[Disclosure: Emily and I get a referral for the links to the Southwest cards in this post as of the post publication date. You don't have to use our links, but we're very grateful to everyone who does!]
Link: Southwest Premier Credit Card
Link: All You Need To Know About the Southwest Companion Pass
The Southwest credit cards are my favorite cards for domestic travel and are a great way for many folks to have Big Travel with Small Money within the US! Emily and I travel almost entirely on Southwest within the US. And I just earned a Companion Pass up to the end of 2014 which will let Emily fly with me for free ($2.50 security fee per segment) on both paid and award tickets!
Our Southwest Companion Pass
Even if you’re not willing to apply for many credit cards, 1 or 2 Southwest credit cards can get you a lot of travel. Just make sure that Southwest flies to an airport close to you.
The Southwest Plus (personal & business) credit cards have offered a 50,000 point bonus since November 2012, but the Rapid Rewards Premier cards (personal & business) only recently went back up to 50,000 points from 25,000 points. You have to spend $2,000 within 3 months to get the 50,000 point sign-up bonus on any of the 4 Southwest credit cards.
What Are 50,000 Points Worth?
You can redeem 50,000 Southwest points for ~$833 worth of travel on Southwest’s cheapest Wanna Get Away fares.
$833 worth of flights on Southwest from just 1 credit card sign-up bonus is a great deal by itself. Southwest has no black-out dates or restrictions so you can easily redeem points for Southwest flights.
Or you can redeem 50,000 points for ~$500 in gift cards.
Don’t Forget The Southwest Companion Pass!
But it gets MUCH better, because the sign-up bonus from the credit card (currently) counts towards the Southwest Companion Pass.
Emily and I have a Companion Pass and this is perhaps the best miles and points perk which we have. Why? Because it lets a companion travel with you for free whenever you travel on Southwest. It doesn’t matter if your flight is booked with points OR paid for with cash – your companion flies free!
We earned the Companion Pass in January 2013 and it is valid up to the end of 2014.
Southwest flies to a lot of US cities, and will fly to Puerto Rico in 2013, and will eventually fly to a few international destinations as it absorbs Air Tran routes and to Hawaii later on.
How Do I Get a Companion Pass?
You need to earn 110,000 points (within 1 calendar year from January 1 to December 31) to qualify for the Companion Pass.
The best way to get the Companion Pass is to apply for 1 Southwest personal card and 1 Southwest business card (for 50,000 points each) and then get the extra 6,000 points needed — after accounting for the $2,000 in minimum spending which earns points — to get the total 110,000 points for the Southwest Companion Pass.
2 Southwest 50,000 point credit cards and 10,000 transferred points can get you at least ~$3,332 in free flights if you redeem your points to travel with a companion!
Check out this post on all you need to know about the Southwest Companion Pass which has got 409 comments so far. Feel free to comment if you have a question which isn’t answered in the post!
Southwest Premier vs. Plus
The Southwest Premier card has a $99 annual fee, but gets you 6,000 Southwest points each anniversary compared to 3,000 Southwest points with the Plus version of the card. The Premier card also has no foreign transaction fees unlike the Plus version which does charge foreign transaction fees.
Bottom Line
The Southwest credit cards are one of the best deals for domestic US flying if Southwest flies to your city. Doubling your travel with the Companion Pass makes it even better!
Southwest is flying to Puerto Rico in 2013, and will fly to a few international destinations as it absorbs Air Tran routes and eventually Hawaii (possibly in 2015 or 2016).
At the very least, you will get ~$833 in airfare on Southwest with 1 credit card and with 2 cards, you’ve got 100,000 points out of the 110,000 points needed for the Southwest Companion Pass.
Check out my post on the Southwest Companion Pass and leave a comment if you still have questions!
* If you liked this post, why don’t you join the 10,000+ readers who have signed-up to receive free blog posts via email (only 1 email per day!) or in a RSS reader …because then you’ll never miss another credit card update.
I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
I was able to apply to 2 personal cards and was approved w/o any problems! Both of them had the 50k sign up bonus
On Monday I was looking at routes from dallas to sna for this summer using my companion pass and at the time a round trip ticket was 18k miles. I looked again last night and the same routes are now 32k miles. How could their he such a difference in pricing? So southwest miles prices fluctuate enough to where I should wait to book my tickets in case the mileage cost goes down?
@Juan – Congrats!
