Southwest Companion Pass: The 2027 Changes and the Last Chance Under the Old Rules

Last checked: October 15, 2026. The Southwest Companion Pass lets one person you choose fly with you for only the taxes. Southwest is changing how it’s earned on January 1, 2027, and for most people who earned it with credit card bonuses, the change ends the deal. This page covers what’s changing, the last ways to earn the pass under the old rules, and how the new version works. Every rule here is from Southwest’s and Chase’s own pages unless a section says otherwise. No affiliate links, as always on Travel Summary.

Quick Take

• What’s ending: from January 1, 2027, credit card welcome bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, bonus-category points and partner points no longer count toward the pass. Companion Pass qualifying points are retired after December 31, 2026.
• What replaces it: 95,000 tier qualifying points (or 75 one-way flights) in a calendar year gets you three Companion Pass trips; 140,000 (or 100 flights) gets you Platinum status with unlimited companion trips. Card spending earns 1 tier qualifying point per dollar.
• Last chance: earn the pass under the current rules by December 31, 2026 and it’s good through December 31, 2027. Cards approved by December 2, 2026 get one more break: their welcome bonus still counts as Companion Pass qualifying points even if you finish the spend in early 2027.
• My take: this is bad news for most people. The pass goes from something a couple of card bonuses could get you to something that takes $95,000 to $130,000 of card spending, or a lot of flying. The one silver lining in the overhaul is elsewhere: Southwest points can be spent on partner airlines, including premium cabins, from spring 2027.

1. What Changes on January 1, 2027?

Southwest is folding the Companion Pass into its new elite tiers. A-List becomes Silver, A-List Preferred becomes Gold, and a new top tier, Platinum, comes with unlimited Companion Pass trips. Everything is earned with one currency, tier qualifying points (TQPs), or with flights:

	Through December 31, 2026	From January 1, 2027
What you earn toward it	Companion Pass qualifying points	Tier qualifying points (TQPs)
Three Companion Pass trips	Not offered	95,000 TQPs or 75 one-way flights
Unlimited Companion Pass	135,000 qualifying points or 100 one-way flights	140,000 TQPs or 100 one-way flights (Platinum status)
Card welcome, referral and anniversary bonuses	Count	Don’t count
Card spending	Every point earned on the card, including 2x/3x/4x categories	1 TQP per $1, whatever the category
Yearly 10,000-point cardholder boost	Yes	No; a one-time 10,000-TQP boost at 130,000 TQPs in 2027 only
Partner points (hotels, cars, shopping portal)	Base points count	Don’t count
Companions at a time / changes per year	1 / 3	1 / 3

Southwest lists the activities that stop counting as new cardmember welcome bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, bonus points from spending (its example is 2x on gas) and partner spending such as hotels and cars. You still earn those points to spend; they just don’t move you toward the pass.

My take: these changes are bad for most people. For years the Companion Pass was the one thing that made Southwest different for a points collector: a couple of card bonuses timed for January and you had a free companion for almost two years. Now it sits at the top of an elite ladder like everyone else’s. It’s part of a bigger pattern. Since an activist hedge fund (Elliott Management) took a large stake in Southwest in 2024, it seems to have pushed the airline to drop nearly everything that made it unique for flyers: free checked bags, open seating, generous fare rules, and now the easy Companion Pass. Southwest is becoming just like all the others. The one silver lining is on the spending side: from spring 2027 you’ll be able to redeem Southwest points on Icelandair, China Airlines and Etihad, and Southwest has said those partner awards will include premium cabins. Prices and availability haven’t been published yet.

Sources: Southwest: Companion Pass in 2027, Southwest: program updates, Southwest: credit cards in 2027. Premium cabins on partner awards were confirmed by Southwest’s vice president of Rapid Rewards at its October 2026 media day. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

2. Last Chance: Earning the Pass Under the Old Rules

The current rules run through December 31, 2026, and a pass earned under them is good through December 31, 2027. That’s 13 to 14 months from now, not the nearly two years a January pass used to give you, but it’s the last full-strength pass on offer. The old trick of timing everything to post in January no longer works, because the January that matters would be in 2027, under the new rules.

