How to Re-Earn a Companion Pass

I’ve had a lot of requests to write guides on how to re-earn a Companion Pass the second time around. It’s hard to write up a guide because there are too many factors. What I can do, though, is give you the factors you need to consider so you can create your own plan. In many cases, you’ll still be able to follow or adapt our Fall 2025 Timelines. 

Read my full overview of how to earn a Companion Pass here. 

Will Southwest Discontinue the Companion Pass?

There are rumors flying everywhere about changes Southwest may be making to make it harder to earn a Companion Pass. At this point, these are rumors. I haven’t seen anything from any credible sources. 

Go into this knowing that like all the points deals — this could change at any time. 

It could change in the fall for 2026-2027. It also might not. Officially Southwest has said no changes are coming to the Companion Pass. Southwest also said that bags fly free forever and we know how that ended. So we can’t exactly take them at their word. 

I personally think if any change happens, the most likely would be a change to the number of points required to earn it. This has happened twice in my memory. The reason I personally don’t think it’s going away entirely or massively changing its earning is that the landing pages for the Southwest cards still clearly state that the points from the cards–even bonus offer points– count towards a Companion Pass. 

Ultimately, I don’t know. No one knows. If you start trying to earn a Companion Pass and it goes away in a puff of smoke — the worst case scenario is that you end up with some Southwest points and no Companion Pass. You’ll still have some free flights coming your way, it might just not be as many. 

How Do I Re-Earn a Companion Pass?

Here are the main factors to consider when creating your plan to re-earn. I can’t create a general plan for this because there are simply too many variables. Take these into account and you’ll be able to make your own strategy. 

You may have some lag time the 2nd time around

The first time you earn a Companion Pass, it’s easier to optimize your timeline to earn it as close to January 1st as possible. The 2nd time around, many people will have to push back their application dates due to either the 24 month rules for the cards or optimizing referral links with a partner. That’s ok! No one can optimize everything in miles and points and earning a Companion Pass a few months later is still better than not earning one at all. 

Optimize when you close your old card

If it’s been 24 months since you earned a bonus on your card, you can close it and apply for it again. But there are a few ways you could optimize your closure. Remember, no one can optimize everything. You just have to decide what to prioritize. 

You’ll need to wait 14-30 days after you cancel the card before you apply again. 

You might choose to optimize a high welcome offer. We often see these on the personal cards in the fall and this year is no different. See current offers in our Southwest card guide. 

Or you could choose to optimize earning your anniversary points. Check when your cardmember anniversary falls. If it’s coming soon — you could earn some anniversary bonus points right after the card fee posts. You’ll still have 30 days to cancel after your annual fee posts and get a full refund. These even count towards earning a Companion Pass again!

Or optimize for referring a partner. If you’re planning to refer a partner, you’ll want to keep your card until your referral points post to your account. 

Or optimize for timing. Maybe none of these factors make sense for you — you could cancel your card and just be ready to apply with traditional timing around October 15th for the first card. 

Flip-flop cards with a partner, if possible

The easiest way to keep earning a Companion Pass in a household where you hold one Companion Pass is to flip-flop the person who applies for the cards. If you’re working to earn one Companion Pass but have 2 people who could earn one — you could have one person apply this year and the other person apply 2 years from now. 

Use household referrals to earn more points

You can refer a friend or family member to a card and earn 20,000 points! This can definitely make it worth it to keep a Southwest card if your partner is about to apply for their own to earn their own Companion Pass. If you earn 20,000 Southwest points, that’s worth about $275+ of flights (or double with a Companion Pass). 

Strategically time referrals for the 3 card/2 pass strategy

You’ll be able to get one more referral the 2nd time you do a 3 card/2 pass strategy. That’s because when “Person 1” starts off with a high card offer — they can do so with a referral that “Person 2” sends them — assuming Person 2 still has a Southwest card. 

So the 2nd time you do this strategy you might actually want to wait until December to start. That way all the referrals will end up counting towards a 2026/2027 Companion Pass. 

But again, it’s a balance! By waiting to refer until December, that means you probably will earn the pass a little later.