If you have a travel buddy you often take flights with, Southwest Airlines has made it easier for one of you to fly for free. The Companion Pass is being rolled out as a perk with the opening of a Southwest credit card. One travel blogger breaks it down to make sure you don’t miss this deal.
In the video, TikToker Austin of The Maxwells Travel blog (@themaxwellstravel) walks viewers through a special promotion Southwest is doing that’s too good to ignore. According to him, the Southwest Companion Pass allows you and someone else to buy one flight and get the other for free whenever you travel together. He says for the price of one flight and the taxes on the free flight, you get a flight for each of you.
“I honestly don’t even understand how they’re even doing this, and they’re effectively giving the Southwest Travel Companion Pass away,” Austin states. “Not for free, but it is the easiest to get that I’ve ever seen in five years of trying to get it.”
The video has 250 comments and over 275,000 views as of the publication of this piece.
@themaxwellstravel THIS IS NOT A DRILL‼️ comment “COMPANION” on our last IG/FB post for all the details or head over to our bio
♬ Dancing In The Moonlight – 苏颜悦
According to its website, Southwest has three personal credit card options to choose from, with annual fees ranging from $69 to $149. After you get approved for the credit card, you need to spend $4,000 in the first three months of opening the account. Once you’ve done this, you get 30,000 points and automatically get the Companion Pass until February 2025. That’s it. The promotion ends on March 11, 2024, so you must apply by then.
Some folks in the comments section are a bit skeptical of this deal.
“Still cheaper to fly other airlines,” one viewer says. “Unless you travel with lots of luggage regularly, don’t bother.”
“Southwest tickets have been way too pricey lately tho and it’s cheaper to fly other airlines,” another echoes.
A further asks, “How is spending 4k like a good deal? I must be broke cuz i will never spend 4 grand and then more just for this friend pass, id rather pay two full price tickets.”
“They offer this every year in Feb,” another viewer says, to which Maxwell responds, “Never this long. Normally 2-6 months for the promotional companion pass.”
Others are optimistic about the deal.
“I need to know more immediately,” one commenter says.
Another writes, “This is legit! I just went to the southwest webpage and applied. Thank you for the heads up.”
Despite the skepticism of many, which may be valid, the idea of getting one flight for free just by using a credit card to pay for expenses you might have spent money on anyway seems like a solid deal.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Southwest and Austin via email and Instagram direct message.
