Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card Review: Is It Worth Getting
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card Review
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is worth it if you're searching for a healthy sign-up bonus and want to earn the valuable Southwest Companion Pass.
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Quick facts
More details
Rates & fees
- Credit needed: 720 - 850
- Sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- Earning rate: Earn 3 points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Annual fee: $99
- Foreign transaction fee: $0
- Earns companion pass points: The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to choose a designated companion to fly with you nearly for free for as long as you hold the pass.
Quick facts
- Credit needed: 720 - 850
- Sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- Earning rate: Earn 3 points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Annual fee: $99
- Foreign transaction fee: $0
- Earns companion pass points: The Southwest Companion Pass allows you to choose a designated companion to fly with you nearly for free for as long as you hold the pass.
More details
- Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- 6,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary.
- Earn 3X points on Southwest Airlines® purchases.
- Earn 2X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners.
- Earn 2X points on rideshare.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
- Earn unlimited tier qualifying points towards A-List status.
Rates & fees
- Intro Purchase APR: N/A
- Regular Purchase APR: 20.49% - 27.49% Variable
- Intro BT APR: N/A
- Regular BT APR: 20.49% - 27.49% Variable
- Annual Fee: $99
- Foreign Transaction Fee: $0
- Balance Transfer Fee: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Southwest Companion Pass Tip
Focus your efforts on accumulating Rapid Rewards® points to earn the Southwest Companion pass.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is one of five different co-branded Southwest credit cards and one of two Southwest Airlines business cards.
One of the best reasons to sign up for the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is that it can put you on the fast track to the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass — an invaluable perk that allows a companion to fly free with you for just the taxes and fees on any paid or award ticket for up to 23 months. Since Chase allows you to own a personal and business Southwest credit card at the same time, you can sign up for both in the same year and apply both cards' sign-up bonuses toward earning the companion pass.
Pros
Cons
Earn 60,000 points
Currently the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card offers a bonus where you can Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
This bonus offer is similar to offers on other co-branded airline cards, like the cards for American Airlines or United Airlines. It's important to keep in mind that there are cards with similar annual fees that do have higher welcome offers, like the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.
What it's worth: We value Southwest Rapid Rewards points at about 1.5 cents per point. That makes the sign-up bonus alone worth around $900 towards Southwest airfare.
Who's eligible to earn this offer?: The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule. This means that if you've applied for five or more cards from any bank in the past 24 months, you're unlikely to be approved for this card. Additionally, the welcome offer is not available if you already have this card, or if you've received a previous welcome offer on this card within the last 24 months
What can you do with 60,000 Rapid Rewards points?
The cost of an award ticket with Southwest Airlines is directly tied to the cash cost of the same flight. Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth around 1.5 cents toward the cost of a flight on Southwest Airlines, which makes 60,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points worth around $900.
You can stretch 60,000 Rapid Rewards points a long way. Southwest regularly offers fare sales with one-way award tickets of less than 5,000 points. Since there isn't a specific award chart, the cost of the flights will vary drastically based on your destination and desired travel dates.
Here are some examples the best ways to use Southwest Rapid Rewards points, to give you a bit of inspiration:
- Fly to one of Southwest's eight different Caribbean locations. You can fly from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to San Juan, Puerto Rico for as few as 4,290 points one way.
- Take a short (cheap) flight to one of Southwest's focus cities like Chicago, Denver, Baltimore, Houston or Las Vegas. Flights from Cincinnati to Chicago Midway for as few as 3,815 points one way.
- Southwest recently started service to Hawaii — if you live on the West Coast, you can find good deals on award flights to Kauai, Honolulu, Maui or the Big Island. You can fly from Los Angeles to Honolulu for around 12,000 points one way on many dates.
Earn 3X points on Southwest purchases and some travel purchases
In addition to the sign-up bonus, you can earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points with ongoing spending on your Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card has a fairly straightforward earning structure: Earn 3 points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car 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 is not a fantastic value for ongoing spending. You're getting 1.5 cents of value for every dollar that you spend based on our estimated value for Rapid Rewards points. There are several cards (like the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer) that earn 2% cash back on all purchases with no annual fee. Rather than spending on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, you could make your purchases on a 2% cashback card, and use that cash to book your flights. You might even have some cash left over.
Even for the card's bonus categories, you're likely to find cards that offer better value propositions. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns 2 Ultimate Rewards® points per dollar spent on ALL travel purchases, including Southwest airfare and transit and commuting. At a minimum, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest if you want, or find better use for them elsewhere.
The chart below shows how the average rewards earned with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card compare to other cards. The average rewards earned with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card are slightly below those of the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (but remember that the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card also has a higher annual fee).
Many of the cards at the top of this chart earn transferable rewards like Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards® points. These programs' points can be transferred to outside loyalty programs, which is one reason they are so valuable.
Average rewards earned per $1 spent
What are Rapid Rewards points worth?
We value Rapid Rewards points at around 1.5 cents per point — better than the average rewards program point. Southwest points are also very straightforward and easy to redeem: There's no complicated redemption chart to deal with, nor are there blackout dates or restrictions — as long as a flight has available seats, you should be able to book it with points.
Redeem points easily
Because redeeming Southwest Rapid Rewards points for an award ticket is tied to the cost of the flight in cash, redeeming your Rapid Rewards points is very straightforward. Southwest has three different types of fares that you can book for cash or with points: Business Select, Anytime and Wanna Get Away.
