Southwest Companion Pass: How to Earn and Use It (2026)

What the Southwest Companion Pass actually is

The Companion Pass is the most valuable perk in Southwest Rapid Rewards. Once you have it, you name one person as your designated companion, and that person flies with you for free on any flight you book, whether you paid with cash or with points. You only cover the taxes and fees on their seat, which start at $5.60 each way for domestic flights.

This is not a one time discount and it is not a single free flight. As long as your pass is active and you are also on the flight, your companion can come along on unlimited trips. You can book and rebook as many times as you want during the valid period. Among airline loyalty perks, almost nothing else delivers this much value, which is why it sits at the center of the complete companion pass guide.

Two things to keep in mind. Your companion only flies free when you are booked on the same flight, and seats for both of you depend on availability the same as any other ticket.

Compare the main earning paths

A quick look at how the most common Companion Pass strategies stack up.

The 2026 earning threshold

For 2026, you earn the Companion Pass by collecting 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points in a single calendar year, or by flying 100 qualifying one way flights booked through Southwest in that same year. You hit either target and the pass is yours.

There is one helpful shortcut. If you hold an open Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card on the first business day of the calendar year, Southwest gives you a boost of 10,000 qualifying points. That drops the points you still need to earn to 125,000 for the year.

Qualifying points reset to zero every January 1. Progress does not carry over, so the calendar year you choose to push for the pass matters a great deal.

Which points count and which do not

This is where most people get tripped up, so it is worth being precise. Companion Pass qualifying points are not the same pool as the redeemable points you spend on flights, even though many of the same activities earn both.

Points that count toward the 135,000 threshold include base points from Southwest flights, points earned on Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card spending, the welcome bonus from opening a card, the annual 10,000 point cardholder boost, and base points from Rapid Rewards partners such as hotels, car rentals, dining, and the online shopping portal.

What does not count is just as important. Points you buy or transfer in, points moved from a hotel program into Rapid Rewards, points from a partner that posts as a transfer rather than base earning, and any A-List tier bonus points are excluded. Credit card points are credited based on when they post to your account, not when you spent the money, so a December purchase that posts in January counts toward the next year.

• Counts: Southwest flight base points
• Counts: Rapid Rewards credit card spend and welcome bonus
• Counts: the 10,000 annual cardholder boost
• Counts: base points from hotel, car, dining, and shopping partners
• Does not count: purchased or transferred points
• Does not count: A-List elite bonus points

How to earn it fast with credit cards

Flying 135,000 base points worth of paid airfare in a year is a tall order for most travelers, so the realistic path runs through Southwest credit cards. A single card welcome bonus, combined with everyday spending and the annual point boost, can carry you most or all of the way to the threshold. In some years Southwest has even attached a Companion Pass directly to a card welcome offer.

Because welcome bonus points count toward qualifying points, the timing of your application and your spending decides which calendar year you reach the pass. We break down the exact card strategy and sequencing in our guide to earning a companion pass fast with credit cards.

Watch your annual fees and the Chase application rules before you apply, and never carry a balance. Interest charges will wipe out the value of any pass you earn.

How long the pass lasts and how to time it

Here is the part that makes the pass so powerful. When you earn it, the Companion Pass is valid for the rest of the calendar year in which you earned it, plus the entire following calendar year.

That means timing is everything. Earn the pass in early 2026 and you keep it through December 31, 2027, close to two full years of free companion travel. Earn it in November 2026 and you still get all of 2027, but you wasted most of 2026.

The smart move for many people is to earn the bulk of the qualifying points late in one year, then finish crossing the threshold in the first weeks of the next year. Done right, that stretches a single earning push across almost 24 months of flights.

How to set up, book, and change your companion

Once you qualify, designate your companion in your account online. Log in at Southwest.com, open your account snapshot, find the Choose Your Companion section, and enter their name and details, or call Southwest at 1-800-435-9792 to set it up by phone.

To book companion travel, first book your own flight as you normally would, with cash or points. After that ticket is confirmed, add your companion to the same flight from your account or by phone. You pay only the taxes and fees on their seat, starting at $5.60 each way within the United States. International itineraries and certain routes carry higher government taxes and fees.

You can change your designated companion up to three times per calendar year, so a pass can serve a spouse for part of the year and a child or friend later. Beyond three changes you generally have to wait for the next year.

What the 2026 changes mean for you

Southwest made the biggest changes in its history in 2026, and a few of them touch Companion Pass holders. Assigned seating replaced open boarding on January 27, 2026. You and your companion are now seated together based on the better boarding benefit either of you holds, so an A-List Preferred status on your account helps your companion too.

Southwest also introduced checked bag fees for the first time, reaching $45 for the first bag and $55 for the second as of April 9, 2026. Choice Extra fares and A-List Preferred members still get two free checked bags, and those bag rules apply to your companion's tier the same way they apply to any passenger.

Fares now come in tiers, and the tier you book changes how fast you earn. A $200 base fare earns roughly 400 points on the cheapest Basic fare, about 1,200 on Choice, and around 2,800 on Choice Extra. If you are chasing the pass through flights, higher fare classes get you there faster, though usually at a higher price per point. The core promise has not changed: credit card points, partner points, and welcome bonuses all still count toward the 135,000 threshold.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most expensive mistake is bad timing. Earning the pass late in the year throws away months of free travel you could have used. Plan to cross the threshold as early in a calendar year as you can, or use the late year into early year strategy.

People also assume every point counts. Transferred and purchased points do not move you toward qualifying, so do not buy points expecting them to help. Confirm that partner and card points post as base earning.

Finally, remember the pass only works when you are on the flight, and your companion's seat still depends on availability. If you want to weigh this against other airlines' offers, see how it compares to other companion fares and our honest take on whether the pass is worth it for how you actually travel.