@Mili – Southwest fares do fluctuate, so you should book your fare as soon as possible to lock in the seat, but since you can cancel and get the points back in your account with no change fee, keep checking after booking for a lower fare.
I just got my personal and business “Plus” cards this week. If I understand you correctly, I would be able to get the bonus on the Premier as well in the future, is that correct? If so, once I complete minimum spend on my Plus cards, how long do you suggest I wait before I apply for the “Premier” pair?
What is your recommendation for applying for two cards at once? Either two personal or personal/business?
I was going to ask the same thing as Tommy. I’m interested in personal+business.
I have the business and personal Premier cards. I have done my spending, and now have 105,000 RR points. Can I transfer in 5000 Ultimate Rewards points to get me to my 110,000 RR points that qualify for Companion Pass?
Or, do I need to actually spend another $5,000 (or book tickets, etc) to get qualifying points for the Companion Pass?
You mention above, “2 Southwest cards and 10,000 transferred points” can get you the Companion Pass. That’s what I’m checking on.
Thanks.
Book as soon as you can you can always cancel. Please take note of each confirmation number because the amount of money you pay for tax either five or ten dollars each way is not refunded. But when you rebook you can use those confirmation numbers to pay the tax in the rebooked flight.
Darius,
Enjoy reading your blog.
-I got the 50K mile Personal Plus in Dec 2011 and thought I had worked it so my points would post in 2012, however they posted in 2011…so that blew my chance for the double in 2012. I ended up cancelling that card in Aug 2012.
-Move ahead now to 2013…I have the 50K Biz Plus card and points have posted. Can I now get the 50K Personal Premier. The Premier and Plus are different products, so I should be eligible for the bonus, correct? Would seem so after reading your Nov. 14 post…
Thanks!
@KC – If you already have the Plus cards, I wouldn’t apply for the Premier cards just to get more Southwest points, but would keep that for when you needed the Companion Pass again (if it still works). You can always transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards (Sapphire Preferred/Ink Bold/Ink Plus) etc. to Southwest.
@tommy @Mike – I prefer 1 personal and 1 business and call the reconsideration line to get approved.
@Melanie – Points transferred from Ultimate Rewards directly do not count towards the Companion Pass. See this post for ways to get the extra points.
@Christine – Exactly! I wish it was easier to get the taxes refunded instead of tracking the confirmation number.
@Andy – Folks have got the bonus on the Premier and Plus versions so it should be possible to get the bonus on the personal premier now.
Hi Daraius,
You mentioned you though SW would fly to Hawaii in 2015 or 2016. Why do you think it’s so far out? I was thinking of getting these two cards now in the hopes of SW Hawaii tickets in 2014. I thought the flight attendants/pilots had worked out their union deal already. No?
Should i wait till later this year to get these cards and hit 110,000 points in Jan2014 to get the most use out of this, or would it still be good if I make the spend mid-summer? Can’t decide which would be better because I also don’t know how long this deal will last =/
If I cancelled my SW card a few months ago, can I apply again now and get a new sign-up bonus of 50k miles? If it matters, I recently got a Chase Hyatt card, as well.
Clicked on the link, and it says free 2 roundtrip tickets not the 50,000 promo. Is it the same promotion?
@Ben L – It could be in 2014, but I don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up, so I prefer the more conservative timeframe.
@Corey – I don’t know if this will be available next year, so I’d do it now. You have only 3 months to meet the minimum spending, so you’re looking at the 1st week of June which still means 18 months of the Companion Pass.
@JG - You could get the bonus on a different version (Plus vs. Premier or Business vs. Personal).
@keith – It is is the same promotion where they give you 50K points to redeem for 2 flights.
My next churn isn’t until May though, sigh =[
Hey D,
Per your comment, you mentioned that we are looking at the 1st week of June for the Companion Pass to kick in. Why is that? Are you assuming that one would take 3 months to complete the minimum spending or is that the earliest the companion pass would kick in?
Also, is it almost always that if I apply for the Business after applying for the Personal card?
Nat
Chase transferred my 52K each for personal and biz cards the same day as their statements closed and WN RR showed my Companion Pass immediately. They’re fast. (I had bought and transferred Wyndham points as filler.)
BTW- One big distinction between using points for WGA fares or transferring 19,200 points for a standard award is that to get low point WGA fares you have to redeem at least 14 days out. OTOH Standard Awards can be used anytime, even same day and space often opens close-in.
San Juan is WN now and CP works to it as well as all the new AirTran code share flights. No carribean yet- WN still isn’t certified for international.
