Two Southwest Companion Passes: Free Travel For A Family Of Four

Two Southwest Companion Passes: Free Travel For A Family Of Four

Traveling as a family can be really expensive. Once a child is two years old, it is mandatory to pay for their own seat on a plane. If you’re bringing a stroller and multiple bags, you may have to pay for extra checked luggage. And of course dining becomes more costly too. But family travel doesn’t have to be terribly expensive. Travel hacking and earning points through credit cards gives any family the ability to significantly reduce their travel expenses. One of the best hacks for free travel for a family of four is to earn two Southwest Companion passes.

While we were hanging out at FinCon19 in Washington D.C., I was chatting with Vi of Physician Zen about ways his family of four could travel for nearly free by earning two Southwest companion passes. These are relatively easy to earn right now because there are several Southwest credit cards with large sign up bonuses.

After our conversation, I decided to write a step by step guide detailing how he can earn the two Southwest companion passes. This would allow his family of four to take multiple flights for almost free using all of the Southwest Rapid Rewards points he would earn!

The following is the step by step guide that I had written for him. While I’m using Vi as a case study, this guide can apply to any family. In fact, I’m going to use it for myself so that I can earn the Southwest Companion pass again for another two years from 2020 through the end of 2021.

***This post has been edited to reflect the recent changes to the Southwest Companion pass requirements implemented on October 17, 2019***

The Prerequisites

Before any post in which I talk about credit cards and travel hacking, I have to outline some simple prerequisites and rules that people should follow. It’s the right thing to do.

Be Financially Responsible

Simply put, do not spend more than you earn. If you can’t follow this rule, then you shouldn’t be applying for a bunch of credit cards. If you’re not responsible, credit cards make it way too easy to spend money you don’t really have.

Vi is financially responsible, so he has no issues with this.

Be Responsible With Credit Cards

It’s very important to be organized, pay your credit cards in full and on time, and not carry credit card debt. If you’re not very organized, you may forget to pay your credit card bill. And if you don’t pay off your credit cards, you’ll carry a balance that will only increase with accrued interest. Credit card interest rates are high, commonly ranging anywhere from 15-25%. It’s the worse kind of debt. If this sounds like you, please do yourself a favor and don’t sign up for more cards.

Fortunately, Vi is an extremely organized person and is responsible with debt and credit cards. After all, he is the king of organization and productivity!

Have A Good Credit Score

In general, if you are financially responsible and use credit cards responsibly (as outlined above), then you should have a stellar credit score.

FICO is the most common credit score used by lenders. It consists of the following factors:

• Payment history: 35%
• Amounts owed: 30%
• Length of credit history: 15%
• New credit: 10%
• Credit mix: 10%

The above is an approximation of how credit scores are mysteriously calculated.

Your credit score is important. If it is too low, you may not be approved for a new credit card. Maintaining a high credit score is part of my credit card strategy and it is one of the reasons why I’ve been approved for every card I have applied for. I don’t mean to humble brag, but my score is consistently over 800.

I don’t know Vi’s exact credit score. But I’m assuming it is quite high.

To find out your own credit score, you can use a free service like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame. Alternatively, some credit card issuers will also give you a credit score for free.

Be Under The “Chase 5/24” Rule

This rule is specifically applicable to the Southwest credit card because it is issued by Chase. Meanwhile, Amex, Citi, Barclays, and the other issuers have their own set of rules. To read more about the Chase 5/24 rule, you can read my article Chase 5/24 And How To Check Your Status.

The short story is this: You will not be approved for any Chase credit cards if you have opened five or more personal credit cards, personal charge cards, or authorized user cards in the past 24 months.

If you are above 5/24 and have opened five credit cards in the past two years, you will be flat out denied. Period.

Therefore, I would only recommend going for the Southwest companion pass if you are under Chase 5/24.

Recently, I have confirmed with Vi that between he and his wife, they have only opened one credit card account in the past two years. So they are both under the Chase 5/24 rule.

Your Spouse Is Onboard Too

We all know how important it is to have a spouse who is onboard with your overall financial plan. Financial disagreements can unfortunately tear families apart.

It also helps to have a spouse who is okay with signing up for credit cards. Doing this can double your points earning and take your free travels even further. In the points and miles game, this is commonly known as “two player mode”.

