The Southwest Companion Pass lets one chosen person fly almost free — paying only $5.60 in taxes each way — on every Southwest trip you take, for up to two years. It's not a flashy lie-flat suite; it's arguably the single best deal in domestic U.S. travel, because it effectively doubles the value of every point and every paid fare. Here's exactly how it works and how to earn it.
Updated: July 2026. Award pricing changes — verify the current cost before you book.
The math — why it's a "buy one, get one" machine
The Companion Pass isn't a single redemption, so there's no one CPP. The magic is that your companion's ticket is essentially free on top of whatever you book — points or cash. Here's a representative round trip:
| Your ticket | Companion ticket | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash fare | ~$450 round trip | ~$450 round trip |
| Points used | 25,000 Rapid Rewards | 0 |
| Taxes paid | ~$11.20 | ~$11.20 ($5.60 each way) |
Your own ticket alone: (450 − 11.20) ÷ 25,000 × 100 = 1.75¢ per point — already above our 1.35¢ Southwest baseline because you caught a good fare. Now add the companion for taxes only and the effective value roughly doubles:
Combined: 25,000 points + ~$22.40 buys two $450 round trips = ~$900 of travel.
(900 − 22.40) ÷ 25,000 × 100 = 3.51¢per point — about 2.6× the baseline.
Rapid Rewards is a fixed-value program: points redeem for a set fraction of the cash fare with no award chart and no blackout dates — if a seat is for sale, it's bookable with points. The Companion Pass simply staples a free second seat to all of it. See how we value every currency.
How to earn the Pass
The Companion Pass is awarded when you collect a set number of qualifying Rapid Rewards points in a single calendar year — 135,000 qualifying points (verify the current threshold), or fly 100 qualifying one-way flights. The part that makes it attainable: credit-card welcome bonuses and everyday card spend count toward that total.
A realistic path from a standing start:
- Open a Southwest Rapid Rewards personal card and a Southwest business card (Chase). Between two welcome bonuses and the required spend, you can land near — or past — the threshold in one shot (verify current offers).
- Add anniversary points, tier-qualifying flights, and normal card spend to close any gap.
- Time it early in the year. Earn the Pass in, say, January and it's valid for the rest of that year plus all of the next — up to ~2 years of free companion travel.
Important nuance: points transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards do not count toward the Companion Pass threshold (verify) — you need points earned directly through Southwest cards, flights, or partners. Transferred UR is still great for booking flights, just not for earning the Pass.
How to use it, step by step
- Designate your companion in your Southwest account once the Pass posts. You can change the designated person a limited number of times per year (verify).
- Book your own seat — with points or cash, any available fare.
- Add your companion to the same flight for just the taxes (~$5.60 per segment).
- Watch the price and rebook freely. Southwest has no change or cancellation fees — if your fare drops, cancel and rebook; points redeposit automatically and the companion re-links. No blackout dates ever.
What flying Southwest is like
The factual product (documented, but verify — Southwest is mid-overhaul): Southwest is an all-economy carrier. Historically it used open boarding and included two free checked bags, but the airline is moving to assigned seating for 2026 and changed its baggage policy in 2025 — confirm the current boarding, seating, and bag rules before you rely on them. What's stable and unusual is the fare flexibility: no change fees, points redeposit on cancellation, and points fares track cash fares with no award chart.
Is it worth it?
The Companion Pass is the rare loyalty perk whose value scales with how much you fly — every trip you take together adds a second near-free ticket, so the more you fly, the higher the effective return. Because Rapid Rewards is fixed-value with no award chart and no blackout dates, the Pass works on any bookable seat, points or cash. The honest counterpoints: Southwest flies mostly domestic and near-international, every seat is economy, and the 2025–2026 seating and baggage overhaul shifts the calculus — so verify the current rules before you count on them. But if you and a travel partner fly together often, nothing in domestic travel beats stapling a free second seat to every ticket for up to two years.
Search & verify prices
Award pricing and space change constantly — check live before you transfer:
- Book & search award space: Southwest — shows its own Rapid Rewards points fares most reliably; scan the Low Fare Calendar (same site) for the cheapest dates.
- Find award space fast: seats.aero · point.me · ExpertFlyer
- Compare cash prices & date grids: Google Flights · ITA Matrix
These open external airline/tool sites; confirm the live price and space before moving any points.
FAQ
What counts toward the qualifying-points threshold? Points from Southwest card welcome bonuses and spend, flights (base-fare points), and Rapid Rewards partners. Points transferred from Chase UR do not count (verify).
How long does the Pass last? The rest of the calendar year you earn it, plus the entire following year — so earning early in a year gets you closest to the full ~2 years.
Does my companion pay anything? Only taxes — about $5.60 per one-way segment. The fare itself is free, whether your ticket was points or cash.
Are there blackout dates? No. Rapid Rewards has no award chart and no blackout dates; if a seat is for sale, points and the companion work.
Which cards help most? The Southwest Rapid Rewards personal and business cards from Chase — see the Southwest cards guide. Chase UR also transfers to Southwest 1:1 for booking, just not for earning the Pass.
Related: How much are your points worth? · Southwest Rapid Rewards cards · Chase Sapphire Preferred · Delta One for 50k SkyMiles
