With Southwest currently offering increased sign-up bonuses on all 3 personal credit cards. Now is the best time to go for the Southwest Companion Pass. In this article I will breakdown the two best cards to get to obtain the companion pass quick and easy. We will also look at the benefits of each card.
What is the Southwest Companion Pass?
If you’re unfamiliar with what the Southwest Companion Pass is check out our other post here or this video for a full break down and the best strategy. But simply put, this companion pass allows you to bring a plus one on any paid or reward flight for up to 2 years. You need to earn 125,000 rapid rewards points in one calendar year to ge it. It’s truly the best travel hack available and it’s easier to get than you might think. The easiest way is through credit cards.
Southwest partners with Chase for all of their credit cards. Something to keep in mind if you have opened 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months. If you have you wont be approved for a Southwest credit card.
What are the Two Best Credit Cards to Earn The Southwest Companion Pass?
Now these can be subjective. But if your goal is to earn the Southwest Companion Pass that means you plan on flying Southwest frequently. So, with that in mind, don’t you want to get the most out of every flight?
I knew you would say a resounding yes!
To earn the companion pass fast and easy you need to open two of these Southwest credit cards. You will need to open up one personal credit card and one business credit card. Now you might be thinking, I don’t own a business. Well, if you sell anything online that is considered a business.
For the personal credit card you will want to get the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card which comes with a $149 annual fee. For the business version you will want to get the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card which comes with a $199 annual fee.
So now you have two cards in your wallet that are costing you $348 per year. Is it worth it? Absolutely! Let’s look at the numbers.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card Benefits
Let’s take a look at the personal credit card first. What do you get for $149 per year? After the 75,000 point sign-up bonus which is worth about $1,125, here is what else you will get:
- 7,500 points every anniversary ($112.50 value)
- Four Upgraded Boardings per year when available ($30-$50 value per pass)
- $75 Southwest annual travel credit
- 20% back on inflight drinks and WiFi
- 2 points per $1 on Southwest Airlines purchases
Since you won’t receive your 7,500 points until your year one anniversary we won’t include that into our valuation. I also don’t value the boarding passes at $30. I value those at a modest $10 since I would easily pay that amount. So that means in year one you are getting a whopping $1240. Now once those points have been used. Does it still make sense to keep this card?
Now we can include those 7,500 anniversary points as those can be used to redeem for flights. Just on the value of the points and the annual travel credit alone you are already at $187.50 which gives you more than the $149 annual fee. Add in $40 worth of value for those 4 boarding passes and based on my value you’re sitting at $227.50 worth of value. This card more than pays for itself and this is the one I always recommend to apply for between the three.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card Benefits
Now let’s take a look at the Business credit card. What do you get for $199 per year? After the 70,000 point sign-up bonus which is worth about $1,050, here is what else you will get:
- 9,000 points every anniversary ($135 value)
- Four Upgraded Boardings per year when available
- Inflight Wifi Credits (limited to 365 $8 credits per year)
- $100 Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check statement credit every 4 years
- 3 points per $1 on Southwest Airlines purchases
- 2 points per $1 on social media and search engine advertising, Internet, cable, and phone service
Since again on this card you won’t receive your 9,000 points until your anniversary we won’t include that in our year one valuation. We also use the same value for the boarding passes. We now have have a couple more things to add that we get with this card. We get those inflight WiFi credits as well as that $100 Global Entry Credit. Even though it is every 4 years, we will include that in the year one valuation instead of averaging it out over 4 years. Now the inflight credits are going to be based on how many times you fly. If you are getting the companion pass the plan is to fly as often as possible. For the sake of this article we will use a consevative number of 6 flights to use that credit. That means in year one you are getting $1,238 worth of value.
Now let’s look at year two and beyond. Without the signup bonus value and the global entry credit. But we now get to add the value of the 9,000 rapid reward anniversary points. The value of everything comes to $223. Which is $24 more than you’re paying for the annual fee.
Final Thoughts
If you already fly Southwest or plan on it. These two cards are must adds. We’ve done the math and know the value you are getting more than covers the cost of the annual fees. All that’s left to do now is to plan your trip.