Over the past few weeks I’ve been writing some popular articles on how to go about earning the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass. For those of you who have missed them, here you go:
- Popular Ways to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass
- Earning the Southwest Companion Pass for 2018 and 2019
- Strategic Timing for the Southwest Companion Pass
- All 3 Southwest Credit Cards Offering a 60,000 Point Bonus
For those who have no idea what this Companion Pass is, here’s a quick recap: The companion pass allows a companion (friend, family member, complete stranger, whoever!) to fly with you an UNLIMITED number of times for FREE (plus taxes). The companion pass is valid for the remainder of the year it is earned plus the entire following year. So if plan it accordingly you can get 23 months of use out of pass. You can add a companion onto your flight as long as there is still one seat left for sale – there are no restrictions, no blackout dates, etc. The first passenger can even use Southwest points to book their flight.
Currently, there is a 60,000 point offer for all three Southwest credit cards. If you apply and are approved for two of the cards, you’ll earn 60,000 points per card after meeting the minimum spend. You only need 110,000 qualifying points to earn the Companion Pass, so once the 120,000 points post to your account from the credit card sign up offer, the Companion Pass will automatically be yours! You can view all Airline credit card offers here.
Ideally, you probably want the points to post in January 2018. That will then earn you the Companion Pass for the rest of 2018, plus all of 2019. The credit card sign up offer requires you to spend $2,000 within the first 3 months of card membership. If you applied for the card in September 2017, that means the 3 months will expire in December and not giving you the best timing for getting the points posted. Although, you can always change your statement close date and strategically meet the minimum spend after the December statement close date and then those points will post a few days after your January statement close date.
You Actually Might Have Longer Then 3 Months to Meet the Minimum Spend!
Many folks have emailed me saying that they sent a secure message to Chase asking when they must meet the minimum spend by. These people applied for the card in September and having the exact date was important. For many readers, they received a response saying they actually have 115 days to meet the minimum spend and gave them a January 2018 expiration date! This is great, so then you can wait until January 1, 2018 to actually meet the minimum spend and not have to worry about the hassle of changing your statement close date (and pray that it changes in time for your December statement).
So for those that applied for the card in September, I highly recommend messaging Chase and inquiring about the last date you have to meet the minimum spend. DO NOT call Chase, but instead send them a secure message. This allows you to have in writing when your exact date is.
Steps to send a secure message to Chase:
- Sign into your Chase.com account and click the “Secure Message Center” link.Â
- Select “Send new message”
- I am not 100% sure where this question falls, but you can probably just select “Other/Inquiry Not Listed” or “Account Inquiry” from the drop down menu and click “Go”
- Select your Chase Southwest account (only the last 4 digits are listed), include your question, and click “Send”.
- Chase typically responds within 24 hours.
Hopefully this will help you meet the minimum spend on your card a lot easier and have the points count for 2018 and 2019. Feel free to comment below with your 3 month expiration date!
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This is true to many of the Chase cards
When does the 115 day ticker start? After being approved or once you’ve received and activated the card?
@Nathan – I suggest sending a Secure Message to Chase to get the exact date from them regarding your account. Typically though from what I’ve seen it is 115 days from being approved.
I’m working on the Companion Pass for the next 2 years.
I foolishly spent $3015 before I wanted to, but have a $33.00 return as well, which puts me back at $2982. Does the return being before my billing date (Dec. 15) out me in the clear?
@Jeff – Based on previous readers experience, once you hit the minimum spend, even if you make a return within the same billing cycle, it will trigger the bonus points to post. One suggestion would be to see if you can change this months billing statement asap.