These 3 Credit Cards Can Help You Earn a Southwest Companion Pass

If you often travel with someone else, the Southwest Companion Pass is an incredible value. Most airlines offer companion passes that you can use once. The Southwest Companion Pass is unlimited. You can choose one person to fly with you, free of airline charges (doesn’t include taxes and fees from $5.60 one way), whenever you book a flight with cash or points.

The challenge is earning that Companion Pass. To do so, you need to either fly 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. If you complete either of those, you’ll earn it for the remainder of the year and the following calendar year.

Most people don’t take 100 flights per year. The more realistic option is earning 135,000 qualifying points, and it gets a whole lot easier if you have one of the following Southwest credit cards.

1. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

• Earn 50,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
• 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost every year
• Earn 2X points per $1 on Southwest purchases and Rapid Rewards car rental and hotel partners
• Earn 2X points per $1 on local transit and commuting, internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming
• Earn 1X point per $1 on other purchases

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card is the airline’s most affordable option. It has a $69 annual fee. The welcome offers are the same across all three Southwest cards (50,000 bonus points), so you won’t be sacrificing much if you want to keep costs down by getting this card. It also gets you 3,000 bonus points every year on your cardmember anniversary.

After you earn the welcome offer and get the 10,000 points boost, you’ll already be at 60,000 qualifying points. That means you’ll need to earn an additional 75,000 points during the calendar year for a Companion Pass.

Since this card earns 1 to 2 points per $1, it will take between $37,500 and $75,000 in purchases, depending on how much you spend in its bonus categories.

2. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

• Earn 50,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
• 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost every year
• Earn 3X points per $1 on Southwest purchases
• Earn 2X points per $1 on Rapid Rewards car rental and hotel partners
• Earn 2X points per $1 on local transit and commuting, internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming
• Earn 1X point per $1 on other purchases

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is the next step up. The annual fee is a bit steeper at $99, but you get 6,000 bonus points every year on your cardmember anniversary. Southwest points are normally worth $0.014 to $0.016 per point. At that valuation, 6,000 points are worth $84 to $96.

Once again, you’ll have 60,000 qualifying points after earning the welcome offer and getting the points boost. The difference with this card is that you’ll be earning 3X points per $1 on Southwest purchases.

If you spend quite a bit of money with Southwest, that could make a difference. For example, if you spend $5,000 per year with the airline, that would earn you 15,000 points. You’d then only need to earn 60,000 points from the rest of your credit card spending to earn a Companion Pass.

3. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

• Earn 50,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
• 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost every year
• Earn 3X points per $1 on Southwest purchases
• Earn 2X points per $1 on Rapid Rewards car rental and hotel partners
• Earn 2X points per $1 on local transit and commuting, internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming
• Earn 1X point per $1 on other purchases

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is the airline’s most feature-packed card. For a $149 annual fee, you get 7,500 bonus points per year on your cardmember anniversary. You also get a $75 Southwest annual travel credit. Those two benefits alone can cover the cost of the annual fee.

The rewards rate on this card is the same as on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, so it will take the same amount of spending to earn a Companion Pass. You’ll start off with 60,000 qualifying points from the welcome offer and points boost. That will leave you with 75,000 points to earn through your credit card spending.

Which Southwest credit card should you get?

The Southwest cards are similar enough that any one of them could be a good choice. Choosing one is mainly about how much you want to spend for an annual fee and how often you fly with Southwest. Here’s what I’d recommend:

• If you fly with Southwest at least four or five times per year, go with the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, since it has the most benefits.
• If you want to keep costs down, get the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card.
• If you want a balance between value and a reasonable cost, try the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card.

Keep in mind that the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card has a foreign transaction fee of 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars. Most travel credit cards, including the other two Southwest cards, don’t charge this. It won’t be a problem if you only travel domestically. But if you sometimes travel abroad, it’s better to get a card with no foreign transaction fee.

Whichever credit card you choose, make sure to spend enough to earn the welcome offer. That will go a long way toward earning a Companion Pass. Put all your regular spending on your Southwest card, and with any luck, you’ll make it to 135,000 points.

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