Which Southwest Credit Card Is Right for You? [Full Review + Comparison]

Here at EPOP, we love getting the best deals we can on airfare. That’s why we’re big fans of Southwest Airlines for many of our domestic travel needs. The airline offers exceptional value, with 2 free checked bags, a carry-on bag, and a personal item. Plus, the fares are some of the lowest you’ll find.

But what if there were a way to make your already affordable Southwest flights even more affordable? We’re talking (basically) free flights, free in-flight WiFi, and even free in-flight (ahem, adult) beverages.

When you get one of the Southwest credit cards, all of the above (and more) are possible. In this guide, we’ll examine all of the credit cards that Southwest currently offers. (more…)

How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass in 2020

The Chase Southwest Companion Pass is one of, if not the, best airline perks out there. For people who fly domestically, it is an absolute must-have.

Even for people who don’t fly domestically that often, it can still provide incredible value and is probably worth getting.

Read on to find out what the Southwest Companion Pass is, how to get it, and our favorite ways to use it.

Jump to:

What Is the Southwest Companion Pass?

The name of the card is not intended to fool; the Southwest Companion Pass is exactly what it says it is.

The pass allows a companion (spouse, mother, friend, favorite blogger) to fly free with you when you fly on Southwest.

And unlike many other airlines, Southwest does not make the rules super confusing. In fact, the process is fairly straightforward:

  1. Once a person earns the Companion Pass (how to earn it is discussed below) they will designate the individual they want as their companion.
  2. The Companion Pass arrives in the mail.
  3. When the person is booking their tickets online, there is an option to choose to use the Companion Pass. When the person is booking over the phone, they simply have to tell the representative they want to use the Companion Pass.
  4. The companion flies for free.

About as easy as it gets, right?

Here’s a closer look at how you can earn the Companion Pass:

How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass in 2020

Technically, there are two different ways to earn the Companion Pass:

  1. By flying 100 qualifying one-way flights with Southwest in a calendar year.
  2. Earn 110,00 Southwest points in one calendar year.

Since 99% of people won’t fly enough on Southwest to earn it the first way, we will focus on how to earn 110,000 Southwest points in one calendar year.

At first glance, this may seem difficult, but in fact, it’s not hard AT ALL – below are all the options for earning 110,000 Southwest points in one calendar year.

Option 1: Open Two Southwest Credit Cards

Getting the Companion Pass is so easy because Chase is currently offering three different Southwest credit cards that EACH earn you Southwest points that count toward the Companion Pass.

The amount of points each credit card earns changes throughout the year, but you can generally get these cards with bonuses between 25-60k.

All you have to do is open up two of these credit cards and you’ll be at 110k Southwest points (and the Southwest Companion Pass) before you know it!

Plus vs. Premier Southwest Credit Cards

The first thing to be aware of is that there are two types of Southwest cards, the Plus and the Premier. These cards differ slightly:

  • The Plus has an annual fee of $69 and offers 3,000 Southwest points as an anniversary bonus each year you keep it open. Also, it charges a foreign transaction fee of 3%.
  • The Premier has an annual fee of $99 and offers 6,000 Southwest points as an anniversary bonus each year you keep it open. It has no foreign transaction fee, so you pay nothing extra when you use it abroad.

The second thing to understand is that Chase offers both a personal and a business version of the Southwest Premier card.

That means there is a Plus personal card, a Premier personal card, and a Premier business card — three opportunities to make the Southwest Companion Pass yours!

To ensure that you get the sign-up bonus for both cards (more than enough points to qualify for the Companion Pass), we recommend opening both a business and a personal card.

Since one is a personal card and one is a business card, you can apply for them at the same time without issues getting approved.

It is possible to reach the necessary number of points by opening two personal Southwest credit cards, but we don’t recommend it, as Chase is unlikely to approve an application for two personal credit cards so close together.

If applying for a business credit card feels intimidating, don’t worry. Here are some tips to get approved for a business card.

Other Ways to Earn Qualifying Points

If you only get approved for one Southwest credit card, or just want to apply for one of the cards, don’t worry, there are plenty of other ways to rack up points towards your Southwest Companion Pass.

Just a quick (but very important) heads-up: Not all the ways that you can get Southwest Rapid Rewards points to count towards the Companion Pass, so be careful.

For example, buying 6,000 Southwest points WILL NOT count towards the Southwest Companion Pass, nor will transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly to Southwest. Transferring points from hotel loyalty programs was also cut out of the equation early in 2017.

