As we are close to the turn of the year, it is the perfect time to start collecting points in your Travel Rewards portfolio. Many people (myself included) recommend you start with Southwest Airlines and the coveted Companion Pass. The Companion Pass lets you pick one person to travel with you free (does not include taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way) whenever you have bought or used points for a flight on Southwest. It is valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which you earn it, plus the entire next calendar year. That’s why it is such a good goal to pursue at the beginning of the year as you could have it for almost two years. For example, if you earn the Companion Pass in February of 2019, then it would be valid for all of 2019, plus the entire 2020 year!

So how do you earn the Companion Pass? I’m glad you asked, because I love to talk about it. First, you need to be a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards member. Then you have two options to complete in a calendar year:

1. Fly 100 qualifying one-way flights
   – or –
2. Earn 125,000 qualifying points

Most people won’t fly 100 times in a calendar year, so let’s look at option 2. Don’t let the 110,000 qualifying points scare you. It’s a lot easier than you think and this is where the credit card sign-up bonuses come in. Here’s a normal plan: (Note: This was written December 21, 2018, and therefore some of the card offers may not still be accurate. Clicking on the links will bring you to the most accurate data.)

1. Sign up for the Southwest Airlines personal credit card. There are 3 options available for this card (you can only do one of them) and they all will help chip away at the 125,000 qualifying points. At the time of this post, you will earn 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. So by completing this step, you will have earned at least 41,000 qualifying points (1,000 points for the $1,000 you spent, plus the 40,000 point bonus), thus leaving 69,000 more qualifying points left towards the Companion Pass.
2. Sign up for the Southwest Airlines business credit card. At the time of this post, you will earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. So by completing this step, you will have earned at least an additional 63,000 qualifying points (3,000 points for the $3,000 you spent, plus the 60,000 point bonus), thus leaving only 6,000 more qualifying points left towards the Companion Pass.
3. There are a couple easy ways to earn the remaining 6,000 qualifying points you need. The most common way is to spend $6,000 more on one of the Southwest credit cards you opened in the first two steps. My advice is to only use the credit cards on things you would normally be spending money on. If you start buying extra things, it takes away from the savings you’re trying to get. You can also earn points by flying on Southwest, joining the Rapid Rewards Dining program (get extra points when you eat at certain restaurants), or joining the Rapid Rewards Shopping program (get extra points when you shop at certain vendors).

Hopefully this will give you a good starting plan. Please ask questions below or let me know if you’ve done it differently. I would love to hear more stories and share ideas from our community.