By Vamsi, RewardsGuru.club. Published October 25, 2026, updated October 29, 2026.
First read October 25, 2026 and updated Thursday, October 29, 2026 on Southwest's own pages (the Rapid Rewards terms, the 2027 FAQ, the Companion Pass changes page and its credit card pages) and on Chase's offer details and pricing pages for each card. Card offers and terms are as of October 29, 2026.
Updated October 29, 2026: Southwest raised all three personal card offers by 30,000 points: the Plus to 80,000, the Premier to 85,000 and the Priority to 90,000, and the Priority's offer ends December 2, the same day as the Companion Pass cutoff. The Premier Business's 80,000 ended October 26, and it's back to 60,000. At today's offers, any business card plus any personal card clears 135,000 on the two welcome bonuses alone. Chase's new personal-card terms also say the welcome bonus counts toward the pass through 2027.
For years the Southwest Companion Pass has had a well-known shortcut: open a Southwest business card and a personal card, earn both welcome bonuses, and the two bonuses come close to the 135,000 qualifying points the pass needs on their own. The pass then lasts the rest of that year and all of the next.
From January 1, 2027, Southwest says "new Cardmember welcome bonuses" stop counting toward the pass. Most people read that as the end of the shortcut. It is, from next year. This year it still works: Southwest's own FAQ leaves one door open, and it closes on December 2.
TL;DR
- The two-card shortcut ends next year, and it still works this year. From January 1, 2027, welcome bonuses stop counting toward the pass. Apply by December 2, 2026, and they still count toward a pass valid through December 31, 2027, even if you meet the spend in early 2027. That's Southwest's 2027 FAQ, and Chase's new personal-card terms now say the same.
- Every business-plus-personal pair now clears 135,000 on the two bonuses alone. The lowest, the Premier Business at 60,000 plus the Plus at 80,000, is 140,000.
- The personal offers went up on October 29: Plus 80,000, Premier 85,000, Priority 90,000. Only the Priority's offer shows an end date, December 2. The Premier Business's 80,000 ended October 26, and the Performance Business is 80,000 after $5,000.
- Order matters: business card first. Chase's personal-card terms exclude current holders of any Southwest card, with an exception for business cardholders.
- From 2027, the pass moves to tier points or flights: unlimited trips at 140,000 tier points or 100 flights, three trips at 95,000 or 75 flights. Card spend earns 1 tier point per $1, and Southwest says it will keep running Companion Pass promotions.
What Southwest's rules say
The pass today, from Southwest's Rapid Rewards terms: "A Member who earns 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points or who flies 100 qualifying one-way flight segments per calendar year will qualify for Companion Pass." Card points count: qualifying points include "points earned on Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Cards." And a pass lasts "for the remainder of the calendar year in which the status was earned and for the entire calendar year immediately following."
What changes on January 1, 2027, from Southwest's Companion Pass changes page: activities "that helped you qualify for a Companion Pass" stop counting, and "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)." Also: "Companion Pass qualifying points will be retired after December 31, 2026."
The December 2 line, from Southwest's 2027 FAQ:
"Yes, any Cardmembers who apply on or before December 2, 2026 and are approved for a Rapid Rewards Credit Card and meet the requirements for the new Cardmember welcome bonus will have the opportunity to have those points count as 2026 Companion Pass qualifying points toward a Companion Pass valid through December 31, 2027, even if the spend threshold is met in early 2027."
Two words in that answer matter. It's the application date, "apply on or before December 2, 2026." And it covers "those points," the welcome bonus.
Chase's new terms say it too
The offer details behind the new personal offers, read October 29, carry a sentence that wasn't there on October 25: "Only points posted on your Rapid Rewards account by 12/31/2026, and points earned with this new cardmember bonus offer, are eligible for qualification toward Companion Pass status for the remainder of 2026 and through 2027."
The business cards' offer details didn't get that sentence. They still say "Only points posted on your billing statements and posted to your Rapid Rewards account during the same calendar year are available for qualification for Companion Pass status." For a business card bonus that posts in 2027, Southwest's FAQ answer is the only page that covers it.
The math: welcome bonuses alone
Because the December 2 rule covers the welcome bonuses, the safe math uses only them. The offers on October 29, from Southwest's card pages:
| Card | Welcome offer | Spend in 3 months | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plus (personal) | 80,000 points | $1,000 | $99 |
| Premier (personal) | 85,000 points | $2,000 | $149 |
| Priority (personal) | 90,000 points | $3,000 | $229 |
| Premier Business | 60,000 points | $3,000 | $149 |
| Performance Business | 80,000 points | $5,000 | $299 |
Southwest's card pages list each fee as "applied to your first billing statement."