Option 2: Spend with the Southwest Credit Card

For each dollar you spend, you’ll earn one Southwest point, so if you spend $6,000, you’ll earn 6k points!

Plus, any Southwest flights you purchase on the card earn you an additional point, making it that much easier to rack up those Rapid Rewards points! For instance, if you use your Southwest credit card to buy a $300 ticket, you’ll earn 600 points instead of just the regular 300.

I’d recommend this for anyone who has a big purchase planned or plenty of monthly expenses that you can pay with a credit card.

Your regular monthly spending could earn you your Southwest Companion Pass in no time!

Option 3: Book Hotels Through Southwest Hotels

If you are planning any travel in the near future, consider booking your hotel through Southwest Hotels.

The base rates for points will count towards your Southwest Companion Pass.

Generally, you’ll earn one point per dollar spent on hotels. This isn’t bad, but we can do better — some hotels give you up to 10k points!

For instance, a quick search for a one night stay in Las Vegas shows many hotels with 1-2k Rapid Rewards points per night. A $254 night at The Palazzo will earn you 7,000 Rapid Rewards points when you book it with your Southwest credit card.

Southwest Hotel Deals Vegas

And when you pay for the hotel with your Southwest credit card, and you’ll earn an additional two points per dollar. Meaning that, in the above example, your total earnings would be ($254 x 2) + 7,000 = 7,508 points.

Option 4: Shop Through the Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal

Everyone shops online – so why not earn something for it?

There are lots of stores on the Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal that you probably already shop at, so make sure you visit those shops through the portal and earn points towards your Southwest Companion Pass for buying what you were already going to buy!

Earn Rapid Rewards points at websites like Restaurant.com, Home Chef, Shutterstock, Bass Pro Shops, Lord & Taylor, Tumi, Apple, and Nike.

Buying a new iPad Pro? That’s 650 points towards your Southwest Companion Pass.

Buying $100 worth of clothes for the kids at JCPenny? That’s three points per dollar equalling 300 points!

The best part is that you can double dip when you pay with your Southwest credit card. This means iPad Pro purchase has turned into 1300 Rapid Rewards points and the clothing from JCPenney has become 400 points.

All of these points count towards your Southwest Companion Pass!

There are hundreds of websites listed, so make sure you check the Rapid Rewards portal before you click “buy” and you’ll be well on your way to the Southwest Companion Pass!

Option 5: Go out to Eat with Rapid Rewards Dining

If you go out to eat a lot, be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to earn points towards the Southwest Companion Pass.

Signing up for Rapid Rewards Dining Program will earn you up to three points per dollar towards your Southwest Companion Pass at participating restaurants.

That means a $20 dinner would net you 60 Rapid Rewards points!

If you use your Southwest credit card, you can double dip and earn even more!

Your $20 dinner just turned into 80 Rapid Rewards points just by using the right credit card. Who thinks double dipping is bad now?

Option 6: Fly Southwest Airlines

This might seem like a no brainer, but it really does make sense. You’ll earn miles for your fare, plus an additional two points per dollar when you book with your Southwest credit card.

You’ll earn Rapid Rewards points based on the fare you buy:

  • 6 points for Wanna Get Away
  • 10 points for Anytime
  • 12 points for Business Select

If you book a $200 Wanna Get Away fare, you’ll earn 1,200 Rapid Rewards points.

If you book that same fare with your Southwest Credit card, you’ll earn an additional 400 points for a total of 1600 Rapid Rewards points!

A $300 Anytime fare will earn you 3000 Rapid Rewards points (300×10=3000!)

If you’re a little short on Companion Pass qualifying points, spending a little extra on your next Southwest flight could bump you up to two for one travel for the next year!

5 Awesome Southwest Companion Pass Benefits

Still not convinced of the value of the Southwest Companion Pass? There are five things that make the Companion Pass especially awesome. Let’s take a look at them:

1. You Can Use the Pass Unlimited Times

This is not a one-time pass, but instead allows a companion to fly free with you EVERY TIME you fly Southwest.

Yes, you are hearing me correctly: EVERY SINGLE TIME you fly Southwest.

Theoretically, I could fly Southwest every day and my companion would fly free with me each and every time.

2. The Companion Pass Can Remain Valid for Up to 2 Years

You may think you are mishearing misreading me, but you aren’t. The Companion Pass is good for the year you earn it and the next calendar year as well.

Example: Let’s say you get your Companion Pass on October 1st. Your Companion Pass will then be good for October, November, and December of 2020 and then all of 2021, for a total of 15 months.