The plan, if you want it:

1. Apply now, not later. Everything has to post to your Rapid Rewards account by December 31, 2026. Card points count only once they’re on a closed statement and in your Southwest account, so the spend and the bonus need to land on a statement that closes in time, usually by mid-December to be safe.
2. Meet the minimum spend quickly. The bonus usually posts with the statement that closes after you finish the spend. If you open the card in late October and spend in the first few weeks, there’s time; if you leave it to December, there may not be.
3. Fill the gap. The usual ways still count through December 31: normal spending on the card (category bonuses count in 2026), paid Southwest flights, hotels and cars booked through Southwest, the shopping portal’s base points, and the debit card.
4. Add your companion once 135,000 have posted, in your Rapid Rewards account or by calling 1-800-435-9792.

2.1 What counts in 2026

Through December 31, 2026, you need 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points, or 100 qualifying one-way flights, in the calendar year. What counts:

• Points from paid Southwest flights booked through Southwest (including flights paid with flight credits, gift cards or LUV Vouchers, and the cash part of a Cash + Points booking).
• All points earned on a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card from Chase, including the welcome bonus and referral bonuses.
• The 10,000-point boost for Southwest cardholders, once per member per calendar year. If you already hold a card, yours for 2026 posted in January; a new cardholder gets it within 30 days of opening the account.
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards debit card: 7,500 qualifying points a year plus every point earned on it (see Southwest: debit card).
• Base points from Rapid Rewards partners: the shopping portal, dining, hotels and cars booked through Southwest, and similar.

What doesn’t count: points you buy or that someone transfers to you, points transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards or converted from hotel and car programs, tier and flight bonus points, partner bonus points other than from the Chase Southwest cards, award flights, and Getaways by Southwest packages. Points don’t carry over: a year that ends at 120,000 is worth nothing toward the pass.

Sources: Southwest: Companion Pass (2026 rules), Southwest: earned status or Companion Pass in 2026. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

2.2 Which cards get you there before December 31

Chase’s public offers on the day this was checked. Offers change often, and the card reviews are kept current; check them before you apply. “Points after the spend” assumes 1 point per dollar on the minimum spend (some categories earn more).

Card	Public offer	Annual fee	Points after the spend
Southwest Plus	50,000 after $1,000 in 3 months	$99	51,000
Southwest Premier	55,000 after $1,500 in 3 months	$149	56,500
Southwest Priority	60,000 after $2,000 in 3 months	$229	62,000
Southwest Premier Business	60,000 after $3,000 in 3 months (Chase calls it limited-time)	$149	63,000
Southwest Performance Business	80,000 after $5,000 in 3 months	$299	85,000

With the 10,000-point boost, you need 125,000 from everything else. No single card’s public offer gets there. One personal card plus the Performance Business does: with the Plus it comes to about 146,000 with the boost ($398 in first-year fees), with the Priority about 157,000. Now that the Premier Business is down to 60,000, pairing it with a personal card lands at about 124,000 to 135,000, so with the Plus or Premier you’d need roughly $5,000 to $11,000 of extra spending (less on 2x to 4x categories). The Performance Business needs $5,000 of spending, so start early. A business card needs a business, but a sole proprietorship (freelancing, selling online, renting out property) qualifies. Chase’s 5/24 rule applies to both; see Chase application rules. There is no affiliate offer behind any of these.

Is it worth opening two cards for about 13 months of pass? Only if you’ll actually fly Southwest with the same person several times in 2027. The pass is valuable in proportion to how often you use it, and after 2027 it’s gone unless you’re spending or flying at the new levels.

Sources: Chase: Southwest cards. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

2.3 The December 2 approval exception

Southwest says that anyone approved for a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card on or before December 2, 2026 who meets the welcome-bonus requirements will have those bonus points count as Companion Pass qualifying points, even if the spending threshold is met in early 2027. It’s meant to protect people who apply now and can’t finish the spend before the year ends.

