How to quickly earn the Southwest Companion Pass

Did somebody point out bringing a chosen buddy or member of the family for (virtually) free on any Southwest flight you are taking?

Incomes Southwest’s coveted Companion Go is not straightforward — besides when it’s. The service has been identified to run promotions the place you possibly can earn a Companion Go for taking a single round-trip flight, and proper now, you possibly can earn it with a single Southwest credit card welcome offer. Even with out one among these promotions, Southwest bank card spending may help you fast-track your strategy to the Companion Go.

Preserve studying to search out out why the Companion Go is so precious and how one can earn one this yr.

Associated: Southwest Rapid Rewards: Complete guide to earning, redeeming and maximizing points

What’s the Southwest Companion Go?

With Southwest’s Companion Pass, you possibly can deliver a buddy or member of the family you designate as your companion with you on any Southwest flight. You may solely have to pay the taxes and charges in your companion’s ticket, identical to you’ll on an award ticket. In consequence, for those who earn a Companion Go, you may have over a yr of purchase one, get one (practically) free Southwest flights.

The flexibility to deliver alongside a journey companion for practically free isn’t distinctive to Southwest. Many bank cards supply some type of a single-use companion fare, permitting you to deliver a journey companion at a closely discounted charge.

Nevertheless, the magic of the Southwest Companion Go is that you need to use it as many instances as you need till the move expires. Even for those who have been to fly daily of the yr, your companion may include you for simply the price of taxes and charges. It even applies to award tickets, permitting you to redeem Rapid Rewards points for your self and produce your companion with out utilizing extra factors.

TPG values Southwest factors at 1.35 cents every per our February 2025 estimates, and incomes the Companion Go can successfully double the worth of your factors (or money) when flying with a companion on Southwest.

Bear in mind, you are not restricted to flights throughout the decrease 48 states. Over the past a number of years, Southwest has expanded to (and inside) Hawaii and added short-haul international flights.

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Moreover, you possibly can change your designated Southwest companion as much as thrice per calendar yr. In different phrases, you possibly can have 4 totally different companions within the first calendar yr, then three within the second yr (for as much as seven whole throughout the lifetime of your Companion Go). It is value noting that even for those who change again to a earlier companion, it nonetheless counts as one among your three allotted modifications per calendar yr.

Associated: 15 lessons from 15 years of having the Southwest Companion Pass

The best way to earn the Southwest Companion Go

Incomes the Companion Go requires accruing 135,000 qualifying factors or taking 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar yr. That feels like lots, however contemplating the mountains of factors obtainable from Southwest credit card offers, it is not as troublesome as it could appear.

Plus, the Companion Go has a powerful shelf life: It is legitimate by way of the tip of the yr through which you earn it, in addition to your complete yr that follows. If you happen to time it accurately, that may very well be practically two years of BOGO privileges.

So what are qualifying factors for incomes the Companion Go? It is essential to notice that not all Fast Rewards factors rely towards the 135,000-point requirement. Here is how Southwest defines factors that can rely:

Companion Go qualifying factors are earned from income flights booked by way of Southwest®, factors earned on Southwest Fast Rewards® Credit score Playing cards, and base factors earned from Fast Rewards® companions.

As you possibly can see, all income flights booked on Southwest will rely towards incomes the Companion Go, as will factors earned on Southwest’s cobranded bank cards. The place issues get a bit trickier is the “base factors earned from Fast Rewards companions” verbiage. Do all companions rely?

This page on Southwest’s web site gives some examples of associate exercise that can rely towards qualification:

• Fast Rewards bank cards, together with welcome bonuses
• Procuring and eating companions, resembling buying flowers and consuming out with Rapid Rewards Dining
• Journey companions, resembling associate resort stays and automobile leases
• House and life-style companions, like Reliant Power and NRG House

Nevertheless, many issues don’t rely towards incomes the Companion Go:

With that in thoughts, this is a rundown of three methods to earn the Southwest Companion Go.

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Southwest bank cards

Factors earned from Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards, together with welcome bonuses, rely towards the Southwest Companion Go. Moreover, Southwest cardholders will take pleasure in an annual enhance of 10,000 factors towards Companion Go qualification yearly. This can put up inside 30 days of opening your account after which once more by Jan. 31 of each calendar yr. This successfully reduces the variety of factors you have to earn to 125,000.

Plus, three Southwest shopper playing cards are presently providing elevated welcome bonuses that embrace a Companion Go. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card are providing a Companion Go good by way of Feb. 28, 2026, plus 30,000 bonus factors after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.

