Here’s how to fly with a friend or family member for free until 2023

The coveted Southwest Companion Pass is an elite travel benefit that’s almost too good to be true. This pass allows another passenger to fly with you for free (plus taxes) an unlimited number of times for the life of the pass. Traditionally, the pass is valid for the rest of the year it’s earned, plus the entire following year.

However, there are also occasions when Southwest extends limited-time opportunities to earn special versions of the pass, which come with different expiration dates. And thanks to some unique Southwest credit card offers, there’s actually an incredibly easy way to earn this pass right now from the comfort of your house — with little effort required.

How does this work? And is it something you should do? Let’s dig into the details and find out if getting a Southwest Companion Pass makes sense for you.

What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

The Southwest Companion Pass is truly a no-strings-attached perk, as it comes with very few restrictions. The pass allows you to bring a companion with you on any Southwest flight for free, plus the cost of any taxes and fees, which are generally as low as $5.60 one way for a domestic flight.

The one main rule of the Companion Pass is there must be at least one seat available for sale in any fare class on a flight for which you’ve purchased your own ticket, either with cash or Southwest points.

On a standard-length Companion Pass, you’re allowed to change your companion up to three times per year (not including the initial companion), meaning in theory you could have as many as seven people as your companion over two calendar years.

Normally, to earn the pass, you must earn 125,000 qualifying points or fly 100 qualifying flights with Southwest in a calendar year. These points can be earned in three ways: paid flights booked through Southwest, base points earned from Rapid Rewards partners and points earned on Southwest credit cards.

That last method is the most important one, because right now, the sign-up offers on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card all include a Southwest Companion Pass plus 30,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on the card within the first three months.

This means instead of having to fly dozens of flights or spend a ton of money on your credit card, just applying for one of these three personal Southwest credit cards and meeting the minimum spending requirement will earn you the pass right away.

But there’s one catch: This is a promotional Companion Pass, and the expiration date differs from a normal pass. Instead of having the pass for the rest of the year it’s earned plus the entire following year, this particular Companion Pass is only valid through February 28, 2023.

While that’s obviously a shorter time frame, you’ll still have the pass for essentially an entire year, and you’ll be getting it right away. But if you still want a normal-length Southwest Companion Pass that’s valid for up to two years, there are also ways to get one using the current Southwest credit card offers. You just need to think creatively about which credit cards you apply for.

Earning a Companion Pass with Southwest credit cards

There are currently a total of five Southwest credit cards — three personal and two business — with sign- up offers that either come with or help you earn a Companion Pass. Here’s an overview of them:

The first three cards on the list are the personal Southwest credit cards — the Southwest Plus card, the Southwest Premier card and the Southwest Priority card. All three of these cards currently come with a limited-time Southwest Companion Pass as part of their sign-up bonuses.

Now, the value of this offer truly depends on how much you’ll utilize the pass. If you’re planning on jetsetting every week over the next year, the pass will be worth significantly more than if you find yourself only flying once in a blue moon. Even if you only fly a handful of times (or less) within the next 12 months, having your companion fly with you for free (plus taxes and fees) can potentially save you thousands of dollars.

On the other hand, if you’re currently staying put and you don’t expect to travel much (or at all) in the next 12 months, then this is not the right offer — or time — to apply for these cards.

However, let’s take a look at the other two credit cards on the list above. With the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card, you can earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months.

After meeting this spending requirement, you’d end up with 85,000 qualifying points — 80,000 bonus points, plus 5,000 points for spending $5,000 on the card. Then you’ll only need another 40,000 points in 2022 to earn a true full-length Southwest Companion Pass, meaning it’ll be valid through December 31, 2023. And there are many ways to earn the remaining points, such as regular spending on your Southwest credit card, flying on eligible Southwest fares or using the Southwest shopping portal.

Finally, there’s also the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card, but the offer on this card is somewhat inferior to the others, as you’ll only earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening the account.

Southwest personal plus business credit cards

Now, there’s still a way to earn a full-length Companion Pass by getting two Southwest credit cards and combining the bonus points from both.

The important caveat here is that you can’t apply for two personal cards — the second card must be a business credit card. That’s because Chase — the bank that issues Southwest credit cards — limits customers to having just one personal Southwest credit card open at a time. But Chase does allow you to apply for both a personal card and a business card.

Just keep in mind that the credit cards must be for the same applicant — you can’t combine points amongst members. Also, Chase became somewhat more restrictive about issuing business credit cards during the pandemic, though you may have more luck now in 2022.

Let’s put it all together in an example. Imagine you apply for both the Southwest Plus card and the Southwest Performance Business card. By just completing the spending requirement on the Southwest Plus, you’ll earn the promotional Companion Pass right away without any flying, extra spending or partner activity since it’s part of the sign-up bonus on that card. So you’ll be already set through Feb. 28 of next year.

But in addition to the promotional Companion Pass, you also earn 30,000 bonus points on the Southwest Plus card for completing the $5,000 minimum spending requirement, And you’ll get 80,000 bonus points from the Southwest Performance Business after spending $5,000 on that card in the first three months after opening it.

With this $10,000 in combined purchases between the two cards, you’ll earn a total of 120,000 qualifying points — 110,000 points from the sign-up bonuses and 10,000 points from the purchases you make in meeting the spending requirements. That’s only 15,000 points short of earning a standard Companion Pass that runs all the way until the end of 2023.

