Elevated Southwest Offer Alert!

We are about to move into Southwest Companion Pass "Season"; that is the timing of which you can strategically earn Southwest Credit Card sign up bonuses to hit 135,000 points in a calendar year and earn companion pass (your companion flies for just taxes and fees, no additional cost. Domestic US taxes/fees are $5.60)...

... and today Southwest announced an elevated offer on their lower tier business card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card

BUT if you want to earn companion pass for nearly two years; the majority of 2027 and ALL of 2028, do NOT open this card just yet! Timing matters!! Keeping reading to learn more. See "Companion Pass 2027-2028 below"

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card

Elevated Offer (more points than typical): Spend $3,000 in 3 months, earn 80,000 points

(Elevated offer valid Sept 24, 2026 through Oct 26, 2026, potentially Nov 2, 2026 per differing dates listed on Chase. Standard Offer is to spend $3,000 in 3 months to earn 60,000 points)

Annual Fee: $149

Referral Link: absolutely free to you to use to open this card; but gives me credit with Chase for you applying. This is an easy way to help support my small business and keep free content coming! Thank you!

5/24: Because this is a Chase Business card, it does NOT count in your 5/24 (Chase 5/24 rule: Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics). 

Don't think you have a business to qualify? Read more about what counts and a tutorial how to apply here.

Card Benefits:

• Free checked bag for cardholders and up to 8 people on the same reservation
• Automatic 10,000 points boost towards companion pass annually (these points cannot be used to book flights)
• Free Seat Upgrade: 48 hours before departure; select a Preferred Seat for you (and your companion) for fee
• 15% Flight discount annually
• No foreign transaction fees
• 25% back on inflight purchases

When to Apply/Open

If you don't care about Southwest Companion Pass, feel free to open this card now!

If you're trying to hit 135,000 qualifying points towards Companion Pass in 2026 through 2027, you should also open this card now.

BUT, if you are trying for 2027/2028 Companion Pass, do NOT open this now! You need to strategically time when you earn sign up bonus points so that the points hit early 2027, that way, combined with another card's sign up bonus, you'll hit 135,000 points in 2027 and earn Companion Pass for the remainder of 2027 and all of 2028, you need to wait until at least October 15thto open this elevated offer.

Once you open this card towards the end of October, you are going to watch the spending VERY carefully,  If you're going to immediately start using the card, monitor your spend very carefully and put the card away as soon as you hit $2,500 spend (if it's still 2026).

Why? Remember, we want to earn all 135,000 points in one calendar year, because you get companion pass for the reminder of the calendar year you hit 135,000 points AND for the ENTIRE full calendar year after. To maximize the amount of time you get companion pass, we want the signup bonus to hit your account in 2027.

So, if you were to spend the full $3,000 of the Southwest Business Premier minimum spend in 2026, then you would be awarded the sign up bonus points in 2026, but that doesn't do you any good when the "clock" for earning 135,000 points in a calendar year resets on January 1st!

The ideal is that you spend the majority of the minimum spend in 2026 ($2,500 for this particular card) and then January 1st, it's go time - spend the remaining $500!

Earning Companion Pass 2027-2028

Assuming there are no major changes to the Companion Pass Program, if you want to earn companion pass for the majority of 2027 and ALL of 2028, here is your plan.

The cards I'm recommending allow you to achieve 135,000 points to earn Companion Pass with the lowest total spend and lowest annual fees possible. If you want more Southwest points, you can open any of the three SW personal cards - just know that your minimum spend and your annual fee will increase (but you'll also receive more card benefits and more points).

(As a reminder, this is a conservative timing approach. Technically since points are awarded after statement close, there is a little room for flexibility)

1. October 15-31st: Open the SW Business Premier Card with the elevated offer highlighted in this post; to earn 80,000 points for $3K spend in 3mo, with a $149 annual fee

• From time of approval to mid-Dec: Spend $2,500 on the SW Business Premier Card

2. Nov 16 - Dec 31: 30+ days after you're approved for the SW Business Premier Card, apply for the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card

• The standard offer on the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card is to earn 50,000 points by spending $1K in 3mo, with a $99 annual fee
• From time of approval to mid-Dec: Spend no more than $750 on the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card

3. January 1st, 2027: Spend the remaining $500 needed on the SW Business Premier card to hit the $3,000 minimum spend to earn 80,000 point sign up bonus AND spend the remaining $250 needed on the SW Rapid Rewards Plus card to hit it's $1,000 minimum spend to earn 50,000 points up bonus.

4. Adding to up Companion Pass: After hitting the minimum spend, the points associated with that card should show as pending on your Chase account under your SW card. You *should* receive companion pass after your January 2027 statement close (however, in 2026, it was taking up to 6-8 weeks for points and companion pass to be awarded)

With the plan above, a minimum spend of $4,000 total and total annual fees of $248, you will earn the following points:

80,000 (Business Premier SUB) + 3,000 (at 1 point per dollar spent for Business Premier minimum spend) + 10,000 (companion pass "boost" from SW, given to cardholders, 10,000 total, - regardless of how many SW cards you hold; these points are NOT redeemable for flights) + 50,000 (Rapid Rewards Plus SUB) + 1,000 (at 1 point per dollar spent for Rapid Rewards Plus minimum spend)

80,000 + 3,000 + 10,000 + 50,000 + 1,000 = 144,000 points! (135,000 needed for CP)

Worth Noting - Remember

1. The points you earn towards Companion Pass are redeemable on flights. You don't need to hit 135,000 points and "trade them in" in order to get Companion Pass.

