southwest companion pass credit cards
Southwest Companion Pass Season

Update: This bonus offer has expired.

I *just* kicked off what I call “Southwest Companion Pass Season” in October. The timing I go by is about half way through October is optimal, giving you plenty of time to spend your way close to the minimum spend requirements of two cards (two business or one personal and one business) – but without cutting it so close you might accidentally hit one of the minimum spends a few days early. Anytime towards the end of the year works, though!

The Companion Pass Strategy aims to get you the Southwest Companion Pass (where you can have a companion fly for just taxes and fees on as many flights as you can take) for as close to two full years as possible. 

With these new offers, you’ll get 75,000 Southwest (Companion Pass qualifying) points when you spend $3,000 within 3 months from account opening. This replaces the old offer for 50,000 points when you spend $1,000 within 3 months.

The primary way it changes the strategy is:

  1. If you cannot get business credit cards (even though most people are eligible!), this gets you more than halfway there.
  2. If you want to get the Southwest Business Premier instead of the Southwest Business Performance card (lower annual fee but only 60,000 points with the bonus on Premier vs. 80,000 on the Performance), the higher personal card bonus will balance that out – so both work equally well.

If you already know the deal with these cards, you can find all of the offers here (the links support MilesTalk): Learn how to apply for Southwest Airlines Credit Cards.

You can also read my full guide on how to get the Southwest Companion Pass for Two Years.

Thoughts?

Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram for all sorts of tips on miles, points, credit cards, and travel.

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You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards. 

New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.

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9 COMMENTS

  1. Hi, can you please confirm, If I meet my required spend in Dec, but my statement cuts in early Jan, won’t I earn the bonus points in 2024? As I understand it, the points I earn for Dec charges wouldnt count for my 2024 companion pass, but the 75k bonus on 1 card and the 60k bonus I have on another, would give me enough to get the pass. I have 1 card that closes on the 3rd and I just got approved for the 2nd and will ask them to close then as well so hopefully I can use the companion pass on a flight I already have booked for Feb. I don’t want to mess it up!

    Thanks

    Thanks

    • Hi @ellen. You do get how it is SUPPOSED to work 😉 99 out of 100 times, that is how it works. Once in a while, Chase posts the bonus early, though. And so to avoid that rare but very possible thing from happening, we say to wait until Jan 1 to make that final purchase.

  2. Newbie here to miles/points.

    I have the Southwest Priority credit card and have had said card for many years. If I cancel that credit card, when would I be eligible for the bonus for the Southwest Plus or Premiere credit card?

    Thx and love the website and advice. 🙂

    Mike

    • Hi Mike – first I want to make sure it’s not your very oldest card as cancelling would negatively impact your credit score.

      Assuming that is not the case, you are free to cancel it any time and the rule is just that it’s been 24 months since your last bonus on a Southwest personal card to receive a new one.

      You can get any of the three including the one you cancelled. Just wait 2 weeks after you close to apply so the system has time to clear you out.

  3. I’m posting some info and a question so it might help others. This is my 3rd cycle of getting Southwest credit cards for the companion pass, but despite my experience, I made a major mistake and got awarded the bonus points in December instead of January (ooops!!!)

    1. Don’t forget that there will be an annual fee charged which will add to your spend amount (so don’t get super close to the $3k or $5k threshold before January).

    2. After you close a credit card, as Dave has stated, it takes time for the system to register the account as closed. If you apply again too soon, you will be denied since the system will think you have an existing active account. Not sure how accurate this is, but a CSR told me Transunion updates on the 21st of the month.

    3. I was recently awarded 80k bonus points for Performance Business card on 12/5/23. The last time I was awarded the bonus for a Performance Business card was on 1/16/22 (less than 24 months ago), so it seems like it’s not exactly 24 months that you can get the bonus. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe the exact interval is 23 months? Does anyone else have a similar experience?

    Thanks!

    • Hey Ed: Keep in mind that annual fee doesn’t count towards the spend. So while you are wise to not get that close anyway, if the required spend was $3,000 and you stopped at $2,905 + $95 annual fee, you would actually be denied the bonus.

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