Special Southwest Credit Card Offer: Earn a Companion Pass Through FEBRUARY *2027*!!

If you and a companion plan to travel extensively over the next year and want free airfare, you’re in luck! 

All three of the Southwest Rapid Rewards® personal/consumer credit cards feature a limited-time offer that allows you to earn a Southwest Companion Pass through February 28, 2027, and some bonus points, just for fun.

The sooner you apply, get approved, and spend the minimum required amount, the longer you’ll have to enjoy the Companion Pass. If you really get cracking, you’ll have over a year.

(All information about the credit cards below was collected independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was neither provided nor reviewed by the card issuer.)

And, yes, Southwest card members have free first checked bag, seat selection, and “priority” boarding privileges.

Earn a Southwest Companion Pass and Points

Each of the cards offers the Companion Pass through next February. The only difference is the number of bonus points you earn and the offer’s minimum spend requirement.

The eligible cards are:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
  • Earn a Companion Pass® through February 28, 2027, and 40,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 within three (3) months of being approved for the card.
  • This is the card I hold
  • $229 annual fee
  • Learn here how to apply
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
  • Earn a Companion Pass® through February 28, 2027, and 30,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 within three (3) months of being approved for the card.
  • $149 annual fee
  • Learn here how to apply
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
  • Earn a Companion Pass® through February 28, 2027, and 20,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 within three (3) months of being approved for the card.
  • $149 annual fee
  • (Learn here how to apply.)

So, What’s This About the Companion Pass?

Southwest has this nifty benefit called the Companion Pass.

Let’s use me as a real-world example. I have the Companion Pass now through December 31, 2026. I can bring a designated companion for (almost) free on any Southwest flights I take — cash or award. (I only pay applicable taxes and fees.)

It works for cash and award bookings!

Yes, I said “flights.” Plural. The sky is literally the limit. This isn’t a once-per-year thing like the Delta Amex Companion Certificates. (There don’t appear to be any fare restrictions, either.) Right now, my wife is my designated companion. We traveled during Thanksgiving — yes, the busy Thanksgiving period when it’s practically impossible to use other carriers’ Companion features. I booked a Southwest reservation for my daughter and me. I used Rapid Rewards points to pay for that booking. I then added Mrs. Carley right after I made the reservation. It cost me about $12 (taxes and fees) for Mrs. Carley’s roundtrip. That’s it. 

So, the three of us basically flew for “free.”

I can bring Mrs. Carley along on as many Southwest flights as I want between now and December 31, 2026. Weekend getaway to Hawaii? Why not? Spring break trip to Grand Cayman? (That’s where I took the picture below.) Love it! Quick trip to Vegas during the big basketball tournament? Let’s do it. Go see my Minnesota Vikings and North Dakota State Bison football teams this fall? Yep!

To earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you must:

• Take 100 qualifying one-way flights (stops don’t count)
• Or earn 135,000 qualifying points

Points earned via Southwest credit cards count toward the Companion Pass!

Southwest Credit Cards

Each gives cardholders 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year.

Southwest switched up their cards’ earning category bonuses. I hold the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card because it has the best seating privileges. (A complimentary Preferred or Standard Seat at booking when available, plus complimentary upgrades to Extra Legroom Seats at T-48 hours to departure. Any seats are only available at T-48 hours with the other cards.)

The cards’ earnings really kind of stink.

New twist: the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card no longer charges foreign transaction fees! They must’ve heard me complain. 🙂

Per the offers’ terms, a respective card isn’t available to either current Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card members or previous Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card members who received a new cardmember bonus within the past 24 months. The fine print also states, “This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.”

Here’s a quick peek at each Southwest card:

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

• 4X on Southwest Airlines purchases
• 2X on gas stations
• 2X on restaurants
• 1X on all other eligible purchases
• Free first checked bag for you and up to eight others on your reservation (and your designated Companion Pass passenger)
• Complimentary Preferred Seat at booking
  • Select a Preferred seat at booking, at no additional charge, valued, on average, at $70 round trip
  • Enjoy unlimited upgrades to an Extra Legroom seat within 48 hours prior to departure, at no additional charge, valued, on average, at $150 round trip, when available.
• Group 5 boarding for you and up to eight others on your reservation
• 7,500 bonus points given to you each year upon card renewal. Just because.
• 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year
• Unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs)
  • Earn 2,500 TQPs toward A-List status for every $5,000 you spend on the card each year. There is no limit on the number of TQPs you can earn!
• 25% back on Southwest inflight purchases
• No blackout dates or seat restrictions.
• $229 annual fee.
• Read more and learn here how to apply for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

• 3X on Southwest Airlines purchases
• 2X on grocery stores and restaurants (first $8,000 in combined purchases per year)
• 1X on all other eligible purchases
• Free first checked bag for you and up to eight others on your reservation (and your designated Companion Pass passenger)
• Complimentary Preferred or Standard Seat within 48 hours of departure, when available
• Group 5 boarding for you and up to eight others on your reservation
• 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year
• Receive 6,000 bonus points each year upon card renewal (starting the second year of card membership)
• Unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs)
  • Earn 1,500 TQPs toward A-List status for every $5,000 you spend on the card. There is no limit on the number of TQPs you can earn!
• 25% back on Southwest inflight purchases
• No blackout dates or seat restrictions.
• $149 annual fee.
• Visit this page and click on the Premier Card to apply.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

• 2X on Southwest Airlines purchases
• 2X on grocery stores and gas stations (first $5,000 in combined purchases per year)
• 1X on all other eligible purchases
• 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year
• Receive 3,000 bonus points each year upon card renewal (starting the second year of card membership)
• Free first checked bag for you and up to eight others on your reservation (and your designated Companion Pass passenger)
• Complimentary seat assignment within 48 hours of departure
• Group 5 boarding for you and up to eight others on your reservation
• 25% back on Southwest inflight purchases
• Two (2) Early Bird Check-Ins each year
• No blackout dates or seat restrictions.
• $99 annual fee.
• Visit this page and click on the Plus Card to apply.

Which Card Should You Get?

If you’re interested in only the Companion Pass promotion and, say, the first free checked bag and nothing else, get the Southwest Plus Card. It has the lowest annual fee ($99) and lowest minimum spending requirement ($3,000).

But if you’re like me and care about things like seat assignments (now that Southwest features them…), it might be worth it for you to get the Southwest Priority Card.

Where are you going to go with a companion?