The Southwest Companion Pass trick is the best way for families who fly to destination in the USA or nearby countries to save money on a vacation. Many travel bloggers, including us here at Mommy And Me Travels, will tell you that finding creative ways to save on vacations is what allows us to travel the world more freely. Today I’m sharing with you one of our family travel hacks about how our kids fly free with this southwest companion pass trick. What’s the trick? The trick is purchasing only 2 tickets for a family of 4. If this sounds like something you are interested in learning, continuing reading to discover our 3 tips you’ll need to know so that your kids fly free too.  Click here to get started with the latest Southwest credit card offers.

Disclaimer – Mommy And Me Travels is not a financial advisor and I do not take responsibility for your experience with these tips or credit cards.  I am providing you information that has worked for us but you will have to look at your own financial situation and decide what is best for you and your family.

What Is Southwest Companion Pass Trick?

Southwest Companion Pass is a perk that the airline offers that allows you to travel with someone for an entire year for free (just pay taxes). More clearly broken down, this means that 2 people are flying for the price of 1. You will be able to earn the Southwest companion pass by accumulating 125,000 qualifying points or flying 100 one-way flights in a year. The companion pass is good from the time you earn it that year through the following year. Don’t worry, we will cover how you can earn the pass without having to fly a bunch of flights.  Click here to discover the fastest way to earn Southwest companion pass.  

50% Savings With This Southwest Companion Pass Trick And Kids Flying Free

If you have sat down and started to plan a trip, you know that the cost of transportation to get there is probably the most expensive part. With numerous airline options out there it can be hard for families to know which flights are the best and if you are really getting the best deal and best prices. As a family of 4, we are usually looking at least at $250 a ticket round trip for domestic travel (and that is a good day). This means $1,000 of our budget is already gone and that is just to get us there. However, with this southwest companion pass trick we only buy 2 tickets and the kids fly free. Instant 50% savings on transportation!

1. Earn Southwest Airlines Companion Pass With Credit Card Points

The first step in being able to get your kids to fly free on Southwest is to earn the companion pass. To do this, will you will have accumulate 125,000 qualifying points in a year. There are several ways to earn southwest points but the fastest way is to get a sign up bonus from one of the Southwest Credit Cards. This credit card hack allows you to quickly bank those points needed towards the Southwest companion pass. 

Let’s use an example to demonstrate this. If you sign up for a Southwest Credit Card with say a 75,000 bonus for spending $5,000 in 3 months (example), you are more than half way there. But wait!  That isn’t all.  You can earn all of the points needed for a southwest compaion pass with just credit card points.  Sign up for a second credit card like a Southwest Business Card and you will easily earn all of your 125,000 points after you meet the minimum spend on both cards.  Click here for all the latest and greatest information about Southwest Credit Cards.

2. Have A Second Player Earn A Southwest Companion Pass Too

As a family of 4 we aim to earn 2 companion passes a year using the credit card hacks. I sign up for a new Southwest Credit Card and my husband signs up for a new Southwest Credit Card. This might sound like a lot of money to spend upfront but really it is significantly cheaper than flying all of those miles.

Pro tip ~~~ Sign up during the chase southwest elevated signup bonus period towards the end of the year (usually around Nov-Dec).  Wait till January of the following year before meeting your minimum spend.  This will give you your boosted points right at the start of the year and have you much closer to meeting your southwest companion buddy pass requirements.   Click here to discover the most current Southwest signup bonus.

3. Use Your Points To Travel

You and your player #2 have signed up for Southwest Credit Cards, met your minimum spends, and now have 2 companion passes for you and your family to fly around the USA (including Hawaii), Caribbean, and Central America. Even if you just met the minimum companion pass qualifications of 125,000 points each, you have 250,000 points to travel on.

Mommy And Me Travels caluculated Southwest points are usually worth ~1.5cents. You can do the math. That is $3,750 worth of travel for your family. Now double that because your kids fly free and you have and estimated $7,500 worth of travel. Not too shabby if you ask me.  Click here for the most up-to-date southwest credit card offer!

Now you know your estimated value of the points you earned but you have to use them to get any value out of them.  If you just earn the points and don’t use them for traveling, then their value really is $0.  How do you use southwest points for travel?  Log into your rapid rewards account, search for your flight, select price in points, find the best value, and book your trip.

Example of how to use Southwest Companion Pass Trick so your kids fly free 

Book a one-way trip for 10,000 points plus tax (usually $5.60) for your ticket. Once your Southwest Airlines ticket is booked, go back into your rapid rewards account and click the add companion button on your reservation.  Add your child companion ticket for the tax only. That means you have 2 people traveling for the cost of tax only (usually $11.20). Now have your spouse (player #2) do the exact same process. That means with your southwest companion pass and your spouse’s southwest companion pass, your family of 4 is traveling one-way on 20,000 points and only paying the cost of taxes.  Does that blow your mind? It did mine when I first started discovering ways to have our kids fly free and save on our airline cost. 

Click here to recieve the best sign up bonus and start your Southwest companion pass trick journey.

Be Financial Responsible When Using Credit Card Hacks

I add this to all of my family travel hacks post. You should only do what you feel comfortable with and what you know that you can financial maintain. The #1 thing to make sure of when you are using credit card hacks is you can pay off your credit cards each month. This will ensure that you are not building debt to travel.  You can use credit cards to pay your everyday bills that you already have budgeted to make your minimum spends.  Just have a plan on how you are going to achieve your goal without going into debt.

Wrap Up Of Kids Fly Free With This Southwest Companion Pass Trick

We have now covered 3 things that you need to do now so that your family can start traveling for less with the southwest companion pass trick. If you need ways to start planning your next family vacation, check out the many articles we have on Mommy And Me Travels. I hope this has given you more than enough information and encouragement to start building your own kids fly free journey by using Southwest Credit Card hacks. Have questions?  Leave them in the comments below. Want to share your story with us? We’d love to hear those in the comments below also. 

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**** Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.  This article has not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by any of the credit cards, airlines, hotels, or adventures mentioned in the article.  Mommy And Me Travels is not responsible for your family travel hacking experience.  You have the responsibility for your own success or failure in this travel credit card hacking adventure.  ****