Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Key links:

The various Southwest cards typically go between 40,000 and 60,000 points as a welcome offer every couple of months. Since these cards are under Chase 5/24, it typically makes sense to wait and apply for the cards when they’re at their all-time high of 60,000 points as a welcome offer.

If you’ve been waiting for the cards to go back up to the Southwest 60,000 mile offer, you’re in luck – now’s the time!

a blue and red airplane flying in the sky

60,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards bonus

These 4 Southwest credit cards are at all time high signup bonuses – 60,000 Rapid Rewards points each.  Obviously, if you were able to get two of them and meet the spending bonus, 60,000 + 60,000 = 120,000 or more than enough to earn the Southwest Companion Pass. The last time Southwest had 60,000 mile welcome offers it was a tiered bonus with 40,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $1,000 and another 20,000 points after spending $12,000. This time they are back to a flat 60,000 mile offer, as follows:

As I mentioned before, all of these cards ARE subject to Chase 5/24.  The Southwest business card is also subject to Chase 5/24 (but doesn’t count TOWARDS your 5/24 limit)

Southwest Companion Pass

One of the reasons to consider these Southwest 60,000 Rapid Rewards point offers (or their corresponding business cards) is to get the Southwest Companion Pass.

It’s a little bit out of date, but back in January we looked at whether it still makes sense to get the Southwest Companion Pass in 2018. A lot of the same logic still applies for 2019. It’s up to you whether or not getting the Companion Pass now (expiring Dec 2020) vs. waiting until Jan 2020 to try and get the Companion Pass through the end of 2021.

What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

From my original article about What is the Southwest Companion Pass (and how to get it), here are a few basics of what the Southwest Companion Pass is

So you can see that, all things being equal, it behooves you to get the Southwest Companion Pass as early in the year as possible, since you get it for the entire calendar year you earn it AND the next one too.  So earning the pass in Dec 2019 would get it through the end of 2020, whereas earning the pass in Jan 2020 would get it through the end of 2021! Of course there is no guarantee that earning the Southwest Companion Pass will work the same in 2020 (they’ve changed the rules on us before!)

Another thing to note is that the Companion Pass is most useful for couples with no kids (since it’s essentially a Buy 1 Get 1 Free ticket).  I’ve also heard of families of 4 that get TWO companion passes and then mom and dad each choose one of the kids as a companion.  For my family of 8, a Buy 7 get 1 Free pass is not nearly as lucrative.  And of course, living near an airport with lots of Southwest availability makes the Companion Pass more lucrative

Are you planning something like the above to get the Southwest Companion Pass in 2019?  Thanks in advance if you use the links on our top credit card offers page (I may receive a commission)


This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them

User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.

BoardingArea