Only the Priority offer shows an end date. Southwest's banner reads "LIMITED-TIME OFFER," "Earn 90,000 points with the Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card," and "Offer ends 12/2/26." We found no end date for the Plus or Premier offers on Southwest's or Chase's pages, which isn't a promise they'll last.
On the business side, the Premier Business's 80,000 offer ended October 26, the date Southwest's page had printed, and the card is back to 60,000 after $3,000. The business card Southwest's page promotes now is the Performance Business: "Wanna land a good business deal? Earn 80,000 points with the Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card." That offer shows no end date.
A personal Southwest card can't be paired with a second personal one (see the order below), so the pairs are one business card and one personal card. Every pair clears 135,000:
| Business card | Personal card | Two bonuses | Spend for both | Annual fees, year one |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier Business, 60,000 | Plus, 80,000 | 140,000 | $4,000 | $248 |
| Premier Business, 60,000 | Premier, 85,000 | 145,000 | $5,000 | $298 |
| Premier Business, 60,000 | Priority, 90,000 | 150,000 | $6,000 | $378 |
| Performance Business, 80,000 | Plus, 80,000 | 160,000 | $6,000 | $398 |
| Performance Business, 80,000 | Premier, 85,000 | 165,000 | $7,000 | $448 |
| Performance Business, 80,000 | Priority, 90,000 | 170,000 | $8,000 | $528 |
On October 25 the math was tighter: the Premier Business at 80,000 plus the Premier at 55,000 came to exactly 135,000, and the Plus fell 5,000 short with either business card. Now the lowest pair clears the bar by 5,000.
Spend points and the yearly boost come on top, with two catches:
- Spend points count if they post in 2026. Southwest's terms: "Only points posted ... during the same calendar year are available for qualification for Companion Pass status." Chase's example: a purchase made after your December statement date posts in January and won't count toward the year it was made.
- The 10,000 boost is one per member, not per card, and the new personal terms dropped it. Chase's business-card terms say "Only one credit card account per Southwest Rapid Rewards Member ... is eligible for one boost ... per calendar year," deposited "up to 30 days after account opening." On October 25 all five cards' offer details included that boost; the new Plus, Premier and Priority offer details read October 29 don't mention it.
- A different 10,000 boost exists for 2027, in tier points when you reach 130,000. It's a separate benefit toward Platinum status.
The order: business card first
Chase's personal Southwest cards (Plus, Premier and Priority) carry the same line in their offer details:
"The credit card is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Cardmembers of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card."
So holding a personal Southwest card blocks a second personal bonus, but holding a business card doesn't block a personal one.
Both business cards' offer details limit their bonus to people who aren't "current Cardmembers of this business credit card" and haven't earned "a new Cardmember bonus for this business credit card within the last 24 months." On October 25, the Premier Business offer details that Southwest's page linked used the personal-card wording instead; the version linked on October 29 uses the business wording. Applying for the business card first is the order that fits every page.
The catches
- Only the Priority's 90,000 shows an end date. Southwest's banner says "Offer ends 12/2/26." The Plus, Premier and Performance Business offers show none, which isn't a promise they'll last. The math holds only at the offer on the page when you apply.
- Chase may not approve a second card in the same program. Chase's pricing and terms for these cards: "Chase cardmembers who currently have or have had a Chase credit card in any Rewards Program associated with this offer, may not be eligible for a second Chase credit card in the same Rewards Program."
- The December 2 rule is one FAQ answer. It says "will have the opportunity," and it doesn't say how two bonuses are treated together. Chase's new personal-card terms back it for the personal bonus; the business terms don't mention it. Southwest also says it will keep running Companion Pass promotions: "we'll continue to offer limited-time promotional opportunities to earn Companion Pass benefits."
- Bonuses take time to post. Chase says to "allow 6 to 8 weeks" on the personal cards and "up to 8 weeks" on the business cards.
How to check your own
- Check what you hold. Any open personal Southwest card, or a personal Southwest bonus in the last 24 months, rules out a personal bonus now.
- Read both card pages before you apply: Southwest's card page and Chase's offer details, for the bonus and the end date.
- Check the order and the dates. The business card comes first on every page's terms, December 2, 2026 is an application date for both cards, and the Priority's 90,000 offer ends the same day.
- Watch your Rapid Rewards account for the bonuses to post. Spend points count toward 2026 only if they post before your December statement date.
Our guide to Southwest's 2027 Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers covers the full 2027 program, including the new Companion Pass tiers.
Cover photo: Garrison Gao via Pexels.
This is educational content, not financial advice. Program terms change often, so check the current terms on each program's site before you rely on them.
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Do this with your own numbers
- Bonus tracker — today's welcome bonuses, verified on the issuer's page
- Purchase optimizer — run your own spending through the same numbers this article used