Southwest Companion Pass 2027: 4 Steps to Earn It for 2 Years

What the Southwest Companion Pass actually is

The Southwest Companion Pass lets you pick one person, your designated companion, to fly with you on every Southwest flight you take. You book your own seat like normal, add them to your reservation, and they only pay the government taxes and fees.

Here are some of the details I love that make it great to use:

• It works on paid and award tickets. Pay cash or book with Rapid Rewards points, and your companion still flies for just the taxes and fees.
• There are no blackout dates. Holidays included. As long as there’s a seat for them, your companion can come!
• You can switch companions. You get up to three changes per calendar year, so it doesn’t have to be the same person the whole time.
• You keep your points. Earning the pass doesn’t use up the points you earned to qualify. They stay in your Rapid Rewards account, so you can book your own flights with them and your companion still flies free.

That last one is what makes the math so good. You earn a big stack of points, use them for free flights, and every one of those flights is really two flights.

How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass

You need to either earn 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points in one calendar year or fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year.

Unless you’re commuting on Southwest every week, the 100 flights route isn’t really happening (that’s a LOT of airport time). Pretty much everyone goes the points route, and the easiest way to get there is with two Southwest credit cards. Here’s exactly how it works, step by step.

Step 1. Know How Many Points You Actually Need to Earn: 125,000

Every Southwest credit card comes with an automatic 10,000-point boost toward the pass each year, deposited by January 31. Once you have a card, you only need to earn 125,000 points yourself.

Two small notes.

• You only get one boost per person per year, even with two cards, and the boost only counts toward the pass (you can’t book flights with it).
• The points that count are called Southwest Companion Pass qualifying points, and almost everything you earn from Southwest cards counts.

Step 2. Open a Southwest business card

The Southwest Premier Business card currently has a limited-time offer of 80,000 points after you spend $3,000 in 3 months. Through this link specifically, that offer ends November 2, 2026, so the sweet spot is applying between mid-October and November 2. That’s more than half of what you need in one card, which is why it’s the heart of this plan.

If you don’t think you have a business, you might be surprised. Freelancers, contractors, landlords, and anyone selling things for a profit (on eBay, Etsy, or Facebook Marketplace, for example) can apply as a sole proprietor using their Social Security number. You don’t need an EIN or an LLC. Chase makes the final call, so just be accurate about what your business does and what it earns.

Apply for the business card first, before the personal one. Chase may now be stricter about how many new cards you’ve opened when you apply for a business card, and a new personal card adds to that count (I explain this in the rules section below).

Step 3. Open a Southwest personal card

Next, pick one personal Southwest card. Any of the three works, so this really comes down to which annual fee and perks you want. Just know you can’t get one if you already have a personal Southwest card, or if you earned a bonus on one in the last 24 months.

These are the offers on Chase’s site as of September 28, 2026, and they change often, so double-check before you apply. If you just want the pass, the Plus is the cheapest way in. The Priority has the most perks (like picking your seat when you book) if you fly Southwest a lot.

Step 4. Add it up

Here’s the math if you pair the Premier Business with the Premier personal card, which is the Southwest Companion Pass credit card combo I’d go with.

That clears the 135,000 requirement with room to spare (the Plus gets you to around 141,000, and the Priority to around 151,000). The points from the spending you do in October through December post in 2026, so they don’t count toward the pass, but they’re still yours to book flights with.

The only catch is making sure those big bonuses land in January, which is where the timing comes in.

The Southwest Companion Pass 2027 timing strategy

This is the part that makes the pass last almost two years instead of one. The pass is good for the rest of the year you earn it plus the entire next year, so you want your bonuses to post in January, not December.

If your points post in January 2027, you keep the pass through December 31, 2028. If they post in December 2026 by accident, you only keep it through the end of 2027. For a Southwest Companion Pass 2027 start, this is the order I’d follow.

1. Apply in mid-October or later. Chase gives you 3 months from account opening to hit the minimum spend, so applying mid-October or later puts your deadline in mid-January or later and gives you room to finish in the new year.
2. Spend most of the minimum, then stop. Get within about $500 of the requirement and put the card away. That buffer protects you if a charge you forgot about sneaks through.
3. Find your December statement closing date. It’s in your Chase account. Points post when your statement closes, not when you buy something, so this date decides which year your bonus counts toward.
4. Finish the spend in January. Anything after your December statement closes technically lands on your January statement, but I’d just wait until January to be safe.
5. Watch for your points. After your January statement closes, keep an eye on your Rapid Rewards account for the bonus, and make sure your 10,000-point boost shows up by January 31.

Do this on both cards. Once everything posts, the pass shows up in your account and you’re set through the end of 2028.

