You simply have to EARN the points...no need to save them for them to count! Note that there are several ways you can earn points that count for CP qualification...
"Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from your revenue flights booked through Southwest Airlines, your points earned by making purchases with a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Card, and your base points earned from Rapid Rewards partners. Purchased points and points earned from Rapid Rewards program enrollment, tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and partner bonuses (excluding points bonuses earned on the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase) do not count toward Companion Pass."
You might find this and this to be helpful, but note that travel bloggers often chase (no pun intended) the credit card route to get enought qualifying points, so take it all with a grain of salt. If you really fly a lot, that may not be necessary, but it can certainly help! For me, I fly enough to earn A List Preferred, but we would not have CP without the credit card points.
More on SW's site. Good luck!
-A List, Companion Pass holder
