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Every two years (around the end of the year), my wife and I have the same credit card routine – one of us applies for two Southwest credit cards, typically a personal card and a business card. Who opens these cards alternates each time. The first time, I opened the cards. Then two years later, my wife opened them – and so on, and so on. This year, it’s my turn to open the two Southwest credit cards.
The reason I follow this routine is to get the Southwest Companion Pass, which – I think – is one of the best travel perks around for domestic travel. By opening these two cards and earning the signup bonuses, I’m able to earn enough points to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass, which then allows me to designate a companion to fly with me for free for at least a year, but potentially as long as two years.
I recently went through the same credit card routine, opening the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, which, at the time I applied for it in December 2023, was offering 75,000 Southwest points. I’ll follow that up later by opening the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, which should give me an additional 80,000 Southwest points once I open it. Put it all together, and that’ll be enough to get me the Southwest Companion Pass, continuing our household’s streak of having the Companion Pass.
In this post, I want to go over the newest credit card I opened, how I decided on it, and how (and most importantly, when) I will meet the minimum spend requirement on it.
How I Get The Southwest Companion Pass
I’ve gone into more detail about what the Southwest Companion Pass is and how to earn it in a previous post. I highly recommend reading it if you’d like to get a bit more detail about it. You can find the post here: Southwest Companion Pass – How To Fly For Free For Two Years.
The short of it is to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you need to earn 135,000 Southwest points in one calendar year. If you do this, you’ll get the Companion Pass for the remainder of the year in which you earned the pass, plus the next calendar year. If you’re strategic, you can earn the pass early in the year, potentially giving you the Southwest Companion Pass for close to two years.
This is exactly how I do it. I always try to time things out so I earn my Southwest points sometime around January or February. By doing that, I’m able to maximize how long I have my Companion Pass.
One quick note, while you need 135,000 Southwest points to earn the Companion Pass, Southwest credit card holders have that requirement reduced by 10,000 points. Since I always earn the Companion Pass by getting my points via the signup bonuses, in effect, it means I need 125,000 Southwest points to earn my Companion Pass.
Which Cards Do I Get?
The decision I always have to make is which Southwest credit cards to get. Southwest offers five credit cards – three personal cards and two business cards. To get my bonus, I always opt to get one personal card and one business card.
The five cards all vary slightly, with different benefits and annual fees. Here’s a table I put together with the different annual fees for each card:
On the personal card side, you can see the annual fees vary from $69 to $99 to $149. The difference between these cards is what benefits they offer. For our purposes, the thing you should know is that the more expensive cards offer more points each anniversary year, while the most expensive one also offers upgraded boardings and a Southwest travel credit. These benefits don’t matter to me, so I always opt for the cheapest card (i.e. the card_name). If the benefits do matter to you, then getting the more expensive cards can make more sense, but that’ll be based on what you value and care about.
Anyway, this time around, I opened the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, which will get me much of the way to my Southwest Companion Pass. I don’t value the benefits of the card because I just want to get the points for the Companion Pass, so getting the cheapest card I can get makes sense for my situation.
The Application Process
Applying for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card was an easy process. Before getting started, you always want to make sure you have a Southwest account already set up. That way, you can enter your Southwest account number into your application and make sure that your points are credited to your account.
To apply, I used my blog’s affiliate links so I could get myself a small commission. I then filled out the application. Since it’s a personal card, it’ll count toward my 5/24 status. After getting this card, I’m at 3/24, so I’m still okay for a while.
After submitting my application, I was approved instantly with an $8,000 credit limit. 
How (And When) I Meet The Minimum Spend Requirements
Meeting the minimum spend requirement won’t be an issue for me. Indeed, I could pay my children’s daycare bill with it and hit the minimum spend in one charge. I also have some taxes I need to pay, so that’s another easy way for me to hit the minimum spend requirement quickly.
The important thing is when I’ll hit my minimum spend requirement. I want my signup bonus to post after January 1st so that my points be credited for 2024 (not 2023). That way, I’ll be able to earn the companion pass for the remainder of 2024 and all of 2025.
To ensure I never mess this up, I always make it so that I don’t hit the minimum spend requirement until after January 1st. To be technical, the points don’t post until after your first statement closes, so you could theoretically hit the minimum spend requirement in December, but then see your points post in January depending on when your statement close date is. However, I don’t like to take this risk, so I always make sure that I don’t hit the spending requirement until the New Year.
Final Thoughts
Every two years, my decision on which card to open next is easy since I know I want to renew my Southwest Companion Pass. With one kid over 2 years old, I’m now at a stage in life where I might have to consider getting two Southwest Companion Passes eventually. But for now, we’ve been getting one.
This time around, I’m going to put my son as my companion since my wife has a lot of Southwest travel credits in her name that she can use to book her flights. Since my son is now 3 years old, he has to have his own ticket to fly. My wife will then book her flights using her travel credits or the points she has in her account.
Anyway, that’s a look into another credit card I’ve opened this year. I’m in a really heavy spending stage of my life right now, but at least I can get something back for all that spending with all of these credit cards.
If you’re interested in the Southwest Companion Pass, right now is the perfect time to grab it. Go for a personal card right now. Then you can grab a business credit card later. For more information, check out my post that goes into the Companion Pass in much more detail: Southwest Companion Pass – How To Fly For Free For Two Years.
This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($900) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
How does one get a business card as an individual without a business?
Disregard and delete