Southwest Rapid Rewards 2027: Companion Pass Now Costs Platinum
TravelSouthwest’s Companion Pass, long one of the best deals in travel, used to be reachable with credit card welcome bonuses; from 2027 it comes with Platinum status, and a cardholder relying on spend alone would need $140,000 a year to get it. One Mile at a Time’s rundown of the Rapid Rewards overhaul calls the changes negative on balance and the end of the “easy” Companion Pass. For Southwest flyers and anyone who timed Chase card applications around the pass, the rules change on January 1, with one deadline before that.
What Happened
From January 1, 2027, Rapid Rewards moves from two elite tiers to three. A-List members become Silver, A-List Preferred members become Gold, and a new Platinum tier arrives. Southwest’s 2027 program page sets the thresholds:
| Tier | Tier Qualifying Points | Or qualifying flights | Points bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 35,000 | 25 | 40% |
| Gold | 65,000 | 50 | 60% |
| Platinum | 140,000 | 100 | 120% |
Platinum includes unlimited Companion Pass trips. Existing 2026 Companion Pass holders keep the benefit for its full term, and Companion Pass qualifying points are retired on December 31, 2026. Two Milestone Rewards sit between tiers: at 20,000 TQPs or 15 flights, members choose 2,000 points or two Preferred Seat certificates; at 95,000 TQPs or 75 flights, they get three Companion Pass trips.
Why It Matters
What counts toward Companion Pass is what changes most. Under the new system, credit card welcome bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, bonus category points and partner earning no longer count. Instead, every dollar spent on any Rapid Rewards credit card earns one TQP, so $35,000 in spend reaches Silver, $65,000 Gold and $140,000 Platinum. One Mile at a Time sums it up as a frequent flyer program becoming a frequent buyer program.
Earning on flights falls for some fares. Choice Preferred fares drop from 10 to 8 points per dollar and Choice Extra from 14 to 10. An A-List Preferred member on a Choice Extra fare earns 28 points per dollar today; a Gold member will earn 16.
What This Means for Builders
There may be one window. A reader in One Mile at a Time’s comments quotes Southwest’s FAQ as saying that cardmembers approved for a Rapid Rewards credit card on or before December 2, 2026 who meet the welcome bonus requirements can have those points count as Companion Pass qualifying points, even if the spend threshold is met in early 2027. That is worth confirming with Southwest before applying.
There are additions too. From spring 2027, members can earn and redeem on Icelandair, China Airlines and Etihad Airways, and later in 2027 points will cover seat selection. Southwest Icon Lounges, run with Chase, are expected to open in Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville in late 2027. Flyers weighing a switch should compare the new tiers with the thresholds in Stack Archive’s Alaska Atmos elite status guide, since Alaska’s partners include oneworld airlines.
The So What
Southwest flyers who planned to earn Companion Pass through a card bonus should decide before December 2, 2026: apply by then if they can meet the welcome-bonus spend, after confirming that rule with Southwest, or accept that the pass now takes 100 flights or $140,000 in card spend, with three Companion Pass trips available at 75 flights. In our reading, flyers who already log 100 Southwest flights a year come out ahead, since Platinum adds unlimited Companion Pass trips and a 120% points bonus.
Source: One Mile at a Time
Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.
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