2. If you're planning to earn companion pass with the "traditional" 2-card method, you want to:

• Open a Southwest Business card first (to ensure you can get approved)
• Open a Southwest Personal card second; and at least 30 days after getting approved for the Southwest Business Card

3. Timing: Technically the spend needs to be completed by your statement period that ends in December; which can get really confused. If you need help with specific dates customized to your cards, please reach out and I'm happy to help!

Summary

Having the ability to purchase one flight (with points or cash) and add a second flyer for just $5.60 has drastically changed my family of 4's ability to travel and opened so many opportunities and memories.

SW CP timing is so critical and can be easy to be confused or mess up. My first time trying - I messed it up too! Thankfully if you screw up, you may have an opportunity to correct the ship. I'm here to help you learn how to earn and options to try to "fix" if you need it.

As a reminder, you can read about different methods of earning Companion Pass here. This post goes into detail not only for earning one companion pass, but also the option to earn two companion passes with three cards instead of four.

If you do not have a Southwest card yet, I appreciate if you use my referral links. This helps me earn my own companion pass too :) Don't forget - you can open any Southwest card (personal or business) from any Southwest referral link.

Extending and Combining Southwest Credits

We fly a lot of Southwest, thanks to having two Southwest Companion Passes (ie, our kids "fly free", which makes family travel a lot more affordable!) When Southwest rolled out their program overhaul in May 2025, one of the biggest changes they made was the expiration time frame for vouchers and credits.

"Basic" fare, is Southwest's lowest tier fare option. It doesn't offer seat selection and it doesn't offer full refunds. However, maybe you're like me and because you hold a Southwest Credit card, you get free checked bags and maybe even seat selection, and when Basic Fare flights with points; you still have the option to cancel a Basic Fare flight and get all of your points back.

BUT, if you book a Basic Fare flight paying cash, if you need to cancel, you won't get a cash refund, you'll get a Southwest Credit - valid for only six months. Keep reading to learn how to turn that six month credit into a no expiration credit! 

Similarly, if you experience Southwest delays/issues, you may be issued a LUV Voucher, which is valid for 12 months (travel must be completed before the expiration date). We have received over $800 in LUV Vouchers in the past six months! So this definitely happens (and here's how you can request a voucher too!)

In order to use Flight Credits and/or LUV Vouchers, it's important to know that when booking a flight, "each passenger can use a total of three forms of payment per booking, and each flight credit counts as one form a payment". 

The process I'm about to outline for you, not only will extend your credit's "shelf life" it also essentially allows you to combine multiple flight credits into one credit (even in your credits are non-transferable!), so that you can use all at once as one form of payment and perhaps pay the remains with cash/credit card.

In any instance - the jist is, if you have a Southwest Credit or Voucher that's going to expiring before you can use it; there’s a way to extend. Read on! 

How to Extend Expiring Southwest Credits

You can "beat" Southwest at their own game by following this hack to “convert” expiring travel funds to non-expiring and transferable travel funds. 

Is it a bit complicated? Yes. Does it work? Also yes. 

Keep in mind - you can locate flight credits in your Southwest Account. On a web browser, you do this by logging > My Account > Scroll down to My Flight Credits: 

However, LUV Vouchers typically are issued via email (and in my opinion are harder to keep track of! If//when I use a LUV voucher, I usually do a reply email to myself from the original issuance email, and I tell myself what date I used the voucher, what flight I used it for, and my confirmation number. This way, if I *think* I have a voucher to use, I can do a quick inbox search).

You can use this link to check the balance on Flight Credits and LUV Vouchers (as long as you know the confirmation code and/or voucher number.

How-To:

1. Find any one-way Choice Preferred tier flight that the cash price costs slightly more than your travel credit. The NEEDS to cost more than your travel credit value, not less. Ideally up to $20 more (you will need to spend the delta amount in cash, so the closer to your travel credit amount the better). This flight needs to be for a date that is before your travel credit expires. 

You can do this by using the low fare calendar and filtering search for Choice Preferred. From the main search page,  select "Search with low fare calendar" (note this option doesn't appear in App and needs to be done from a web browser)

After you click search, at the left, on the Fare type, select "Choice Preferred" from the drop down:

Example: Lets say you have a $90 travel fund expiring February 2027. You need to look for a choice preferred flight before February 2027 that costs at least $90. Using the low fare calendar, I found a $94 option in October 2026.

2. Purchase a Southwest giftcard to cover the cost of that flight minus the travel credit amount. 

This is why, you want to find a flight priced as close to your flight credit amount, but slightly higher. You technically could find any flight that costs more than your credit value, but then you'd be tying up a lot of extra money in Southwest credits.