Of course, the way to squeeze maximum value out of it is to get it as early in the year as possible (like January) and then you’d have it for a full two years.

Bingo!

3. Your Companion Flies Completely Free

With most things in life, free doesn’t mean free, and a lot of times there is enough red tape and rules to make the “free” item not even worth it.

This is NOT the case with the Southwest Companion Pass.

In this case, free really does mean free.

The only thing that the companion will be required to pay is a government-mandated September 11th security fee and taxes which is about $5.60 one way.

Other than that, there are no costs for the companion whatsoever.

And in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last two years, you should be aware that bags fly free on Southwest (awesome commercial evidence here, here, and here), so the companion won’t even have to worry about that cost!

4. You Can Use the Companion Pass on Both Paid and Award Flights

Whether you pay out of pocket for your flight or use some of the Southwest miles you’ve accumulated to get an award ticket, your companion can still fly free with you.

This is basically unheard of in the airline world, as every other companion pass (that I’m aware of) requires the original person to pay for their ticket.

Not on Southwest.

So whether you pay $500 for a last-minute ticket, $150 for their normally cheap regular fares, or fly free yourself using your Southwest miles, your companion can come along as well.

What’s better than one person flying free on Southwest?

TWO PEOPLE FLYING FREE ON SOUTHWEST!

5. You Can Change Your Designated Companion Up to 3 Times Per Year

After you originally designate your companion you can change it and get a Companion Pass reissued with another person’s name up to three times a calendar year each year you maintain your Companion Pass.

This can be done instantly over the phone and is an awesome perk that often gets overlooked among all the other amazing things about the pass.

I’ll give you a good example of how I plan to use this to my advantage.

Naturally, Heather (my wife) will be my companion on many of my trips.

However, instead of designating her as my original companion, I plan on designating my best friend Jon because we are planning a trip together down to Florida.

After we take our trip and he flies for free (saving him anywhere between $150-300), I’ll call in and ask to designate Heather as my new companion.

Then, we’ll use the Companion Pass to fly all over this awesome country of ours.

You can even designate a new companion (i.e. Jon), change it to someone else (Heather) and then change it back to the original person (Jon).

FINAL WORD(S)

The Southwest Companion Pass is an amazing, amazing perk and even those who only occasionally fly domestic should consider it. Southwest is expanding its route network every year with flights to the Caribbean and Latin America already happening.

For anyone who flies a decent amount (or would if it was cheaper), it’s an absolute must.

Grab a personal and business card, find a good companion, and experience the joys of free travel!

If you’ve got the Southwest Companion Pass, weigh in below. Is my love for it justified? Where have you gone with it? If you don’t have it, how do you plan on getting it? Fire away!

Planning Our 2 Month Trip Around the US

Ep-155

Heather and I decided to take advantage of our Southwest Companion Pass (the best companion pass there is) and travel around the United States.

For 2 months.

In today’s episode we take some of the travel advice we give for traveling abroad and apply it to our planning process for this trip. Many of you travel domestically and here are some great examples of how to save money while traveling right at home!

Don’t forget to sign up for Frequent Flyer Bootcamp if you’re interested use the special code just for podcast listeners! I’m looking forward to whipping you into frequent flyer shape!

Click here to download this episode directly

Check out the entire library of EPoP Travel Podcasts on iTunes

Today’s episode has been sponsored by our friends at Tortuga Backpacks!

In This Episode:

  • 05:52Choosing our destination & where we’re going next
  • 10:30 The Southwest Companion Pass
  • 15:00 Other budget Airlines in the US
  • 16:45 Finding Accommodations
  • 25:48 Rental cars & getting around
  • 29:50 Eating, drinking and experiencing
  • 36:00 Give us suggestions!!

and much more!

Links from this Episode

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Ranking The Best and Worst Frequent Flyer Miles

2. ranking the best and worst ff miles

When many people first start earning frequent flyer miles, they make the mistake of focusing on the NUMBER of miles they are earning instead of the type of miles they are earning.

But here’s the problem:

Not all frequent flyer miles are created equal.

Not by a long shot!

Some are great all around.

Some are good in some instances but bad in others.

Some are super flexible but don’t offer the same value per point.

And some, well, they just generally suck (but are still better than nothing)!

If you’re unsure what types of miles you should be earning, here’s your primer.

Each type will have the pros and cons listed and then be given a score of 0-10 so you can judge them relative to each other.

