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The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Guides
How to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass with 1 credit card welcome bonus
Nick Ewen is TPG's editor-in-chief and helps readers leverage credit cards (he has more than 25 of them) and loyalty programs to travel more for less. He's been at TPG for over 11 years.
Kyle Olsen is the former points and miles reporter at TPG. He specializes in maximizing points and miles, elite status and credit cards so readers travel more comfortably and at a lower cost.
also contributed to this story
February 25, 2025 • 7 min read
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Quick summary
The Southwest Companion Pass allows a designated companion to fly with you on all Southwest flights for just taxes and fees, including both paid and award tickets.
You can qualify for the Companion Pass by earning a set number of qualifying points or taking a specific number of one-way flights within a calendar year.
Current welcome offers on three personal Southwest cards allow you to earn the Companion Pass after meeting a minimum spending requirement.
These cards also provide additional benefits such as EarlyBird check-in passes, inflight purchase rebates, anniversary bonus points and, for some, upgraded boardings and no foreign transaction fees.
What to consider
Welcome bonuses on these cards count toward Companion Pass qualification, but transferred points from other programs do not.
Eligibility for these offers is limited if you currently hold a Southwest card or have received a new cardmember bonus in the past 24 months.
Approval is subject to application restrictions, including a limit on the number of new cards opened across all issuers in the past 24 months.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed comparison of the benefits and earning structures of each Southwest personal card to help you choose the best fit for your travel needs.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
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 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.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card also has two EarlyBird check-in passes per year. ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
If you get one of these cards now and meet the spending requirement, you’ll enjoy a Companion Pass through February 28, 2026.
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."
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.
Southwest Boeing 737-800 interior. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
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
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