The best place I’ve found for instant digital giftcards is DoorDash. Not only can you do any custom amount, but if you have a dash pass (benefit from tons of Chase cards), you also get 10% off gift cards!

Example: We found that $94 flight above and have a $90 travel fund; so you’re going to purchase a digital Southwest gift card, for at least $4 (in this case, the minimum amount is $25 though; so I'd buy a $25 giftcard, which means I'm tying up more money in Southwest credits)

3. Go to Southwest and put the cash Choice Preferred flight you found earlier, that costs the same as your travel fund + SW gift card, in your cart.

For our example: this would be the $94 choice preferred flight on 10/14/2026 that we found above.

4. At check you, use your expiring travel fund plus the newly purchased SW gift card, as your form of payment.

5. Pretty much immediately after purchase, you can cancel the flight and you’ll receive a non-expiring/one-time transferable travel credit, for the total amount that you paid!

From our example: this would a $94 non-expiring, one-time transferable credit. (The original $90 travel credit plus the $4 used from the $25 Southwest Giftcard)

Keep in Mind

- You technically have to put more money into this by purchasing the gift card, in order for this to work. That’s why I would look for a choice preferred flight priced as close to, but over the value, of your travel credit

- The flight you book MUST be choice preferred (or higher) tier flight for this to work, based on the different refund policies for each fare benefits

- You can also use this technique to combine multiple individual travel credits into one. For example, when my family of four each get our own LUV voucher, because Southwest limits you to three forms of payment per ticket purchase, I can’t use all four vouchers to purchase one flight… BUT if I used two or three vouchers to purchase base one flight, then canceled, I would have effectively “combined” those vouchers into one!

- Since the method above yields a one-time transferable credit, if you transfer the credit to someone else, when they go to use it, they HAVE to use it to pay for a flight for themselves. The passenger name has to match the name transferred to.

I found this out the hard way. I went through all of the steps above, and effectively moved a transfer credit to my P2’s account. My plan had been to combine it with a flight credit he had to purchase a ticket for me (on his account). Nope, didn’t work because I wasn’t booking a flight for him with his name on the transferred credit…. So I got it repeat the process all over again to transfer the credits back to me to book a flight in my name. But in the end, I was able to combine and utilize two flight credits that were expiring to book a flight for free (no points needed); which was worth it.

Summary

You never know what you don't know. This little trick is a great way to "extend" the useful life of those pesky credits. I know we've had more than one credit expire in the past and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't know this sooner. If this post doesn't help you right now, I hope it will in the future!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Extra Southwest Points

I've shared about shopping portals before (read here) and typically Rakuten gets a lot of recognition; but did you know most airlines and some banks have their own shopping portals? There are so many different shopping portals, that there are actually websites that will compare portals for you, to know which has the highest offer. This points talks about my favorite shopping portal comparison tool.

No idea what I'm talking about? Here's some information for a refresher...

Shopping Portal 101

What's a Shopping Portal?
Per Google AI, a shopping portal is a website or platform that acts as a gateway to online retailers, offering bonus rewards like cash back, airline miles or points, for purchases made through the shopping portal. Instead of going directly to a retailer's website, you visit the shopping portal first, search and click on a link to your retailer of choice, and then make your purchase from the retailers website. 

The portal tracks your purchase (but not your personal information like shipping address and/or credit card number), then credits your account with the bonus rewards offered.

Why use a Shopping Portal?
To earn extra points, miles, or cash back for free

How do shopping portals make money?
Through affiliate links and commission paid by the retailers.

Do I need to use a certain credit card to use a Shopping Portal?
Nope! Unlike "offers" which are coupons tied to a specific credit card; it does NOT matter what form of payment you use to pay when you shop via shopping portal!

Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal

Sign up here and have your SW Rapid Rewards number and log in handy

Why am I taking time to highlight Southwest Shopping Portal? Not only can you earn extra SW points Because to redeem for SW points flights; but also because points earned via SW shopping portal count towards SW Companion Pass! SW CP allows you to book a flight (on points or cash) and add a second flyer for just taxes and fees ($5.60 for domestic US travel!)

I have an entire post here with strategies to earn Companion Pass, which is to hit 135,000 companion pass qualifying points in a calendar year.

If I have a SW credit card (which I do), I generally earn 1 point per dollar spent on my SW card (granted, some categories earn more points). I'm definitely not putting over $100,000 of spend in a calendar year on my Southwest card to earn companion pass.

However, I do consciously SW Shopping portal to earn extra points to minimize the spend I need to put on my SW card. Right now SW Shopping Portal has an offer if you enroll in the offer and spend X-amount by 8/10/2026, you can earn up to 2,500 extra points (on top of your shopping portal spend points. If that makes sense?)

With this promotion and purchases I've made in the past month; I've spent $560 using SW Shopping Portal; and with the promotion above, plus the shopping portal points, I will earn a total of 3,866 rapid rewards (1,366 based on my portal spend below + 2,000 bonus points).

That is SO much better than having spend $3,866 on my Southwest credit card! Granted, I still have a long ways to go to earn companion pass ;) but hey, I've booked Southwest points flights for less than 3,866 points!

SW Shopping Portal - Recent Transactions

And that doesn't take into consideration which credit card and/or benefit I'm using and the points/benefits earned via that method and working on a sign up bonus for.