1.  Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Chase-UR-points

Pros:

  • Transferable to multiple airline partners, including United and Southwest.
  • Transferable to multiple hotel partners, with the best value being Hyatt.
  • Easy to earn since there are many good sign up bonuses
    • Chase Ink Bold [This card is no longer available from Chase]
    • Chase Ink Plus
    • Chase Sapphire Preferred
    • Chase Freedom
  • Possibility of “paying with points” for flights with no award availability.
  • Ability to use for car rentals, hotels, or flights.
  • Instant transfers to partners.

Cons:

  • None

Overall

Score: 10 out of 10.

These are far and away my favorite points to accumulate since they are flexible, easy to earn a bunch of, and transfer instantly.

Your best value usually comes by transferring to United because United miles are great (keep reading for the United breakdown below) and then using for international travel.

Almost all my daily spending is done on a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Bold so that I can earn more Chase points.

2.  Starwood Preferred Guest Points

spg-points

Pros:

  • Transfers to TONS of airlines, with the best in most cases being American Airlines and USAirways.
  • Every time you transfer 20k SPG points, you’ll receive 25k miles, a 25% bonus.
  • SPG points can be used at Starwood hotels with their Cash+Points option, allowing you to stretch your points.

Cons:

  • SPG points have fewer options than Chase points for a big welcome offer/bonus.
    • SPG personal card
    • SPG business card
  • SPG’s best transfer partners, AA and USAirways, are a little more restrictive than United.
  • Transfers are not instantaneous and can take up to a week (better plan ahead)!

Overall

Score: 8.5 out of 10

The two keys to SPG are they that they transfer to AA, a great airline program to have miles in, and that they offer a 25% bonus.

60k SPG automatically becomes 75k airline miles, which is an amazing perk!

The major downside is that it is harder to get a large amount of miles through the welcome offer/bonus and that they don’t transfer instantly.

SPG points are a great way to diversify your mileage portfolio, and the SPG cards make good everyday spend cards, especially if you are looking for AA miles.

3.  United Miles

United mileage plus

Pros:

  • United miles never charge a fuel surcharge on their flights.
  • United allows one-way tickets.
  • They allow stopovers and open-jaws (meaning you can get 2 or 3 vacations for the price of 1)!
  • Chase points transfer to United, meaning it’s easy to earn a bunch of United miles quickly.
  • United is a member of the largest airline alliance and oftentimes has the best award availability.
  • It’s easy to book all partner airline awards online at United’s website.

Cons:

  • Unlike Chase and SPG points, United miles can’t be transferred and must be used solely on United.

Overall

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

As far as airline frequent flyer miles go, United is the gold standard.

The big keys are that you can earn them quickly, they allow international stopovers and open jaws and they never have a fuel surcharge.

United miles are BY FAR the most hassle free airline miles you can earn.

I earn Chase points as much as I can, and almost always end up transferring them to United.

Then, I’ll put together a crazy itinerary with stopovers and open jaws and get amazing value out of them!

4.  American Airlines Miles

American-Airlines-AAdvantage

Pros:

Cons:

Overall

Score: 7.5 out of 10

The major advantage AA has over United is their off-peak award chart, which I urge everyone to take advantage of.

The value is unheard of!

The major drawback is that AA miles have a fuel surcharge on them when you fly on British Airways, which makes it very difficult to use them to fly to Europe.

And for most people, Europe is high on their list!

Still, AA miles are a great complement to United miles.

Having both means that if you can’t find space with one airline, you still have a shot with the other.

5.  USAirways

USAirwaysMiles

Pros:

Cons:

  • DOES NOT allow one-way tickets
  • A little more difficult to earn large amounts of USAirways miles
    • Barclays USAirways card
    • SPG Amex personal
    • SPG Amex business
  • USAirways online system does not allow you to book partner flights, so you’ll have to call in each time.

Overall

Score: 6.5 out of 10

USAirways is like a little brother to United.

It has some of the great features, like never charging a fuel surcharge and allowing stopovers and open jaws, but also has one major drawback:

Not allowing one way tickets. 

This cuts down dramatically on your flexibility, not just in how you have to travel but in the amount of points you need to have.

With USAirways, if you want to travel to Europe, you NEED to have 60k miles because you have to fly roundtrip.

Whereas with AA and United, if you only have 30k in each program, you could mix and match.

Fly over with United, fly back with AA or vice versa.

And since earning USAirways miles isn’t as easy as earning United miles or AA miles, you can oftentimes get stuck with an amount that is hard to do anything with.

This can especially be the case with people looking for more than 1 or 2 tickets, since you’ll need a boatload of USAirways miles to get a family of four roundtrip.

