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Southwest Companion Pass Success: Two Passes, Multiple Trips

Categories: Trip ReportsBy Last Updated: May 18, 2025

Thanks to @thatjacobsongirl for sharing her family’s success with traveling all over the U.S. with two earned Southwest Companion Passes!

My entry-level travel points example isn’t jaw-dropping to most but it was certainly valuable to our family. All costs/savings mentioned are estimates as I didn’t track these details and can only access a portion of our Rapid Rewards records.

In the Summer of 2021, we started with the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card in my hubby’s name. We quickly earned the sign up bonus with regular spending and received the bonus in time to earn the Companion Pass for a family trip to Maui September of 2021 and we used those points to pay for our 3 tickets. A few weeks before our trip, my hubby referred me for the same Southwest card. The referral bonus he earned gave him enough points to achieve a Companion Pass for the remainder of 2021 plus all of 2022. I canceled our son’s Maui ticket I paid with points and added him as my husband’s companion instead and re-booked his ticket. We chose to fly to LA first then out to Maui the following day.
ESTIMATED COST FOR 3 RT TICKETS FROM KC TO LAX TO MAUI $1434 ($478 EACH); OUR COST $67.20 PLUS ABOUT 72,000 POINTS

We used the new Southwest card I got for our expenses on our trip and I was able to earn my signup bonus just in time before the end of the bonus period. My bonus had not been as good as one they offered a few weeks after I opened my card so I called Southwest and they gave me a chance to earn the difference with an additional spend. That extra bonus didn’t hit my account until 2022. In March of 2022, my hubby and I went to Maui again by ourselves using Southwest points and his Companion Pass which he switched to my name. I believe Southwest was running a promo for deeply discounted tickets to Hawaii at the time which explains why it didn’t cost us much in points!
ESTIMATED COST FOR 2 RT TICKETS FROM KC TO MAUI $578 ($289 EACH); OUR COST $22.40 PLUS 21,774 POINTS

Southwest ran a special promo in the Spring of 2022 if you booked a cash ticket and traveled by the end of May, you’d get bonus points that were Companion Pass eligible. I had already planned a 2-night trip to NYC in late May to celebrate my oldest daughter graduating college and to visit my middle kiddo who lives in Brooklyn. I had originally booked our 2 tickets for 24,458 points each but canceled both to take advantage of the promo. I re-booked by paying cash for my ticket and used Southwest points for my daughter’s ticket and upon our return, I received the promo bonus and that gave me enough to earn the Companion Pass on my account for the remainder of 2022 plus all of 2023.
ESTIMATED COST FOR 2 RT TICKETS FROM KC TO NYC $536 ($268 EACH); OUR COST $279.20 PLUS 18,436 POINTS

Just a couple weeks later, my husband used his Southwest points and Companion Pass to take our son to DC for their annual father/son trip to catch a Major League Baseball game.
ESTIMATED COST FOR 2 RT TICKETS FROM KC TO DC $544 ($272 EACH); OUR COST $22.40 PLUS 20,491 POINTS

Then, in October 2022, we took our son and his girlfriend on a family trip to San Diego using Southwest points and both of our Companion Passes.
ESTIMATED COST FOR 4 RT TICKETS FROM KC TO SAN DIEGO $1436 ($359 EACH); OUR COST $44.80 PLUS 54,012 POINTS

In total, we used approximately 186,713 Southwest Rapid Reward points and spent $574 ($436 for tickets/taxes/fees plus annual fee for 2 cards) for a trip to Maui for 3, a trip to Maui for 2, a trip to NYC for 2, a trip to DC for 2, and a trip to San Diego for 4.

Now that I’ve learned better strategies from Katie, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the method in which we earned our Southwest Companion Passes, because we could’ve timed it to earn them earlier in the year. That being said, our method still worked for us perfectly because we didn’t overspend to meet sign-up bonuses, didn’t travel more than we would have normally and most importantly, we paid off our balances monthly to make the extras we earned really free.

