more points.
How you piece together 1-2 offers and time the spending is the most important part of the strategy.
Remember that you'll be aiming to earn 135,000 points total so you'll just be doing the math to make sure you get there.
Typical Welcome Offers
Welcome offers on the personal Southwest cards typically start at 50,000 points after spending $1000 in 3 months, but often go up to 60,000+ points after spending $2,000 to $4,000 a few times a year.
Sometimes bonuses will have different tiers — like earn 50,000 points after you spend $3,000 in three months, and earn 50,000 more after you spend $12,000 total in 12 months.
The past few years, (lately this has been in late winter, around February) Southwest has also offered a promotional Companion Pass as part of the sign up offer on a credit card -- though this has a shorter validity than the full Companion Pass we discuss in this course.
The offers on business cards are fairly standard and typically sit at 60,000-80,000 on the business cards after you spend $3,000-$5,000 in three months.
You can find current offers on the Southwest cards here.
Are you eligible?
To be eligible for the credit card bonuses you need to have good or excellent credit. You also need to qualify under Chase's unofficial “5/24 rule”. See more prerequisites in a few lessons.
You are only allowed to earn a bonus on one personal Southwest card per 24 months, so if you want to earn the Companion Pass solely through credit card bonuses, the easiest way is a combination of one business Southwest card and one personal Southwest card.
There are other lessons that go into detail about strategies if you are wanting to earn one Companion Pass (good for couples) or two Companion Passes (great for families of four or more).
