This is an engine that tells you how to apply for and obtain a Southwest Companion Pass allowing someone traveling with you to fly up to two years for free. If you’re not sure what you’re looking at, maybe the Beginner’s Guide or the What are these engines? posts will help.
Perform the following to obtain the Companion Pass by obtaining 110,000 qualifying points.
| Program/Card | Southwest Points | Apply |
|---|---|---|
| Ink Plus Business Credit Card Chase Ultimate Rewards 50,000 points after $5,000 spent in 3 months Fee: $95 waived | Transfer through Hyatt +26,400 26,400 | Apply Now |
| Southwest Plus Southwest (Airtran) 25,000 points after $1,000 spent in 3 months Fee: $69 | +26,000 52,400 | Apply Now |
| Southwest Premier Southwest (Airtran) 25,000 points after $1,000 spent in 3 months Fee: $99 | +26,000 78,400 | Apply Now |
| Sapphire Preferred Chase Ultimate Rewards 40,000 points after $4,000 spent in 3 months Fee: $95 waived | Transfer through Hyatt +21,120 99,520 | Apply Now |
| Marriott Premier Marriott Rewards 50,000 points after $1,000 spent in 3 months Fee: $85 | +18,214 117,734 | Apply Now |
| Personal | ||
| Business | ||
Alternatively, get the first 4 cards and you will have 99,520 points with $168 in fees and $11,000 in spend. Spend an additional $10,480 to get the necessary points.
Note: Companion Pass must be earned within a single calendar year. Valid throughout the year it was obtained and until the end of the following year.
Depending on the link and card, I may get a small referral when any of the above are used to apply for a card. These took time to build and require maintenance as cards, conversions and award charts change over time; please advise if you find any bugs or incorrect data as well. Your support is very much appreciated.
Forgive my math/ignorance, I’m confused by your numbers. Why does 60,000 points from Chase Ink only result in 31,200 points? Wouldn’t be at least 65,000 points, with the $5,000 spend factored in? I thought it was a 1:1 transfer?
And why are they transferred through Hyatt?
Thanks.
@scot, while the miles do transfer 1:1, when from chase they *do not count towards earning the companion pass* – for this reason they must be transferred through an intermediary. iirc there might be a tiered rate approach with hyatt and to keep things simple with the engine i did some rough math – in any case it is the intermediate system that will yield the best results. chase -> sw = no pass qualifying miles, chase -> hyatt -> sw = pass qualifying miles.
Makes sense…I found that out after browsing your site a bit more. Sorry I was so quick to comment. Seems like you’re giving away a lot of points simply to get a companion pass on a mostly domestic carrier. But I suppose if someone travels with a partner domestically all the time it works.
totally agree – just an available option and could help one achieve the pass/do so quickly. the friction and loss in converting points in general outside of the 3 big programs (chase/amex/spg) usually seems pretty painful and is rarely an option i would choose.