How To Earn the Southwest Companion Pass Without Extra Flying

Earning the Southwest Companion Pass once is great. Earning it year after year is the real prize, though. Each time you qualify, you get up to 2 years of bring-a-friend travel, with your companion flying for just taxes and fees.

Most Companion Pass strategies focus on the same 2 paths: Rack up credit card welcome offers or fly your way there, and both work. But if you’ve already been through the welcome bonus cycle and you don’t fly as often as you’d like, you can still earn the qualifying points using some underrated channels.

This is especially true for those without a small business, as the credit card approach revolves around getting 1 personal and 1 small business card bonus at the right time. Here’s how the Companion Pass actually works, what counts, what doesn’t, and the lesser-known ways to keep requalifying.

What the Southwest Companion Pass Is and How To Qualify

The Companion Pass lets you designate a travel buddy who can fly with you for just taxes and fees (typically $5.60 each way on domestic flights) every time you book a paid or award ticket using Rapid Rewards points. The pass is valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which you earn it, plus the entire following calendar year — so timing matters.

To qualify, you need either of these within 1 calendar year:

• 100 qualifying one-way flights
• 135,000 qualifying points

Qualifying points are where things get a little more specific. Southwest only counts the following toward the Companion Pass:

• Revenue flights booked through Southwest
• Points earned from purchases on a Rapid Rewards credit card or debit card (including the welcome offer bonus, everyday spending, and referral bonuses)
• Base points from Rapid Rewards partners like hotels, car rentals, dining, the shopping portal, and so on

It’s also worth noting that Southwest credit card holders receive 10,000 qualifying points at the start of each year, which can be part of your strategy.

But there’s also a list of what doesn’t count toward earning the Companion Pass:

• Purchased Southwest points
• Points transferred from another member’s account
• Points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs
• Points from e-Rewards, Valued Opinions, e-Miles, or Diners Club surveys
• Flights booked through Getaways by Southwest vacation packages
• Tier bonus points, flight bonus points, and partner bonus points (the lone exception is bonuses on Chase’s Rapid Rewards credit cards)

That last one trips up a lot of people. When a partner promotion advertises “5x bonus points,” those bonus points pad your redeemable balance but don’t count toward the pass. Only the base portion of what you’ve earned counts toward qualification.

Unique Ways To Earn the Companion Pass

Let’s look at the options from easiest to most complex.

1. Rapid Rewards Dining (Low Effort, Low Cost)

This is the closest thing to free points. Sign up for Rapid Rewards Dining, link the credit and debit cards you use at restaurants, opt in to marketing emails, and you earn 3 points per $1 spent at participating restaurants. If you opt out, earnings drop to 1 point per $2 spent.

The program routinely offers bonus points to new members, though those points don’t count toward Companion Pass qualification. The standard 3x earnings, however, do qualify.

2. Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal

The Rapid Rewards shopping portal lets you earn Southwest points when shopping online with more than 1,100 retailers, so it’s always smart to click through the portal before any online purchase.

Earn rates vary widely (often 1x to 10x points). Again, only the base earnings count toward the Pass. The trick is making this a habit. Installing the browser extension can help you remember to activate the portal before making an online purchase.

3. 1-800-Flowers and Other Niche Partners

Each order of $29.99 or more through 1-800-Flowers earns 1,000 Rapid Rewards points (the current offer runs through December 31, 2026). This is useful for birthdays, anniversaries, and the occasional apology bouquet. Other limited-time partner promotions pop up regularly, so keep an eye on the Rapid Rewards promotions page.

4. Hotels and Rental Cars

Booking hotels through SouthwestHotels.com can earn up to 10,000 points per night on promotional properties. Linking your Rapid Rewards number to stays at Hyatt, Marriott, Best Western, and others also earns base points.

However, you have to pick Southwest points instead of the hotel’s own currency, which rarely provides better value.

Similarly, you can earn points on rentals from Hertz, Alamo, and Budget, but you’ll need to forgo rewards from those car companies’ programs. You should treat these as rare opportunities to switch your earning preference if a nice promotion comes along, not as a primary strategy.

5. Credit Card Referrals

Refer friends or family to any Southwest co-branded credit card and earn 20,000 points per approved application (capped at 100,000 points per calendar year). Those points are related to your credit card account, which means they count toward the Companion Pass.

There are 2 things to note here: Bonuses can take up to 8 weeks to post, and Chase’s Refer-A-Friend program has historically had eligibility quirks in a few states. Residents of California, Maryland, and a few other states have been excluded from referral marketing rules at various times. Make sure to read the current terms before assuming you’re eligible.

6. Spending on Southwest Credit Cards

Most strategies focus on welcome offer bonuses for these cards, which is obviously an easier way to earn a lot of points at once.

Every dollar you spend on a personal or business Rapid Rewards card earns points, and those points are Companion Pass-eligible. If you can route your recurring expenses — think utilities, streaming, insurance, or even your tax payments — through one of these cards, you’re earning toward the pass without doing anything extra.

This isn’t glamorous, and you need to spend a lot to qualify for the Companion Pass through credit card transactions alone. For those with high spending thresholds, this can be a great way to qualify on autopilot. For everyone else, this can supplement the other strategies well.

7. Creative Spending Strategies

This is the complex strategy. You’re looking for ways to put more spending on your credit card than your typical bills — but doing so without going into debt or spending beyond your means.

What about paying your rent or mortgage with your Southwest card? What about paying friends’ and family’s bills and having them reimburse you so you can spend more on your card? Can you buy and resell items to earn extra points?

There are many options if you get creative.

However, these strategies require caution. You’re spending more than normal, so you need to ensure you can pay off the balance. Additionally, sudden spikes in spending activity can sometimes trigger scrutiny from card issuers if there are unusual patterns.

Final Thoughts

Requalifying for the Companion Pass without flying isn’t about finding some magic trick. It’s usually the result of several small, repeatable habits that involve purchases you’d already make. Setting up Rapid Rewards Dining, building the shopping portal into your muscle memory, and routing fixed expenses through a Southwest credit card can all help you stack qualifying points faster than you think.

You don’t have to be a road warrior to earn the Companion Pass. You just have to pay attention to the various ways to boost your points while on the ground.