Southwest Companion Pass – How one can Earn It As soon as Card Bonuses Cease Counting
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Southwest’s Companion Pass lets one particular person fly with you for taxes and charges. From 2027 it takes 140,000 tier qualifying factors from paid flights and card spending, or 100 one-way flights, and card sign-up bonuses received’t depend. Apply for a Southwest card by Dec. 2, 2026, and as soon as permitted, its bonus can nonetheless depend towards a cross good via 2027.
That’s true even for those who end the bonus’s required spending in early 2027, Southwest’s FAQ says. Everything else should publish by Dec. 31 to depend towards the 2026 requirement of 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying factors or 100 one-way flights.
From 2027, three companion journeys, every one-way or spherical journey, take 95,000 tier qualifying factors or 75 one-way flights in a 12 months. Unlimited journeys include Platinum, Southwest’s prime elite tier, at 140,000 factors or 100 one-way flights. Card spending earns 1 of these factors per $1, however sign-up bonuses, referral factors, anniversary factors, additional factors on classes like fuel, and spending with resort and automobile companions don’t depend.
Card spending alone would take $95,000 a 12 months for 3 journeys, or $130,000 for limitless ones, counting the one-time 10,000-point enhance cardholders get on reaching 130,000 in 2027. Southwest says it would hold working limited-time Companion Pass promotions, too.
So the Dec. 2 window is the final time sign-up bonuses can cowl a lot of the 135,000 factors. Chase, Southwest’s card issuer, allows you to maintain a private and a corporate affairs card directly, every with its personal bonus. As of October 2026, the non-public playing cards supply 50,000 to 60,000 factors for $1,000 to $2,000 of spending in three months, and the corporate affairs playing cards 80,000 for $3,000 to $5,000, so a pair involves 130,000 to 140,000.
Your different 2026 factors, together with the ten,000-point enhance Southwest deposits inside 30 days of opening a card, depend provided that they publish by Dec. 31, so apply quickly. Chase received’t provide you with a private Southwest card for those who maintain one or earned a personal-card bonus previously 24 months, however a corporate affairs card doesn’t depend towards you.
Before you apply, worth the companion seats you’d e-book in 2027, much less taxes and charges. If they’d price lower than a pair’s annual charges of $248 to $528, skip the window, or weigh the companion certificate another airways’ playing cards embody. Otherwise, time every sign-up bonus to spending you have already got coming.
Choose your pair by Dec. 2 among the many best Southwest credit cards.
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