Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card Review

If you’re running a business and find yourself flying on Southwest Airlines routinely, the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card would likely be a good card for you. Its high earning rate on Southwest flights, good sign-up bonus, anniversary bonus and Southwest benefits can be worth the reasonable annual fee.

You can earn 3 points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partners. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

Plus, its sign-up bonus lets you earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

However, if you’re looking for even more Southwest benefits, the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card might be a better fit for your business.

• Large sign-up bonus

  Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. This a fairly large sign-up bonus for an airline card, that can help you get far on southwest Airlines.

  For example, we found a round-trip Wanna Get Away fare from New York to Dallas for 28,480 points.

  It can also help you earn the Southwest Companion Pass (more on that below).

• Bonus rewards on a variety of purchases

  The Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card lets cardholders earn 3 points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partners. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

  This includes Southwest Airlines flights, in-flight purchases, Southwest gift cards and Southwest Vacations® packages, as well as purchases at participating Rapid Rewards hotel and rental car partners.

• Points are valuable and easy to redeem

  Southwest Rapid Rewards points are more valuable than the average rewards point and Southwest makes them simple to redeem. There are no blackout dates, and you can redeem points for most Southwest flights with seats available. You’ll get a reliable value of around 1.4 cent per point for Wanna Getaway fares. Also, Southwest has a flexible cancellation policy, and will fully refund your points if you need to cancel.

• Anniversary bonus

  Receive 6,000 bonus points each year after your account anniversary. “Account anniversary year” refers to the year beginning with your account open date through the anniversary of your account open date — and every 12 months after that. This bonus — which is worth around $84 by our estimates — can cover most of your annual fee each year.

• Helps earn the Southwest companion pass

  The Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card can help you earn the highly coveted Southwest Companion Pass. This allows a designated person to fly with you at no cost (except taxes and fees) each time you purchase or redeem points for a Southwest flight for up to two years.

  To qualify for the Companion Pass, you must earn 135,000 points or take 100 one-way flights in a calendar year. All the points that you earn with the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card — including its sign-up bonus — count toward the pass. Also, you can combine the bonus on this card with the bonus from a personal Southwest card, like the Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Premier Credit Card, to more easily earn the pass.

• Two EarlyBird Check-Ins

  The card gives you two free EarlyBird Check-Ins per year. With this benefit, you get an automatic check-in before Southwest’s traditional 24-hour check-in. You’ll also get an earlier boarding position. Typically, you have to pay $15 to $25 per passenger on one-way flights, so the free check-ins are worth between $30 to $50 each year.

  This perk is something the higher-annual-fee Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card doesn’t offer.

• Elite status boost

  The card can help you spend your way to A-list status with Southwest airlines with unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs). You’ll earn 1,500 tier qualifying points for every $10,000 you spend on your card. A-list status gives you:

  • Priority boarding
  • 25% earning bonus
  • Same-day change with no change in base fare depending on availability
  • Priority and express lanes at Southwest check-in counters and airport security checkpoints

• Annual fee

  The Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card comes with a $99 annual fee. However, you can add employee cards at no additional cost, plus earn rewards on the purchases your employees make using the card.

• Modest rewards on non-travel purchases

  While the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card offers more points per $1 spent on Southwest purchases, cardholders only earn 1 point per $1 spent in other popular business spending categories, such as dining, office supplies and wireless services.

• Limited redemption options

  If you prefer to fly many different airlines, or if your seeking to earn rewards for an international trip, this is not the card for you. You’re restricted to redeeming points on Southwest Airlines if you want to get a good return on them. And, while Southwest has a great domestic flight network, it’s international routes are limited. Also, since Southwest has no airline partners, you can’t travel anywhere beyond its flight network.

  For more flexible options, you’re better off with a general travel card, like the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, that lets you redeem points for travel on any airline.

• No intro APR

  If you want to finance business and travel expenses and pay them off over time, the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card may not be ideal, since it doesn’t offer a 0% intro APR on purchases.

  If you’re looking for a business card with a long intro APR, the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card is a good choice. You can access a 0% Intro APR on Purchases for 12 months, then a 17.74% - 25.74% Variable APR.

Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card vs. Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card

 
The Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Performance Business Credit Card is a tier above the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card and is a better value for frequent Southwest flyers.

It has a higher annual fee of $199, but offers a much better value. You’ll get a higher rewards rate on Southwest flights, an anniversary bonus of 9,000 points, four upgraded boardings per year and a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck fee credit of $100.

You can earn 4 points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partners. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services. Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card vs. Capital One Spark Miles for Business

 
If you aren’t loyal to Southwest Airlines and want more flexibility on which airlines to use your earned miles on, you may want to look at the Capital One Spark Miles for Business.

Capital One Spark Miles for Business cardholders earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles – equal to $500 in travel – once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

Miles can be redeemed for a variety of travel-related purchases, including flights and hotels. Or you can transfer miles to more than 10 travel partners, including Accor Live Limitless, Air France, Emirates Skywards and JetBlue TrueBlue.

While the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card offers a slightly larger sign-up bonus, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business allows you to earn more miles per dollar spent on general purchases. Additionally, because the Capital One Spark Miles for Business comes with an annual fee of $0 intro for first year; $95 after that, you can try out the card for a full year without a financial commitment (see rates & fees).

Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card vs. Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

 
The Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is a better choice for travelers who are looking for flexible rewards. You’ll earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Instead of being limited to redeeming these points for Southwest flights, you can transfer your points to Chase’s many airline partners, including Southwest, at a higher value.

The Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card also comes with a valuable rewards rate: Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn.

However, it doesn’t offer airline-specific benefits. But if you solely fly with with Southwest and want perks like the Southwest Companion pass, then the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card could be a better fit.

If you regularly travel for business to one of the cities where Southwest Airlines flies, which are mostly in the U.S., the Southwest^® Rapid Rewards^® Premier Business Credit Card could be a good option. In addition to a generous sign-up bonus and annual bonus, the card offers an elevated rewards rate on Southwest purchases — which can help get you that much closer to earning the Southwest Companion Pass and free flights.

But if you’d prefer more flexibility in where you can use your travel rewards, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business or Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card might be better cards for you. With both cards, you can transfer points to many other airlines for a better value.