Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card Review 2024

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card Introduction
• Quick Facts
• What Is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card Best For?
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card Rewards
• Other Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card Benefits
• Fine Print
• How the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card Stacks Up
• Is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card for You?
• Methodology

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a low-cost option for small business owners who often fly with Southwest Airlines. The card carries a generous welcome bonus and several perks that could justify the $99 annual fee.

In addition to solid earnings on Southwest spending and other travel expenses, each year you’ll also get a 6,000-point bonus when you renew your card and two Early Bird check-in passes each year.

If you’re planning on working while in flight, Southwest charges $8 per device per day for internet access, and ownership of the card gives you a 25% discount off this cost, making it $6 to connect onboard. Because Southwest has a somewhat limited footprint, the card only makes sense for someone who regularly flies the routes serviced by the airline and who doesn’t care to pay the extra $100 per year the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card charges to get the more generous 365 Wi-Fi credits and four upgraded boardings annually.

Other cards at this price point earn the same rates or better on all types of travel and come with more robust perks and benefits. This is a small business card that’s only best for loyal and frequent Southwest flyers.

• $99 annual fee
• Earn 3 points per dollar spent on Southwest purchases, 2 points per dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car partners and local transit and commuting. Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
• Welcome bonus of 60,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
• Get 6,000 bonus points each year after your cardmember anniversary
• Two Early Bird check-ins each year
• 25% discount on in-flight purchases
• No foreign transaction fees

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card only makes sense to hold if you fly frequently for business—say more than five times per year—and do so exclusively with Southwest. In such a case, this card will net you more in benefits than it costs in annual fees. For almost everyone else, this is not a card worth holding.

Earning Rewards

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card earns points in Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards program. Rapid Rewards can be redeemed for flights on Southwest Airlines.

The card earns its most generous rewards for Southwest Airlines flights, earning 3 points per dollar spent on Southwest purchases, 2 points per dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car partners and local transit and commuting. Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

In addition, there’s a welcome bonus of 60,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card also awards 6,000 points every year on your cardmember anniversary.

Redeeming Rewards

To redeem your Rapid Rewards for flights on Southwest Airlines, log into your account on Southwest.com and select “Points” in the search panel. Award pricing on the airline is dynamic, so the number of points a ticket costs correlates to the cash price of the ticket. When viewing your flight options, you can toggle between the cash prices and the number of points required to book your flight.

Southwest doesn’t have an award chart. Instead, the cost of Southwest reward flights tracks directly with the cash price of the flight. There are no blackout dates for using Rapid Rewards points so if there’s a flight bookable with cash, you can book it with points.

You can also redeem points for gift cards, merchandise, experiences, hotels, car rentals, other travel and gift cards through the More Rewards program, but these options generally yield less value than using your points for flights.

Rewards Potential

Using data from various government agencies, Forbes Advisor has developed estimates for how much a family in the 70th percentile of income spends annually in various categories. We base our assumptions on a sole proprietor in this income range. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $118,438 annually and has $39,337 in expenses that can be charged to credit cards.

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Rewards Potential
Category	Earnings Rate	Estimated Annual Spend	Estimated Annual Earnings
Southwest Airfare	3X	$770	2,310 Rapid Rewards Points
Hotels and Rental Cars	2X	$3,649	7,298 Rapid Rewards Points
Transit	2X	$573	1,146 Rapid Rewards Points
All Other Purchases	1X	$34,345	34,345 Rapid Rewards Points
			Total: 45,099 Rapid Rewards Points

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The estimated annual earnings of 45,099 points does not include the additional points from the welcome offer. In year two and beyond you’ll also earn an additional 6,000 points on your card year anniversary.

• Unlimited tier qualifying points. Earn 1,500 tier qualifying points toward A-List status for every $5,000 spent.
• Travel and purchase protections. Benefits include lost luggage reimbursement, baggage delay insurance, extended warranty protection and purchase protection.
• Additional employee cards. Employee cards are offered at no additional cost and earn points on employee spending.
• Up to $500 fee credit for point transfers. Receive up to $500 in statement credits per year when you pay Rapid Rewards point transfer fees to transfer points to another Rapid Rewards member.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 21.49% - 28.49% Variable
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A

Fees

• Annual fee: $99
• Balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: $0

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

If simple and easy-to-redeem rewards are more your speed, look at a card like the Capital One Spark Miles for Business*. With this card, small business owners can earn an unlimited 2 miles per dollar on every purchase and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Capital One miles can be used to book travel, transferred to more than a dozen airline and hotel partners, or redeemed for cash, gift cards and more. The card also comes with a welcome bonus of 50,000 bonus miles after spending $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

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

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers an attractive rewards structure of 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases, all in exchange for a $95 annual fee. Unlike Amex Membership Rewards®, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards® points to Southwest Airlines or one of Chase’s many other airline partners. You can also redeem Ultimate Rewards for cash-back statement credits and a variety of other options.

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers a number of travel and purchase protections, including auto rental collision damage waiver, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, purchase protection, cellphone protection and extended warranty protection.

You won’t get the 6,000-point annual renewal bonus or other Southwest-specific perks, but you gain a lot more flexibility with your rewards.

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card vs. CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®*

If you’re seeking an airline card for your small business and aren’t brand loyal to Southwest, you may want to consider the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®*. The card carries a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99, and it offers a free checked bag perk for you and up to four companions traveling on your reservation, preferred boarding and 25% off inflight Wi-Fi, food and drinks. Baggage is free on Southwest, but preferred boarding on all flights with the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* might be a better option than the two early bird check-ins on the Southwest Premier card.

The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* earns 2 miles for every dollar spent on cable and satellite providers, select telecommunications merchants, eligible American Airlines purchases, car rentals, and gas stations and 1 mile for every dollar spent on other purchases. Also earn 1 loyalty point for every one eligible mile earned from purchases. You can redeem AAdvantage miles with American Airlines or one of its Oneworld alliance partners, opening up far more possibilities for free flights than you’ll find within the Southwest network. Of course, if American Airlines flights aren’t convenient from your home airport, this card won’t make sense.

If you are a frequent Southwest Airlines traveler and you’re seeking a small business card that helps you earn rewards towards free flights, the $99 annual fee merits consideration. The card comes with good earnings on Southwest Airlines purchases and some nice perks in exchange for the annual fee.

But if you’re seeking more premium benefits or greater flexibility for reward redemptions, consider another card. See Forbes Advisor’s list of best business credit cards for travel to help you narrow down the right option for your particular needs.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Included travel or merchant credits
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors come together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor rates credit cards