Southwest Companion Pass Guide

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The Southwest Airlines Companion Pass has been one of the most valuable and easy-to-earn perks in the airline industry for years. This benefit, which can be earned either by flying a certain number of segments on Southwest Airlines or by accumulating a certain number of Southwest Rapid Rewards points, allows you to take a companion with you on nearly any Southwest flight free of charge (excluding taxes and fees).

Obviously, this perk is extremely valuable, especially for travelers who often take Southwest flights with a companion. Once you earn the Companion Pass, it’s valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which you earned it as well as the following calendar year. That gives you plenty of time to extract a ton of value out of this benefit.

In this article, we’re going to explain exactly how the Southwest Companion Pass works, how you can book flights using this perk, the requirements for earning it and some strategies for earning your Companion Pass quickly. 

What Is the Southwest Companion Pass? 

The Southwest Companion Pass (often abbreviated as SWCP) is a perk offered to Southwest Rapid Rewards members that allows you to bring a plus-one on any Southwest flight for free (excluding taxes and fees). This benefit can be used whether you book your flight using cash, Rapid Rewards points or book with a mix of cash and points.

So, this perk essentially cuts your airfare in half if you’re traveling with two people and paying with either cash or points. 

The SWCP is valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which you earned it as well as the entirety of the following calendar year. And there’s no limit to the number of times that you can use this perk within its validity period and no blackout dates.

However, there are a few restrictions that you should be aware of: 

• You can have only one person designated as your companion at a time.
• You can change your companion up to three times per calendar year.
• If you change your companion, you must cancel any future companion bookings you’ve already made.
• You can’t use your Companion Pass perk if you’re flying as someone else’s companion.

Compared to other similar perks, though, the SWCP has very few restrictions. In general, those with the SWCP will be able to use it on any Southwest flight that they take.

How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass

The SWCP can be earned by reaching one of two milestones within a calendar year: 

• Fly 100 qualifying Southwest flight segments.
• Earn 135,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points.

Your progress resets every year on Jan. 1. So, any flights or points accumulated in 2025 won’t count towards earning the SWCP after Jan. 1, 2026.

For a flight to count toward the SWCP, it must be paid for entirely with dollars, Southwest LUV vouchers (which are given as compensation for flight disruptions), gift cards, vacation travel credits, flight credits or Cash + Points.

Flights that don’t count toward earning the SWCP include reward travel (paid for entirely with Rapid Rewards points), charter flights, nonrevenue travel (such as employee flights) and flights taken using someone else’s Companion Pass.

Likewise, not all methods of earning Southwest Rapid Rewards points count toward earning it. Rapid Rewards points earned in the following ways will count toward the 135,000-point requirement for the SWCP: 

• Points earned from revenue flights booked through Southwest.
• Points earned by charging purchases on Rapid Rewards credit cards.
• Base points earned from Rapid Rewards partners (such as hotel partners, rental car partners, shopping and dining partners and more).

Unfortunately, points transferred into the Southwest Rapid Rewards program from transfer partners like Chase Ultimate Rewards or Marriott Bonvoy don’t count toward earning the Companion Pass. Points purchased with cash also won’t help you earn it.

In general, the quickest way to earn the Southwest Companion Pass is by signing up for Rapid Rewards credit cards, all of which offer a large welcome bonus. The points earned from these welcome bonuses count toward earning the SWCP and could potentially allow you to reach the 135,000-point requirement within the first month of the year. That means that you’d have the remainder of that year as well as the entire following year to reap the benefits of your new Southwest perk.

Earning the Southwest Companion Pass with Rapid Rewards Credit Cards

As mentioned above, the easiest and fastest way for most people to earn the Southwest Companion Pass will be to earn Rapid Rewards points from a Southwest co-branded credit card.

There are currently five Southwest co-branded credit cards (three personal cards and two business cards), all of which are issued by Chase: 

• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Each of these five cards offers a welcome bonus of tens of thousands of Rapid Rewards points when you open the card and spend a certain amount within a few months after account opening. These welcome bonuses can help you get close to or even achieve the 135,000-point requirement. 

If you’re willing to open one or two Southwest co-branded credit cards, then you could get the SWCP within just a few months.

The Two-Card Southwest Companion Pass Hack

By signing up for two Rapid Rewards credit cards (or, possibly, just one card), you can quickly earn the 135,000 points required to earn the Companion Pass. Keep in mind that it has to be a combination of a consumer credit card and a business credit card or two business credit cards with combined welcome bonuses of more than 135,000 points. You can’t apply for two consumer credit cards to earn the Companion Pass.

Here are the current welcome bonuses offered by each Rapid Rewards personal credit card: 

To qualify for a welcome bonus from a Rapid Rewards personal credit card, you must meet the following additional requirements: 

• You can’t currently have a Rapid Rewards personal credit card. 
• You have not earned a welcome bonus from any Rapid Rewards personal credit card in the last 24 months.

