Update: This offer shows an expiration date of 9/16/24 on the Chase website. If this applies, it means you can score a companion permit for two years by waiting to apply until mid-September and changing the declaration date to the first of the month (this would make points earned in December posted in January). This will allow you to complete the initial three-month spend after December 1st, so the first 60,000 or 80,000 points must be awarded on January 1st, 2025, counting towards CP qualification for 2025 instead of 2024. This will give you allowed you to earn all 120K in 2025, so the resulting pass will be valid for all of 2025 AND 2026. (h/t: reader Daniel)
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Both Southwest Airlines Business Rapid Rewards Cards have new welcome offers that can be very interesting provided you meet minimum spending requirements: each allows you to potentially earn a Southwest companion pass with just one card.
Complete Guide to Crossing the Southwest Companion
Main Card Offers and Details
| Offer and Card Details |
|---|
 60K points after spending $3K within the first 3 months and an additional 60K after spending $15K total within the first 9 months.Annual fee $99 Profit rate: 3X Southwest ✦ 2X Fast Rewards(R) hotel and car partners ✦ 2X travel sharing ✦ 1X on all other purchases. Card Information: Visa issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: If you earn 135,000 points in a calendar year, you’ll receive a companion pass good for the rest of that calendar year and all of the following year ✦ Earn 1,500 TQP on every $10K in purchases Important advantages: 6000 bonus points every year after card renewal. 2 EarlyBird registrations each year. 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year. |
| Offer and Card Details |
|---|
 80k points after $5k spent within the first 3 months and an additional 40k after $15k total spent within the first 9 months.Annual fee of $199 Profit rate: 4X Southwest ✦ 3X Fast Rewards(R) hotel and car partners ✦ 2X rideshare ✦ 2X social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable and phone services ✦ 1X on all other purchases. Card Information: Visa signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: If you earn 135,000 points in a calendar year, you’ll receive a companion pass good for the rest of that calendar year and all of the following year ✦ Earn 1,500 TQP for every $5K in purchases Important advantages: 9,000 bonus points annually upon card renewal ✦ 4 Upgraded Dorms per year when available. |
Quick thoughts
These are great deals that match the highest we’ve seen on Southwest business cards.
Each comes in a two-tier format – 80,000 or 60,000 Express Rewards points after spending $5K/$3K within 3 months, with the remainder of the bonus points awarded after reaching a total of $15K spent within 9 months from the opening of the card. The return per dollar is much better for the first tier as it represents a 16-20x return on your regular points earnings versus only 4-5x for subsequent $10-12K. That said, many people will be interested in spending the full $15,000 because that’s enough to get you a Southwest Companion Pass.
To receive a pass, Southwest credit cardholders must earn 125,000 Companion Pass Qualifying Express Rewards points within a calendar year. If you complete the entire $15K in 2024, you’ll receive a Companion Pass for the rest of 2024 and all of 2025 when you combine the bonus points from the welcome offer with the additional points you’d earn from actual spending. That’s a pretty good deal, though how good it is depends on how quickly you can meet that spending requirement. If you don’t reach $15,000 by the end of the year, you may only have 13 months to enjoy the leave.
Also note that although the offers allow nine months to complete the $15K spend, you must earn all 125,000 points to receive a Companion Pass within a calendar year. If it took you the full nine months to reach the full $15K spend, that second installment of points would be awarded in 2025…which would apply to a 2026 Companion Pass.
If you’re going from 0 to 125k and need all the points to post in 2024, you’ll need to complete all $15k spent before your December statement close, or ~6 months. That works out to spending ~$2,500 per month, which is probably doable for most people.
Traditionally, the best time to open Southwest Airlines credit cards is after October 1st, due to the ability to measure spending requirements and earn bonus points after January 1st by securing a Companion Pass for almost 2 full years. Welcome offers on these cards wax and wane throughout the year, but historically range from 40,000 points to 100,000 points, meaning it’s often possible to earn enough points for a companion pass, or very close to it, by opening a or two credit cards and meeting minimum spending requirements in early January.
So while these great deals are more straightforward (since you can win a pass with one card), it’s worth considering whether it’s a better idea to go for the 13-18 Companion Pass now or roll the dice for t ‘was approved for two letters later in the year for 23-24 months of companionship.
Follow the Application Tips
- Rule 5/24: You will most likely not be approved for a new card if you have opened 5 or more cards (with any bank) within the last 24 months. MOST business cards do not count toward that five card total.
- 24 month rule: If you previously had a card before, you can only get a welcome offer on that card again if you no longer have the card AND if more than 24 months have passed since you last got a welcome offer on that card card. This rule does not apply to Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards (see below). There may be exceptions with some business cards.
- 48 month rule: If you previously held either the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve cards, you can only receive the welcome offer for another Sapphire card if you no longer have either card AND if it has been more than 48 months since you last received one welcome offer for the card.
- “Family” rules: In addition to the 48-month rule on Sapphire cards, Chase applies additional “family” rules to Southwest cards. You are not eligible for the welcome offer in one personal Southwest Card if you have one, or if you received a welcome offer on any personal Southwest card within the last 24 months. it It does not work apply for business cards.
- Rule 2 per month: Most applicants are limited to 2 new cards per month.
- Marriott Cards: Approval for each Marriott card is governed by a labyrinthine set of unintuitive rules. You can see the full eligibility chart here.
- Card Limits: Chase doesn’t have a hard limit on the amount of cards you can have, but it does place limits on the total amount of credit it will issue you on all cards. Because of this, reconsideration can sometimes be successful by moving credit from an existing card to the new card you want.
- Application Status: Call (888) 338-2586 to check the status of your application.
- review: If denied, call (888) 270-2127 for personal cards, or (800) 453-9719 for business cards and ask to have your application reconsidered.
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