Summary

Shopping portals add another step to online shopping and another way to make your head spin in points and miles. But if you have the capacity (hint: download the free web browser extensions so you automatically get a pop up reminder when shopping online!); shopping portals, offer a convenient way to earn more points (or cashback) without spending more!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Promotional Companion Pass

It's baaaack!

Right now, Feb 2026, the sign up bonus for ANY Southwest Personal Credit Card will get you a buy one, get one flights; earning a companion pass through 2/28/2027!

Now, there are a few cons to this offer; or at least differences from the “traditional companion pass”, that you should consider before taking this offer. The Cons are covered later on in this post, so that you can know full scope and decide if this offer is right for you. 

Promotional Southwest Companion Pass

There are 3 Southwest personal credit cards with an elevated offer right now, that includes earning Companion Pass, through 2/28/27. Each card's minimum spend, sign up bonus offer, annual fee, and benefits vary. Let's talk through each card!

Rapid Rewards Plus Card

Current Elevated Offer: Spend $3,000 in 3 months; earn 20,000 points AND Companion Pass through 2/28/27

Annual Fee: $99

5/24: This is a personal card, therefore it takes a spot for the Chase 5/24 rule (Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics)

Benefits:

• Free checked bag for cardholder and up to 8 people on the same reservation. You do NOT have to use the card to purchase flights in order to utilize this benefit
• Free standard seat selection 48 hours in advance of flights for everyone one your reservation
• 10% Flight Discount
• No foreign transaction fees
• 3,000 anniversary points yearly

Referral Link

Rapid Rewards Premier Card 

Current Elevated Offer: Spend $4,000 in 3 months; earn 30,000 points AND Companion Pass through 2/28/27

Annual Fee $149

5/24: This is a personal card, therefore it takes a spot for the Chase 5/24 rule (Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics)

Benefits:

• Free checked bag for cardholder and up to 8 people on the same reservation. You do NOT have to use the card to purchase flights in order to utilize this benefit
• Free Preferred seat selection 48 hours in advance of flights for everyone one your reservation
• 15% Flight Discount
• No foreign transaction fees
• 6,000 anniversary points yearly

Referral Link

Rapid Rewards Priority Card 

Current Elevated Offer: Spend $5,000 in 3 months; earn 50,000 points AND Companion Pass through 2/28/27

Annual Fee $229

5/24: This is a personal card, therefore it takes a spot for the Chase 5/24 rule (Chase will only allow you to have 4 personal credit cards from ANY bank/store/airline/hotel/etc in the previous 24 months. If you exceed this limit, Chase likely will automatically not approve you for more cards. Read Item 2 here for more beginner basics)

Benefits:

• Free checked bag for cardholder and up to 8 people on the same reservation. You do NOT have to use the card to purchase flights in order to utilize this benefit
• Free Preferred seat selection at time of booking  for everyone one your reservation
• No foreign transaction fees
• 7,600 anniversary points yearly

Referral Link

Comparing All 3 Cards...

Cons for this Elevated Offer

You can only earn a sign up bonus on ANY Southwest Personal card every 24 months. That means, if you open one of the cards listed above now, you will not be eligible to earn a sign up bonus on a Southwest Personal card for 24 months after you hit the Feb 2026 Personal card SUB.

Why does this matter? This promo CP only lasts until 2/28/27. While a year of BOGO flights is great,  the traditional method of earning companion pass lets you earn bogo flights for up to 24 months.

Additionally, with the traditional method of earning CP, you earn 125,000 points that you can then spend to book flights! The offers above only get you 20,000-40,000 points, which may not even be enough for a one-way flight in some cases.

If you have opened a SW Personal card in the past 24 months and earned a sign up bonus, then you are NOT eligible for this offer.

This is a Great Offer For...

1. People who absolutely cannot open a business card. Although, you really should read this post and reconsider!

2. Someone who has big holiday travel planned, especially over Christmas 2026/New Years 2027. Going to Hawaii next winter? SW roundtrip flight to Hawaii around the holidays can easily cost 120,000 points for ONE person, round trip. If you have companion pass, then you're saving ~120,000 points with this offer by itself, which is easily just as good as any other sign up bonus!

Summary

This offer isn't right for everyone, but there are some situations where I think this is a GREAT offer! If you're interested in applying, here is a referral link (you can open any of the SW personal cards with this!)! This is free to you, but gives me a small kick back of points for using my referral. 

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know my suggestions.

Wondering how I keep all of this information organized? Check out my Points Tracker!

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Earn BoGo Flights for 2 Years with One Card?!

This offer has ended

It's true! While the "traditional" Southwest Companion Pass method (described here in detail) requires one person to open two Southwest cards (one business and one personal), there is currently an elevated Southwest card offer that can get you Companion Pass with just the one card - no referrals needed!

How to Earn Companion Pass with One Card

Thanks to this current elevated offer:

This is a record high sign up bonus offer! Which ends 10/22/2025.

