Shout out to Andrew D., a GotoTravelGal.com reader from Las Cruces, New Mexico, who just earned his Southwest Companion Pass, which means one person can fly FREE with him until the end of the following year!
Lots of you want to know how to earn the Companion Pass with just one card and Andrew just did it!
How Andrew Earned His Companion Pass With 1 Credit Card
Andrew earned his pass when only 110,000 points were required. As of January 1, 2020, you now need to earn 125,000 qualifying Southwest points to get your pass.
First, he applied and was approved for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card in February, earning 52,000 points (50,000 points as the bonus and another 2,000 points for meeting the minimum spend at 1 point per $1).
Thanks for using the links within this post or those under TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS in the main menu shown in the image below to apply for any travel credit cards. These allow us to earn a commission — at NO COST TO YOU — to support our free content. Thank you for taking this step!
He says he thought about applying for a business card, but “I just couldn’t justify it,” said Andrew. “I didn’t have a business, and I considered creating one so that I could get the card. It felt dishonest, so I decided not to.”
Instead, he continued to use the card for every day spending, earning 19,000 points, and paid for a flight on Southwest, earning another 7,000 points.
But that still left him with 32,000 points to earn.
The big moment came when he realized he could earn a boatload of points by booking a hotel for work through SouthwestHotels.com (one of my favorite ways to earn Southwest Companion Pass-qualifying points!).
“I found the hotel where I would be staying, and it gave me 34,000 points! I couldn’t believe it!” he said. “I looked online to make sure that the points would count toward the Companion Pass. They did! All of them!”
How Andrew Will Use the Companion Pass
Now that he has his Companion Pass in hand, how will he use it?
“The sky is the limit,” he says. “I will put my wife down as my companion, and we will probably use the points and the pass to visit family and maybe even a couple little weekend trips to California. Or maybe even Cancun!”
Want to read more about how others earned their Southwest Companion Pass? Check out other Reader Stories.
Want to earn the Southwest Companion Pass? First, you must know these 10 rules! Download my free cheat sheet below.
[convertkit form=5025785]
