Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card: Is It Worth Getting?

If your business frequently uses Southwest airlines, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a good card to consider. All the Southwest-related perks make the card’s $99 annual fee well worth the investment. However, if you want a more general-purpose card that will serve your company well and not tie you down to one specific brand, we recommend looking at other options.

Review: Is The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card A Good Option For Your Business?

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a fantastic credit card for companies that frequently fly the affiliated airline. This card can help you qualify for elite membership with Southwest, earn extra Rapid Rewards points through bonuses and everyday spending and even help you qualify for a Companion Pass. That last perk is the biggest selling point of this card. People who earn 110,000 qualifying points with Southwest within a single year are issued a Companion Pass. It allows the Southwest customer to pick one other person to fly with them for free. This could be an employee, business partner or even a friend. The pass lasts for the remainder of the year in which you get it, and the following year. This perk is potentially worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars, depending on how frequently you must travel with Southwest. The points you earn through the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card can help you reach that 110k goal.

If you don’t care about any of the above-mentioned perks, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card becomes a tougher sell. You can potentially end up getting more Southwest points for each dollar spent by using other credit cards, namely the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card. If you want more freedom and flexibility for your business, we highly recommend going with another option.

Bottom Line: The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a good card for people who want help qualifying for the Companion Pass or want to earn elite tier qualifying points. If you’re less interested in these types of perks for your business, consider other cards, like the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card or the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Benefits & Features

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card provides 2x points on Southwest purchases, and 1 point for every dollar spent on all other purchases. Currently, we value a single Southwest Rapid Rewards point at about $0.015 if you travel with the Wanna Get Away fare class. That puts this card’s rewards rate at anywhere between 1.5% and 3%, depending on how your company uses it. All the points you earn with this card are earned on top of the rewards you already get whenever making purchases with Southwest airlines. If you travel in business class, the points tend to have a lower value, typically around $0.009 each.

Annual Fee	$99
Purchase APR	16.74% - 23.74% Variable
Card Details	Get 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account 2 points for every $1 spent on Southwest Airlines purchases 2 points for every $1 spent on Rapid Rewards Hotel and Car Rental purchases 1 point for every $1 spent otherwise Flight change fees waived Free bags - up to two per flight Unlimited Reward seats Points don't expire No blackout dates No Foreign Transaction fees

There are two ways to earn bonus points with the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. First, you can get 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. That translates to a value of about $900 in economy fares. Also, each cardmember anniversary, the card awards you 6,000 bonus points that are valued at about $90 – eating away most of this card’s $99 annual fee.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is one of the few credit cards to award reward points on balance transfers. You earn 1 point for each $1 of the first $15,000 of balance transfers made during the first 90 days from your original account open date. This is a bad deal for consumers. The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card doesn’t offer any 0% promotional APR on balance transfers. Furthermore, each transfer will cost either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer -- whichever is greater. The fees you pay will outweigh any rewards you earn in the process. We don’t recommend anyone use the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card for balance transfers.

Tier Qualifying Points

You'll earn 1,500 TQP for each $10,000 in purchases up to $100,000 in purchases annually which equal 15,000 TQP. These points can help Southwest customers earn A-List or A-List Preferred status with the airline. These elite statuses qualify you for certain perks, including priority boarding, point-earning bonuses, free same-day standby, priority check-in, and free inflight WiFi.

You need to earn 35,000 TQPs for A-List status and 70,000 for A-List Preferred.

Southwest Companion Pass

The points you earn with the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card count towards the Southwest Companion Pass– one of the most sought-after frequent flyer perks. With the companion pass, you can choose one person to fly for free with you every time you purchase or redeem points for a flight. This can be a big money-saver for companies that frequently fly out two or more employees with Southwest. Saving money on one ticket can translate to hundreds of dollars in savings per flight.

You need to earn 110,000 points within a calendar year to earn a Companion Pass for the following full year (plus the remainder of the year in which you earned the 110,000 points). There is no limitations on the number of flights this pass can be used on, so your savings is potentially unlimited.

Keep in mind that the companion will still be responsible for taxes and fees that come out to about $5.60 for a one-way flight.

How Does The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Compare To Other Business Credit Cards?

You should never make a decision about credit cards in a vacuum. It’s important to consider each offer against the backdrop of your other available options. We compared the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card to other leading business credit cards to help you figure out if this is really the best credit card for your business.

Note: If you’re after Southwest-specific perks, like the companion pass or TQPs, there is no comparison between the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card and these other two cards. You can’t get these types of benefits unless you go with a credit card that is co-branded with Southwest. Despite that, it’s still worth considering these other options for the other benefits they can provide your company.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card vs Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business

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The Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business offers a simpler solution for businesses that don’t want to tie their credit card rewards to a single airline. The card awards a fixed 2% cash back on all your purchases, no matter the category. Therefore, the Capital One card is significantly better at rewarding most purchases. The only exception is Southwest ticket purchases – there the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is the superior option. By that metric, most businesses will do best by picking the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business instead of the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card.

Things get more complicated when you consider the annual fee. Technically, the fee on the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business is lower than that on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. However, remember that the latter also comes with 6,000 anniversary points each year and that takes out a huge chunk out of the annual fee cost. Therefore, we don’t think the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business is worth it unless your company spends at least $10,000 annually on their card. At that point, the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business overcomes the annual fee difference, even when the bonus points are considered.

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

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The Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card is a general travel rewards business credit card. It can be a good option for firms that want to keep their travel options open, and not be locked into using Southwest airlines. The card awards 3 Ultimate Rewards points on the first $150,000 combined spending on travel, shipping, advertising through search engines and social media sites, and internet/cable/phone services. These points can be transferred to any of the participating hotel and airline programs, including Southwest. Therefore, the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card has the potential to get you more Southwest points per dollar spent than the actual Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card.