You can also do this with the Southwest Premier Business card. If you’re a new card holder and spend $3,000 on that card within the first three months after opening the account, you’ll earn 60,000 points. Add that to the $5,000 you’d need to spend on one of the personal cards to earn the short-term Companion Pass and 30,000 points and you’ll have a total of 98,000 points — 90,000 from the sign-up bonus, plus another 8,000 points from spending $8,000 between the two cards.

That puts you just 27,000 points shy of the 125,000-point threshold, which you can earn through flying on Southwest, partner activity or spending on either card. And fortunately, you have all year to earn those last 27,000 points.

Which Southwest credit card should you get?

With three different personal Southwest credit cards, you might be wondering which card is best for you. With the Southwest Plus, Southwest Premier and Southwest Priority cards, you’ll earn 2 points for every dollar you spend on local transit, commuting (including ride-shares), internet, cable, phone services and select streaming purchases.

Then, with the Southwest Premier Business card, you’ll earn 4 points per dollar on Southwest purchases, while the Southwest Premier and Southwest Priority cards earn 3 points per dollar and the Southwest Plus card only earns 2 points per dollar spent at Southwest. All three cards then earn the same 1 point per dollar on the rest of your purchases.

Compared to other credit cards that earn rewards, that’s not the most lucrative earning rate. For instance, CNN Underscored’s benchmark credit card, the Citi® Double Cash Card, earns 2% cash back on all purchases — 1% when you make a purchase, and another 1% when you pay it off.

But even though the earning rates on the cards aren’t market leading, there are significant differences among them that make it worth considering your options. These include the annual fees, travel credits and the option to buy up to a better boarding position.

You’ll find the benefits of the Southwest Plus, the Southwest Premier and the Southwest Premier Business are similar. The Plus costs $69 on an annual basis, while the personal and business versions of the Premier cost $99 annually. All three cards now come with 25% back on in-flight purchases, as well as two EarlyBird Check-In credits per year, which can save you between $30 and $50 annually.

Then, aside from the number of points you can earn with each card, you’ll also find a difference in the number of bonus points you get every year after you pay the annual fee.

The Southwest Plus card comes with 3,000 bonus points (worth $42 at 1.4 cents per point, which is generally the value you get when redeeming for Southwest’s “Wanna Get Away” fares) on every card anniversary, meaning every 365 days from when you were first approved for the card. The Southwest Premier and the Southwest Premier Business come with 6,000 bonus points at each card anniversary, which are worth $84 at 1.4 cents per point.

Although the Southwest Plus card is the least expensive option for the first year, if this is a card you believe you’ll be keeping for years to come, you’ll find the Southwest Premier to be the better long-term value, thanks to the bonus points.

But the Southwest Priority personal card and the Southwest Performance Business card are where the big differences lie.

With the Southwest Priority card, you’ll pay a higher annual fee at $149 per year, but the benefits are significantly better. Not only do you earn 7,500 bonus points (worth $105) at each card anniversary, you’ll also receive a $75 Southwest travel credit every year and four upgraded boarding certificates annually. The $75 travel credit can be used toward any Southwest flight purchase — just pay for your flight or taxes on your Southwest card and you’ll receive a statement credit up to $75.

The Southwest Performance Business has the highest annual fee at $199 per year, but with this card, you’ll earn 9,000 bonus points (worth $126) at each card anniversary year, four upgraded boarding certificates annually, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit and in-flight Wi-Fi credits.

You’ll notice that the two most expensive cards both come with upgraded boarding certificates, which are unique to Southwest since the airline boards its airplanes very differently than most other airlines. There’s no assigned seating — instead, you receive a boarding position based on your flight check-in time. Passengers are assigned into groups A, B and C, and can be anywhere between 1 and 60 within each group.

Upgraded boarding certificates normally allow you to purchase an A1 through A15 position at the gate (if available), giving you the option to be one of the first passengers to board and choose almost any seat you’d like, ensuring you’re not stuck in the back of the plane in a middle seat. Upgraded boardings typically cost $30 to $50 each, so if this is something you’d purchase anyway, you can put a $120 to $200 value on this benefit. You can even use these certificates for other passengers flying with you.

Taking into consideration all of these benefits, you’ll notice the value of the Southwest Priority and Southwest Performance Business cards far surpasses the value of the other three cards, both within the first year and every year thereafter.

Is a Southwest credit card right for you?

I’ve personally been a Southwest Companion Pass holder for 13 years now, and it’s saved my family tens of thousands of dollars on travel. The pass allows my husband, my children, my parents and even friends to fly with me on every Southwest flight I take just for the cost of taxes. (Domestic taxes are $5.60 each way, while international taxes vary depending on the destination.)

The best part about the Companion Pass is that you can use all the Southwest points you earned from the sign-up bonus offers to book flights — you don’t lose them by getting the Companion Pass — and then still add your companion onto your ticket using the pass. This means both passengers are essentially flying for free except for taxes and fees, essentially doubling the value of the sign-up offers.

But if you want to take advantage of these bonuses, these offers are only going to be available for a limited time. So, if you want to have a Southwest Companion Pass in your hands for the next year (or even longer), now’s the time to grab one or even two of these Southwest credit cards and get them working for you.

Southwest personal credit cards:
Learn more and apply now for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card.
Learn more and apply now for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier card.
Learn more and apply now for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card.

Southwest business credit cards:
Learn more and apply now for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card.
Learn more and apply now for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card.

Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as its best credit cards currently available.

Get all the latest personal finance deals, news and advice at CNN Underscored Money.

Source: www.cnn.com