How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass without a business card

It’s possible, just harder. You can’t open two personal Southwest cards instead, because Chase won’t approve you for a personal card if you already have one, or if you’ve earned a bonus on any personal Southwest card in the last 24 months.

So your math looks like this. One personal card bonus (50,000 to 60,000 points) plus the 10,000-point boost gets you to 60,000 to 70,000. You’d need to earn the other 65,000 to 75,000 points over the course of the year.

• Fly Southwest. Paid Southwest flights earn points that count, so this path is a lot easier if you already fly them often.
• Use your card for everything. Every point from your Southwest card counts, but most purchases only earn 1 point per dollar. To close the whole gap with spending alone, you’d need to put roughly $65,000 to $75,000 on the card in one year (a bit less if a lot of it is gas, groceries, or dining, which earn 2 points per dollar depending on the card, up to a yearly cap on some cards). That’s why most people combine spending with the other options here.
• Book with partners. Southwest’s partner hotels, rental cars, dining program, and shopping portal all earn points that count.
• Refer friends. Chase gives you 20,000 points for each friend who gets approved for a Southwest card, up to 100,000 points a year. These are widely reported to count toward the pass, though Southwest’s terms don’t say so officially.
• Add the debit card. Southwest’s Rapid Rewards debit card comes with its own 7,500-point annual boost, and it stacks with the credit card boost.

Realistically, this works best if you already fly Southwest a lot. For someone who flies a few times a year, the two-card route is much easier.

The rules that get people denied

Most denials come down to one of these, so check them before you apply.

Chase 5/24 (or 3/24)

If you’ve opened five or more new credit cards in the last 24 months, Chase will very likely deny you (I break this down in more detail in my free Chase guide). Chase business cards generally don’t add to that count, but personal cards do, and you still need to be under 5/24 to get approved for a business card.

There are also reports that Chase may have tightened this to 3/24 for some business card applications, especially for sole proprietors. It started coming up in mid-September 2026, it isn’t confirmed, and some reports say it may only apply to Chase’s Ink cards, not the Southwest ones. Still, if you’ve opened three or four cards in the last 24 months, a business card denial is more likely right now.

That’s why the business card should come first. Say you’ve opened two cards in the last 24 months. Apply for the business card now and you’re still at 2/24, so you’re under both limits. Open the personal card first and you jump to 3/24, which could get the business card denied if the new rule is real. Business first, then personal, and you avoid the problem either way.

If you’re already at 3/24 or 4/24, the business card is more of a gamble right now, and the no-business-card route above might be the safer plan.

One personal card at a time

You can’t get a personal Southwest card if you currently have any personal Southwest card, or if you’ve earned a welcome bonus on one in the past 24 months. The Plus, Premier, and Priority all share the same rule, and it doesn’t apply to the business cards.

Business card bonuses are per card

You’re not eligible for a business card bonus if you currently have that card or earned its bonus in the last 24 months. It’s not a lifetime ban, and each Southwest business card has its own 24-month clock.

Statement dates, not purchase dates

Your points count when your statement closes, not when you buy something. A purchase on December 28 can still count toward 2026 if your statement closes December 30, so plan around your closing date, not the calendar.

How to use your Companion Pass (Even Before You Earn It)

Once the pass is in your Rapid Rewards account, using it is pretty simple.

• Add your companion. Designate them in your Rapid Rewards account. You can change who it is up to three times per calendar year, but you’ll need to cancel any existing companion reservations first.
• Book your flight, then add them. Book your own ticket with cash or points, then add your companion to that reservation for just the taxes and fees. You can do this now. Once you earn the companion pass, so long as there’s a seat on the plane, you can add them.
• Pick their seat. Southwest has assigned seating now, so (once you’ have’ve earned the pass) you can choose a seat for your companion. You both get the best seat and boarding perks either of you has from status, a Southwest card, or your fare.
• Skip vacation packages. The pass doesn’t work with Getaways by Southwest bookings.

Southwest Companion Pass FAQs

Final thoughts on the Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Companion Pass sounds complicated, but it really comes down to two cards and good timing. Apply in October, hold off on finishing your spend until January, and let your bonuses post in the new year.

Do that, and someone you love flies with you for nearly two years for the price of taxes and fees. That’s a lot of trips home and beach weekends for two.

If you want more strategies like this one, join the Inside the Upgrade email list. And if you’re not sure which cards make sense for you, you can always book a free card consultation with me and we’ll map it out together.

Cheers to your next adventure ✈️

Card links in this post are my Chase referral link, and I may earn bonus points if you’re approved. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. Card offers and terms change often, so always confirm the current details on Chase’s and Southwest’s websites before you apply.