ToP Guide: How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass for 2026 and 2027

What Is the Southwest Companion Pass?

The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to bring a companion for free on as many flights as you want. Through 2026, you can earn the Companion Pass in one of two ways. You must either earn 135,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points or fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in the same calendar year. Once you earn the Companion Pass under the current system, it’s valid until December 31 of the following year. So if you earn the Companion Pass at any time in 2026, it’s valid until December 31, 2027. (Starting on January 1, 2027, earning Companion Pass benefits will be tied to elite status, Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) and taking qualifying flights.)

Once you earn the unlimited Companion Pass, there are no gimmicks or tricks. Any time you want to fly your companion with you, the only cost is the taxes ($5.60 each way for domestic flights, plus more in taxes for international flights). You cannot book a companion to fly by themselves. Your companion must fly with you on your same flight. The one restriction is that you can only change your companion 3 times per calendar year.

How to Earn 135,000 Rapid Rewards Points

Assuming you are not flying 100 flights in a calendar year, the easiest way to earn the Southwest Companion Pass is by earning 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year. Keep in mind that points transfers do not count towards earning the Companion Pass. You cannot earn the Companion Pass by transferring points over from Chase, Bilt or Marriott. Buying points also does not count towards earning the Southwest Companion Pass.

Through 2026, the fastest way to earn Companion Pass-qualifying points is through credit card welcome offers. Eligible new cardmembers who apply for and are approved for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Cards by December 2, 2026, will have those points count as 2026 Companion Pass-qualifying points. This applies even if the spending threshold is met in early 2027. Those points will then count toward a Companion Pass valid through December 31, 2027. Southwest credit card holders currently also receive 10,000 non-redeemable but Companion Pass-qualifying miles. This reduces the requirement for the Companion Pass down to 125,000 miles. Southwest offers the following co-branded credit cards, all issued by Chase:

Personal Cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card ($99 annual fee)
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card ($149)
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card ($229)

Business Cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business ($149)
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business ($299)

Generally, you can take one of two paths to accumulate the required 125,000 points and earn the Companion Pass. Chase does not let you hold multiple Southwest personal cards. So either option involves opening a Southwest business credit card. Not only will you need to be business card eligible, you will need to be under 3/24. But the Southwest business cards will not otherwise impact your 5/24 status.

How To Earn A Southwest Companion Pass: Option 1

The first (and better option generally) is to open a Southwest business credit card and a Southwest personal credit card. The current 80,000-point welcome offer on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business card or the 60,000-point offer on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business card will get you part of the way there. After opening one of the business cards, you could then apply for one of the personal cards. Welcome offers for the personal cards currently range from 80,000-90,000 points. These two welcome offers alone should get you well over the 125,000 points you need, which earns you the Companion Pass. The best part? You will still have all those points to actually redeem for Southwest flights.

How To Earn A Southwest Companion Pass: Option 2

This second option is for folks who do not want to open a Southwest personal card. Unlike with the personal cards, Chase does let you hold the two Southwest business credit cards. You can reach 125,000 points just by earning the welcome offers from the Performance Business and the Premier Business card. This method looks easy, but opening two Southwest business cards for the Companion Pass is not helpful in the long-term. Chase will only approve you for so many business cards. And now, sole proprietorships have the new 3/24 rule to contend with. This second Southwest business card will essentially take the spot of what could be a valuable Chase Ink Cash, Chase Ink Unlimited, Chase Ink Preferred or Sapphire Reserve For Business℠ card instead.

Best Part of These Bonuses: Have Your Cake & Eat It Too

Here is how this perk gets even better: earning the Southwest Companion Pass doesn’t cost you 135,000 Rapid Rewards points. Once you earn 135,000 points and receive the Companion Pass, those 135,000 points are still yours to use. You can use those points to book flights for yourself and then add your companion for free! These 135,000 points are worth about $1,800 in travel ($3,600 once you tack on your free companion). If you travel so much that you use up all 135,000 points booking flights, you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards to Southwest (at 1:1) for more free flights for the two of you. And with Southwest award sales, you can even find flights to Hawaii as low as 7,000 points.

