Here’s a new card offer you shouldn’t sleep on – Companion Pass sign-up bonus on all Southwest consumer co-brand credit cards PLUS bonus points! Mind you, this isn’t some three-month preview offer. You get to keep that status for almost a year, depending on when you apply and get approved.
As a quick reminder, Southwest Companion Pass is the top-tier status in their Rapid Rewards loyalty program. As the name suggests, the primary benefit of the status is the ability to bring a companion on any and every Southwest flight for just government-imposed taxes and fees – usually about $11.20. That’s an incredible deal for those who travel often with a companion, especially since there are no destination restrictions.
Typically, you’d need to complete 100 flights with Southwest or earn 135,000 tier-qualifying points to attain Companion Pass status. You then get to keep the status for the remainder of the year you earned it in, plus the following year. That’s not the case with this Companion Pass sign-up bonus, but you’ll still keep the status for quite a while, and the effort to get it is minimal.
That said, it’s important to note that you have to specify one companion. Typically, this means that you can use this with only one person. So don’t go after this offer thinking you can rotate through all your friends/family with it.
Companion Pass Sign-Up Bonus
So the current promotion is a Companion Pass sign-up bonus offer PLUS 30,000 Rapid Rewards points. It’s not too often we see an offer like this, especially since 30,000 points is worth quite a bit on their own. To give you all some perspective on this, two roundtrip non-discounted inter-island tickets cost me about 15,000 points. For my kama’aina readers, that means with this offer, you and a companion could travel within the state with a companion four times over the next year for $89.60 by using the Companion Pass and redeeming points.
As a point of comparison, roundtrip flights for random weekday dates in June on Hawaiian Air between Honolulu and Kahului start at $110 roundtrip plus bag fees (if you check a bag).
Of course, you could always use the Companion Pass to fly to points all across North America, too, including direct flights to Las Vegas.
So, how do you get the Companion Pass sign-up bonus? All you have to do is apply for a Southwest consumer credit card via this link I grabbed from Southwest’s website – the standard Southwest card pages on chase.com don’t show this offer – and spend $4,000 within the first 3 months after account opening. Once you do so, you’ll get the 30,000 points plus Companion Pass through February 28, 2025. Applications must be submitted by March 11, 2024 to qualify.
It’s worth noting that this offer is valid on all three Southwest co-brand cards, including the base “Plus” card with the $69 annual fee. Of course, I think the Priority card is the one to get, but you do you.
Just be aware that this offer is open only to those who do not currently have a Southwest consumer credit card, and even if you don’t currently have one, you cannot have received a sign-up bonus for a Southwest card in the past two years.
Final Thoughts
I think this Companion Pass sign-up bonus is fantastic! I would totally take advantage of it if 1) I could make use of it, and 2) I didn’t already have the Priority card. Sure, I could (maybe) convince Mrs. Island Miler to get one of the cards, but again, we can’t make use of Companion Pass this year, so there’s no point. However, if Companion Pass is something you can make use of this year (and you can swing the $4,000 sign-up bonus), this is an offer I urge you to take advantage of. NOW.