I applied for personal and would like to apply for business now….my question is should I put the same rapid rewards number for both cards or are you able to combine them later somehow???
Also do I need to sign up for the companion pass or will they automatically issue it to me once I reach the 110,000?
Thanks for all your suggestions and help.
I’m new to your site but have enjoyed SW miles. I have a plus card that expires soon. Should I cancel it and get another one later? Should I cancel it and get a premiere card? I don’t mind having 2 new cards but I’m not sure how to proceed.
I have a platinum level Citi card with American Advantage. It was expiring. I called to cancel because I didn’t want to pay the $95 fee. They told me if I charged $1500. in the next 3 months that they would waive the fee and sent me a new card. Is this a good deal or should I just cancel? I have a flight booked on American in May and get one piece of luggage free if I have the card.
Help! I just signed up for the Southwest airlines rewards personal card. It said I was approved. AND that I would be getting 25000 points. That is not the card I wanted!!! How do I contact them to tell them I signed up for the wrong card???
@Debby, I did the same thing in January with my Citi card. The rep told me to use the card 5 times and Citi would refund the $95 annual fee. I charged a total of about $50 and I just received the statement credit.
@colleen. when you get card send a secure message to chase to match
@debby- Isuggest cancelling and getting any of the other aa cards for additional bonus miles and same benefits with regard to luggage
@Nava-same number
@collen. unrelated… is your location near white water rafting trips
can I apply for both the southwest premier personal and the business card? Thanks
D–I applied to the Citi 5x Gas/Grocery card on my latest 5 card churn, but they gave me an “automatic rejection” for having, in the words of the supervisor on the reconsideration line, “more than one inquiry in the last five days.” Thoughts? I figure I’ll give them another call tomorrow, seems really bizarre.
Darius,
I have a Southwest companion pass and if I book an AirTrans flight by converting southwest point to airtrans, will my companion also be able to fly with me? Or is this only Southwest flights?
@Nat – I was just trying to see the longest it would take to get the companion pass if you started today. You should get the points earlier if you complete the spending earlier.
@tassojunior – In my experience very few AirTran flights are eligible for the Companion Pass, but hopefully more flights as the integration continues!
@Nava - You should use the same Rapid Rewards number for both applications. You will get an email and your account will show the companion pass once you cross 110,000 points within 1 year.
@Debby – Thanks for reading. You could cancel the Plus card and get a Premier card and a business card if you’re looking for the Companion Pass. It is $25 for the 1st checked bag each way, so you’re saving $50 per round-trip for keeping the card vs. $95 fee if you cancel the card. Only you can decide what makes sense for you. You also get 10% of your redeemed miles (up to 10,000 miles) if you have the Citi AA card.
@Colleen – Which link did you use? The public offer is for 50,000 points so I’d double check and if it is still 25,000 points send Chase a message or ask to be matched to the public 50,000 offer.
@leslie – You can.
@DJ – That does seem strange and I’ve never heard of that before.
@david - You can only use the Companion Pass on flights booked through the Southwest website, so if you book on the Air Tran website, you likely won’t be able to add a companion.
Darius you mention SW plus card,and RR visa…do they both give th bonus that counts for the cp? I have in the past churned 3-4 SWA cards, currently only one open and used- CP thru Dec 2013, I assume we can only have one CP on my account at atime? SO could I… apply for one RR visa NOW, make spend, Apply for a 2nd one in 2 months, make spend -l closer to December, and finish that 8k left to get the cp in Jan/Feb? would that be workable? thanks so much for all your info! and I currently have the premier, what do you think I’m eligible for? it’s the cp I’m after….;-)
trying to subscribe to comments….learning!
oh wait, so sorry! my idea is bad ,I see. I need that 110k in one calendar year,but I already have the cp right now. So it wouldn’t work for me,right? Unless I could get another for another fam. member to use
Do they have a Mastercard version of this card?
i had already got the southwest rapid rewards card (both personal and business) but got the personal last year and met the spend req. last year so the 50,000 wont be good towards the companion pass? right, because it has to be in a calendar year? so, i just applied for the premier card (through your link
today) but just talked to someone who said the 50,000 may not transfer to my rapid rewards account because i already had one?? is this true?
I applied for both the SW personal & biz plus cards. I called the biz recon line after alot of questions about my biz (I was initially declined), Chase moved 10K from my personal Sapphire Preferred to the new Biz card. I then called the personal recon line and after asking me alot of personal security questions, I was approved for $15K limit.