What Southwest hasn’t said: how bonus points that post in 2027 combine with your other points (Companion Pass qualifying points are otherwise retired after 2026), and how long a pass earned that way lasts. Some readers of the rule expect a pass good through 2028; Southwest’s pages don’t say that. Until Southwest spells it out, I’d treat December 2 as a safety net for a 2026 pass, not as a plan for a two-year pass, and I’d aim to have everything posted by December 31, 2026.

Sources: Southwest: earned status or Companion Pass in 2026. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

3. How Do You Earn Companion Pass Trips From 2027?

From January 1, 2027, there are two levels, both counted in a calendar year (progress resets every January 1, and 2026 activity doesn’t count toward 2027):

Level	Tier qualifying points	or one-way flights	What you get
Second Milestone Reward	95,000	75	Three Companion Pass trips, each good for a one-way or a round trip, usable through December 31 of the following year
Platinum status	140,000	100	Unlimited Companion Pass trips, plus Platinum’s seats, boarding, three free bags and a 120% flight bonus

A one-way uses up a whole trip, so use each of the three on a round trip when you can. The usual rules still apply: one companion at a time, three changes a calendar year, you book your own flight first, and a seat has to be available.

What earns tier qualifying points:

• Paid Southwest flights: 2 TQPs per dollar of base fare on Basic, 6 on Choice, 8 on Choice Preferred and 10 on Choice Extra.
• Any Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card: 1 TQP per $1 of purchases, no cap, Plus and business cards included. Authorized users’ spending counts for the primary cardholder, and TQPs post when the statement closes.
• A one-time 2027 card boost: 10,000 TQPs once a cardholder reaches 130,000 in 2027, enough to push you to Platinum. It’s announced for 2027 only, and one per member.
• The Rapid Rewards debit card, qualifying Getaways by Southwest vacation packages and Southwest Groups bookings also earn TQPs.

What it takes with a card alone: $95,000 of spending for the three trips, or $130,000 for Platinum in 2027 with the boost ($140,000 without it). With flying alone, at Choice fares, 95,000 TQPs is about $15,800 of base fares and 140,000 about $23,300. Most people will mix the two.

Sources: Southwest: Companion Pass in 2027, Southwest: credit cards in 2027, Southwest: Milestone Rewards, Southwest: program updates. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

4. Is the New Companion Pass Worth Chasing?

For most people, no, at least not as a goal in itself. $95,000 on a Southwest card earns 95,000 Southwest points plus three companion trips; the same spending on a card that earns transferable points (Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex, Capital One, Citi, Bilt) earns at least as many points that you can move to many airlines and hotels, often at 1.5x to 3x in bonus categories. Three companion trips don’t close that gap unless they’re expensive ones you’d book anyway.

It makes sense for two kinds of people:

• People who already fly Southwest a lot, especially for work, where 75 one-way flights a year happen anyway. For them the three trips (and Platinum at 100 flights) are a bonus on top of travel they were going to do.
• People who put very large amounts of spending on a Southwest card already, for example business owners whose expenses go on a Southwest business card. Platinum with unlimited companion trips at $130,000 can be worth it to a family that flies Southwest constantly.

If you’re neither, the pass you can still earn in 2026 (section 2) is the last one I’d go out of my way for. After that, think of Southwest points as one more airline currency, and keep an eye on the partner awards in spring 2027: premium cabins on Etihad or China Airlines would be the most interesting thing Southwest points have ever been able to buy, if the prices are reasonable.

For what I count Southwest points at, see what points and miles are worth.

5. Already Have a Southwest Card or a Pass?

• You already have a pass earned under the current rules: it keeps all its benefits until the end date in your account. A pass earned in 2026 lasts through December 31, 2027.
• Your pass ends December 31, 2026 and you don’t earn a new one this year: it ends as scheduled. From 2027 you’d need the Milestone Reward, Platinum or a promotion.
• You’re registered in a Companion Pass promotion, including the card offers that came with a pass: Southwest says it will honor it under the promotion’s own terms.
• Personal card rules: Chase’s terms say a personal Southwest card’s bonus is available only if you don’t currently have a Southwest personal card and haven’t received a new-cardmember bonus on one in the last 24 months. Business cards are counted separately, card by card, and holding a personal Southwest card doesn’t stop a business card bonus. (Chase: Southwest Plus terms.)
• Keeping a card you already hold? From 2027 every dollar on it earns a tier qualifying point, so if you were going to keep it anyway, put the spending you’d otherwise split on it only if Silver, Gold or the companion trips are realistically in reach. The free bag and Group 5 boarding stay the same.

