Southwest is once again offering a limited time Companion Pass when flying one round trip or two one-ways. If you’ll be able to take advantage of the Companion Pass during its validity dates in the first couple of months of 2027, this could be a decent offer.
The Deal
- Fly one round trip or two one-way flights with Southwest and earn a limited time Companion Pass:
- Book by August 6, 2026
- Fly by November 18, 2026
- Receive Companion Pass valid for January 5-March 3, 2027
- Direct link to registration.
Key Terms
- Register for this promotion, then book one qualifying round trip or two qualifying one-way Southwest flights between 8:00 a.m. Central Time (“CT”) on August 3, 2026 and 11:59 p.m. CT on August 6, 2026 (the “Promotion Period”) for travel between August 3 and November 18, 2026 (the “Travel Period”), and fly during the Travel Period to earn a promotional Companion Pass valid for use between January 5, 2027 and March 3, 2027.
- Registration must be completed prior to booking and commencement of travel.
- Valid on new qualifying flights booked during the Promotion Period for travel during the Travel Period and flown within the Travel Period.
- Member’s qualifying flights must be booked through Southwest.com, the Southwest Mobile App, swabiz.com (SWABIZ), Global Distribution System (GDS), or Southwest Partner Services (SPS) distribution channels with Southwest Airlines inventory during the Promotion Period for travel that must be completed during the Travel Period.
- Member’s Rapid Rewards account number must be entered at the time of booking Member’s qualifying flight to earn a promotional Companion Pass valid for use between January 5, 2027 and March 3, 2027.
- A qualifying one-way flight for this promotion is a one-way flight on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city, including any intermediate stops and/or connections on Southwest Airlines. A qualifying round trip flight for this promotion is a round trip flight on Southwest Airlines from an origin city to a destination city and back to the originating airport or carrier-recognized co-terminal.
- Valid on new reservations booked within the Promotion Period for travel during the Travel Period only. Travel booked or flown prior to registration for this promotion is not eligible for this promotional Companion Pass offer.
- Redemption reservations and Cash + Points bookings qualify for this promotional offer.
- Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred, and Choice Extra fares are all qualifying flights for this promotion. Cash + Points bookings will earn Rapid Rewards points, tier qualifying points for A-List and A-List Preferred status, and Companion Pass qualifying points on the portion of the base fare that is paid with dollars.
- Companion Pass, charter flights, group travel, and Getaways by Southwest bookings do not qualify as one-way or round trip flights for this promotion.
- Changes made within the Promotion Period are allowed if the qualifying travel is still completed in the Travel Period. Changes made to any itinerary after the Promotion Period may eliminate qualification for this promotion.
Quick Thoughts
Southwest tends to run these limited time Companion Pass promotions a couple of times per year. The value you can get from them relies on your ability to make use of them during the couple of months that the Companion Pass is valid for.
With this latest offer, you’ll get one that’s valid from January 5 through March 3, 2027. That gives you pretty much two full months to take advantage of it, although it is during a fairly quiet time of the year for people to travel. If you have lots of flexibility with your travel dates though, that can help you maximize the value received.
If you think you’d be able to utilize the Companion Pass for at least a couple of trips during that time, it might even be worth doing a mileage Companion Pass run whereby you book a cheap round trip or a couple of cheap one way flights in order to save more money/points than that on your companion’s tickets early next year.
Unlike some Companion Pass promotions in previous years, recent promotions (including this latest one) allow you to book qualifying flights with Rapid Rewards points and/or Cash + Points—it doesn’t just have to be cash tickets.
As always, the dates of this promotion are very important. Before you do anything else, you have to register for the offer. Then you have to book by Thursday August 6 and fly by November 18.
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can you pay for the ticket using a past travel credit?
Yep
I earned the pass that starts 8/10. I have two upcoming one ways which I cancelled and rebooked. Not sure if I”ll use it but it doesn’t cost anything to have it.
I was booked as a companion on 2 flights already in the time period, so canceled and rebooked them. IDK if it will count, but it’s worth a try.
The terms state that it won’t count, so I suspect you won’t get it. Hopefully real world doesn’t match the terms though.
How quickly should I expect to see the companion pass?
That’s a good question, we did this for the last promotion and it starts 8/10. Received no companion pass. CS told us to book a flight and on the 10th they would apply the pass. I am skeptical, we will see.
You will get notified on the 10th that you got it. Don’t worry.