In February of last year, we jumped on one of those Southwest offers that seems to pop up like clockwork at the start of the year: a credit-card welcome offer that came with a promotional Companion Pass (valid through late February of the following year), plus 30,000 Rapid Rewards points after meeting the spending requirement.
I’d already written at the time that there’s no holy grail in points and miles—just tradeoffs. And this offer was a perfect example of that.
Because while the Companion Pass is a big shiny perk, this particular deal also meant taking fewer points up front. The “usual” Southwest welcome offers are often higher than 30,000 points, so you’re essentially swapping a chunk of points for the ability to bring a companion along for (almost) free.
The Break-Even Question
The basic math I used going in was simple:
If a “normal” bonus is roughly 60,000 points and this offer gave 30,000, then you’d need to save at least 30,000 points worth of companion flights to break even.
And because a Companion Pass ticket still costs taxes and fees (Southwest waives the fare, not the government charges), the “savings” is really about the points (or cash) you don’t have to spend on the second ticket.
How Much Did We Actually Use It?
Our 2025 flying didn’t turn into a Southwest obsession—my year-end recap made that clear:
- Sharon (my wife) – Southwest: 8 segments
- Joe – Southwest: 5 segments
What mattered for the Companion Pass, though, was the overlap. We flew together on five flights, where Sharon was able to add me as her companion.
That’s the key thing about Companion Pass in practice: it’s not “two-for-one travel” in the abstract—it’s “two-for-one travel when you’re on the same flight.” (Sharon had to book her ticket first, then add my reservation.)
So… How Many Points Did We Save?
Here are the companion redemptions that mattered:
- ATL → MCO: 8,000 points
- MCO → ATL: 7,000 points
- MCO → AUS → MCO: 16,500 points (roundtrip)
- AUA → MCO: 36,000 points
Total points saved with the Companion Pass:
67,500 Rapid Rewards points
That honestly surprised me—in a good way.
But if I’m being honest, a big chunk of that total came from one specific situation…
The Aruba Flight That Changed the Story
That last line—AUA → MCO for 36,000 points—was the swing factor.
It was a last-minute trip, and the points price to get home was high enough that I’m not sure we would’ve booked it the same way if we had to pay double. In other words, the Companion Pass didn’t just “save points” there—it made the whole decision feel possible.
That 36,000-point fare was for the last Wanna Get Away Plus seat available. If we’d needed a second seat at the same time, it likely would’ve priced much higher—either in points or cash.
But with Companion Pass, the second ticket doesn’t have to match the price you paid. As long as any seat is still for sale on that flight, you can add your companion for just the taxes and fees.
What I Learned After a Year
If you’re considering this kind of offer, here’s what I’d boil it down to after living with it for a year:
- You don’t need to be a Southwest superfan for it to work—but you do need enough shared flights for the pass to matter.
- The “break-even” math is real. In our case, we traded away roughly 30,000 points of bonus value and received 67,500 points of companion savings.
- The pass is most valuable when prices are ugly. Last-minute trips, holiday travel, expensive one-ways—those are where Companion Pass feels like a cheat code.
- It’s not automatic. Sharon booked her ticket first, then added my companion reservation (and if her ticket gets canceled, the companion ticket goes too).
Would I Do It Again?
Here’s the part that surprised even me:
Nope. Not as a long-term “strategy.”
We’re not going to spend every other year shuffling card approvals or forcing spending onto a Southwest card just to keep a Companion Pass going. I completely understand why some people do—especially families, couples who fly together constantly, or anyone who’s Southwest-heavy year after year.
But for us? The year basically confirmed what I suspected:
Southwest is a tool in the toolbox—not the default.
So when Sharon’s Companion Pass expires in a few weeks, we’ll go right back to normal: booking Southwest when it makes sense… and not automatically choosing them just because we can.
Final Thoughts
If you can realistically use the pass on a handful of trips—especially the expensive ones—it can be absolutely worth giving up a bigger points bonus. But if your Southwest travel is more “maybe” than “definitely,” the math gets a lot tighter.
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