Credit Cards You Can Use to Get Companion Pass

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Current Bonus:

bonus_milesbonus_miles_fullLearn How to Apply

Annual Fee:

annual_fees
  • TSA Precheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS statement credit (up to $120 every 4 years)
  • 4 upgraded boardings per year (ends December 31, 2025)
  • Free in-flight wifi (ends December 31, 2025)
  • 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points for every $5,000 spent
  • 4x earning on Southwest flights; 2x on local transit, internet, cable, and phone services.
  • 9000 points per year on your card member anniversary
  • $500 Fee credit for points transfers (ends December 31, 2025)
  • Free checked bag for cardholder + up to 8 people on their reservation
  • Select a Preferred seat for free at time of booking for cardholder + up to 8 people on their reservation
  • Upgrade to an Extra Legroom seat for free 48 hours before departure (if available)

I thought the fee was inflated on this card back when it was $199. At $299 it’s a tough calculation to justify keeping long term. But since it typically has a higher welcome offer than the Premier Business card, a lot of people may end up with this one for at least a year to help earn a Companion Pass. It does have perks like the credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre√ or Nexus.

Once Southwest makes the switch to assigned seating, the ability to select a preferred seat for free at booking is potentially valuable for some people. And if you spend a lot with Southwest, the 4x earning rate is a good way to rack up a lot of Southwest points.

Overall, this card really helps make it so easy to get a Southwest Companion Pass. Just pay close attention to your timing when applying if you’re trying to maximize the Companion Pass.

card_name

Current offer:

bonus_milesbonus_miles_fullLearn How to Apply

Annual Fee:

annual_fees
  • 2 Early Bird Check Ins per year (ending December 2025)
  • $500 Fee credit for points transfers (ending December 2025)
  • 2,000 Tier Qualifying Points for every $5,000 spent
  • 15% promo code on account anniversary
  • 3x earning on Southwest flights; 2X at Gas stations and Restaurants on the first $8,000 in combined purchases per year
  • 6000 points per year on your card member anniversary
  • Standard or Preferred Seat 48 hours before departure for cardholder and up to 8 people on the same reservation
  • Free checked bag for cardholder + up to 8 people on the same reservation

This card is the lower annual fee business card to help you earn a Companion Pass. The offer is also typically lower than on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.

If you’re using the 3 card/2 pass method, this is the ideal business card for the 2nd person get. Overall, you’ll always need to pay attention to your timing when applying if you’re trying to maximize the Companion Pass.

The standard offer on this card is 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 in 3 months. In Summer 2023 and 2024, we saw an offer that also included a a higher tier bonus (but required an additional $12,000 of spending to get another 60k points).

welcome offer:

Earn 100,000 points

after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 5 months from account opening

Annual Fee:

annual_fees
  • $75 annual statement credit for Southwest purchases (ends Dec 31, 2025)
  • 4 upgraded boardings per year (ends Dec 31, 2025)
  • 7500 points per year on your card member anniversary
  • 4x earning on Southwest flights; 2X at Gas stations; 2X at Restaurants
  • 2,500 Tier Qualifying Points for every $5,000 spent
  • Pick a Preferred Seat at booking for free for cardmember + up to 8 people on same reservation
  • Complimentary upgrade to Extra Legroom Seats 48 hours before departure, if available
  • Free bag for cardholder + up to 8 people on their reservation

This card used to be the best value of the three Southwest personal cards. But after July 2025, it lost a lot of its luster.

The Priority is the only personal Southwest card that offers free seat selection at booking, even when booking the “basic” fare class.

This card is now only worth it if you really value being able to pick your seats right at the time of booking and want to hope for Extra Legroom seats 48 hours in advance. Oddly the Priority card doesn’t include any anniversary coupon like the lower annual fee cards do.

With any offer, pay close attention to Companion Pass timelines if you’re hoping to earn a Companion Pass.

Southwest offers 3 personal credit cards with different annual fees — they usually have identical offers. Offers change throughout the year typically offering 40,000-75,000 bonus points. Higher bonus points usually require higher spending. The past few years in early Spring, an offer appears that also includes a promotional Companion Pass.

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