Still, USAirways offers great perks, and I urge everyone to take advantage of their stopovers and open jaw rules.

6.  Southwest

southwest rapid rewards

Pros:

  • Every seat can be an award seat, so as long as their is a seat on the plane, you can book with your SW points.
  • No fuel surcharges or taxes when using points.
  • The ability to earn the SW Companion Pass if you get 110k points in a year.
  • SW points are easy to earn through sign up bonuses
    • Chase Southwest personal card
    • Chase Southwest business card
  • Chase points transfer to Southwest
  • No checked baggage fees
  • One-ways are allowed.

Cons:

  • Southwest and AirTran only fly domestically in the US and to a few spots in the Caribbean and Mexico.
  • No separate first class or business class cabins.
  • No stopovers.

Overall

Score: 6.5 out of 10

Southwest is the most difficult to rank because it is totally dependent on your travel habits.

If you only fly domestically, then Southwest may be at the very top of the list.

But for people who need to fly internationally or only fly business or first class, Southwest points are meaningless.

Their program as a whole has many more pros than cons, with the ability to earn the Companion Pass and the anytime award seats being the major benefits.

If you are someone who flies domestically, even if it’s only occasionally, getting Southwest points is a must.

7.  American Express points

american express logo

Pros:

Cons:

Overall

Score: 5 out of 10.

Amex points used to be the king of the castle, but my, how the mighty have fallen.

While the quantity of transfer partners, the quickness of the transfer, and the bonuses they offer are all great, the major issue is the quality of transfer partners.

It’s just not that good.

There are 6 transfer partners that make sense, but all are very situation specific and have major holes.

And this makes Amex points much harder to use than Chase points or SPG points, and therefore, much less valuable.

My recommendation would be to earn Amex points when there is a good offer out there, and then when you see a lucrative transfer bonus, jump on it!

8.  British Airways Avios Points

BA Plane Logo

Pros:

  • Very good in a few specific instances, like these 5 trips, when you don’t have to pay fuel surcharge.
  • No close in booking fee.
  • Easy to earn large amounts since all 3 points (Chase, Amex, SPG) transfer to British Airways.
  • Also has a decent sign up bonus for their own credit card.
    • Chase British Airways credit card
  • Great for short hop flights since they charge per distance flown.

Cons:

  • Most award flights incur a HUGE fuel surcharge.
  • BA’s website is very difficult to book with.
  • Very bad to use to fly to Europe (ironically), due to huge fuel surcharge.
  • Charges per distance flown, so very bad for long international itineraries.

Overall

Score: 4 out of 10

These are the trickiest to use and most situation specific miles out there.

And it’s because of this inflexibility that they are rated so low.

They can offer INCREDIBLE value if you use them to fly domestically within the US, from the East coast to the Caribbean, to South America, or from the West coast to Hawaii.

However, for any other type of international trips, they’ll charge a massive fuel surcharge and you’ll be stuck paying $400+.

Definitely learn what they are good for, use them for those types of trips, and avoid the fuel surcharges.

9. Delta miles

Delta-Skymiles

Pros:

  • Only airline to allow stopovers on domestic award tickets.
  • Won’t charge a fuel surcharge if you originate in the United States.

Cons:

  • VERY, VERY little availability.
  • Does NOT allow one-way tickets.
  • Hefty fuel surcharges if you originate outside of the US.

Overall

Score:  1 out of 10

Having miles is no good if you can never find availability, and this is Delta falls flat on it’s face.

The few good things Delta does, like allowing stopovers on domestic tickets, is overshadowed by the fact that it is EXTREMELY difficult to find availability with Delta.

It’s so difficult, that I personally have never earned 1 single Delta mile.

In fact, they are often referred to as “SkyPesos” because of how little value they have.

And if you’re someone who has been collecting Delta miles, I urge you to flee!

Start earning miles that are much more valuable, like United or American Airlines.

Final Word(s)

Not all miles are created equal.

Don’t just pay attention to the number of miles you have, but more importantly, focus on the TYPE of miles you have.

They are all dramatically different, each with their own good points and bad points.

The sooner you figure out what miles work best for you, the better off you’ll be when it comes to using them for what we all want:

FREE TRAVEL!

Personally, I focus most of my energy on earning Chase points, which I then convert to United miles.

Then, to a lesser extent, SPG points, which I usually transfer AA.

How would you rank the different frequent flyer miles out there?  What’s your favorite, and why?

Let’s open up a lively discussion in the comments below!

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