To all the negative people out there: I did all this while in the hospital (hip fracture) and I have a major speech problem that makes the person on the other end on the phone understand me.
My point is if I can talk to recon in the hospital with 2 approvals with major communication & health problems (speech implement, hip frature, stage 4B cancer), there should be NO excuse to not call the recon lines.
Bottom line: The SW Companion pass is a “smoking” great deal!! I am confident that I will get better and travel very soon. As a backup, if I can’t travel by Dec 2014, $1000 in GC’s is a good backup.
A BIG thank you to Darius & Emily for their blog!!!
I met to say that my wife & I will travel on the Companion pass!! Worth alot to us!!
Also, my speech implement makes it difficult for the other person to understand me but with patience on both ends, the recons were done with 2 approvals!!
I’d like to apply for 2 cards to go for 100,000 miles, but can you tell me how to do that? What are the qualifications for applying for a business card? Or can I apply for 2 personal cards, the $99 and the $69 one? Thanks.
@JM – You already have the Companion Pass and can’t get another one, so I wouldn’t apply for the cards. You could have another family member apply for the cards if you want another Companion Pass.
@Tom - I don’t believe there is a MasterCard version.
@jocljoma – A calendar year is from Jan 1 to December 31, so if your bonus posted last year, it won’t count towards the Companion Pass this year.
@chemist661 – Glad to know that you’re getting better and looking forward to all that travel. Calling the reconsideration line isn’t as hard as it sounds!
@Nancy – See this post for more details!
Thanks so much for your advice on calling the reconsideration lines! I actually had to call in on both the business and personal Southwest Premier cards, and I actually got declined on the first try with the business card. But having read your blog, I felt confident calling back, and I was approved on the second try.
In case it helps anyone else with their experience, I was turned down on the first try because my spouse earns the lion’s share of our household income (about 90%, to be exact). My own contribution is only around $5,000, so with my business’s limited history (only 2 years, and selling textbooks online), I was declined. But I called back. The first CSR had put annotation on the account based on our discussion, and the second CSR could see that I had just barely called and could see all the annotations, so I was a little nervous that the result would be the same. However, I explained that I was seeking a card to separate my business and personal expenses and I only wanted a very limited line of credit to by inventory (maybe $1,000). I was told that $5,000 was the minimum for the business card, but she definitely seemed more willing to work with me at that point. It also helped that I have employment on the horizon this summer, and our conversation brought that out.
For background, these are the first two credit cards I have applied for in almost 5 years, and they are the first I’ve ever had with Chase.
I have a question in regards to the AirTrans card, how will the 32 credits transfer to the southwest card when the merger is complete?
I was denied Chase Priority in Jan, 2013 due to too many inquiries. I was planning to apply for the SW Business card this morning. On the application form, one of the questions I have to answer is “Yes, I have NOT been denied credit by Chase within the last 6 months.”
With the denial 2 months ago, does it mean I have to wait until July before I can apply for the card?
Hi Daraius,
Thank you for creating this great blog and I look forward to signing up for your emails. I have a quick question though:
I signed my father up for both of the southwest cards and have almost reach the 110,000 points necessary for the companion pass. However, the rapid rewards account is in his name. Is it possible that I can switch the name under his rapid rewards account to my name? Allowing me to fly along with a companion?
Thank you for any help you can provide!
@DudeGuy – Congrats and thanks for sharing your experience!
@Tony - You don’t have to wait for the merger to be complete since you can transfer Air Tran credits to Southwest now. 16 credits is 1 roundtrip award or 2 1-way awards on Southwest.
@happy feet - I suspect that you are correct, unless you managed to get approved for the Priority Club card.
@Badger – Unfortunately, you can’t switch the primary person who earns the Companion Pass.
I just got approved for the 50,000 SW Rapid Rewards Premier Card using your link. Thank you and hope it helps you and Emily also. I am wanting to get the business one to work towards the companion ticket. Can I go ahead and apply for it now, or should I wait a period of time before applying for it?
I’m not in a position to apply for the SWRR cards, so I’m getting my CP totally through hotel transfers. The Hyatt site suggested I’d get a total of 60k RR miles for a 100K Hyatt transfer I made, and I believe you mentioned a 5k bonus for each 50,000 Hyatt transfer. However, my Hyatt transfer posted several days ago and I haven’t seen any bonus miles. Does anyone know if they post separately, and if so, about how long it takes to hit? These points are all I need to lock this up through 2014.