At first, my wife wasn’t totally into signing up for a bunch of credit cards because she didn’t want to keep track of them. I was able to quickly change her mind after our combined points allowed us to fly in Singapore Suites. Needless to say, she is now onboard.

I briefly spoke to Vi’s wife about credit cards, travel hacking, and how they can take several flights for their family for almost free. After our conversation, guess what, she’s onboard too!

Don’t Currently Have Any Personal Southwest Credit Cards

Southwest introduced restrictions last year limiting card members to a only being able to have one of the personal cards at a time.

So if you already have a personal Southwest credit card, you will not be approved for another one.

Additionally, keep in mind that you would not be eligible for a new cardmember bonus on a new Southwest personal card if you have earned the bonus on another personal card within the past 24 months.

Fortunately for Vi, neither he nor his wife have had a personal Southwest credit card. So they are good to go.

You Should Have Plans To Travel

This one seems obvious.

If you’re going to earn a ton of credit card points and miles, then you should have a plan to use them. What’s the use of those miles if you hate traveling and don’t plan on flying anywhere? They will just be wasted. Many miles end up expiring after two years of inactivity and then they’re gone forever. If you don’t plan on traveling, then there’s absolutely no point in credit card travel hacking. You might as well just use a cash back card that earns at least 2% back, like the Citi Double Cash card.

Fortunately, Vi has plans to travel. His plans are loosely this:

• Fort Lauderdale as a starting point for a family cruise
• Dallas for the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Annual Meeting 2020
• Las Vegas for the Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference hosted by the White Coat Investor
• Hawaii for a relaxing family beach vacation

Sounds like a perfect plan to me.

The Ability To Easily Meet Minimum Spending Requirements

In order to earn credit card sign up bonuses, you have to have the ability to meet minimum spending requirement to earn those bonus points. Sometimes that spending requirement could be quite a bit.

In Vi’s case, in order to earn two Southwest Companion passes, this would require spending $12,000. And he would need to complete that spending after January 1, 2020. More details about why (and why it’s extremely important) later.

For physicians like Vi who pay federal quarterly estimated income taxes, it is relatively easy to meet these spending requirements. All you have to do is pay quarterly estimated taxes for January online using your credit card. That’s exactly what I do.

Families who do not earn a high income may find it difficult to meet minimum spending requirements. Fortunately, there are various strategies to manufacture spending at little cost such as paying bills online, buying and reselling things, or buying gift cards to purchase money orders just to name a few.

 

Why Southwest Is Great For Families

Southwest Airlines is great for families for several reasons.

First of all, their baggage policy is very generous. On Southwest, your first two check bags are free with any fare; even if you on a free ticket as a companion! Families may need to check in additional items like car seats, strollers, or extra luggage. A family of four flying on Southwest will be able to check in two bags/items at no additional cost. That’s pretty awesome.

Additionally, families traveling with kids 6 years old or younger can board during “Family Boarding”, which is immediately after Group A (the first group to board), and Group B. This was designed so that families can ensure that they have seats close together. This is a great benefit especially since seating in Southwest is first come, first serve without pre-assigned seats.

Another great thing is that Southwest flies to a number of family friendly destinations throughout the United States (including Hawaii), Mexico, and the Caribbean. Some of these destinations can also serve as a jumping off point for international travel as well.

And of course, a big reason why Southwest is great for families is because of the ability to earn a companion pass. When you can bring children onboard a flight as free companions, this significantly reduces the cost of air travel.

Two companion passes can allow a family of four to take several flights for free. One child can be one parent’s free companion. And the other child can be the other parent’s free companion. You’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees which is usually about $5.60 one way per ticket.

 

Review: Earning The Southwest Companion Pass

There are two ways you can earn the pass:

• Take 100 one-way qualifying flights on Southwest Airlines in a calendar year
• Earn 110,000 qualifying Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year (starting in 2020, the requirements increased to 125,000 qualifying Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year)

By far, the easiest way to earn the companion pass is the second option, earning 110,000 qualifying Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year.

This can easily be achieved by earning two sign up bonuses:

• 80,000 points earned from the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card
• 40,000 points earned from the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card

The two sign up bonuses alone (80,000 + 40,000 = 120,000) will get you the points needed to earn the companion pass!

10/17/2019 UPDATE: If you count the points earned from the minimum required spending for these sign up bonuses ($5,000 + $1,000), you would earn an additional 6,000 points and therefore meet the 125,000 points required for 2020. 

