Previously, I’ve written about how amazing the Southwest Companion Pass is. Kim and I have been using it (along with points) to travel for (almost) free for the last 4 years! Also, I just posted on some other quick tips when getting the Southwest Companion Pass.
As it turns out, the optimum time to get the Southwest Companion Pass and have it for a full 2 years is coming up! For those of you that don’t know, the companion pass allows the holder to book an additional flier any time they are booked on a flight, for only the cost of taxes ($11.20 round trip on domestic flights). The companion pass will be valid for the remainder of the year it is earned, as well as the following year. You can earn the companion pass by flying 100 one way segments in a calendar year or by earning 110,000 Southwest points in a calendar year.
Getting the Companion Pass FAST!
UPDATE: The 60,000 point offers for the plus and premier cards have ended. Currently, Southwest is offering 40,000 points for these cards.
To get to 110,000 Southwest points quickly, you can open 2 (of the 3 available) Southwest credit cards. All three cards are currently offering 60,000 point bonuses after the minimum spending is met ($2,000 in the first three months for the plus and premier, $3,000 for the business premier). However, this offer is ending on October 4th!
Links for all three cards are below. Make sure you read this entire post, as well as this post so you don’t make any mistakes!
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Premier Card
Strategy Time
Now, the 60,000 point bonuses do not dump into your Southwest account until the minimum spending has been met. In order to maximize the time with the companion pass and get the full 2 years of use, the best strategy is to pass the $2,000 (or $3,000 for the business premier) spending threshold (on each card) as soon as possible after the first of the year.
However, as you only have 3 months to complete the minimum spending, and the 60,000 point offer ends on October 4th, there will only be a 1-4 day window (depending on when you apply Oct 1st through 4th) to surpass the spending threshold. The best practice would be to apply for two of the Southwest cards on the last day of the promotion, Oct 4th. This gives you almost three months to spend up to BUT NOT OVER $2,000 (or $3,000 for the business premier) on each card. Once Jan 1st rolls around you would have the green light to finish the minimum spending and pass the $2,000 spending threshold on both cards. SURPASSING THE $2,000 LEVEL WOULD NEED TO HAPPEN BY THE 4th of January (or the 3rd if you applied on Oct 3rd, the second if you applied on Oct 2nd and Jan 1st if you applied on Oct 1st).
Limited window to apply = limited window to complete final spend
As you can see, this means there is only a 4 day window to apply for the promotion and have the option to complete the spending after Jan 1st. Also, there is only a 4 day window to complete the final spending and pass the $2,000 level. If you apply for the cards initially on the 3rd, 2nd or 1st of Oct, then your window for the final spend to get over $2,000 gets even smaller.
Ideal scenario
As mentioned before, ideally, you would apply on Oct 4th for two of the Southwest cards (for this example I am assuming you open the plus and premier which both have a 2,000 spending threshold for bonuses). From Oct 4th to December 31st you would spend up to $1,999 on each card BUT NOT OVER. On Jan 1st but before Jan 4th you spend the final dollars needed to reach $2,000 on each card. Once this is done, 120,000 Southwest points will pour into your account and qualify you for the companion pass. If you pass the spending thresholds on the 1st you will have the pass for a full 2 years! For the remainder of 2018 (364 days) and all of 2019 you will be able to add a companion for only taxes on any Southwest flight. In addition, you will have 124,000+ (120,000 from bonuses and 4,000+ from minimum spend) Southwest points to book free flights!
Don’t screw this up
There are several possible pitfalls you need to avoid to make sure you get the Southwest Companion Pass smoothly.
Chase Bank 5/24 rule
First, if you have applied for more than 3 credit cards in the last 2 years you will most likely not get approved. Chase Bank (who offers all of the Southwest cards) has a rule that you can only be approved for new Chase cards if you have under 5 cards (from any bank, not just Chase) in the last 2 years. To open both cards you must have 2 of those 5 slots available and so you cannot have applied for more than 3 cards over the last two years.
Applying too early
If you apply before Oct 1st then the 3 month window to complete spending will end before Jan 1st. This means you will have to complete spending before Jan 1st and will only have the companion pass for the remainder of 2017 (only a couple months max) and all of 2018.
Applying too late
The 60,000 point promotion is only going until Oct 4th. After this time, the promotion will most likely change to somewhere between 25,000-50,000 points (my guess would be 40,000). If you apply after Oct 4th and complete spending after Jan 1st you may only receive 50,000 to 100,000 points. This means you would have to spend a significant amount more before getting to the 110,000 points needed for the companion pass.
Completing spending outside the ideal window
If you complete the minimum spending before Jan 1st, you’ll have the companion pass for a little over a year as opposed for a full 2 years. Also, if you miss your 3 month window to complete the spending you get NOTHING. If you complete spending before Jan 1st on one card and after the 1st on the other YOU WILL NOT QUALIFY FOR THE COMPANION PASS. To get the pass you must get over 110,000 points in a CALENDAR year. Again, DON’T MESS THIS UP! A little planning and forethought go a long way!
Final thoughts
Make sure you have a Southwest Rapid Rewards account before applying. This way you can input your Southwest number on both applications and the bonuses will go into the same account.
Get prepared for all your travels with our essential travel gear!
Make sure you read my in depth article on the companion pass here.
If you’re interested in other cards that can get you a lot of free travel with sign up bonuses check out this post.
Want to see some of the cool places you can go with Southwest? Check out our caving adventure in Puerto Rico. Or, see our recent trip to Belize and our trip to Cuba. We were even able to go on a 5 day all inclusive vacation to Cancun using reward points for the stay and Southwest for the flights! All of these trips Kim and I were able to fly for free with points and the companion pass!
AcroYoga on the beach in Cancun. We flew for free on Southwest!
Finally, see this post for tips on using the Southwest search tools to find the cheapest flights from your city.
Have questions? Post them here and I’ll do my best to answer!