Sources: Southwest: earned status or Companion Pass in 2026, Southwest: Companion Pass in 2027, Chase card terms. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

6. What Does the Companion Get?

• Their seat, for taxes only: from $5.60 each way on domestic flights; more on international flights.
• Any Southwest-operated flight you’re on, whether you paid cash or used points for your ticket. With an unlimited pass, as often as you like; with the 2027 Milestone Reward, three trips, each a one-way or a round trip. You book your flight first, then add the companion. Getaways by Southwest packages, group travel and partner itineraries are excluded.
• One companion at a time, changed up to three times per calendar year. Cancel the current companion’s upcoming trips before you change.
• Boarding and seats: you and your companion both get the better of your two sets of benefits (seat, cardmember or tier), but sequential boarding isn’t guaranteed. Southwest no longer has open seating; see Southwest’s recent changes.
• No points or tier credit for the companion’s flight, and a companion’s ticket can’t be used to add another companion.
• The companion flies only with you. If you change or cancel your flight, their reservation is canceled too.
• Near the end of the pass, a companion reservation can’t run past the expiration date. If a round trip would return after the pass ends, book two one-ways so at least the outbound uses it.

Sources: Southwest: Companion Pass in 2027, Southwest: Companion Pass (2026 rules). Last checked: October 15, 2026.

7. How the Requirement Has Changed Since 2011

When	What you needed in one calendar year	What else changed
2011	110,000 points	Partner points, including hotel point conversions, counted toward the pass
2017	110,000 points	Points converted from hotel and other programs stopped counting
2020	125,000 points	Southwest points stopped expiring at the same time
2023	135,000 points	New 10,000-point yearly boost for Southwest cardholders, so for them the bar effectively stayed at 125,000
2027	140,000 tier qualifying points for unlimited trips (95,000 for three trips)	Card welcome, referral and anniversary bonuses, bonus-category points and partner points stop counting; the pass becomes part of Platinum status

The flight route stayed at 100 one-way flights the whole time, and from 2027 there’s also a 75-flight route to three trips. Card bonuses roughly kept pace until now: 50,000 points after one purchase in 2011, 120,000 points on a business card for $15,000 of spending in 2024, 100,000 points on the personal cards for $4,000 in 2025, and in early 2026 a Companion Pass itself as the welcome offer. From 2027, none of that counts toward the pass.

Sources: Southwest: Companion Pass (2026 rules), Southwest: Companion Pass in 2027; earlier thresholds and offers from Southwest’s and Chase’s terms as reported at the time. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

8. What Are Promotional (Temporary) Companion Passes?

Chase and Southwest sometimes offer a Companion Pass with a fixed end date instead of the earned kind. In February and March 2026, for example, the Chase personal Southwest cards came with a pass good through February 28, 2027 plus a smaller points bonus. Southwest also runs targeted flight promotions (fly a round trip, get a short pass). Southwest says select promotions will keep offering Companion Pass trips from 2027, and passes from promotions you’ve already registered for will be honored. A temporary pass can be worth more than a bigger points bonus if you’ll fly a lot during its window, and from 2027 promotions may be the easiest way left to get one.

Sources: Southwest: Companion Pass in 2027. Last checked: October 15, 2026.

9. Quick Answers

Related: my Southwest changes post, Which credit card should I get? (the Card Finder quiz) and credit card application rules by bank.

10. Changelog

• October 15, 2026: Rewritten for Southwest’s 2027 Rapid Rewards overhaul: what changes on January 1, 2027, the last ways to earn the pass under the current rules (including the December 2 approval exception), how the three-trip and Platinum versions are earned, and whether they’re worth it. The old “earn it in January so it lasts two years” plan was removed, since it no longer works after 2026. The Premier Business offer is now 60,000 points (was 80,000).