Southwest Companion pass has been our favorite and easiest hack in the travel hacking space. This pass allows you to designate a companion to fly with you for (almost) free UNLIMITED number of times by just paying taxes and fees to any destination where Southwest flies. So if Joey decides to take 100 flights this year, I fly for just taxes and fees with him on ALL those flights, it's that simple.
For example just last year we flew to Arizona, California, Florida, Costa Rica and Mexico where we paid for Joey's flight with Southwest points and my flights with taxes and fees as low as $5.60 each way. This year we went to Miami & Key Largo, and booked/planning to book flights to Baltimore, Cayman Islands, San Francisco, Zion National Park (via Las Vegas), Belize and potentially Hawaii once those routes are finally approved.
How to Get Southwest Companion Pass?
In order to quality for a Companion Pass you need to earn 110,000 qualifying points or take 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year to earn a Companion Pass. Because we're into travel hacking and refuse to pay for flights, of course there is an easy loophole to earn 110,000 miles without flying 100 flights:
You can earn 110,000 miles by signing up for 2 Southwest credit cards (see 2 methods below):
2 Personal cards (choose from Plus, Priority or Premier). Full disclosure we used this method 2 years ago, but with rules constantly changing, make sure to read up on the latest rules. We recommend to apply for both cards on the same day at the same time.
1 Personal card , 1 business card- this has been the most preferred option for most of the people getting Southwest Companion Pass over the years. You don't need to have a Fortune 500 company business to qualify. Things that count as business: blogging, consulting, driving for Uber, dog walking, selling on Amazon/Ebay/Etsy etc. We applied for multiple business cards with just this blog that doesn't even generate income yet. The key is to be honest on your application even if you are just starting out in your business.
Here are the links to all 4 cards:
Each of these cards has a minimum spending requirement that you will have to complete within 3 months, so make sure you are aware and prepared to meet this requirement when you apply.
Also make sure that you are under Chase 5/24 rule when you apply, as all of these cards fall under this rule. This rule states that if you’ve opened 5 or more credit cards in the past 24 months (with any card issuer), they are NOT going to approve you for a new card.
Depending on the time of the year, these sign up bonuses on all 4 cards can average between 40,000 - 60,000 points per card. It will be up to your discretion to make a decision to apply to make sure that TOTAL bonuses between 2 cards are close to 110,000. If you are short on points, below are a few tips on how you can get the remaining points:
Prepay some of you utilities to earn extra miles on your credit cards
Shopping and dining partners, including Rapid Rewards dining
Please note: that points transferred from Southwest transfer partners such as Chase Sapphire, Rocketmiles, other hotel programs DO NOT count towards the Companion Pass.
What is the Best Time to Get Southwest Companion Pass?
Since the pass is good for the remainder of the year in which you earn all of 110,000 miles PLUS all of the following year, the best strategy is to time it to last for 2 full years. Your points will post shortly after the closing of each statement date.
When Joey applied for his 2 personal cards in 2017, he applied mid October and made sure that his statement's timing didn't reach 3 months threshold till mid January 2018. This way all of his points posted in calendar year 2018 and we have the Companion Pass till December of 2019.
Due to this reason we recommend for people to apply close to the end of the year or if you are scared to mess up the timing of the billing cycle, in early January and meet the minimum spend as soon as possible.
You can always call Chase customer service after you are approved for the cards and they will tell you when you have to meet the minimum spending by and timing of when your points will post. You can also move your statement closing date by a few weeks if you think you are pushing it too close.
Where Can You Fly with Southwest Companion Pass?
Remember that you can use Southwest Companion Pass whether you buy the first ticket in points or cash. Since you earn your Companion Pass with 110,000 miles, use those first with the Companion Pass. If you are running short afterwards, transfer some points from Chase Sapphire Preferred/Ink/Reserve cards or just suck it up and pay with *gasp* cash.
In our opinion the best redemption for the Companion Pass is to fly to the international destinations where Southwest flies in Central America and Caribbean:
Best Strategy for Couples or Friends:
One strategy that a couple or two friends can implement is rotating your applications for the Companion Pass every 2 years. Basically you can reapply for the Companion every 24 months after you receive the bonus. Here is the verbiage from Southwest for personal cards as an example:
The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapids Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products
Below is what Joey and I are planning:
end of 2017- Joey applies for 2 Southwest cards, earns Companion Pass till Dec. 2019 and I'm listed as a companion
end of 2019- I apply for 2 Southwest cards, earn Companion Pass till Dec. 2021, where Joey is listed as a companion.
Rinse and repeat until the rules change;)
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