Credit Card Application Rules

Chase has a few rules for Southwest credit cards. First and most important, of course, is 5/24. Chase will not approve you if you have opened 5 or more personal credit cards (and certain business cards) in the last 24 months. Sole proprietorships now need to be under 3/24 to be approved for Chase business cards. Make sure you are confident in your current 3/24 and 5/24 status.

Next, for each of the Southwest personal credit cards, you cannot hold more than one of those at a time. So if you already have any of the three Southwest personal cards, you must cancel that card if you want to apply for a new one. Also, you will not qualify for a welcome offer for a Southwest personal card if you’ve earned a welcome offer from any Southwest personal card within the past 24 months.

Aside from 3/24, Chase’s rules for Southwest business cards are slightly more lenient. You cannot open a Southwest business credit card if you already have that same card. This means you can have one of each of the two Southwest business cards. You just cannot have two of the same card. Meanwhile, you will not qualify for a welcome offer for a Southwest business card if you’ve earned a welcome offer from that same Southwest business card within the past 24 months.

Timing Your Credit Card Applications and Spend

With the Rapid Rewards changes quickly approaching, now is the time to apply! December 2, 2026, is the date to have circled on the calendar. Eligible new cardmembers who apply for and are approved for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Cards by that date will have the welcome offer bonus points count as 2026 Companion Pass-qualifying points. This applies even if the spending threshold is met in early 2027. Those points will then count toward a Companion Pass valid through December 31, 2027.

If you hit your welcome offer early in 2027, the qualifying points will essentially be backdated as if you had earned them in 2026. That means there’s no longer an opportunity to earn nearly 24 months of Companion Pass benefits by timing your credit card welcome bonuses at the beginning of a calendar year. But on the bright side, you no longer have to worry about timing when your statement cuts or planning the precise date to meet your minimum spend.

While we often recommend waiting 30 days after being approved for a Chase business card to apply for a Chase personal card, the December 2 deadline leaves little wiggle room here. Use your best judgment regarding your velocity, but you will need to be approved for both cards before the deadline in order for your welcome offer to be considered Companion Pass-qualifying points.

If you only end up getting one Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card, you can continue to work toward the 135,000-point threshold through a mix of other activities. Credit card referral bonuses, anniversary bonus points, bonus points from credit card category spending and points earned through hotel, rental car and other partner spending count as Companion Pass-qualifying points through 2026.

What Happens in 2027?

Once you have earned your Companion Pass under the existing 2026 rules, it’s yours through December 31, 2027. But starting in January 2027, the path to earn the Southwest Companion Pass will look completely different. The airline is eliminating Companion Pass-qualifying points as a separate earning currency. Instead, travelers will qualify for Companion Pass benefits through Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) or qualifying flights. Under the new program, there will be two ways to earn Companion Pass benefits:

• 140,000 TQPs or 100 qualifying one-way flights: Earn Platinum status, which includes unlimited Companion Pass trips.
• 95,000 TQPs or 75 qualifying one-way flights: Earn three Companion Pass trips as a milestone reward. Each trip can be used for a one-way or round-trip itinerary with your designated companion.

Credit card welcome bonuses will not earn Tier Qualifying Points next year. Neither will credit card referral bonuses, anniversary bonus points, bonus points from credit card category spending (such as earning 2X points on gas) or points earned through hotel, rental car and other partner spending. Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card holders will earn 1 Tier Qualifying Point for every $1 spent on their cards. In 2027, co-branded credit cardmembers who reach 130,000 TQPs during the year will receive a one-time 10,000-TQP boost, helping them reach the 140,000-point Platinum threshold. That means $130,000 in credit card spend will unlock Platinum and unlimited Companion Pass trips next year. The resulting Platinum status (and Companion Pass benefit) will be valid through December 31, 2028.