 

How To Earn Two Southwest Companion Passes: A Step By Step Guide

Okay. After meeting all the prerequisites and having a plan for travel, Vi and his family is now ready to earn two Southwest Companion passes.

Here’s how he would do it.

Step 1: Create a Rapid Rewards account on Southwest.com

It’s easy to do and completely free. You just have to fill out your information and create an account. Easy peasy.

Here is what it should look like.

Step 2: Create a Rapid Rewards account for spouse

Remember, we are trying to earn two Southwest companion passes so that the entire family of four can travel for free. This requires Vi’s wife Mindy (name altered to protect identity) to also create an account.

Both Vi and Mindy will have their own Rapid Rewards membership number associated with their own account.

Step 3: Apply for Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card in mid-October (RIGHT NOW!)

Currently, this credit card has a lucrative offer of earning 80,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first three months. This incredible offer is going away tomorrow on October 16. After that, the offer is expected to be lower, maybe 70,000 bonus points or lower. I’m really not sure.

More key highlights about this card:

• Annual fee is $199, which is relatively high but in my opinion worth it for earning 80,000 bonus points
• Earns 3x points on Southwest purchases
• Global Entry credit worth $100

The direct link to this card is here. This is not a referral link nor an affiliate link. Don’t forget that this bonus offer ends tomorrow on October 16 so I would apply today.

Step 3: Spouse applies for Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card in mid-October

If I were Vi, I would have Mindy apply for the same card today as well. This would ensure that both of them will get the sign up bonuses of 80,000 points in their respective accounts after meeting the minimum spending requirements.

Both Vi and Mindy have a business. In addition to being the editor of Physician Zen, Vi also moonlights at various emergency rooms, urgent cares, and ICU’s as an independent contractor. Mindy is an independent contractor as a freelance attorney. Both of them also manage rental properties as a business.

But you don’t necessarily need to have a traditional business, be incorporated, or have an LLC to apply for a business card.

A Reminder About Business Cards

Many people shy away from applying for business cards because they feel intimidated. But you shouldn’t be. Business cards should be a part of everybody’s credit card strategy.

Yes, you do need to have a business to apply for a business card. But it is common for people to have a business without realizing it. If you sell things online (using eBay for example) then you have a business. If you freelance or blog, that can be your business. House hack or AirBnb? That’s your business. Other examples include Uber/Lyft, handyman services, selling your stuff on Etsy, starving artist, and author in the process of writing a personal finance book. Any side hustle qualifies, even if it doesn’t make much money.

Pretty much anything can be a business. In many of these cases, your business will be considered a Sole Proprietorship.

The legal name of business can simply be your full name. Under Tax Identification Number, you can put your social security number. It’s fine to put “1” as the number of employees. And be truthful when indicating your annual business revenue and years in business. If your blog only makes $100, don’t put down that it makes $1,000,000. That would be fraud.

Below is a sample using my Chase Ink Business Unlimited application from the past. Obviously that is not my address or social security number.

Sample Business Card Application

So far, I have been approved for every card that I have applied for. Even with business cards.

Maybe I’m lucky. Or perhaps credit card issuers are more generous to me because I make a high income? That could be it, but I’m really not sure.

If you sign up for a Chase card and you’re not automatically approved, I found this chart on Reddit to be helpful.

In fact, I’m rarely automatically approved these days because I apply for so many cards. I actually applied this morning and received the following message.

I’m not at all worried though. I actually get this message all the time. In the past, I have followed the chart on Reddit (link above) and have always been approved of every Chase business card I applied for.

Step 4: Apply for Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus credit card in mid-November using referral link

This credit card earns 40,000 points after spending $1,000 within the first three months.

And with the current promotion (also expected to end October 16), you would earn an additional 20,000 point after spending $12,000 in the first 12 months. This could be useful, but for the purposes of earning the Southwest companion pass it is irrelevant. You don’t need the additional 20,000 to earn the companion pass. Plus the cost of spending $12,000 just to earn those additional points may not be worth it. With that $12,000, you can earn sign up bonuses on other credit cards!

The reason why I would recommend Vi to apply for the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card is because it is the Southwest personal credit card with the lowest annual fee, which is $69.

