Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, this blog post contains affiliate links and If you use them to sign up or purchase I might be rewarded credit or a commission. I only recommend brands and services that I personally use and love.
If you don’t have the ability to get a business card, or you won’t be able to access a high enough sign-up bonus, you have some options to make up the remainder of the points needed. Your best option? Use a little bit of all of these. The goal is to rack up the points as soon as possible so you get the pass for the maximum amount of time. Don’t forget! All 110,000 135,000 points need to be earned in the same calendar year. While they won’t take away your points, your progress towards Companion Pass will be reset January 1st.
Credit Card Spend
Do all your spending on your new card! How much a month do you spend? You will earn 1 point per dollar on most purchases, 2 points on telecom, transit & Southwest booked hotel/car or 3 points if it’s a Southwest flight.
Book Travel Through Southwest Portals
- Buy and take flights using your Southwest Credit Card to pay. Get 6 points per dollar for flying Wanna Get Away fares and 3 points per dollar for using your credit card. Points on your card will credit after your monthly bill, points for flying will credit after you take the flight.
- Book Hotels & Cars using the Southwest website and your Southwest Credit Card. This is one of the most lucrative options. Some properties carry a 10,000 point bonus for staying. It can be a hunt because they show up in no particular order. You’ll also earn 2 points per dollar for using your card. Points on your card will credit after your monthly bill, points for hotels will credit after you stay. Example Offers:
Rapid Rewards Partners
- Rapid Rewards Shopping: Do the shopping you normally would but use the shopping website or Chrome extension to earn extra points when you shop online. Some purchases (like meal delivery services) have shopping bonuses of up to 900 points. Or set up a new Hulu account for 1,100 points. Watch out for items marked Extra Points as they may not qualify. Points will post a few days after purchase.
- Rapid Rewards Dining: This one is super simple. Make an account, put your new credit card number in (or any credit card for that matter) and if you go to a participating restaurant you get 3 points per dollar spent. Leave a review on the Rapid Rewards Dining site? Get more points. (NOTE: Dining sign up bonuses like spend $30 on your first visit, get 1,000 point do not count towards companion pass)
Marathon Make it Count: Do you have a Marathon gas station near you? Sign up for Make it Count and get 1 point per gallon of gas when you enter your phone number! There are also points for in-store food & drink purchases
Referrals
This one is new to me as of today. If you go to the Chase Refer a Friend page after you have your personal card you can create a referral link. Any time someone is approved for the same card you have through that link you get 20K points that count towards your Companion Pass with a max of 5 referrals. That’s up to 100K points for posting on social media, emailing friends and family or making a blog post like me and kindly asking those reading to use your link to apply. 😉 **UPDATE 7/16: Chase has released a new link that allows you to refer friends to ANY Southwest branded card.
PHEW! That’s a lot of ways to earn that companion pass. Which can be overwhelming. Go with the plan that will help you achieve your goal with the fewest number of tactics, keeping it as simple as possible! Questions? Let me know! Share your story of how you earned the companion pass!
What’s next for my posts? I’ve got one coming up on how we plan to use the points we earned in combination with our companion pass for max savings! Once we hit the road again I’ll be documenting our adventures as we travel the US using our companion pass.
