The right way to shortly earn the Southwest Companion Move

Did somebody point out bringing a chosen buddy or member of the family for (nearly) free on any Southwest flight you are taking?

With the present elevated 75,000-point presents on the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, you possibly can shortly earn the 135,000 Companion Move qualifying factors.

With Southwest’s Companion Move, you possibly can deliver a buddy or member of the family you designate as your companion on any Southwest flight you are taking for subsequent to nothing. You will solely have to pay the taxes and fees on the second ticket just like you would on an award ticket, whether or not you paid on your flight with money or Fast Rewards factors. In consequence, for those who earn a Companion Move, you will have over a 12 months of almost free purchase one, get one Southwest flights.

Hold studying to search out out simply how one can earn considered one of these coveted passes.

What’s the Southwest Companion Move?

The power to deliver alongside a journey companion for almost free is just not distinctive to Southwest. Many bank cards supply some type of a single-use companion fare, permitting you to deliver a journey companion at a closely discounted charge.

Nevertheless, the magic of the Southwest Companion Move is that you need to use it as many occasions as you need till the go expires. Even for those who have been to fly each day of the 12 months, your companion might include you for simply the price of taxes and charges. It even applies to award tickets, permitting you to redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards points for your self and produce your companion with out utilizing extra factors.

TPG values Southwest factors at 1.4 cents every, however incomes the Companion Move can successfully double the worth of your factors (or money) when flying on Southwest utilizing the go.

Keep in mind, you are not restricted to flights throughout the decrease 48 states. During the last a number of years, Southwest has expanded to (and inside) Hawaii and added short-haul international flights.

Moreover, you possibly can change your designated Southwest companion as much as thrice per calendar 12 months. In different phrases, you possibly can have 4 totally different companions within the first calendar 12 months, then three within the second 12 months (as much as seven whole throughout the lifetime of your Companion Move). It is value noting that even for those who change again to a earlier companion, it nonetheless counts as considered one of your three allotted modifications per calendar 12 months.

Every day Publication

Reward your inbox with the TPG Every day e-newsletter

Be part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants

Associated: Your complete guide to maximizing Southwest Rapid Rewards

The right way to earn the Southwest Companion Move

Incomes the Companion Move requires accruing 135,000 qualifying factors or taking 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar 12 months. That appears like so much, however contemplating the mountains of factors out there from Southwest Airways bank card bonuses, it is not as troublesome because it initially appears.

Plus, the Companion Move has a formidable shelf life: It is legitimate by the tip of the 12 months during which you earn it, in addition to the complete 12 months that follows. For those who time it accurately, that could possibly be almost two years of BOGO privileges.

So what are qualifying factors for incomes the Companion Move?

It is vital to notice that not all Fast Rewards factors depend towards the 135,000-point requirement. This is how Southwest defines factors that may depend:

Companion Move qualifying factors are earned from income flights booked by Southwest®, factors earned on Southwest Fast Rewards® Credit score Playing cards, and base factors earned from Fast Rewards® companions.

As you possibly can see, all income flights booked on Southwest will depend towards incomes the Companion Move, as will factors earned on Southwest’s cobranded bank cards. The place issues get a bit trickier is the “base factors earned from Fast Rewards companions” verbiage. Do all companions depend?

The Companion Pass page on Southwest’s web site gives some examples of companion exercise that may depend towards qualification:

• Fast Rewards bank cards, together with sign-up bonuses
• Buying and eating companions, together with Rapid Rewards Dining
• Dwelling and life-style companions

Nevertheless, many issues don’t depend towards incomes the Companion Move. The primary is any switch from Chase Ultimate Rewards. If in case you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and have been hoping to switch your factors to earn the Companion Move, you are out of luck. Bought factors, flight bonus factors and factors transferred from resort and automotive loyalty packages do not depend.

In a nutshell, this is one of the best technique to earn a standard Companion Move:

• Open a brand new Southwest bank card (or two) someday in November
• Don’t attain any minimal spending necessities till after your December assertion closes
• As quickly as your December assertion closes, start spending to achieve these thresholds

Doing it will make sure that any bonuses you earn might be posted to your Fast Rewards account early within the following 12 months — and thus depend towards subsequent 12 months’s qualification. Know, although, that you can miss incomes the go fully for those who do not time it accurately. With that in thoughts, this is a rundown of three methods.

Associated: How to use the Southwest Companion Pass

Southwest bank cards

Factors earned from Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards, together with any sign-up bonuses you obtain from the playing cards, depend towards the Southwest Companion Move. There are 5 totally different Southwest playing cards on the market with various sign-up bonuses. So, new candidates can leverage these bonuses to accrue a big chunk of the 135,000 factors required to earn the Companion Move.

Moreover, Southwest cardholders will take pleasure in an annual enhance of 10,000 factors towards Companion Move qualification yearly. It will publish inside 30 days of opening your account after which once more at the start of each calendar 12 months. This successfully reduces the variety of factors it’s essential to earn to 125,000.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card have the identical elevated welcome bonus. You’ll be able to earn 75,000 bonus factors after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.