Southwest Performance Business Card

Annual Fee: $299*

Current (Elevated) Sign up Offer: Spend $10,000 in 3 months, earn to 120,000 points

5/24 Status: Because this is a business card, it will NOT impact your 5/24.  (If you're not familiar with what 5/24 Rule is, visit this post New to Points, Rule 2)

*Benefits to help offset the annual fee: 

These aren't all of the card benefits, but I wanted to highlight that for holding this credit card you get:

• Free checked bags for cardholder and up to 8 guests up on the same reservation (including companion)
• Free seat selection at time of booking
• 9,000 points every year for your card anniversary
• 10,000 points boost towards CP every year for holding a card (note: these points cannot be used for bookings)

Referral Link

How to utilize this Offer to Earn CP

Reminder, in order to earn Companion Pass (CP), you need to earn 135,000 rapid rewards points in a calendar year. Your points towards companion pass reset annually on January 1st.

So, if you wanted to use this offer to earn buy one, get one flights for *most* of 2026 and ALL of 2027, here's what you need to do and the timeline to follow to do it

1.  Between now and 10/21/25: Open a Southwest Performance Business card

Don't think you qualify for business cards? I bet you can! Read this post for ideas that may help you qualify for a business card, as well as step-by-step instructions how to fill out a business card application if you don't have an LLC or EIN.

2. After approval through mid-December, spend $9,000 of the $10K spend on the card. Once you hit $9k spent, put this card away and do NOT use.

3. 1/1/2026 - your 3-month deadline: Spend the remaining amount needed to hit a $10,000 spend in 3mo from your date of approval. This may be a quick turnaround for some, so plan ahead and make sure you complete the $10k minimum spend before your 3-months to do so is up!

Adding up the Points

Following the above, you will earn: 10,000 points (minimum, from your $10,000 spend) + 120,000 points (sign up bonus for hitting minimum spend) + 10,000 points (point boost for holding a SW card); which puts you at 140,000 points, which will likely hit your account in February, after your statement closes!

At which point, you will have earned Companion Pass for Feb 2026 through 12/31/2027.

Don't forget, those 130,000 points you earned from signing up for the card and hitting the minimum spend are usable! You can use those points to book your flight and then add your companion; so you're both flying for free, plus taxes and fees ($5.60 per person one-way for domestic flights; more for international).

Summary

Have you had a companion pass? Or is this the year you'll go for one? We are going on three years of having companion pass and have gone so many places with it (Hawaii, Chicago, Seattle, Costa Rica, Belize, California, Scottsdale, etc); it's become a crucial part of my travel strategy for my family!

PS - if you're a family of 4 like me, both you and your partner could open this year (if you can hit the minimum spend for both at the same time). If you do this, don't forget to have one person refer the other person to the SW card for even more points!

As always, I SO appreciate you using my links to open to new cards! It helps me to continue educating and providing free content! If you're going to grab this card, please use my referral!

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> Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

> Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Using SW Elevated Offer for Companion Pass

My last post covered what Southwest Companion Pass is, how you can earn it through credit card sign up bonuses, how long it's good for AND the criticality of timing when your points hit, and traditional methods of earning. If you missed the basics, you can read them here.

However, with the current elevated Southwest personal cards having a sign up bonus of 100,000 points with a $4,000 spend in a 5-month time period; I've received SO many questions about how to use this offer to earn companion pass that I'm doing another post - focused on strategy with this offer.

Keep in mind, this 100,000 point offer will end 9/17/25!

If you already have a SW personal card and it's been at least 24 months since you opened the card and received a sign up bonus, you are eligible for this offer. First close your current SW personal card and wait a week. Then apply for this offer.

Companion Pass Basics

• What: Buy one, get one free flights for a designated companion. Pay only taxes and fees for the companion. Flights for primary flier can be purchased with cash or with points.;
• How: To earn a companion pass, you need to earn 135,000 points in a calendar year, Jan-Dec (CP earning points reset to zero every year, 1/1)
• Timing: Once you hit 135,000 points, you earn companion pass after that statement close. The companion pass is good for the remainder of that calendar year and the ENTIRE calendar year following.

How to use the 100,000 Personal Card Offer towards Companion Pass

Critical questions to think about before opening this card:

1. When do you want the Companion Pass to be valid for? 

A: Remainder of 2025 and all of 2026

B: Most of 2026 and all of 2027 

I will come back to this, but your answer to this question will determine your timeline for hitting your minimum spend. (Keep in mind, the strategies I'm sharing are based on current companion pass requirements, which may change in time).

2. Do you already have Companion Pass earning points?

If you're flown Southwest at all in 2025, then you may already have earned some points towards a companion pass! If you have at least 20,000 points here, then you simply only need to open the 100,000 point SW Personal Credit Card and don't need to worry about Question 3.

To check your status:

• Log into your Southwest Rapid Rewards account
• Click "My Account"
• Locate "My Rapid Rewards" 

As shown here, this person already have 43,905 of the 135,000
 points needed to qualify for Companion Pass this year

3. Do you have someone you can refer to a Southwest card?

The easier way to get a big chunk of points, in addition to a sign up bonus, is to refer someone to a Southwest card. Standard Southwest referrals are worth 20,000 points with a limit of 5 referrals per card per year.