Waiting until mid-November (or 30 days after the last credit card application) is important for two reasons:

• First of all, many people I know who sign up of a lot of credit cards (including myself) limit their Chase applications to only one per month. This is because of the Chase “2/30” rule, which generally means you will not be approved for more than two Chase cards in a 30 day time period. So it is possible to be approved for two Chase cards in a 30 day window, but I personally wouldn’t risk it.
• Another reason is that it could be possible for you and your spouse to refer each other and earn even more Rapid Rewards points. Usually you would earn 10,000 additional points per referral.

Chase Credit Card Referrals

Overall, it is relatively easy to refer a Chase card to a friend (or in this case, a spouse) and earn a referral bonus once that person is approved of the card.

All you have to do is click here, provide some information, and receive a referral link. You should see the following page.

Once your friend or spouse is approved using your link, you will earn referral bonus points. For Chase Southwest cards, it is typically 10,000 Rapid Rewards points

So in Vi’s case, he should refer Mindy for the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus credit card using his referral link.

Likewise, Mindy should sign up for the same card using Vi’s referral link.

That way, they will earn an additional 20,000 Rapid Rewards points between the two of them. Rapid Rewards points are generally worth ~1.5 cents per point, so that’s $300 worth of extra points they can use for flights!

Of course, you are more than welcome to use my wife’s referral link too. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. 🙂

Step 5: Spouse applies for Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus credit card in mid-November using referral link

I already explained this above. But just to reiterate, Mindy should sign up for the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus personal credit card using Vi’s referral link.

For informational purposes, here is what the application for the personal credit card looks like.

As you can see, one of the boxes indicates “Rapid Rewards Number”.

Make sure you fill in the correct number associated with your account.

And again, Vi and Mindy should each have their own Rapid Rewards account so that they can each earn a Southwest companion pass.

Step 6: Wait until after January 1, 2020 to complete minimum spending

At this point, Vi and Mindy should have two new credit cards each:

1. Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance business credit card
2. Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus personal credit card

To recap, in order to earn the sign up bonuses for these cards, they would have to spend a total of $12,000. Here’s the breakdown:

• Vi’s Southwest Performance business card requires $5,000 minimum spending to earn 80,000 points
• Mindy’s Southwest Performance business card requires $5,000 minimum spending to earn 80,000 points
• Vi’s Southwest Plus personal card requires $1,000 minimum spending to earn 40,000 points
• Mindy’s Southwest Plus personal card requires $1,000 minimum spending to earn 40,000 points

It is very important that they wait until after January 1, 2020 to complete the minimum spending on each card. This is because in order to receive the companion pass, you need to earn 110,000 qualifying Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year. Once earned, the pass is good through the next calendar year.

But don’t wait TOO long because you need to complete the minimum spending requirement within 3 months. For example, if you signed up for the Southwest Performance business card on October 15, 2019 then you have until January 15, 2019 (3 months later) to complete the spending in time. Therefore, you may only have a 15 day window to fully complete your minimum spending requirement.

Timing is so important

Strategically, it’s best to earn the Southwest companion pass in early 2020 so that it could be good through the end of 2021. That’s almost two years of being able to use the companion pass!

Here’s a different scenario. Let’s say they meet all of the required minimum spending in December 2019. That would mean that their companion pass would only be good trough the end of 2020. The pass would only be good for a year.

There’s an even worse scenario. If both Vi and Mindy each met the minimum required spending on the Southwest Performance card in December 2019 and then met the minimum required spending on the Southwest Plus card in January 2020, this would be disastrous. In this case, they would each earn 80,000 points in 2019 (not enough to qualify for the companion pass in the 2019 calendar year) and 40,000 points in 2020 (70,000 points short of earning the companion pass in the 2020 calendar year). This scenario would result in no companion passes, a situation they absolutely want to avoid.

Strategies to time your spending

Clearly, timing is key. As you can see in the above scenario, if you mess up the timing of your spending, you may not earn the Southwest companion pass.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: You want to complete the minimum spending on ALL four cards AFTER January 1, 2020 but still within the first three months of opening the account.

One strategy is to start using your newly acquired credit cards for every day purchases and on stuff you would buy anyway, such as gifts. After all, we are approaching the holiday season. But when you do this, you have to be fully cognizant of how much you’re spending. You DO NOT want to meet the minimum spending threshold before January 1, 2020. If you’re going to use this strategy, I would monitor your spending like a hawk and stop when you’re about 80% of the minimum spending threshold. In other words, I would stop spending once you’re around $4,000 of spending on the Southwest Performance business card and $800 of spending on the Southwest Plus personal card. This would provide a nice buffer to make sure you don’t reach the spending threshold prematurely. Then once January 1, 2020 arrives, you can feel free to put extra spending on those cards to finish the minimum spending requirements.