The welcome bonus on the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card is also significantly better than that of the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. Users can get 80,000 bonus points after they spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That is worth $1,000 when used to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal. If you transfer your points to Southwest, we estimate the bonus could be worth as much as $1,200.

Compare The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Based On How Your Business Spends

The best way to compare credit cards to one another is to consider them in light of how your company spends money. Since some cards are more rewarding in certain categories than others, you need to consider the types of vendors your company shops with the most. You can use our tool below to see how the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card stacks up based on our estimates.

RewardsNet Rewards RateAPRAnnual FeeBonus ValueRewards By MonthRewards Rate By Month

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Savings Through (Through 24 Months)	Rewards	Dollars

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Card	Annual Fee	2-yr Net Rewards Rate The Net Rewards Rate is equal to the Rewards Value over two years divided by the total spending. The total spending is equal to the values entered into the tool and multiplied by 24 months. See the Rewards Value note to see details on how it is calculated. The estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone. They are not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.	Bonus Value The bonus field shows our estimate for the value of the card’s sign-up bonus. If the bonus is point or mile based, we multiply the total bonus points/miles by our estimate for their value to arrive at a dollar equivalent. We display $0 if there is no bonus or if the user doesn’t qualify for the bonus based on the current spending entered into the tool. The estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone. They are not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.	2-yr Rewards Value The Rewards Value is calculated by adding together the rewards earned from charging purchases to the card over two years and any sign-up bonuses (if applicable). They are then multiplied by our estimated point/mile value, with any annual fees (if applicable) subtracted. All values are based on our own estimates for the dollar value of any points, miles or bonuses earned using a card. The estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone. They are not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
	$99	3.90%	Get 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.	$1,405
	Graph Card		More Details
Annual Fee $99 APR 16.74% - 23.74% Variable Card Details Get 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account 2 points for every $1 spent on Southwest Airlines purchases 2 points for every $1 spent on Rapid Rewards Hotel and Car Rental purchases 1 point for every $1 spent otherwise Flight change fees waived Free bags - up to two per flight Unlimited Reward seats Points don't expire No blackout dates No Foreign Transaction fees Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months Card Rewards Estimated Rewards Value Dollars* Spending Rewards 34,320 x $0.017 = $583 Bonuses 60,000 x $0.017 = $1,020 Less Annual Fees -$198 Total Net Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months 1,405
Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business
	$0 intro for first year; $59 after that	3.13%	Earn a $500 bonus once you spend $4,500 on purchases in the first 3 months	$1,127
Apply Now	Graph Card	Read Review	More Details
Annual Fee $0 intro for first year; $59 after that APR 17.74% (Variable) Card Details Earning unlimited 2% cash back could mean thousands of dollars each year going back into your business Plus, a one-time $500 cash bonus once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months of approval Use Spark Cash across all your business spend, with no categories to limit your purchasing $0 intro annual fee for the first year; $59 after that Rewards don't expire, and you can redeem your cash back for any amount, anytime Get employee cards at no additional cost, and earn rewards from their business spend Note: The information in this box was provided by Capital One® and is not part of our independent analysis. Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months Card Rewards Estimated Rewards Value Dollars* Spending Rewards 686 x $1 = $686 Bonuses 0 x $1 = $500 Less Annual Fees -$59 Total Net Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months 1,127
Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business
	$0	1.99%	One time bonus of $200 one you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months	$715
Apply Now	Graph Card		More Details
Annual Fee $0 APR 13.74% - 21.74% (Variable) Card Details Earning unlimited 1.5% cash back could mean thousands of dollars each year going back into your business Plus, a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months of approval Save on interest with 0% intro APR on purchases for 9 months; 13.74%-21.74% variable APR after that No annual fee Use Spark Cash Select across all your business spend, with no categories to limit your purchasing Rewards don't expire, and you can redeem your cash back for any amount, anytime Get employee cards at no additional cost, and earn rewards from their business spend Note: The information in this box was provided by Capital One® and is not part of our independent analysis. Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months Card Rewards Estimated Rewards Value Dollars* Spending Rewards 515 x $1 = $515 Bonuses 0 x $1 = $200 Total Net Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months 715
Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card
	$95	0.66%	80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after account opening	$239
Apply Now	Graph Card	Read Review	More Details
Annual Fee $95 APR 16.74% - 21.74% Variable Card Details Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in select categories each account anniversary year Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards Redeem points for travel, cash back, gift cards and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open No foreign transaction fees Employee cards at no additional cost $95 Annual Fee Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months Card Rewards Estimated Rewards Value Dollars* Spending Rewards 34,320 x $0.013 = $429 Less Annual Fees -$190 Total Net Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months 239
The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN
	$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $175 *Rates and Fees	0.60%	Special Offer: Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $5,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership	$216
Apply Now	Graph Card	Read Review	More Details Terms and Limitations Apply
Annual Fee $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $175 APR N/A *Rates and Fees Card Details Welcome Offer: Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $5,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership Get 3x points - Choose 1 out of 5 categories Plus, 2X points on the 4 remaining categories and 1X points on other purchases 3X and 2X apply to the first $100,000 in purchases in each of the 5 categories per year, 1X point per dollar thereafter Track, organize, and stay on top of your business expenses with powerful expense-tracking tools No foreign transaction fees $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $175 Terms and limitations apply Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months Card Rewards Estimated Rewards Value Dollars* Spending Rewards 39,120 x $0.01 = $391 Less Annual Fees -$175 Total Net Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months 216

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