August 6, 2025
Earn the Southwest® Companion Pass with a 100K Offer
Pam
Many of our readers want to know if they can earn the Southwest® Companion Pass with the 100K Rapid Rewards offer that is currently available on the Southwest® personal credit cards. Yes, you can! Let’s outline the details!
As a reminder, the card_name and the card_name both have welcome offers of 100K Rapid Rewards after spending $4,000 in the first 5 months from account opening. This extra time to meet the minimum spend makes it possible to earn the Companion Pass after opening just one card.
How to Get the Companion Pass with this offer
- Open one of the personal cards above. If your Player 2 can refer you—great! If not, we’d love you to use our link! I would not do this until at least the beginning of September for maximum caution, as you would then have until early February to complete all your spending (and we are seeing an end date of September 17th for this offer).
- Between receiving the card and December 31, spend no more than about $3,500 on your card.
- Starting January 1, 2026, complete the minimum spend you have left to get to that $4,000 mark. You have to finish this within five months from when you were approved for the card, so if you apply in early September, you should aim to finish by the end of January.
Finishing Up
You now have 104,000 Rapid Rewards, with around 100,500 earned and posted after January 1. You need a total of 135,000 earned after January 1 to get the Companion Pass, though. Additionally, as a Southwest credit card holder, you will be given 10,000 points toward the Companion Pass. If you opened your first card before January 1st, then those 10,000 points will be deposited into your account by January 31st. The 10,000 boost is a way to help you achieve this goal faster, especially if you’re close to earning the pass but haven’t quite reached the 125,000-point threshold. So then you’ll have around 110,500 Rapid Rewards and will need 24,500 more.
You can earn those final 24,500 points most easily by referring someone to the card, which earns you an additional 20,000 Rapid Rewards, and then spending more on your card and/or shopping through the Southwest shopping portal.
The Key Thing
The key thing is to finish all the minimum spend within five months of when you applied for the card but to not finish the spend before January 1, 2026. Be very vigilant about completing your spending correctly, as we often hear of people just missing out on the pass because they hit the minimum too early. To have the pass for most of 2026 and all of 2027 you NEED those 100,000 points to post in 2026!
Bottom Line
The ability to earn the Southwest® Companion Pass with the 100K Rapid Rewards offer is an easier option in terms of card applications—one card vs. a couple of cards. But the timing of the spending is a little trickier, since only the points you earn after January 1st will count toward the 135,000 points needed to earn the Companion Pass. As long as you can complete the spending requirement to earn the welcome offer after January 1st and then refer a card and do a little more spending, it is a viable option for many.
Related Posts
Southwest® Credit Card Overhaul: What’s Changing for Personal & Business Cardholders
Podcast 45. Deep Dive into the Southwest® Companion Pass
Podcast 95. Southwest® and Hyatt: The Beginner’s Guide to Nearly Free Vacations
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If you open your card in September, will the 10,000 points from SW still not be deposited till January? Also if you spend 3500 on your card before January as you suggest, those 3500 points will be in 2025 so not valid for 2026/27 companion pass correct?
You will finish your spending in January and that is within the 5 month spending cycle so they will count for the cycle not the fiscal year. The boost is typically deposited by January 31st for eligible cardholders who have an open and active card at the start of the year.
If I apply for the SW 100K card today (8/8), when will my 5 months officially be up? Is it January 8 or does it count by days, so earlier? When I put it into travel freely, it shows up as my 5 months is up on January 5.
I wouldn’t apply for it till later as that is pushing the time period too close.
I have the SWA card since 2009. I have companion pass and A list this year and am on track for 2026 as I have been for the last 3 years. My husband also has the card but we maximize use on mine for the perks. We have mostly flown free domestically for the last 3 years and we use it alot. We want to get the new promotion they are offering and get 200k points. I’ve read I have to close my account and wait 30 days to reopen to get the new SUB. What I think we could do is get my sub this year to help me finish CP for 2026 then finish the spend on his next year to get CP for 2027. I’m scared to close my card, it’s been so long, but I want to play this game better. I’ve liked A List benefits too, this may put me off track for that for 2026 which is all changing anyhow.
What would be the strategy for a family of 4 wanting both parents to hold the companion pass so both kids can fly free? Neither parent has a SW card. Thanks!
The three card strategy in this podcast works best. It is found around the 14:42 mark in the podcast. https://travelmomsquad.com/podcast-45-deep-dive-into-the-southwest-companion-pass/