Here are the current welcome bonuses offered by each Rapid Rewards business credit card:

To qualify for a welcome bonus from a Rapid Rewards business credit card, you must meet the following additional requirements: 

• You can’t currently have the same Rapid Rewards business credit card that you’re applying for. 
• You have not earned a welcome bonus from the same Rapid Rewards business credit card that you’re applying for in the last 24 months. 
• You’re a small-business owner. 

It’s also important to note that Chase’s 5/24 rule applies to Southwest co-branded credit cards. This means that you won’t be approved for a new Southwest co-branded credit card if you’ve opened five or more personal credit cards in the past 24 months. All business credit cards issued by Discover or TD Bank and some business credit cards issued by Capital One also contribute to your 5/24 status.

However, if you’re able to meet all of the requirements above, then you could use two of these cards (or possibly even just the Performance Business Credit Card, which has historically offered welcome bonuses that will get you most of the way to the 135,000-point requirement) to earn the Companion Pass.

Companion Pass Qualifying Points Boost

All Southwest Rapid Rewards cardholders receive an annual points boost of 10,000 points per calendar year, meaning that Rapid Rewards cardholders effectively need to earn 125,000 points per calendar year to earn the SWCP.

This points boost will be credited to your account by Jan. 31 of each calendar year or up to 30 days after account opening for new accounts. To receive your points boost, your credit account must be open and not in default. 

You can receive no more than one points boost per Rapid Rewards member regardless of how many Rapid Rewards credit cards you have. So, if you hold both a personal and business Southwest co-branded credit card, you’ll still receive only 10,000 points annually.

Timing Your Credit Card Applications

If you’re planning on earning the Companion Pass by opening Rapid Rewards credit cards, it’s important to pay attention to the timing of your applications. You want to reach the 135,000-point requirement as early in the calendar year as possible to maximize the amount of time that you can use your Companion Pass perk. 

For example, if you earn the Companion Pass at the end of November 2026, then it will be valid until the end of December 2027, a total of 13 months. However, if you were to earn the SWCP at the end of January 2026, it would still be valid until the end of December 2027, a total of 23 months. A longer validity period means you’ll have more opportunities to fly Southwest and save half the money or points with your Companion Pass. 

So, if you’re planning on earning the SWCP with welcome bonuses from Rapid Rewards credit cards, we recommend applying on Oct. 15 or shortly after. Welcome bonuses are typically earned three months after account opening, which means that you’d earn your bonuses on Jan. 15, 2026, if you applied for your Rapid Rewards credit cards on Oct. 15, 2025, for instance. Thus, you’d have about 23.5 months to use your SWCP perk.

If you apply any earlier than Oct. 15, you run the risk of your welcome bonuses being credited to your account at the end of December, which means your Companion Pass would have a validity period of only about 12 months. 

It’s also important to add your existing Southwest Rapid Rewards account number to your credit card application. If you fail to do so, a new loyalty account will be created for you, and the account numbers may not match.

Another important consideration is that the Companion Pass qualifying points boost for Rapid Rewards cardmembers will be earned no more than 30 days after opening a new account. So, if you were to open your account on Oct. 15, you’d earn the points boost by November. Thus, this points boost probably wouldn’t help you earn the Companion Pass for the following year. 

However, if you applied for your Rapid Rewards credit cards in January, then the points boost would help you earn the Companion Pass. In this case, you’d have fewer months of SWCP eligibility than if you applied for your cards in October or November of previous year.

How to Earn Any Remaining Required Points

With certain combinations of Rapid Rewards credit cards, the welcome offers might not quite reach the 135,000-point requirement, and you’ll need to earn the remaining points to get the Companion Pass.

For example, if your welcome bonuses earn you 110,000 Rapid Rewards points, you’ll need to find a way to earn 25,000 more points to receive the coveted perk.

Here are some of the ways that you could earn more Rapid Rewards points quickly: 

• Spend on your Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards and earn spending bonuses.
• Take paid Southwest flights.
• Credit partner hotel stays or car rentals to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account.
• Make purchases through Rapid Rewards Shopping or Rapid Rewards Dining.

Out of the earning methods listed above, using your Southwest co-branded credit cards to earn spending bonuses is typically the easiest and most effective. So, if you need some extra points to get the Companion Pass, try paying some bills or financing a large purchase with one of your Southwest credit cards.

How to Use Your Southwest Companion Pass

Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about how to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, let’s look at how you can actually use this perk once you have it. 

