Use This Trick to Earn Southwest’s ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ Plane Tickets for Nearly Two Years

Imagine how many trips you and a friend could take over the course of nearly two years. Now imagine how much you’d save if you could snag buy-one-get-one plane tickets for each of your destinations. That’s essentially what you can get by taking advantage of the Southwest Companion Pass deal. 

As a credit card travel expert, I’m always looking for smart ways to travel for less, and Southwest’s buy-one-get-one plane ticket deal may be the most valuable elite status perk I’ve seen from any airline.

Here’s how you can earn your Southwest Companion Pass for 2025.

What is the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass?

Southwest is the only major airline that offers a companion pass with an unlimited number of uses. Southwest’s Companion Pass essentially offers a free plane ticket for whoever you choose to bring with you. 

You simply pay for your own ticket and any taxes and fees for your designated companion. (It’s typically just the $5.60 TSA fee per flight, plus any taxes or fees imposed by foreign countries for international flights).

You can add your companion to flights that you paid for, or to flights that were paid for by someone else. You can even add your companion to your award flights booked with your Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points or booked with someone else’s points.

As long as your name and Rapid Rewards number are attached to the reservation, you can add your companion, and you won’t have to pay more than the taxes and fees for their ticket.

The Southwest Airlines Companion Pass is valid for the remainder of the year in which you earn it, plus the following year. So if you earned the pass in December 2024, it would only be valid until the end of 2025, which isn’t a good idea. Instead, I recommend earning your pass in early 2025, so that it’s valid until the end of 2026.

How can you earn the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass?

There are several ways that you can qualify for the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass. You could fly 100 one-way qualifying (paid) flights, but that would be the equivalent of taking a round-trip flight nearly every week of the year. And it would take you most or all of the year to earn it. Or, you could earn 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points through any combination of paid flights, partner hotel stays, partner car rentals or through their Rapid Rewards credit cards.

Earning the points through flights, partner hotels and partner car rentals is possible for frequent business travelers, but you’ll most likely earn the pass later in the calendar year. 

If you’re not a frequent traveler on paid tickets, and you don’t book your rental cars and hotel stays through Southwest, then your best option to earn the Companion Pass is by earning welcome bonuses with the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards. 

By applying for two Rapid Rewards credit cards, and earning their welcome bonuses, it’s possible to earn the 135,000 points very quickly. In fact, Southwest gives you 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points just for having one of these cards. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is a high-value perk, but it’s not worth going into debt over. If you’re earning the pass via the card’s welcome bonus, only spend what you’re able to pay off.

Here’s how much the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass could save you

With 135,000 Rapid Rewards points, you’ll earn about $1,890 of award travel, as these points are worth about 1.4 cents each, according to The Points Guy. 

But when you add your companion to those award flights, the reward value essentially doubles to $3,780. And since you can add your companion to an unlimited number of flights, not just the ones you paid for with these points, the value of this pass is potentially limitless. 

The best Southwest credit cards for earning a Companion Pass

To earn your Companion Pass, you have to apply for and be approved for two credit cards that have a total welcome bonus of 125,000 points or more. 

A good place to start is with one of their personal cards like the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card*, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card* or the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card*. 

All three of these cards are currently offering new applicants 50,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first three months of card membership. They offer different benefits, with annual fees of $69, $99 and $149 respectively.

Chase’s rules say that you can only get the welcome bonus for one personal card every 24 months, so your second card needs to be a small business card. 

Luckily, you can qualify for a small business card based on any income you earn outside of your employer, even if you’re just an unincorporated sole proprietor. For example, if you walk dogs, deliver food, babysit or sell stuff online, or are about to start one of these types of businesses, then you can qualify for a small business credit card. 

If you aren’t incorporated, you can apply as an unincorporated sole proprietor, using your Social Security number instead of an Employer Identification Number.

Currently, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card* offers 60,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within three months of account opening, and has an annual fee of $99. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card offers new cardholders 80,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on new purchases within three months of account opening. As their top-of-the-line card, it comes with numerous benefits that help justify its $199 annual fee. 

With one personal card, and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business card, you’ll earn 130,000 bonus points, and a total of at least 136,000 points once you’ve met the minimum spending requirements of $1,000 and $5,000. Alternatively, you could apply for two small business credit cards. 

Earning both these bonuses will give you more than enough points to qualify for the Companion Pass. Make sure you earn your bonuses in a 2025 statement period to receive a companion pass that’s valid until the end of 2026.

Is the Companion Pass worth it?

Putting $6,000 on your credit cards in three months isn’t advisable for everyone. Again, you should only charge to your card what you can pay off by your next statement balance to avoid interest. 

But if you travel enough to support that kind of spending, earning the companion pass could save you and your travel partner plenty of money in the long run.

*All information about the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.