Which Card Combo is Best for Me?
Overall, the easiest path to earn a Companion Pass is generally to open two cards. This can vary throughout the fall as sometimes we see some of the cards come out with higher offers. Sometimes it is even possible to open just one card and earn a Companion Pass with some strategic topping off!
Three Factors to Ponder Before Picking Cards
There are a few different card combos that can get you to a Companion Pass. If you're a family of 4+ and both adults want to earn a Companion Pass, you'll want to also review the 2 pass/3 card method in the next lesson.
Ultimately everyone will have their own preferences on these. Depending on specific offers, these even may be a sliding scale for you.
You can compare all Southwest cards here when you're ready -- you don't have to pick yet.
Out of pocket cost
Some people want to earn a Companion Pass with the lowest possible out of pocket spending on annual fees. In this case, you'll want to pick the personal and business cards with the lowest annual fees.
But this is a tradeoff as neither card lets you pick assigned seats for free at the time of booking. You do get to pick seats for free 48 hours before your flight leaves, but sometimes in busy seasons, that's too late to get seats together.
These cards typically have the lowest points offers so you'll earn fewer points overall. But an advantage is that they often have lower minimum spend requirements.
Seating benefits
If getting free seats together right when you book is a priority for you, you'll want to get EITHER the highest annual fee personal or highest annual fee business card.
Both of these cards have the same seating benefits (more details here) which means you get free seats when you book. If available, you'll also get to upgrade to Extra Legroom seats 48 hours before departure.
You don't really need both the high-fee personal and business cards -- their benefits become redundant.
Earning the most points
Then you'll be watching out for offers throughout the fall. Usually the higher fee cards have slightly higher offers. Again, the advantage is that you can mix and match.
Everyone has their own preferences.
New in September 2026: 3/24 for sole proprietors
Starting in mid-September 2026, Chase appears to be denying most sole proprietors who are at 3/24 or above when they apply for business cards. That means 3 or more new cards on your personal credit report in the past 24 months.
This means we believe you'd have to be at 2/24 or below to get approved for a business card as a sole proprietor. Registered businesses (LLCs, corporations, nonprofits) don't seem to be affected.
I'm tracking the data points in this post.
Test Different Combos
Southwest Companion Pass — Offer Combo Calculator
Compare how today's card offers can combine to help you reach the 135,000 points you need to earn a Southwest Companion Pass. See total annual fees, how short you'd be (if at all), and if there are any restrictions on when you could do your spending.
Quick scenarios One click pre-fills a scenario — then tweak anything.
Build your own combo Pick the cards you want to compare — the numbers update instantly.
You can only hold one Southwest personal card at a time, so a combo can include just one personal card
Not sure which cards you can open? Check your eligibility → — This calculator compares offers for everyone; it doesn't check your eligibility.
Adjust the offers
These are the current offers. If you already opened a card on a different offer, change the numbers here and the calculator will use yours instead. This only affects what you see on this page.
| Card | Welcome offer | Min spend | Annual fee |
|---|
Your settings
Log into Southwest and go into your account. This is not your Rapid Rewards points balance. The tracker shows how many Companion Pass qualifying points you have YTD.
The math to 135,000
Spend timing around your December earn date
Compare more combos Click a row for the full breakdown and spend timing.
| Total annual fees | Total Min Spend | Points to 135k Bonus + Spending + Boost | Seats at booking | Where you land |
|---|
All spend counted at 1 point per $1 (card multipliers don't change how fast you reach the pass). The 10,000-point boost counts once per calendar year for holding a Southwest credit card. Deadlines and spend caps in the full plan are shown a little tighter than strictly required, on purpose, as a safety margin. These tools assume you understand the basics from the Southwest Companion Pass Bootcamp. Southwest says no Companion Pass changes are coming, but strategies would shift if that changed — always verify offers against Chase / Southwest before applying.
Which card combo is best?
There is no right or wrong answer here in regards to these card combos. It comes down to your personal situation, your interest in the benefits that the higher fee cards offer, and how easy it is for you to meet the minimum spend requirements.
When can you open your first card?
The EARLIEST I recommend applying for one of these Southwest cards is October 15th. Further lessons will go into detail about what you need to know after you apply.
How will these allow me to keep earning a Companion Pass perpetually?
If you're in a two-person household and plan to earn one Companion Pass at a time, you'll just flip flop the years you follow one of these two card combos.
Person 1 may open 2 cards in late November-December 2026, for instance, and carefully wait to meet the spend requirements till January 2027. That will give Person 1 the Companion Pass through the rest of 2027 and all of 2028.
Then in late 2028, just as Person 1's Companion Pass is coming close to expiration, Person 2 will open two cards in order to restart the pass.
If you are in a one-person household -- or a two person household where only 1 person can open business cards -- jump to the lesson specifically about a perpetual one person strategy.