Here's Your Plan and Timeline

If you want 2025/2026 Companion Pass

If your response is to Question 1 was  "A - Remainder of 2025 and all of 2026", then you are going to open the 100K Southwest Personal card offer before 9/17 and spend spend spend (within your means). 

Again, open this card ASAP!

Ideally, you would also refer someone else to the 100K point offer before 9/17 so that they can take advantage as well. However, any referral before December should have referral points hit in 2025 to count towards your goal of 135,000 points in 2025.

With this, once you hit the $4K minimum spend and refer someone, within the next statement close, you should receive your sign up bonus (100,000 points) + points for you minimum spend (a minimum of 4,000 points at 1 point per $1 spent, but more points if you are spending directly with Southwest, or 2 points per $1 spent if you are using for groceries and/or dining out) + 10,000 point boost* for holding a Southwest card + 20,000 points (for someone using your referral link. They do not have to hit the minimum spend in order for you to get your referral bonus).

*Southwest gives each Rapid Rewards member who holds any credit card a 10,000 point boost towards Companion Pass annually. Note this is per account and not per Southwest credit card held. So if you hold a SW Business and a SW Personal card, you will only receive 10,000 point boost; not 20,000.

All of the numbers above add up to 134,000 points (100,000 + 4,000 + 10,000 + 20,0000); hitting in 2025. Hopefully of that $4,000 minimum spend, $1,000 of it was spent at groceries/restaurant and then you would earn an additional 1,000 points; which puts you at the 135,000 threshold!

If you want 2026/2027 Companion Pass

If your response is to Question 1 was  "B - Most of 2026 and all of 2027", then you are going to open the 100K Southwest Personal card offer before 9/17 and slooooooooow roll.

Again, open this card ASAP!

Ideally, you want to wait until mid-December to start spending on this card. That way, any spend you put on the card, will be included in your January 2026 statement and therefore, have the points awarded in 2026. Remember, each January 1st, companion qualifying points will reset to zero.

So, for you, my friend - open the card before 9/17 and put it in a sock drawer.

December 15th start spending. Spend up to $3,500 on the card before January 1st and then STOP! Put the card away again and don't pull it out until January 1s.... just to be safe! 

After January 1st, spend the remaining amount of the $4,000 minimum spend on the card (note: the longer you can wait to spend on this card until 1/1, the better/more conservative; but I know it's hard with the holidays! But this helps guarantee your points earned per dollar spent hit in 2026)

Also, come January 1st, refer someone else to any Southwest credit card.

With this, once you hit the $4K minimum spend and refer someone, within the next statement close, you should receive your sign up bonus (100,000 points) + points for you minimum spend (a minimum of 4,000 points at 1 point per $1 spent, but more points if you are spending directly with Southwest, or 2 points per $1 spent if you are using for groceries and/or dining out) + 10,000 point boost for holding a Southwest card + 20,000 points (for someone using your referral link. They do not have to hit the minimum spend in order for you to get your referral bonus).

All of the numbers above add up to 134,000 points (100,000 + 4,000 + 10,000 + 20,0000), hitting in 2026. Hopefully of that $4,000 minimum spend, $1,000 of it was spent at groceries/restaurant and then you would earn an additional 1,000 points; which puts you at the 135,000 threshold!

What if We Need Two Companion Passes?

If you're similar to me, and a family of 4, wanting two companion passes for most of 2026 and all of 2027, it's likely going to take you 3 cards between the two of you to get there. Here's how:

Player 1 opens Southwest Personal card 100,000 offer before 9/17. Again, open this card ASAP!

9/17 - 12/15: do not use the card

12/15: Similar to above, December 15th start spending. Spend up to $3,500 on the card before January 1st and then STOP! Put the card away again and don't pull it out until January 1s.... just to be safe! 

After January 1st: spend the remaining amount of the $4,000 minimum spend on the card (note: the longer you can wait to spend on this card until 1/1, the better/more conservative; but I know it's hard with the holidays!)

Also, after January 1st, Player 1 refers Player 2 to any Southwest Business Card (it's recommend to open between cards before Personal cards to ensure that you can get approved and the strategy will work)

After 30 days OR after hitting Player 2's minimum spend (whichever is longer, you need a minimum of 30 days between credit card applications for the same bank): Player 1 refers Player 2 to Player 2's second Southwest card. This card can be another Southwest Business card or a Southwest Personal Card.

Player 2 should have accumulated enough points with two sign up bonuses, minimum spends, and 10,000 point boost to hit the 135,000 point threshold to earn their companion pass!

In Summary

There are many ways to strategically utilize Southwest credit card sign up bonuses and referrals to earn companion passes without flying Southwest 100 fights a year or spend $135,000 on the same Southwest card you've had forever!

Utilizing my referral links help me keep my content free for you! If you're going to open a Southwest Credit card, I appreciate you using my referral link here!

I hope this helps, but as always if you have any questions, feel free to reach out! justcallmehaha@gmail.com

Southwest Companion Pass

Southwest has announced and begun to implement a lot of changes this year. 

As of  May 28th, 2025 Southwest no longer allows free bags for all passengers and starting at the end of January 2026, Southwest will also start having assigned seats on flights. These changes have ruffled a lot of feathers; but I continue to be a loyal Southwest flyer and there's one reason why...

