Guide To The Southwest Companion Pass

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The Southwest Companion Pass has long been considered the holy grail of travel passes you can earn through a co-branded airline credit card.

It’s valuable for a few reasons, including the fact that it’s good for the year you earn it and the entire following year. Not only that, but the Southwest Companion Pass applies both to flights you buy with cash and flights you book with Rapid Rewards points.

Let’s dive into the details of how the Southwest Companion Pass works and the steps required to earn it.

How does the Southwest Companion Pass work?

Rewards enthusiasts who earn the Southwest Companion Pass get the chance to add another person to their flight reservation for each trip they take.

Once someone achieves Companion Pass status, they can add a companion for the remainder of that year and the entire following year. This means someone who earns the Companion Pass in March of 2025 would receive all the benefits for a full 21 months (the nine remaining months of 2025 and 12 months in 2025).

There’s no limit on how often the pass can be used, so Companion Pass members could easily fly with a free companion dozens of times. The only costs for the companion fare are government-required airline taxes — just $5.60 per leg for domestic trips.

What’s the catch? For the most part, there isn’t one. 

The only real “gotcha” of the Southwest Companion Pass is the fact you can only change your companion up to three times each calendar year. This prevents pass holders from traveling with a new companion every time they fly. Even so, there’s plenty of flexibility to change companions when required.

How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass

To qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass, you’ll need to join the Southwest Rapid Rewards program and fly 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 135,000 qualifying points per calendar year.

Many people achieve Companion Pass status by using a combination of Southwest credit card sign-up bonuses, credit card spending and rental car or hotel bookings made through Southwest.

While some of the details on Southwest credit cards change over time, getting one of these cards can be a huge leg up toward Companion Pass status. That’s because sign-up bonuses and points earned through regular spending can count toward status requirements.

The following Southwest credit cards can help you get to Companion Pass status significantly faster:

• Points that qualify for the Companion Pass
  

  Generally speaking, only the following points count:

  • Points earned via flights booked through Southwest
  • Points earned with Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards
  • Base points earned from Rapid Rewards partners
  • Points earned through Southwest Rapid Rewards dining partners

  Be aware that Southwest credit card points count toward Companion Pass status only when they are posted to your Rapid Rewards account (after your credit card closing date), not on the day the spending occurs. This is an important distinction; if you wait until December 31 to try to earn the Southwest Companion Pass before the calendar year ends, running out and spending money on your credit card that day likely won’t help.

• Points that do not qualify for the Companion Pass
  

  Points that do not count toward the Companion Pass include:

  • Purchased points
  • Points transferred between members
  • Points converted through hotel and car loyalty programs
  • Points transferred to this program from Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • Points earned through certain promotions offered to members

How to use the Southwest Companion Pass

Earning the Southwest Companion Pass can take some time, particularly if you don’t fly often, or you can’t spend very much each month on a co-branded Southwest credit card. However, the steps required to actually use the pass once you earn it are easy to understand and follow.

To use the pass, all you have to do is log in to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account and set up a designated “companion.”

To assign your companion, you will:

1. Log into your rewards account at Southwest.com.
2. Click the button that says “Choose Your Companion” under the Snapshot tab.
3. Click on “Enter Companion Info” and enter the details for your companion.

You can also call Southwest to add your companion over the phone at 1-800-435-9792.

How to apply the Companion Pass to a flight

To use your companion pass for a flight, you will go ahead and book your own airfare first (with points or with cash). After that, you will head to the “My Trips” section of your Southwest account.

At that point, you will:

1. Find your flight in the “Upcoming” section of your account
2. Click on “Add Companion” and then “Continue.”
3. Click on “Purchase” to confirm your companion and pay for airline taxes and fees.

You can also add your companion to an existing flight reservation by calling Southwest at 1-800-248-4377.

Don’t forget that you can only change your designated companion up to three times per calendar year. The steps required to change your companion are the same as if you were adding one in the first place. You’ll head to the Snapshot tab in your Southwest account, locate the “Choose Your Companion” button and follow the prompts to update your companion’s details.

Useful tips about the Southwest Companion Pass

To make the most of your Southwest points and Companion Pass, keep these tips in mind:

• Earn the pass early in the year
  

  Since your pass is valid for the rest of the calendar year in which it’s earned, plus the following calendar year, you can squeeze more use out of the pass the earlier you earn it.

  For example, if you earned the pass on Jan. 1, 2026, you’d be able to use it nearly 24 months (through the rest of 2026 and all of 2027). But earning the pass on Sept. 1, 2025 would only give you around 16 months of use (four months from September through December of 2025, plus all of 2026).

• Feel free to plan ahead
  

  You can still plan a trip with your companion (and potentially get a better deal) even if you haven’t earned the Companion Pass yet. If you’re confident you’ll earn the pass before the flight takes off, you can simply book your own ticket ahead of time and add your companion once you earn the pass.

• Cancellation is simple
  

  If your plans change, and you need to book a new flight with your companion, simply cancel their reservation, rebook your flight and add your companion to your new reservation.

• Don’t expect to double-dip on points
  

  Only the primary passenger will earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points from flights booked with a companion. While your companion can take advantage of plenty of other Southwest perks, they won’t earn any points from their flight.

• Look for bonus offers on Southwest cards
  

  If you aren’t already a Southwest rewards cardholder and are hoping to earn a Companion Pass, you may not need to get there via flights or points.

  Southwest cards have previously featured limited-time sign-up bonuses that offer a Companion Pass right off the bat when you meet the bonus spending requirement. While there’s no guarantee these offers will pop up again in the future, it may be worth waiting to see, assuming you think you’ll have trouble earning the pass via flights or points.

The bottom line

If you’re willing to put in the work, a Southwest Companion Pass is well worth the effort. It comes with numerous benefits and savings that you can enjoy during the year you earn it — and the year after. Southwest also flies to a diverse array of destinations that can make this pass a game-changer when it comes to planning family trips.

Just remember that you’ll reach Companion Pass status easier if you let a Southwest credit card do most of the heavy lifting. Starting as early in the year as possible also gives you more time to earn all the points you need through qualifying activity.

Frequently asked questions about the Southwest Companion Pass 

• How many times can you use the Southwest Companion Pass?
  

  One major reason consumers love this pass is because you can use it an unlimited number of times during the year you earn it, plus the entire following year.

  With that in mind, Southwest Companion Pass rules don’t set any limits on how much value you can get in return. You can use your Companion Pass every week if you want to, and you can even use it when you pay for your flight with points instead of cash.

• Can I change my flight on a Companion Pass booking?
  

  Yes, as Southwest’s website makes clear, you can change your flight even if it’s linked to your designated companion’s flight. Assuming there’s room for both of you on the flight you want to change to, you simply need to cancel your companion’s reservation, rebook your own flight and then rebook the companion’s flight.

• Can my companion travel without me?
  

  No, your companion cannot travel on a booking without you (unless they purchase their own ticket, of course). This means if you book a flight for yourself and a companion and can’t make the trip, your companion will have to miss as well or buy their own ticket.

*The information about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate. Card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.