Southwest's Wanna Get Away fares will generally provide the best value for your Rapid Rewards points. Wanna Get Away fares come with more restrictions and aren't fully refundable when paid for in cash — but that's a moot point for award bookings, which are automatically fully refundable. Generally, Wanna Get Away fares are the way to go with Rapid Rewards points.
Business Select | Anytime | Wanna Get Away | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fully refundable if you cancel your flight | |||
| Same-day change | |||
| Same-day standby | |||
| Priority boarding A1-A15 | |||
| Fly By (priority security lane) | |||
| Complimentary premium drink |
Note that there is very little variation in the value of an award ticket on Southwest Airlines — in most cases you'll get around 1.5 cent per point for a Wanna Get Away fare. This can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it's hard to make a bad redemption, but it's also hard to get the outsized value that you can sometimes get with other airline miles.
Another advantage of Rapid Rewards points is Southwest's outstanding change and cancellation policies. If you find you are no longer able or interested in taking that flight, you can cancel at any time before the flight and get your points back. If the cost of the flight drops, you can cancel and rebook and get the difference in points refunded to your account.
Earning the Southwest companion pass
Currently, you can earn the Southwest Companion Pass if you fly 100 qualifying one-way flights or earn 125,000 qualifying points in one calendar year. Points earned with any Southwest credit card (including sign-up bonuses) do count toward the companion pass.
While Chase does not allow you to own two Southwest personal cards, you can sign up for a personal card and a business card. If you get the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card with a personal Southwest credit card in the same year, the combined sign-up bonuses will put you near or over the 125,000 points needed. If this is your plan, it's best to sign up for the credit cards early in the calendar year. That way you'll get the Companion Pass for all of that year AND the next calendar year.
Other Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card benefits
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card also comes with a few other benefits that are worth considering.
Each year when you pay your $99 annual fee, you'll get an anniversary bonus. The anniversary bonus on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is 6,000 Rapid Rewards points. We value those anniversary points at around $90, which helps to offset the $99 annual fee.
You can earn up to 15,000 tier-qualifying points each year from spending on your Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. You'll get 1,500 tier-qualifying points (TQPs) for each $10,000 in purchases up to $100,000 in purchases. You can use TQPs to count toward qualification for Rapid Rewards A-List or A-List Preferred status.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card comes with a variety of insurance coverage while you are traveling.
- Damaged or lost luggage insurance – Get up to $3,000 per passenger if your checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the airline.
- Baggage delay insurance – You can get reimbursed for essentials like toiletries and clothing if your bags are delayed for more than six hours. You can get up to $100 a day for three days.
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card has a $0 foreign transaction fee. This makes it a reasonable card to use while traveling abroad.
Can I get a Southwest business credit card?
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a business credit card, and you need to have a business to apply for it. Your business does not have to have a lengthy history or be profitable, but you will need to supply information about your business on the application. It's okay if you have a sole proprietorship and don't have an EIN — just use your Social Security number. It's also fine if your business is not very established — just be honest on your application and talk about how you are planning to use the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card.
How does the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card compare to other cards?
Here's how the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card compares to other similar credit cards.
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Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card vs. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is very similar to the personal Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card. The personal card also has a $99 annual fee and comes with 6,000 Rapid Rewards on each anniversary year. It also offers the same earning rate: Receive 6,000 anniversary points each year. Enjoy benefits including 3X points on Southwest® purchases, 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare, 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming, 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year, 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year, and more.
These cards are very similar so you'll want to also consider the welcome offers when deciding which card to get. If the welcome offers are the same, then go for the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card if you have a business since it won't increase your Chase 5/24 count.
Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card vs. Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
For a $199 annual fee, the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card has a lot more to offer than the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. A key difference is the card's higher earning rate: 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. It also comes with a larger anniversary bonus of 9,000 Rapid Rewards points, a $100 credit towards either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® and four upgraded boardings per year on Southwest flights.
All of these perks mean that, especially in the first year, most people will get more value from the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.
Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card vs. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card comes with a better earning rate than the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card: 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.
Not only can you earn more points with the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, but Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are generally more valuable than Southwest Rapid Rewards points since you can redeem them in a large variety of ways, including transferring at a 1:1 ratio to more than 10 airline and hotel loyalty programs. Since Southwest Rapid Rewards is included in this list of transfer partners, you may be better off earning points with the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and transferring them to Southwest Rapid Rewards when you need them.
Is the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card worth it?
The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is definitely worth applying for. The sign-up bonus when you first apply is worth significantly more than the annual fee that you pay for. The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the most lucrative rewards on any airline, and applying for the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card can be an important part of getting the Companion Pass.
After the first year, the value proposition changes. The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card does not have a great value for ongoing spending, and you'll have to decide whether the 6,000 anniversary points that you get are worth paying the $99 annual fee. For ongoing spending, you may find that a general travel card, such as the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, offers more value in the long run.
The information related to Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, United℠ Business Card , Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, American Express® Business Gold Card, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card and CitiBusiness®/ AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® has been independently collected by ValuePenguin and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply to American Express credit card offers. See americanexpress.com for more information.
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How We Calculate Rewards: ValuePenguin calculates the value of rewards by estimating the dollar value of any points, miles or bonuses earned using the card less any associated annual fees. These estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone, not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.
Example of how we calculate the rewards rates: When redeemed for travel through Ultimate Rewards, Chase Sapphire Preferred points are worth $0.0125 each. The card awards 2 points on travel and dining and 1 point on everything else. Therefore, we say the card has a 2.5% rewards rate on dining and travel (2 x $0.0125) and a 1.25% rewards rate on everything else (1 x $0.0125).