Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 18 seconds

Well, it’s a sad day in the points and miles world, folks. One of the best tricks in the game is officially dead. 💀

But if you read today’s newsletter, I’ll tell you how you have one last chance to keep it alive.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the major changes Southwest has just announced.

✈️ Southwest just changed (almost) everything

Southwest just announced a huge overhaul of its Rapid Rewards program, and I’ll be honest with you... there’s some pretty bad news.

There are new elite tiers, a brand-new top tier, a new way to earn status with credit cards, and even partner airline redemptions, most of which are set to go into effect in January 2027.

But let’s get the big one out of the way first…

The big one: Companion Pass

For years, the Companion Pass has been the best perk in the entire program, and maybe one of the best deals in all of domestic travel.

Basically, you pick one person who flies with you, and you only have to pay the taxes and fees (from $5.60 each way) for them every time you fly. That works whether you paid with cash or points, and you can use it as many times as you want.

The easiest way to earn it has always been opening two co-branded Southwest cards and hitting the minimum spend on both.

Welcome offers have historically counted toward the 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points you needed, so two offers could often get you all the way there.

Starting January 1, 2027, that strategy is dead. 💀

Southwest is retiring Companion Pass qualifying points altogether. Now, Companion Pass will be a perk of top-tier status, which is earned by racking up Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs).

And here’s the problem: welcome offer points won’t earn TQPs.

Neither do referral bonuses, anniversary points, bonus categories like 2x on gas, or points from partners like hotels and rental cars. They all still earn regular Rapid Rewards points, but none of them get you any closer to the Companion Pass.

So what does it take in 2027? You’ll need 140,000 TQPs or 100 one-way flights. 🤯

If you’re doing it with credit card spend alone, that’s $130,000 on a Southwest card (you’ll get 10,000 TQPs as a boost once you reach 130,000 TQPs in 2027), which is basically completely out of reach for 99.9% of normal people.

There is a consolation prize, though. Southwest is adding a new reward that gives you 3 Companion Pass trips once you hit 95,000 TQPs or 75 one-way flights.

Each trip covers either a one-way or a round-trip, so you’ll definitely want to save them for round-trips. For people who fly Southwest constantly, that’s actually a pretty nice perk… but again, it’s much harder to earn now.

Get it the old way while you still can

Now for the good news. The current rules stick around until the end of 2026.

That means you can still earn the Companion Pass the old way this year. A pass earned in 2026 is valid through December 31, 2027, which gives you more than a full year of 2-for-1 flights if you lock it in now.

Here’s how it works, and you’ll need to act VERY quickly:

If you open two Southwest co-branded credit cards with welcome offers that add up to at least 135,000 points (which is possible at the moment), you could complete the spending requirements for both and get Companion Pass through 2027. Just keep in mind that you can’t hold two personal Southwest cards at the same time, so you’d have to open one personal and one business card.

I dug into the details of this, and it’s actually doable.

Southwest says specifically on their site that as long as you’re approved for a card on or before December 2, 2026, the welcome offer points earned on that card will count as Companion Pass Qualifying Points, even if the spending threshold is met in 2027:

But keep in mind, you need two cards. ✌️

So if you want to take this path, I’d sign up for one ASAP and sign up for the next one as soon as you can before December 2.

And if you already have the Companion Pass, don’t worry. You’ll still have it until the original expiry date.

To lock in the Companion Pass before it’s gone, check out our favorite co-branded Southwest cards.

Say goodbye to A-List

Southwest’s elite tiers are getting new names too.

A-List becomes Silver, A-List Preferred becomes Gold, and they’ve introduced a brand-new top-tier Platinum status.

Here’s what it takes to earn each one in 2027:

• Silver: 35,000 TQPs or 25 flights

• Gold: 65,000 TQPs or 50 flights

• Platinum: 140,000 TQPs or 100 flights

As for perks, Silver gets you:

• Group 1 boarding

• A free checked bag

• Free Preferred seat when you book

Gold gets you:

• Boarding before Group 1

• Two free checked bags

• Any seat at booking (including Extra Legroom)

• Two free premium drinks per flight

Platinum gets you:

• Companion Pass

• Three free checked bags

• Boarding before Gold members

• All of the previous benefits listed

The points bonus earned on paid flights is changing too, which you can see in the screenshot from earlier… and it’s rough.

There’s also a new milestone reward before you even reach Silver. At 20,000 TQPs or 15 flights, you can pick either 2,000 points or two Preferred Seat certificates.

Every Southwest card now earns status

Starting January 1, every Southwest card will earn 1 TQP per $1 you spend, with no cap. That includes the low-fee card, which doesn’t earn any TQPs right now.

Most of the other cards currently earn about 0.3 TQPs per dollar, so this is more than 3x faster.

That means $35,000 in spending gets you Silver, even if you barely fly Southwest. For people who put a lot of spending on their card, that’s not bad.

You’ll earn less on expensive fares

Southwest is also cutting how much you earn on its two most expensive fares.

Choice Preferred fares drop from 10 points per dollar to 8, and Choice Extra fares drop from 14 points per dollar to 10.

These new rates apply to TQPs too, which is a huge bummer. Anyone who’s used to earning status from flying premium fares is going to have a rough time now.

In other words, Southwest has raised the bar for status, removed shortcuts to reaching that bar, and lowered the rate at which normal flyers reach that status.

Finally, some actual good news

Southwest is finally adding partner airlines. Starting in spring 2027, you’ll be able to earn and redeem points on Icelandair, China Airlines, and Etihad.

That could be exciting, but we don’t know what that looks like yet or how partner flights will be priced.

You’ll also be able to use points for seat selection, including Extra Legroom seats, starting next year. And starting next month, you can use points for rental cars. Again, we’ll see how that looks in practice once it’s live.

Southwest is also bringing Starlink Wi-Fi to its whole fleet by fall 2027, and its first lounges are set to open by the end of next year.

The bottom line

Most of these changes are for the worse, and losing the easy Companion Pass is the biggest blow by far.

The winners here, as always, are people spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on credit cards.

But… is anyone with that kind of spending power really flying Southwest…? Or do they even care about the tiny status perks? Probably not so much.

If the Companion Pass is on your list, you have until December 2 to get approved for your cards under the old rules.

If you want to dive into the details of this major shakeup, Southwest has a huge page with tons of info and FAQs you can check out:

Wow, that was a doozy, eh? I know it’s a lot to process, and I hate to see another program overcomplicate the crap out of things, resulting in an effective devaluation.

Anyway, R.I.P. Companion Pass. 🪦

43.6532° N, 79.3832° W

With contributions by Sam Anthony and Katie Begnoche.