Many changes were announced today in a major revamp of the Southwest loyalty program, but I thought it worth highlighting this one as a separate post:
- Starting January 1, 2027, points earned from credit card signup bonuses will not count toward earning the Southwest Companion Pass.
- Also excluded from counting toward Companion Pass:
- Credit card spend multipliers (e.g. if you earn 2x on the card for a certain category, only 1x will count toward the Companion Pass)
- Referral bonuses
- Anniversary points
- Partner spend from things like hotel or car bookings. This would seemingly exclude shopping portal earnings from counting toward the Companion Pass.
Starting January 1, 2027, certain activities that helped you qualify for a Companion Pass by earning Companion Pass qualifying points do not earn Tier Qualifying Points. Therefore, these activities, while still earning Rapid Rewards points, will not assist you in earning Companion Pass benefits. These include new Cardmember welcome bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, and bonus points from spend (e.g., 2x on gas), as well as partner spend (e.g., hotel, car).
Should You Apply Now?
Southwest says:
If I get a Rapid Rewards Credit Card now, can my points count towards Companion Pass if and when I meet the requirements through the new Cardmember welcome bonus I apply for?
Yes, any Cardmembers who are approved for a Rapid Rewards Credit Card on or before Dec. 2, 2026 and meet the requirements for the new Cardmember welcome bonus will have the opportunity to have those points count as Companion Pass qualifying points, even if the spend threshold is met in early 2027.
Southwest is clear that getting a card by December 2, 2026 will allow the signup bonus points to count toward Companion Pass, even if the spend threshold is met in 2027.
And so you could get a card sometime before December 2nd, meet the spend in early 2027, and get a Companion Pass for most of 2027 and the entire 2028. Current bonuses are 50k-60k for personal Southwest cards and 80k for the business card.
We’ll try getting to the rest of the Southwest news soon as well.
