The right way to shortly earn the Southwest Companion Go

Did somebody point out bringing a chosen buddy or member of the family for (nearly) free on any Southwest flight you are taking?

Incomes Southwest’s coveted Companion Go is not straightforward — besides when it’s. The provider has been recognized to run promotions the place you may earn a Companion Go for taking a single round-trip flight, and proper now, you may earn it with a single Southwest bank card welcome provide. Even with out one in every of these promotions, Southwest bank card spending may also help you fast-track your option to the Companion Go.

Maintain studying to seek out out why the Companion Go is so precious and how one can earn one this yr.

Associated: Southwest Speedy Rewards: Full information to incomes, redeeming and maximizing factors

What’s the Southwest Companion Go?

With Southwest’s Companion Go, you may carry a buddy or member of the family you designate as your companion with you on any Southwest flight. You will solely have to pay the taxes and charges in your companion’s ticket, identical to you’d on an award ticket. Consequently, in case you earn a Companion Go, you will have over a yr of purchase one, get one (practically) free Southwest flights.

The flexibility to carry alongside a journey companion for practically free is just not distinctive to Southwest. Many bank cards provide some type of a single-use companion fare, permitting you to carry a journey companion at a closely discounted fee.

Nonetheless, the magic of the Southwest Companion Go is that you should utilize it as many instances as you need till the go expires. Even in case you had been to fly on daily basis of the yr, your companion might include you for simply the price of taxes and charges. It even applies to award tickets, permitting you to redeem Speedy Rewards factors for your self and produce your companion with out utilizing further factors.

TPG values Southwest factors at 1.35 cents every per our February 2025 estimates, and incomes the Companion Go can successfully double the worth of your factors (or money) when flying with a companion on Southwest.

Bear in mind, you are not restricted to flights throughout the decrease 48 states. Over the past a number of years, Southwest has expanded to (and inside) Hawaii and added short-haul worldwide flights.

Moreover, you may change your designated Southwest companion as much as 3 times per calendar yr. In different phrases, you may have 4 completely different companions within the first calendar yr, then three within the second yr (for as much as seven whole throughout the lifetime of your Companion Go). It is price noting that even in case you swap again to a earlier companion, it nonetheless counts as one in every of your three allotted modifications per calendar yr.

Associated: 15 classes from 15 years of getting the Southwest Companion Go

The right way to earn the Southwest Companion Go

Incomes the Companion Go requires accruing 135,000 qualifying factors or taking 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar yr. That seems like quite a bit, however contemplating the mountains of factors out there from Southwest bank card gives, it is not as tough as it could appear.

Plus, the Companion Go has a powerful shelf life: It is legitimate by the tip of the yr during which you earn it, in addition to the complete yr that follows. In the event you time it appropriately, that could possibly be practically two years of BOGO privileges.

So what are qualifying factors for incomes the Companion Go? It is vital to notice that not all Speedy Rewards factors rely towards the 135,000-point requirement. Here is how Southwest defines factors that may rely:

Companion Go qualifying factors are earned from income flights booked by Southwest®, factors earned on Southwest Speedy Rewards® Credit score Playing cards, and base factors earned from Speedy Rewards® companions.

As you may see, all income flights booked on Southwest will rely towards incomes the Companion Go, as will factors earned on Southwest’s cobranded bank cards. The place issues get a bit trickier is the “base factors earned from Speedy Rewards companions” verbiage. Do all companions rely?

This web page on Southwest’s web site gives some examples of associate exercise that may rely towards qualification:

• Speedy Rewards bank cards, together with welcome bonuses
• Procuring and eating companions, akin to shopping for flowers and consuming out with Speedy Rewards Eating
• Journey companions, akin to associate lodge stays and automobile leases
• Residence and life-style companions, like Reliant Power and NRG Residence

Nonetheless, many issues don’t rely towards incomes the Companion Go:

With that in thoughts, this is a rundown of three methods to earn the Southwest Companion Go.

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Southwest bank cards

Factors earned from Southwest Speedy Rewards bank cards, together with welcome bonuses, rely towards the Southwest Companion Go. Moreover, Southwest cardholders will get pleasure from an annual enhance of 10,000 factors towards Companion Go qualification yearly. This can put up inside 30 days of opening your account after which once more by Jan. 31 of each calendar yr. This successfully reduces the variety of factors you have to earn to 125,000.

Plus, three Southwest client playing cards are at present providing elevated welcome bonuses that embrace a Companion Go. The Southwest Speedy Rewards® Plus Credit score Card, Southwest Speedy Rewards® Premier Credit score Card and Southwest Speedy Rewards® Precedence Credit score Card are providing a Companion Go good by Feb. 28, 2026, plus 30,000 bonus factors after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.

The data for the Southwest Premier Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.

Now could possibly be a good time so as to add one of many above to your pockets. And the earlier you earn the welcome bonus, the longer you’ll use your promotional Companion Go.