Southwest Companion Pass

What is Companion Pass?     

Southwest Companion Pass (often referred to as SW CP) is an earned benefit that allows you (as SW CP-holder) to add one guest to any booked flight for only the cost of taxes/fees (in the US this is $5.60 per one-way flight; international travel will vary).

You assign someone in your SW account as a companion and have the ability to change companions up to three times in a calendar year.

Your flight can be booked with cash, credits, or points. Once you book your flight, you can add your companion:

A companion pass is valid for the remainder of the year you qualify AND the entire year following. I'll hit more on this later, want you to understand that there is a timing component to getting the SW CP from a strategy standpoint.

For a family of four, like myself, this means that if both my husband and myself have our own companion passes, then our two kids fly free. We have used this to our advantage in the past year and a half we've had our SW CPs!

How to Earn Companion Pass?

There are a two ways to earn Companion Pass:

1. Fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year.

2. Earn 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year.

We're not going to have you spend $135,000 to earn 135,000 points (please don't do this! Reach out if you're spending this much in a calendar year and I can help you with much better card suggestions!)

We're going to focus on earning 135,000 points; because thanks to credit card sign up bonuses - this is TOTALLY achievable! What's even better, is that you get to use those points then to book free flights!!

Note: points transferred to Southwest, like your Chase points, do NOT count as qualifying points towards CP.

Traditional Two-Card Method

The "traditional" method of earning 135,000 points in a calendar year is to open one Southwest Business card and one Southwest Personal card and earn the sign up bonus for both cards within the same calendar year. There are several versions of the cards (for both personal and business). You CAN hold multiple business cards at the same time, but you CANNOT hold more than one personal SW hard at a time. 

Southwest automatically gives you an annual 10,000 points boost towards Companion Pass when you are a cardholder. Note: regardless of how many cards you hold, you only get one 10,000 points boost. Also, the 10,000 points boost only counts towards CP. It does not allow you to use these 10,000 points to book travel.

In addition, Southwest personal cards have a rule that you cannot earn a new sign up bonus on a personal card until it's been 24 months since your last SW Personal card sign up bonus. (This is important to keep in mind for long term strategy and repeat companion passes).

How to earn 135,000 points: 

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Personal card (lowest annual fee/lowest benefits) standard offer is to earn 50,000 points when you spend $1,000 in 3 months 
• Southwest Performance Business Card (highest annual fee/highest benefits) standard offer is 80,000 points when you spend $5,000 in 3 months.

(Note the links above are referral links; and I appreciate your support using them when you open a new credit card. It's free to you, but provides me a small kickback to keep my content free)

From above, you would earn: 50,000pts + 1,000pts (for 1 point per dollar spent to hit the minimum spend) on the Personal Card and 80,000pts + 5,000pts (for 1 point per dollar spent to hit the minimum spend) on the Business Card, plus the 10,000 point boost for holding SW Cards. 

Adding these numbers up: 50,000 + 1,000 + 80,000 + 5,000 + 10,000 puts you at 146,000 points, which surpasses the 135,000 points needed to earn companion pass!

Keep in mind, that with Chase cards, when you hit a minimum spend, the sign up bonus points typically do not hit your account immediately. They hit at statement close. So if you hit a spend on the first of the month, but your statement closes on the 20th of the month, then you won't actually have those points in your account until at least the 20th of the month.

Timing of Earning Points

I mentioned above, that once your account hits 135,000 points, you earn a companion pass that is valid for the remainder of the year you qualify AND the entire year following. Therefore, it is CRITICAL to understand timing of when your points will hit, because it could make a difference of prolonging your SW CP.

So let's say you signed up for a SW card today and hit the minimum spent two months from now (September for the sake of this discussion). Immediately after you hit that signup bonus, you open a second SW card and hit that card's sign up bonus a month later (October in this example). That means that in October or November of this year, your SW account would have at least 135,000 points and earn you a Companion Pass for the remainder of 2025 AND all of 2026.

Pretty cool, right?

Buuuuuuut; if you had waited a few months, and strategically timed the opening of your cards and when you hit the minimum spend, you could have had all of the points hit your account in January 2026; and then you'd have earned SW CP for almost all of 2026 AND all of 2027! This is where timing and understanding when your points will hit is CRITICAL.

When we earned our SW CP's for 2024 and 2025; we starting opening SW cards in late October 2023. I very very carefully monitored the spending on those cards and once we were within $400 of the minimum spend we STOPPED using the card. Then I waited until January 2024, finished the remainder of the minimum spend requirement and boom, earned the CP, valid for almost two full years!

2-Person/3-Card Method

If your head is spinning from above, I'm going to warn you, this is even more advanced. However, the benefit is that if you need to earn two SW CPs, you can utilize the 3-Card Method so that you're opening one less card total (compared to above, where each person who wants a CP needs to open 2 cards).

The 3-card method utilizes referral points, which also count towards the needed 135K points for a Companion Pass. The easiest timing for all of this for the points to hit so that both people (player 1 and player 2) have companion passes is to start in January; but it technically can be done any time of year.