Hi I have a question….since I already have a SWA card I’ve been using for 1 year+, and a cp, is it foolish to apply for another SWA card right now,just for the bonus for my account? (I’m hoping the offer will be around at the end of the year, but in the meanwhile, I could use those points too) what do you think? too much in too short a time? If I were to apply,get a card now, would I need to cancel it before trying again in 8 months?
I currently have a sw individual plus card i signed up for in may 2012 that i got 50k pts for. Can I still sign up for individual premier and business plus to still get the 100k pts for 2013 and be eligible for companion pass?
i just read
“To be eligible for this bonus offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. This one-time bonus offer is valid only for first-time Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Business Card Cardmembers with new accounts. Previous and existing Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Business Card Cardmembers/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer.”
thanks
@Juli - Thanks for using our link! You can apply for it now, but I’d expect to call the reconsideration line to get approved.
@biblioman – I’ve heard of delays with the Hyatt transfer bonus, so I’d call Hyatt to make sure you get the bonus miles transfered.
@JM – I personally wouldn’t apply for another card now if I already had the Companion Pass. I’d prefer waiting until my Companion Pass expired and then reapply to see if the points still count towards the companion pass. But, as always, do what makes sense to YOU. You can also transfer points from the Sapphire Preferred/Ink cards to Southwest as well. Or you can have your companion apply for a card and book travel in your name and you then add your companion to the reservation.
@john - You likely should be able to get the points to count towards the companion pass with a different set of cards.
Once I reach the 110,000 points needed for the companion pass, what happens when I begin to use points? If I immediately use 10,000 points and my balance drops to below 110,000 points, will I lose my companion pass? Do they take the passes away when balances fall low?
Love your site!
@Teresa – You won’t lose the companion pass if you fall below 110,000 points and can use them for travel. You just need to earn a total of 110K companion pass points (separate from points used to book flights) to get the companion pass.
Thanks for the answers…. So, if my husband got the card, and points needed, he could name his own companion(who would have to fly with him at all times,right? to use cp) and he could also make res. in my name to fly,etc? I didn’t think of that angle….
I signed up for the Premier and the Business card on the last day they were offering the 50,000 bonus points.
I was excepted for the PRemier a few days later and denied for the business card…but I called the 800# and they reviewed and I was accepted.
How do I make sure the reward numbers are the same so they count together??
How do I make sure the reward numbers are the same so they count together??
I signed up for the Premier and the Business card on the last day they were offering the 50,000 bonus points.
I was excepted for the PRemier a few days later and denied for the business card…but I called the 800# and they reviewed and I was accepted.
@JM - If your husband used his Southwest points to book a flight for YOU (the CP holder), you could then add him as a companion. Your husband would also need 110K points for a Companion Pass, so I wouldn’t go after it, if you already have a Companion Pass and have named your husband as your Companion.
@Jane – Congrats! You should be fine if you put the same Southwest number in the credit card application. If not, Chase will open a new Southwest account for you with a different number. I’d call Chase to check that your Rapid Rewards number is associated with each card.
When I called in for the credit card they said the 50k bonus doesn’t count towards the companion pass. They said no bonus points do. I called southwest directly and they said the same. But everywhere I look online says it does…what do you think?
@Steve - Don’t call, but it does count as of now.
Info from SW website (looks like they don’t count to me):
Companion Pass status is based on taking 100 qualifying one-way flights or earning 110,000 Qualifying Points in a calendar year. A qualifying flight for Rapid Rewards Companion Pass status is a one-way revenue flight on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city, including any intermediate stops and/or connections on Southwest Airlines. Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from revenue flights, points issued on Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Cards, and points earned from Rapid Rewards Partners. Purchased points and points earned from program enrollment, Tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and Partner bonuses do not count toward Companion Pass status.
Hey guys, I just got my Companion Pass last week and yes, the bonus miles from both my business and personal SW Cards counted!
If someone else signs up for the 50k bonus points, and they use my rapid rewards account # then will I get the 50k credit for my rapid rewards account?
@Mike – They do currently count, but your experience could be different.
@MC - Thanks for confirming!
@ET – No, you likely won’t, though it occasionally does work.
Just had my bonus post from one of the cards, however they do not count toward A list for me. Do the bonus points count toward companion pass but not A list?
@Meghanb904 – They never counted towards the A-List status, but do count towards the Companion Pass status.