Southwest additionally has two enterprise playing cards that may speed up your progress to the Companion Go. You’ll be able to earn 80,000 bonus factors after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening with the Southwest® Speedy Rewards® Efficiency Enterprise Credit score Card, or earn 60,000 bonus factors after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening with the Southwest® Speedy Rewards® Premier Enterprise Credit score Card. Between these welcome bonuses and the ten,000-point anniversary enhance, you will be greater than midway towards incomes the 135,000 factors wanted for a Companion Go.

Or, in case you mix earnings from one in every of these enterprise playing cards with these from a private Southwest card, you would qualify for a Companion Go with none further exercise.

Associated: Do I want a enterprise to get a enterprise bank card?

Chase software restrictions

Earlier than happening an software spree, keep in mind that Chase has restrictions on Southwest bank cards associated to welcome bonuses. The next verbiage seems on the applying pages for the Precedence, Premier and Plus playing cards:

This product is accessible to you in case you wouldn’t have a present Southwest Speedy Rewards Credit score Card and haven’t obtained a brand new Cardmember bonus throughout the final 24 months. This doesn’t apply to Enterprise Card and Worker Credit score Card merchandise.

Consequently, you may’t open a brand new Southwest private card if you have already got one or earned a welcome bonus on one throughout the final 24 months. You will additionally wish to make sure you’re accustomed to Chase’s common software restrictions, together with the issuer’s notorious 5/24 rule and the overall rule that you may open one private and one enterprise card each 90 days.

As of now, Southwest’s small-business bank cards wouldn’t have the identical verbiage. As a substitute, the enterprise playing cards be aware:

“This new Cardmember bonus provide is just not out there to both (i) present Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card, or (ii) earlier Cardmembers of this enterprise bank card who obtained a brand new Cardmember bonus for this enterprise bank card throughout the final 24 months.”

In the event you already maintain a Southwest bank card(s) and thus cannot use the welcome bonus to your benefit, all of the factors you earn from spending on these playing cards may even rely towards incomes the Companion Go. You may theoretically earn the go from bank card spending alone, however there are two different choices that ought to make the duty simpler.

Associated: The right way to qualify for Southwest Companion Go with one bank card sign-up bonus

Flying with Southwest: How a lot do it’s a must to spend to get 135,000 factors?

One other easy option to earn factors for the Companion Go is by truly flying with Southwest. If you do not have a cobranded bank card and plan to earn the Companion Go by flying in 2025, you will have to earn the total 135,000 factors or take 100 qualifying one-way flights. This interprets to the next spending on base fares (not together with any elite standing points-earning bonus):

• $22,500 on Wanna Get Away
• $16,875 on Wanna Get Away Plus
• $13,500 on Anytime
• $11,250 on Enterprise Choose

In case you have journey deliberate this yr, take into account reserving with Southwest to earn factors towards the Companion Go. However keep in mind, this technique requires flying on many paid Southwest fares to earn sufficient Companion Go qualifying factors.

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Use a mixture of bank cards and flying

For a lot of vacationers, one of the simplest ways to earn the Companion Go will seemingly be some mixture of flying and bank cards.

For example you open the Southwest Efficiency Enterprise card and earn the total welcome bonus in early 2025. Let’s additionally assume you spend a complete of $10,000 on the cardboard, and a part of that spending is $2,000 on Wanna Get Away base fares, all of that are on flights flown in early 2025. You’ll earn:

• Welcome bonus (for spending $5,000 within the first three months): 80,000 factors
• Flying: 12,000 factors ($2,000 x 6 factors per greenback spent on Wanna Get Away base fares)
• Southwest airfare purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($2,000 x 4 factors per greenback spent on Southwest purchases)
• Different purchases on the cardboard: 8,000 factors ($8,000 x 1 level per greenback spent)
• Bank card anniversary factors: 10,000 factors

This exercise would earn you 118,000 Companion Go-qualifying factors, placing you simply 17,000 factors away. You may simply make up that distinction by leveraging different incomes alternatives like Speedy Rewards Procuring or automobile leases by Southwest.

Since these factors will all hit your Speedy Rewards account in 2025, your Companion Go shall be legitimate by Dec. 31, 2026. That is loads of BOGO time.

Do not forget that your bank card factors will not seem in your account till a number of days after your month-to-month assertion closes, and factors earned from flights will not put up till a number of days after you full the journey. Once more, timing is essential to make sure you earn the Companion Go and might use it for so long as attainable.

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Backside line

The Southwest Companion Go might be an extremely profitable profit, particularly in case you can earn it early in a calendar yr to get pleasure from nearly two years of (practically) free companion journey. It is not too late to plan your technique to earn the go in 2025 — and probably for some (or all) of 2026.

For these eligible, getting a pleasant bonus from a Southwest bank card or two may also help you earn a Companion Go simply (and shortly). Whilst you can earn a Companion Go by flying or bank card spending alone, a mixture is commonly the simplest method.