To use this method you need to pay attention to referral and sign up bonus offers, as both can and will change periodically!

Step 1: Player-1 needs to open a SW business card with an 80,000 pt sign up bonus minimum offer. Note, this is the SW Business Performance standard offer. Taking advantage of an elevated offer, such as 85K points would be more ideal.

Player-1 Point Status: from opening this card, Player 1 will earn: 80,000pts + 5,000 (from minimum spend) + 10,000pts (SW boost), putting them at 100,000 points. Which is 40,000 points short of a CP.

Step 2: Player-1 then refers Player-2 to a SW card. The referral bonus needs to be 20,000 points or higher, unless Player-1 opened an elevated 85K+ point card. (note: at the time of writing this post, the referral offer is 20,000 points, which is standard; but can drop).

Player-1 Point Status: 20,000pts from referral + 100,000 points from Step-1, putting Player 1 at 120,000 points (still shy of 135,000 required points)

Step 3: Player 2 hits the sign up bonus for their first card. Let's say it was the cheaper of the business card options, Premier Business, which has a standard offer of 60,000pts for $3,000 spend in 3 months.

Player-2 Point Status: 60,000pts + 3,000 (from the spend) + 10,000 point boost. Player-2 is at 73,000 points. Which is 62,000 points short of 135,000 needed.

Step 4: Player-1 refers Player-2 to a second SW card. Since Player-2 optioned a business card for their first card, this time Player 2 will open a personal card. Because Player-2 still needs 62,000 points, the standard offer for the lower tier personal card, Rapid Rewards Plus, isn't going to be enough. Player-2 will need to open a personal (or business card) that has a 60,000 point or greater sign up bonus. 

From this move, Player 2 would then have earned over 135,000 points to get their SW CP.

AND

Player 1, would earn another 20,000 points in referral, which gets them to 140,000 points, enough for them to also earn a companion pass!!

What about the current elevated May 2026 Personal Card Offer??

Today, 5/27/2026, Southwest has elevated offers on all of their personal credit cards; ranging from 80,000 to 90,000 points and $1,000 to $3,000 spend in 3 months,

If you were to open the lowest annual fee SW card, the Plus...

You would earn 80,000pt sign up bonus + 1,000pt spend + 10,000pt boost; which puts you at 91K points. That may be a stretch for some; 44,000 points short of the 135,000k points needed for companion pass.

To find the additional 44K points needed, you could:

• Open a Southwest business card (remember, you can only have one Southwest personal card at a time; and it needs to have been 24 months since your last SW personal card sign up bonus to earn another)
• Pay cash for Southwest flights; you'll earn miles for your flight distance and bonus points for shopping on Southwest with your SW card.
• Refer a friend/family member to the card, earn 20,000 points per referral
• You can refer from any southwest card to any other type of southwest card. The person opening a card from your referral doesn't have to open the same exact card as you!
• Southwest Shopping Portal
• Southwest Surveys
• Southwest Dining
• Earn additional points through strategic spend; here are the differences between the card options and ways your can earn more points by spending category!

The SW Rapid Rewards Plus Card has a $99 annual fee and similar additional points as SW Rapid Rewards Premier Card which has a $149 annual fee, but gets you (and up to 8 passengers on your reservation) a free checked bag, puts you in Group 5 boarding, allows you to select a seat within 48 hours of departure

• For additional points earn, this card gets:
• 3x points for every dollar spent on Southwest
• 2x points for every dollar spent at grocery stores and restaurants (up to $8K in a year)
• 1x point on everything else

The SW Rapid Rewards Priority Card has a $229 annual fee, but gets you (and up to 8 passengers on your reservation) a free checked bag, puts you in Group 5 boarding, allows you to select a seat at booking

• For additional points earn, this card gets:
• 4x points for every dollar spent on Southwest
• 2x points for every dollar spent at grocery stores and restaurants
• 1x point on everything else

I think this approach is worthwhile to consider getting this card while the offer is elevated if you want to earn a companion pass IF you have someone to refer to and it's definitely worth trying if you are unable to open a business card (you may qualify for a business and business card! Read here).

And if you don't care about the companion pass and just like flying Southwest, I still think this offer is a great one to take advantage of; especially with the recent changes like charged checked bags and assigned seats. Having a Southwest card could more than pay for it's self with those two benefits alone!

Remember, in order to earn a sign up bonus for a Southwest Personal card, it has to have been more then 24 months since you last earned a sign up bonus. If you already have a Southwest personal card and it's been more than 24 months, you could close your current card (read here on closing cards), wait 30 days, and apply for a new one to take advantage of this elevated offer!

Summary

That is A LOT!!! What do you think? Will you try for a companion pass?!

For any of the methods that require someone to open to cards, it's advised to open the business card first. This is to ensure that you can get approved for the business card and that your overall plan will succeed!

You can use the same link to apply for any of the Southwest cards! As always, I appreciate your support and utilizing my referral links! Be sure if you're viewing this in a Meta app, to open a new external web browser to complete your application, which protects your data and gives me credit!

If you're unsure, fill out my next card recommendation form, and I'll give you my two cents!

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> Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

> Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!