Southwest offers ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ airline tickets. How to get yours by 2025

Travel can be expensive, regardless of the season. So earning a free airline ticket with Southwest is too good a deal to pass up. As a credit card travel expert, I try to find the best ways to travel on a budget, and the Southwest Companion Pass might be the most valuable elite status perk on any airline.

Here’s how to 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 take with you.

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

You can add your companion to flights that you have paid for or to flights that have been 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 associated with the reservation, you can add your companion and you won’t 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 earn the passport in December 2024, it will only be valid until the end of 2025, which is not a good idea. Instead, I recommend that you earn your passport in early 2025 so that it is valid until the end of 2026.

How do you qualify for the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass?

There are several ways you can qualify for the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass. You can fly 100 one-way qualifying (paid) flights, but that would be the equivalent of taking a return flight almost every week of the year. And it would take you most or all of the year to earn it. Or you can 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 card.

Earning points through flights, partner hotels and partner car rentals is possible for frequent business travelers, but you will 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, 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 is 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 benefit, but it’s not worth getting into debt for. If you earn the pass through the card’s welcome bonus, only spend what you can afford to pay.

How much can you save with a Southwest Airlines Companion Pass?

With 135,000 Rapid Rewards points, you’ll earn about $1,890 in award travel, since those points are worth about 1.4 cents each, according to The point guy.

But when you add your companion to these 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 those points, the value of this pass is potentially limitless.

The best Southwest credit cards to earn a Companion Pass

To earn your Companion Pass, you must apply 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*, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card* or Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card*.

All three of these cards currently offer 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 you can only get the welcome bonus for one personal card every 24 months, so your second card must be a small business card.

Fortunately, 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 things online, or are starting one of these types of businesses, then you may qualify for a small business credit card.

If you are not incorporated, you can apply as an independent sole proprietor by using your CPR number instead of an employer ID.

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 a $99 annual fee. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card gives 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 when you meet the $1,000 and $5,000 minimum spend requirements. Alternatively, you can apply for two small business credit cards.

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

Is it worth earning the Companion Pass?

Putting $6,000 on your credit cards in three months is not advisable for everyone. Again, you should only charge your card what you can pay off with your next account balance to avoid interest.

But if you travel enough to support those kinds of expenses, earning the companion card can save you and your travel partner lots of money in the long run.

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