With the Companion Pass, you can bring a plus-one with you on nearly any Southwest flight that you’re already booked on as long as there’s an open seat on the plane. This includes flights booked with cash, Cash + Points and entirely with Rapid Rewards points (and you’ll have at least 135,000 points in your account, which you can use for Companion Pass flights).

To add a companion to your flight, sign in to your Rapid Rewards account either online or through the Southwest mobile app. Then, go to the “My Account” section, click the “My Trips” tab and find the flight to which you wish to add a companion. Then, click the “Add Companion” link.

After that, simply fill out the required information for your companion and pay the applicable taxes and fees (starting from $5.60). Once you’ve done so, you should receive a confirmation email that your companion has been added to your itinerary.

Since you have at least 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in your account from earning the Companion Pass, we recommend purchasing all of your Southwest flights with points until you run out. Here’s why: 

• Southwest Rapid Rewards uses a dynamic pricing model for its award flights, which means that every flight redemption will offer the same value per point (around 1.3 cents), more or less. Thus, it doesn’t make sense to save your points in hopes of finding a more valuable redemption.
• The value of airline points and miles in general tends to decrease over time. So, it’s better to spend your points now before Southwest Rapid Rewards undergoes a devaluation.
• Most importantly, your Rapid Rewards points will essentially be worth double their normal value during your SWCP validity period, so you’ll want to spend your points before that validity period is up.

All in all, don’t be shy about using your Rapid Rewards points to purchase Southwest flights. And don’t forget to pay the taxes and fees for those flights with your Rapid Rewards credit card and earn elevated spending bonuses.

Frequently Asked Questions

While we’ve already covered almost everything you need to know about the Southwest Companion Pass, let’s cover a few frequently asked questions about this valuable benefit.

How Does the Southwest Companion Pass Work with Business-Class Bookings?

First of all, Southwest doesn’t have a business-class or first-class cabin on any of its aircraft. While passengers can choose to book “Business Select” fares on certain flights (which include benefits like bonus Rapid Rewards points, priority boarding and more), the seating with a Business Select fare is the same as for economy-class fares. 

So, if you’re flying a Business Select fare on Southwest Airlines and you use your Companion Pass perk, then your companion would be seated in the same cabin. However, your companion would not receive any Business Select perks.

What’s the Latest I Can Add a Companion to a Southwest Flight?

If you wish to add a second traveler to your Southwest flight itinerary, you typically can do so immediately after you’ve received your flight confirmation. Technically, you can add a companion as long as there’s an open seat on the flight up to the time of the flight’s departure.

Generally, once you add a companion to your flight, you should receive a confirmation within a minute or two, which means that you can usually add a companion at the last minute. However, there are some occasional delays that can make it difficult to add a companion right before takeoff.

For one, if you’ve recently changed your designated companion, it can take up to 48 hours to process. So, if you want to quickly change your designated companion at the last minute and then add them to a flight itinerary, you may experience some difficulties. If you experience a delay, you may be able to remedy the situation by calling Southwest’s customer service phone line.

Will My Companion Get the Same Boarding Position as Me?

Southwest is known for its open seating system in which passengers are split into three boarding groups (A, B and C). Within each group, there are also boarding positions.

For instance, if you get boarding group A and position 35, it means that you can board the plane once passengers 1-34 in group A have boarded. This order is determined by when you check in for your flight. Once onboard the plane, you can choose any open seat.

So, if you and your companion check in for your flight at the same time, there’s a good chance you’ll receive similar boarding positions.

If you booked a Business Select fare, then you’re guaranteed an A1-15 seating position. In this case, your companion would probably not be in the same boarding position as you because companions don’t receive Business Select perks.

However, the airline will be switching to assigned seating across its entire fleet on Jan. 27, 2026. Companion Pass holders are able to select an available seat for their companion when adding them to the flight itinerary departing on or after Jan. 27, 2026.

The Bottom Line

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the most valuable perks available in the airline industry. This benefit allows you to take a friend or family member with you on nearly any Southwest flight at no additional cost beyond the taxes and fees. The pass is valid for the remainder of the year in which you earned it as well as the entire following year, and there’s no limit to the number of times you can use the perk within that validity period.

You can quickly reach the 135,000-point threshold required to earn the Companion Pass by opening Southwest co-branded credit cards. Of course, you’ll have to pay annual fees on these credit cards, but they’re fairly inconsequential in comparison to the value you could potentially reap.

Of course, you can earn the Companion Pass by accumulating 135,000 points in other ways or by flying 100 qualifying one-way segments with Southwest in a calendar year. However, these other methods are more difficult and will most likely take longer, which means the validity period of your SWCP won’t be as long.

In most cases, the best way to earn the Companion Pass is by signing up for two Southwest co-branded credit cards on or shortly after Oct. 15 (as described in this article). Then, you could have as many as 23 months to extract as much value from the SWCP as possible.