As famous above, you will maximize your Companion Move by incomes it as early within the 12 months as attainable. A great technique is to open a Southwest bank card in November or December and start spending on the cardboard however wait to finish your minimal spending requirement till you have entered the brand new 12 months.

You would possibly even need to wait till your December assertion closes to start spending in your new card. In spite of everything, it will guarantee all of the factors you earn in your new card will depend towards incomes a Companion Move, which might then be legitimate for as much as two years. This is an instance of how this would possibly work.

For those who embrace the brand new 10,000-point enhance for cardholders, you have earned no less than 86,000 qualifying factors towards the Companion Move (75,000 bonus factors, 10,000-anniversary factors and no less than 1,000 factors from the spending exercise). Since all of them hit your Fast Rewards account in 2024, you are nearly midway to incomes the go for the remainder of 2024 and all of 2025.

Certainly one of Southwest’s enterprise bank cards — the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card — may also speed up your progress to the Companion Move. New candidates of the Southwest Efficiency card can earn 80,000 Fast Rewards factors after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.

For those who mix earnings from this enterprise card with these from a private Southwest card (once more, time your spending fastidiously), you can qualify for a Companion Move with none extra exercise.

Associated: Do I need a business to get a business credit card?

Chase software restrictions

Earlier than occurring an software spree, keep in mind that Chase has restrictions on Southwest credit cards associated to sign-up bonuses. The next verbiage seems on the appliance pages for the Precedence, Premier and Plus playing cards:

The product is just not out there to both (i) present Cardmembers of any Southwest Fast Rewards® Credit score Card, or (ii) earlier Cardmembers of any Southwest Fast Rewards Credit score Card who acquired a brand new Cardmember bonus throughout the final 24 months. This doesn’t apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Fast Rewards Enterprise Card and Worker Credit score Card merchandise.

In consequence, you possibly can’t open a brand new Southwest private card if you have already got one or earned a sign-up bonus on one throughout the final 24 months. You will additionally need to make sure you’re conversant in Chase’s normal software restrictions, together with the issuer’s infamous 5/24 rule and the final rule which you can open one private and one enterprise card each 90 days.

As of now, Southwest’s small-business bank cards should not have the identical verbiage. As an alternative, the enterprise playing cards observe:

This new Cardmember bonus supply is just not out there to both (i) present Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card, or (ii) earlier Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card who acquired a brand new Cardmember bonus for this enterprise bank card throughout the final 24 months.

In fact, all of the factors you earn from spending on Southwest playing cards additionally depend towards incomes the Companion Move, so you can spend in your card to earn a Companion Move. There are two different choices, although, that ought to make the duty simpler.

Associated: How to qualify for Southwest Companion Pass with 1 credit card sign-up bonus

Flying with Southwest: How a lot do you must spend to get 135,000 factors?

One other easy strategy to earn points for the Companion Pass is by really flying with Southwest. If you do not have a bank card and plan to earn the Companion Move by flying in 2023, you will have to earn the complete 135,000 factors or take 100 qualifying one-way flights. This interprets to the next spending on base fares:

• $22,500 on Wanna Get Away
• $16,875 on Wanna Get Away Plus
• $13,500 on Anytime
• $11,250 on Enterprise Choose

If in case you have journey deliberate early subsequent 12 months, contemplate reserving with Southwest to earn factors towards the Companion Move. However keep in mind, this technique requires flying on many paid Southwest fares to earn sufficient Companion Move qualifying factors.

Associated: 9 cool places you didn’t know you could fly on Southwest

Use a mixture of bank cards and flying to get Southwest factors

In fact, the most suitable choice for incomes the Companion Move will probably be some mixture of flying and bank card bonuses.

As an instance you open the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card on the finish of this 12 months and earn the complete sign-up bonus in early 2024. Let’s additionally assume you spend a complete of $10,000 on the cardboard, and a part of that spending is $2,000 on Wanna Get Away base fares, all of that are on flights flown in January or February 2024. You’ll earn:

• Signal-up bonus (for spending $5,000 in first three months): 80,000 factors
• Flying: 12,000 factors ($2,000 x 6 factors per greenback spent on Wanna Get Away base fares)
• Southwest airfare purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($2,000 x 4 factors per greenback spent on Southwest purchases)
• Different purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($8,000 x 1 level per greenback spent)

This exercise would earn you 108,000 Companion Move-qualifying factors, and while you embrace the ten,000-point enhance as a Southwest cardholder, you are now simply 17,000 factors away. You possibly can simply make up that distinction for those who can leverage different incomes alternatives like Rapid Rewards Shopping or a automotive rental by Southwest.

Since these factors will all hit your Fast Rewards account in 2024, your Companion Move might be legitimate by Dec. 31, 2025. That is a variety of BOGO time for utilizing your Companion Move.

Keep in mind that your bank card factors will not seem in your account till a couple of days after your month-to-month assertion closes. Any factors from flights will not publish till a couple of days after you full the journey. Once more, timing is essential to make sure you earn the Companion Move and may use it for so long as attainable.

Associated: 13 lessons from 13 years’ worth of Southwest Companion Passes