The trick to earning the Companion Pass fast for 2022 is to apply for the Southwest Credit card with the highest welcome bonus at the end of 2021 but hold off to actually qualify for the Companion Pass as early possible, in 2022. This would mean that you will have the Companion Pass as soon as you qualify for it in 2022 and then for an additional year.
RequirementS for Southwest Companion Pass
Earn 125,000 Rapid Reward points or fly 100 segments in one calendar year.
With a high welcome offer this is very easy to reach, as long as you pay attention to the minimum spending details. This would be the easiest strategy to reach Companion Pass, based on the current offers and requirements.
1-Apply for the high welcome bonus credit card from Southwest (100K): Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
The current welcome bonus for the Southwest Credit Card is a whopping 100,000 Rapid Rewards Points! There are a few things to keep in mind before you rush into applying and meeting the minimus spend.
2-Focus on meeting the minimum spend in early 2022 but apply in 2021
The first 50,000 points are earned after a $2,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months your account is open. That sounds very easy to do, right? Well, don’t hurry up and spend just yet. Because if you earn those points in 2021, say in December after the holiday shopping, then those points will credit your account for 2021.
This will not help you in earning Companion Pass for 2022. In fact, this will a sad situation and void all your efforts in accumulating all the points in the same year to meet the Companion Pass qualifications.
You want to apply while the bonus is still active, at 100,000, but time your spending so that you do spend up to $1,999 by December 31, 2021 and the rest, in 2022. You can simply spend a minimal amount until 2022 and then go all out after January 2022.
The second portion of the 50,000 Rapid Rewards points is earned after a $12,000 spending requirement in 12 months from account opening.
For example:
APPLY FOR the card while the bonus is active and spend later
OPTION 1:
- Spend up to $1,999 by Dec 21, 2021 or spend $2,000 on or after Jan. 1, 2022
- Earn 50,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
- Spend $12,000 (after Jan 2022)
- Earn 50,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
- Meet full minimum spending requirement at 1x: $14,000
- Earn 14,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
- + 100,000 Welcome Bonus
- =114,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
Once you spend $2,000 and receive the first 50,000, then spend $12,000 to receive the other 50,000, you would have accumulated 114,000 Raid Rewards points on a total of $14,000 spent on the card.
Option 2:
- Spend $14,000 at 2x categories
- Earn 28,000 Rapid Rewards
- =128,000 Rapid Rewards = Earn Southwest Companion Pass
Bonus rewards categories
While using the Southwest credit card, you can accelerate earning those Companion Pass points by focusing on the bonus categories.
- Earn 3X points on Southwest® purchases
- Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- Earn 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming.
If you use the new card for expenses on the bonus categories, you can easily reach the additional points needed to reach Companion Pass status.
The new Southwest Card offer is an all time high and very competitive with so many high welcome offers going around so it might make sense to get it now and time the usage properly during the last quarter of 2021.
This is a limited-time offer that expires on 12/7/2021.
What to know about the Companion Pass
For full Southwest Rapid Rewards Program Terms and Conditions CLICK HERE
SOUTHWEST COMPANION PASS Qualification SUMMARY
Register for a Southwest Rapid Rewards Account
Visit Southwest Airlines and enroll here
How do you earn the Companion Pass for 2022?
A Rapid Rewards Member who earns 125,000 Companion Pass qualifying points or who flies 100 qualifying one-way flights booked through Southwest® per calendar year will qualify for Companion Pass.
You can earn Companion Pass qualifying points from revenue flights booked through Southwest, points earned on Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Cards, and base points earned from Rapid Rewards® partners.
How many people can I have as a companion?
A Rapid Rewards member is limited to one Companion at any time. After designating a Companion, the Member will be issued a Companion Pass card, which is not transferrable.
The Member may, however, change his/her designated Companion and request a new Companion Pass card up to three (3) times each calendar year that the Member maintains the Companion Pass status. Any reservation with the current Companion Pass would need to be cancelled before changing his/her designated Companion. Requests may be made by calling 1-800-435-9792. Allow 21 business days for processing and issuance of the Companion Pass card.
How do I book a Companion Pass ticket?
The Member must first book and purchase his/her flight in cash or points through Southwest and then book the Companion’s flight through Southwest by choosing the Rapid Rewards Companion Pass booking option on Southwest.com, or if calling Southwest’s toll-free reservations number at 1-800-248-4377, notifying the Customer Representative that a Rapid Rewards Companion Pass will be used.
When can you qualify for the Companion Pass?
Companion Pass qualification will be based on a calendar year. Once Companion Pass status is earned, the Member can begin using his/her Companion Pass immediately once he/she has designated a Companion. The Member will maintain Companion Pass status for the remainder of the calendar year in which the status was earned and for the entire calendar year immediately following. To continue receiving Companion Pass privileges, the Member must requalify each calendar year. The beginning validity date and/or expiration date of Companion Pass status or a Companion Pass card may not be adjusted.
How long does the Companion Pass last?
The Member will maintain Companion Pass status for the remainder of the calendar year in which the status was earned and for the entire calendar year immediately following.
Are there any exclusions to earning points towards companion pass?
The following do not count as Companion Pass qualifying points: purchased points; points transferred between Members; points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs, e-Rewards®, Valued Opinions, and Diners Club®; points earned from Rapid Rewards program enrollment; tier bonus points; flight bonus points; and partner bonus points (with the exception of the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase). No points or Companion Pass qualifying points will be awarded for flights taken by the Companion using the Companion Pass
My Final Thoughts
This is an awesome deal and definitely worth it if you travel with anyone, especially on domestic routes, now including Mexico, the Caribbean and Hawaii. This will allow you and your companion to use the 125,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards to book as much as 4 round trip flights to Hawaii for 2 people, from LAX-HNL, for example, at 13,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points each way. Or what if you prefer to go skiing on the East Coast? The points cost can be as low as 4,000 each way, plus your free companion to join you along. The route I searched was from JAX -PVD.
Would you jump on this deal and try to reach Companion Pass?
This card has a $95 annual fee and the only challenge would be to meet the spending requirements in a timely manner so that you can qualify as early in the year as possible, IU like to use Southwest for family travel and to get me to other hubs I need for longer haul flights.
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