• Pro: this strategy allows you to spend gradually and puts less pressure on you to make huge purchases between January 1 and January 15 in 2020.
• Con: you really have to watch your spending like a hawk to make sure you don’t complete the spending threshold prematurely before January 1, 2020.

Here’s what I would do

Since I don’t like tracking my spending super closely, I prefer another strategy. What I would do is put small purchases on each card (or none at all) prior to January 1, 2020. That way, I know I won’t meet the minimum spending threshold prematurely. By doing this, I won’t need to watch my spending like a hawk. Then, in the first few days of January 2020, I would pay my federal estimated quarterly taxes (due on January 15, 2020) using all four credit cards. I have a high income, so my quarterly payments are quite a bit more than $12,000 which is the amount I’ll need to meet minimum spending in all four cards. And yes, you can split your online tax payments into four payments using four different cards. Since my family has relatively frugal spending habits, paying taxes online is generally how I meet spending requirements for all of my credit card sign up bonuses.

• Pro: you don’t need to watch your spending like a hawk
• Con: you have to have the ability to make large purchases between January 1 and January 15 in 2020. For me this is perfect because I pay a high tax bill during this time.

Everybody’s situation is different. Use whatever strategy works for you.

Step 7: Receive your bonus points and two Southwest companion pass

If you followed all the steps above, you should receive all your bonus points plus the two Southwest companion passes (one in each account) after the January statement closes.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Now you can use your two Southwest companion passes and fly your family of four for nearly free!

 

Brief Summary of My Guide To Earning Two Southwest Companion Passes

The above was pretty lengthy and detailed.

So here’s a short summary:

• Make sure to follow the prerequisites: be financially responsible, under Chase 5/24, and not currently have a Chase Southwest personal card
• Create Southwest Rapid Rewards account for you and spouse now
• Sign up for Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business credit card for you and spouse by October 16, 2019
• Sign up for Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus personal credit card for you and spouse using each other’s referral links some time shortly after November 16, 2019
• Wait and DO NOT meet the minimum spending threshold until AFTER January 1, 2020, but still within 3 months of opening your credit card account
• Earn bonus points and two Southwest companion passes after January statement closes
• Congratulations, you are now free to move about the country until the end of 2021 (almost 2 years!)

Below is an infographic summarizing everything.

 

Summary Of All The Points You Earn

In addition to two Southwest companion passes, here is a breakdown of all the points Vi and his family would earn:

• 5,000 points (earned from spending the $5,000 needed to earn the sign up bonus on Vi’s Southwest Business Performance business card)
• 80,000 points (from Vi’s Southwest Business Performance sign up bonus)
• 5,000 points (earned from spending the $5,000 needed to earn the sign up bonus on Mindy’s Southwest Business Performance business card)
• 80,000 points (from Mindy’s Southwest Business Performance sign up bonus)
• 1,000 points (earned from spending the $1,000 needed to earn the sign up bonus on Vi’s Southwest Plus personal card)
• 40,000 points (from Vi’s Southwest Plus sign up bonus)
• 1,000 points (earned from spending the $1,000 needed to earn the sign up bonus on Mindy’s Southwest Plus personal card)
• 40,000 points (from Mindy’s Southwest Plus sign up bonus)
• 10,000 points (from Vi’s referral link)
• 10,000 points (from Mindy’s referral link)

Doing the math, this is a whopping total of 272,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points!!!

That’s a heck of a lot of points.

Southwest Rapid Rewards points are roughly worth about 1.5 cents per point. So this means that 272,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points would equal $4,080 worth of travel.

But it gets even better.

Having two Southwest companion passes doubles the value of your points. So after signing up for all four cards, Vi and his family would have $8,160 worth of travel!

Not too shabby. Especially considering the relative low cost of the annual fees is $199 + $199 + $69 + $69 = $536.

Earning $8,160 worth of travel for only $536 sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

 

What Can You Do We All These Points and Two Southwest Companion Passes?

This is where the fun begins. Time to plan your trips!