The data for the Southwest Premier Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.

Now may very well be a good time so as to add one of many above to your pockets. And the earlier you earn the welcome bonus, the longer you can use your promotional Companion Go.

Southwest additionally has two enterprise playing cards that may speed up your progress to the Companion Go. You may earn 80,000 bonus factors after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, or earn 60,000 bonus factors after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. Between these welcome bonuses and the ten,000-point anniversary enhance, you may be greater than midway towards incomes the 135,000 factors wanted for a Companion Go.

Or, for those who mix earnings from one among these enterprise playing cards with these from a private Southwest card, you possibly can qualify for a Companion Go with none extra exercise.

Associated: Do I need a business to get a business credit card?

Chase software restrictions

Earlier than occurring an software spree, keep in mind that Chase has restrictions on Southwest credit cards associated to welcome bonuses. The next verbiage seems on the applying pages for the Precedence, Premier and Plus playing cards:

This product is obtainable to you for those who don’t have a present Southwest Fast Rewards Credit score Card and haven’t obtained a brand new Cardmember bonus throughout the final 24 months. This doesn’t apply to Enterprise Card and Worker Credit score Card merchandise.

In consequence, you possibly can’t open a brand new Southwest private card if you have already got one or earned a welcome bonus on one throughout the final 24 months. You may additionally wish to make sure you’re conversant in Chase’s basic software restrictions, together with the issuer’s infamous 5/24 rule and the final rule which you can open one private and one enterprise card each 90 days.

As of now, Southwest’s small-business bank cards don’t have the identical verbiage. As an alternative, the enterprise playing cards be aware:

“This new Cardmember bonus supply isn’t obtainable to both (i) present Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card, or (ii) earlier Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card who obtained a brand new Cardmember bonus for this enterprise bank card throughout the final 24 months.”

If you happen to already maintain a Southwest bank card(s) and thus cannot use the welcome bonus to your benefit, all of the factors you earn from spending on these playing cards may even rely towards incomes the Companion Go. You possibly can theoretically earn the move from bank card spending alone, however there are two different choices that ought to make the duty simpler.

Associated: How to qualify for Southwest Companion Pass with one credit card sign-up bonus

Flying with Southwest: How a lot do you must spend to get 135,000 factors?

One other easy strategy to earn points for the Companion Pass is by truly flying with Southwest. If you do not have a cobranded bank card and plan to earn the Companion Go by way of flying in 2025, you may have to earn the total 135,000 factors or take 100 qualifying one-way flights. This interprets to the next spending on base fares (not together with any elite standing points-earning bonus):

• $22,500 on Wanna Get Away
• $16,875 on Wanna Get Away Plus
• $13,500 on Anytime
• $11,250 on Enterprise Choose

In case you have journey deliberate this yr, think about reserving with Southwest to earn factors towards the Companion Go. However bear in mind, this technique requires flying on many paid Southwest fares to earn sufficient Companion Go qualifying factors.

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Use a mix of bank cards and flying

For a lot of vacationers, one of the simplest ways to earn the Companion Go will doubtless be some mixture of flying and bank cards.

For example you open the Southwest Performance Business card and earn the total welcome bonus in early 2025. Let’s additionally assume you spend a complete of $10,000 on the cardboard, and a part of that spending is $2,000 on Wanna Get Away base fares, all of that are on flights flown in early 2025. You’d earn:

• Welcome bonus (for spending $5,000 within the first three months): 80,000 factors
• Flying: 12,000 factors ($2,000 x 6 factors per greenback spent on Wanna Get Away base fares)
• Southwest airfare purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($2,000 x 4 factors per greenback spent on Southwest purchases)
• Different purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($8,000 x 1 level per greenback spent)
• Bank card anniversary factors: 10,000 factors

This exercise would earn you 118,000 Companion Go-qualifying factors, placing you simply 17,000 factors away. You possibly can simply make up that distinction by leveraging different incomes alternatives like Rapid Rewards Shopping or automobile leases by way of Southwest.

Since these factors will all hit your Fast Rewards account in 2025, your Companion Go will likely be legitimate by way of Dec. 31, 2026. That is numerous BOGO time.

Keep in mind that your bank card factors will not seem in your account till just a few days after your month-to-month assertion closes, and factors earned from flights will not put up till just a few days after you full the journey. Once more, timing is essential to make sure you earn the Companion Go and may use it for so long as potential.

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