In 2022 I’m earning the Southwest Companion Pass. Why? Because BOGO flights for almost two years is an incredible deal. And with some destination weddings and fun weekend travel planned, it’s never made more sense for me to earn the Southwest Companion Pass either.

What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

The Southwest Companion Pass gives the Southwest account holder unlimited buy one get one Southwest flights for the entire year the Companion Pass is earned and the following year. Companion Pass flights can be booked with cash or points with no blackout dates. Your companion pass does not cover taxes and fees, which start at $5.60 and you can change your companion up to three times a year.

Earning the Companion Pass

At the most basic level, to earn the Southwest Companion Pass you have to fly 100 one-way Southwest segments or reach 125,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. No matter how close you are, your points balance toward the Companion Pass resets January 1. Unless you fly Southwest all the time, reaching 125,000 points is typically the better option.

You can earn qualifying points three ways:

1. Points earned with Southwest credit cards (including daily spend, sign-up bonus and referral points)
2. Revenue flights on Southwest Airlines
3. Base points earned with Southwest partners

The easiest way to earn your points is through credit card sign-up bonuses and spend to reach 125,000 points. You can easily attain this by signing up for a combination of personal and business credit cards or waiting for a high sign-up bonus on either a personal or business credit card.

How I’m earning my Companion Pass

In November 2021 I signed for the Southwest Priority credit card during the 100,000 point 2-tier sign-up bonus. This offer is not currently available but Southwest does offer higher sign-up bonuses a couple times a year. For me, the 100,000 two-tier sign-up bonus means that you only need one credit card to reach the Companion Pass.

Though I’m earning the Companion Pass is with one credit card sign-up because of the large bonus, you can easily do this with two sign-up bonuses (one personal and one business) or other combinations (referrals and sign-up bonus, additional spend, etc.) to earn the 125,000 required points for the pass.

The 125,000 Points Needed

In order to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you have to earn 125,000 Southwest points in one calendar year. This can be done with different combinations and strategies but here is an example of how to do it with the 100,000 sign-up bonus mentioned previously.

To earn the 100,000 sign-up bonus on the Southwest card you have to unlock both tiers. The first 50,000 points you earn from spending $2,000 on the card in the first three months while the second 50,000 points is earned after spending an additional $10,000 on the card in the first twelve months. In total, you need to spend $12,000 to earn the 100,000 sign-up bonus. If your card spending earns 1 point per dollar spent, you’ll earn an additional 12,000 points from your spend. Meaning you can only be 13,000 points shy of the Companion Pass by just meeting the minimum spend.

However, since it’s a points based system you can reach the Companion Pass with less spend. For example, if you spend $1,000 on Southwest Wanna Get Away flights you’ll earn 6,000 points. (A much better deal than 1,000 base points.) Plus, if you use your Southwest Priority credit card your $1,000 in flights will also earn you 3,000 points. Meaning, your $1,000 in flights will reward you with 9,000 Southwest points.

Example Companion Pass numbers:

• 2,000 (minimum) for 1st tier sign-up bonus (spend $2,000)
• 50,000 for 1st tier sign-up bonus
• 10,000 (minimum) for 2nd tier sign-up bonus (spend $10,000)
• 50,000 for 2nd tier sign-up bonus
• 3,000 for $1,000 in Southwest spend on Priority card
• 6,000 for flying $1,000 of Wanna Get Away flights
• 4,000 (minimum) for everyday spending (spend $4,000)

= Southwest Companion Pass (125,000 points)

My Companion Pass Plan

I plan to earn the Companion Pass by April 1, 2022 by using four different methods: daily spend, buying groups, southwest double dipped spend and dining and shopping portals.

Daily Spend

Other than groceries and non-southwest airfare purchases I’m adding all my daily spend to the Southwest Card. Why am I not adding groceries and airfare to the Southwest card? Groceries I’m currently earning 9x on my Chase Freedom Flex card, making it a far superior earning strategy. Additionally, purchasing airfare with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card has travel insurance protections that are worth keeping my spend on that card.

But all other daily spend, including bills, have been placed on the Southwest card. I’ve also used this as an opportunity to place large purchases on the card, including a new MacBook.

Buying Groups

I don’t talk much about buying groups because, frankly, I’m not an expert on them. And I’m not hardcore invested in earning millions of points and miles. However, they can be a great tool for minimum spend requirements – especially larger ones. With $12,000 in spend required for the 100,000 point sign-up bonus you can reach the Companion Pass earlier in the year if you aren’t a heavy spender yourself.

Mostly, I’ve been using BuyForMeRetail to help meet the minimum spend but have dabbled in a couple buying groups available.

Southwest Spend

There are numerous benefits to purchasing Southwest flights towards your Companion Pass. The ability to double dip your points from credit card spend and Southwest purchases makes it a lucrative option. The Southwest Priority credit card earns 3x on Southwest purchases. Plus, you can earn up to 12x on your Southwest account (6x for Wanna Get Away fares). Buying $500 of the cheapest fares would earn you 4,500 Southwest points. A pretty generous payday.

Shopping and Dining Portals

I’m utilizing the Southwest shopping portal for all online shopping until I earn the Companion Pass and the card is linked to the Southwest dining portal, too. Bonus points from these programs don’t count but base points do.

With the Rapid Rewards Dining program for every $1 spent at eligible restaurants I earn 3 points towards the Companion Pass plus the 1 point for using the Southwest Priority card. Meaning a $50 meal will earn 200 points towards the Companion Pass. Ten $50 meals over a couple months would mean 2,000 additional points.

Rapid Rewards Shopping also counts towards the Companion Pass. Base points count towards the Companion Pass but promotions such as, spend $100 and earn 1,000 additional points do not.

Explore on. -K