Recall that Vi has some travel plans in the future. He plans to travel to Fort Lauderdale, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Hawaii within the next two years. Can all of his points and his two Southwest companion passes be enough to cover these flights?

Let’s take a look.

Vi lives in Southern California and Ontario Airport would be where he and his family would fly out from.

Let’s price out a flight to Fort Lauderdale on points for two adults. (Remember: his two kids Elliott and Arianna would be free because they have two Southwest companion passes.) Two roundtrip tickets to Fort Lauderdale come out to be 87,942 points.

 

Vi is planning to go to Dallas to attend the ACEP annual meeting. They have relatives who live close by in Dallas, so he wants to bring his whole family of four along to visit them. Roundtrip flights to Dallas come out to be 41,796 points.

What about White Coat Investor’s Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference? He wants to bring his family along because Las Vegas has a lot of interesting things to do. Sure, he can just drive his family there since it’s so close. But let’s just price out a flight for the heck of it. Round trip flights to Las Vegas around the dates of the conference come out to be 17,324 points.

He and his family also want to go to Hawaii for a nice beach vacation. Would he have enough points? A roundtrip flight to Honolulu would cost 99,810 points.

The grand total for these trips is 246,872 Southwest Rapid Rewards points. He has more than enough points for these four trips for his family of four.

In fact, since Vi would have at least 272,000 Southwest points, after these four trips he would have 25,128 points left.

That’s enough for another trip!

Maybe he wants to take the family skiing in Aspen during Ski Week. (Note: many schools in California now have a “Ski Week” break in between Winter break and Spring Break that usually falls in the middle of February.) Let’s see how many points are needed to fly to Denver during Ski Week.

BOOM! Only 22,932 points needed to fly his family of four to Denver for a nice ski vacation.

As you can see, the two Southwest companion passes and the points he would earn (at least 272,000 points) would be more than enough points for his family of four to fly to:

• Fort Lauderdale for a family cruise
• Dallas for an Emergency Medicine conference
• Las Vegas for the White Coat Investor conference
• Hawaii for a relaxing beach vacation
• Denver for a family ski trip

Of course we have to keep in mind that prices could change and the points required may be different when he is ready to redeem them. These flights could require more points. Or they could be less points. These are just examples that demonstrate what is possible.

And the dates that I priced out are not necessarily reflective of the real dates in which the events are held. For example, the ACEP annual meeting in 2020 is actually in October, not in April. But the Southwest website will not allow me to search for flights beyond April 2020 at this time. However, Ski Week really is in the middle of February and the WCI conference really is March 12-14.  So those dates are pretty accurate.

Nevertheless, taking five family trips using the two Southwest companion passes and the points earn is pretty amazing. If Vi had to pay for all of these flights for his family of four in cash, it would amount to be about $8,000!

 

Final Thoughts

The huge sign up bonus of 80,000 points with the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance business credit card makes it easier than ever to earn the Southwest companion pass. Don’t forget that this increase sign up bonus is only available until October 16, 2019. If you are interested in earning the Southwest companion pass, I would apply for this card now.

When you include your spouse for “two player mode” travel hacking, you can easily earn two Southwest companion passes using the tips and tricks I outlined above. This is incredibly useful for a family of four because one parent can take one child for free as a companion, and the other parent can take the other child for free as a companion.

As demonstrated in Vi’s example, a family of four can easily take at least five trips using the two Southwest companion passes along with all the points they would receive after earning those passes. In my opinion, it is totally worth it.

For the past two years, my wife has had the Southwest companion pass and we’ve enjoyed plenty of value from it. For example, we flew to Orlando for FinCon18 and we took my wife’s parents to Cabo San Lucas earlier this year. At the end of the year, we are taking my wife’s parents to Hawaii. All of this was free (plus the taxes and fees) using our Southwest companion pass and points. Unfortunately, my wife’s companion pass ends at the end of 2019.

I want the Southwest companion pass again for another two years. So I am following my own advice and using this guide. A few days ago, I applied for the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance business credit card. In November, I plan to apply for the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus personal credit card using my wife’s referral link. And on January 2, 2020 I am paying my taxes online using those two cards to earn the sign up bonuses. Afterwards, we should have the Southwest companion pass again for another two years.

We’ll see where our travels take us next…

 

Do you plan to earn the Southwest companion pass for 2020 through 2021? If so, you better act now before it’s too late! 🙂