How to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass with 1 credit card welcome bonus
Editor's Note
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to bring a designated travel companion on all your Southwest flights, including paid and award tickets. The only out-of-pocket costs are any taxes and fees (which start at just $5.60 each way).
For frequent Southwest flyers, this can easily be worth thousands of dollars in annual value.
And now, with welcome bonuses on all three personal Southwest cards: the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card and, you can earn a companion after meeting a minimum spending requirement.
The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Earn a Companion Pass with 1 card bonus
There are two ways to qualify for the Companion Pass: earning 135,000 qualifying points or taking 100 qualifying, one-way flights. You must meet either of these requirements in a calendar year.
Thankfully, Southwest's cobranded credit card welcome bonuses count toward the Companion Pass qualification requirement, and three of them include the companion pass in the current welcome offer.
For a limited time, the three Southwest personal cards are offering welcome offers worth at least $675 based on TPG's March 2025 valuations:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card: Earn 85,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card: Earn 85,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card: Earn 85,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
These are not the best offers we've seen on these cards, but any time a Companion pass is offered in the welcome offer, we recommend you apply. That's fantastic value for cards with reasonable annual fees ($69 for the Plus, $99 for the Premier and $149 for the Priority). And with a reasonable spending requirement, the payoff can be incredible.
If you get one of these cards now and meet the spending requirement, you'll enjoy a Companion Pass through February 28, 2026.
Related: How to quickly earn the Southwest Companion Pass
Other notable card perks
As a Southwest Plus cardholder, you'll also receive these benefits:
- Two EarlyBird check-in passes per year
- Annual 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- 3,000 bonus points every year on your cardmember anniversary
Meanwhile, the Southwest Premier Card offers the following perks:
- Two EarlyBird check-in passes per year
- 1,500 tier qualifying points toward A-List status for every $5,000 you spend on the card
- Annual 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- 6,000 bonus points every year on your cardmember anniversary
- No foreign transaction fees
As a Southwest Priority cardholder, you'll also receive these benefits:
- Four Upgraded Boardings per year (subject to availability)
- 1,500 tier qualifying points toward A-List status for every $5,000 you spend on the card
- Annual 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- 7,500 bonus points every year on your cardmember anniversary
- No foreign transaction fees
Here's a comparison of the earning rates on the three cards:
| Bonus rates* | Southwest Plus Card | Southwest Premier Card | Southwest Priority Card |
|---|---|---|---|
3 points per dollar (4.05% return on spending) | Southwest purchases | Southwest purchases | |
2 points per dollar (2.7% return on spending) | Southwest purchases
Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners; local transit and commuting (including ride-hailing services); internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming. | Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners; local transit and commuting (including ride-hailing services); internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming. | Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners; local transit and commuting (including ride-hailing services); internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming. |
1 point per dollar (1.35% return on spending) | All other purchases | All other purchases | All other purchases |
*Return on spending is based on TPG's February 2025 valuations.
As you can see, the Premier and Priority cards have some slightly higher earnings at Southwest, plus some notable added benefits. However, deciding if those are worth the additional money in annual fees is up to you.
The Southwest Priority card took home the best cobranded airline card at the 2024 TPG Awards and is a perfect middle-ground card with a reasonable annual fee which is even more justifiable now with the Companion Pass.
Who qualifies for Southwest card welcome bonuses?
Knowing if you qualify for a bonus is important before applying for either card. For starters, these cards are subject to Chase's 5/24 rule. You'll likely be denied immediately if you've been approved for five (or more) new credit cards across all issuers over the last 24 months.
In addition, both cards have the same language for these offers:
"These products are available to you if you do not have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months."
Related: 9 reasons to get a business credit card
Get extra points to use with Southwest
You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points from cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. However, unlike the points earned from the Southwest cobranded credit cards, these points do not count toward earning the Companion Pass.
That said, you can transfer those points to Southwest and have even more Rapid Rewards points at the ready to "pay" for your tickets, and then your designated companion can come for just the taxes and fees.
Related: Your complete guide to maximizing Southwest Rapid Rewards
Bottom line
With the current welcome bonuses on the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus, Premier and Priority cards, you can qualify for the Companion Pass just by meeting the spending requirement of the welcome offer.
As a reminder, you can change your companion up to three times in a calendar year, but not until you've completed all travel with your current companion.
To learn more about the cards, read our full reviews of the Plus, Premier and Priority cards.
Apply here: Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
Apply here: Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card