For frequent flyers, a new Southwest Airlines credit card benefit is about to make flying with friends a lot cheaper.
In a video that has been viewed more than 309,000 times, travel blogger Austin Maxwell shares the airline’s new credit card benefit – a Companion Pass – which allows two people who purchase the same flight and travel together to get a second flight completely free.
Related: Southwest Airlines debuts new ‘slim’ seats, without video screens
Maxwell says that if you apply for one of three variations of Southwest credit cards (annual fees range from $69 to $149) and spend $4,000 in the first three months after approval, you’ll be eligible for a Companion Pass through February 2025.
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“I honestly don’t understand how they are doing this, but they are effectively letting the comrade of the Southwest die,” Maxwell said. “It’s the easiest thing to achieve that I’ve ever seen in seven years of trying.”
According to Southwest’s website, approved card members will also receive 30,000 bonus points with the airline in addition to the Companion Pass.
“Companion Pass means you can bring your friend along for free (excluding taxes and fees from $5.60 one way) for every trip through February 28, 2025,” the airline wrote.
However, Maxwell said interested applicants must be approved by March 11, 2024 to get the benefit.
Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond Entrepreneurrequest for comment.
Naturally, viewers in the comments section were in disbelief at how beneficial the deal is, especially for seasoned travelers.
“I have the companion pass, it’s really cool,” one viewer wrote.
“I did this last year! We’ve saved over $5,000 in plane tickets so far,” said another.
Related: Southwest gets creative to solve agonizing boarding process
As of Friday afternoon, Southwest was down just over 7% in the one-year period.