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Southwest loyalists love getting buy one, get one free flights every year by earning a Southwest Companion Pass, and the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card can play a crucial role in that plan. However, even if earning the Southwest Companion Pass isn't your goal, this card is a good option for Southwest fans who are small business owners and want to get a few perks for their spending.
Let's take a closer look at what this card has to offer.
- 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 rental partners.
- Earn 2X points on rideshare.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 3X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on local transit and communting, including rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Page Contents
- Southwest Premier Business Card Pros
- Southwest Premier Business Card Cons
- Southwest Premier Business Card Welcome Bonus
- Southwest Premier Business Card Benefits
- Bonus points toward Southwest Companion Pass
- Two EarlyBird Check-Ins per cardholder year
- No foreign transaction fees
- Anniversary bonus points
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- $500 credit for points transfers
- Earn Tier-Qualifying Points through spending
- Free employee cards
- Travel protection benefits
- Purchase protection benefits
- Southwest Premier Business Card Earning Rates
- Redeeming Points With the Southwest Premier Business Card
- Southwest Premier Business Card Application Restrictions
- Cards That Compete with the Southwest Premier Business Card
- Bottom Line
Southwest Premier Business Card Pros
- Two EarlyBird check-ins per year
- Primary rental car insurance
- 6,000 anniversary bonus points
- No foreign transaction fees
Southwest Premier Business Card Cons
- Charges a $99 annual fee
- The best use of Rapid Rewards points is limited to Southwest flights
Southwest Premier Business Card Welcome Bonus
New Southwest Premier Business Card cardholders earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
On average, AwardWallet users redeem Rapid Rewards points for 1.52¢ apiece. At that rate, this welcome bonus is worth over $900 toward award travel booked through Southwest.
In addition to the value you get from the bonus, those 60,000 points are also a large portion of the required 135,000 points for earning a Southwest Companion Pass. Add in the 10,000 Companion Pass-qualifying point bonus for cardholders, and you're more than halfway to earning buy-on-get-one-free travel on Southwest.
Add this sign-up bonus to a sign-up bonus on another Southwest credit card in the same calendar year to get most of the way toward earning the Southwest Companion Pass. Plus, you can hold both Southwest business cards at the same time — although you can only hold one Southwest personal card at a time.
Southwest Premier Business Card Benefits
Bonus points toward Southwest Companion Pass
If you want to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you're fighting with a handicap if you don't have a Southwest credit card. Southwest credit cardholders get 10,000 bonus Companion Pass qualifying points each calendar year.
This allotment effectively reduces the Companion Pass requirement to 125,000 points — which you can chop away using the Southwest Premier Business Card‘s 60,000 points sign-up bonus plus the additional spending you put on the card.
Two EarlyBird Check-Ins per cardholder year
Southwest doesn't assign seats when you book a flight — at least, it won't until 2026. For now, its unique boarding process assigns a boarding position when you check in for your flight. This means that you need to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of time if you want an early boarding position and a chance of getting a good seat on the plane. But there's a way to skip having to set an alarm.
By buying a Southwest Early Bird Check-In, you'll automatically be checked in 36 hours before your flight — 12 hours earlier than the other passengers and other connecting passengers assigned a boarding position at their first flight's check-in time. This ensures an early boarding position, all but guaranteeing your first choice of seats on the plane.
The Southwest Premier Business Card reimburses two Early Bird Check-Ins per cardholder anniversary year, which can help frequent travelers on those busy routes get the seat they desire.
No foreign transaction fees
One way of saving money when traveling overseas is to be sure you're not racking up any extra fees by using a card that imposes foreign transaction fees. The Southwest Premier Business Card does not charge foreign transaction fees, so it's a safe bet to use outside the United States.
Related: Best Rewards Credit Cards With No Foreign Transaction Fees
Anniversary bonus points
Cardholders earn 6,000 bonus points on every card anniversary. Based on the average redemption value of 1.52¢ apiece, these Rapid Rewards points are worth over $90 — which almost fully offsets the card's $99 annual fee.
25% back on inflight purchases
While there's not exactly a lot to buy on board a Southwest flight, cardholders will receive a 25% rebate on internet and drinks purchased on Southwest flights with their card.
$500 credit for points transfers
Transferring Southwest Rapid Rewards points to another member costs $10 per 1,000 points transferred. Charge that fee to your Southwest Premier Business Card, and Southwest will reimburse you up to $500 for these fees each year.
That means you can transfer 50,000 points to other Rapid Rewards members at no out-of-pocket cost. The reimbursement comes as a statement credit within 1-2 billing cycles.
Earn Tier-Qualifying Points through spending
Southwest Premier Business Card holders earn 1,500 tier-qualifying points for every $5,000 spent on the card. These tier-qualifying points count toward earning Southwest A-List status, which includes benefits like:
- Priority boarding.
- Priority check-in counter and express security screening (where available).
- 25% bonus points earnings.
- Dedicated A-list phone line.
- Same-day standby.
- Same-day confirmed change (with no fare difference).
Rapid Rewards members must earn 35,000 Tier-Qualifying Points in a calendar year to earn Southwest A-List status. You'd need to spend $120,000 in a calendar year to earn this status through card spending alone. That means you're likely going to need to use card spending bonuses to top off what you otherwise earn through flying Southwest.
Free employee cards
There is no cost to add employee cards to your account. Money spent on these cards earns points toward the original cardholder's account.
Travel protection benefits
The Southwest Premier Business Card has many travel protection benefits because of its Visa Signature designation. They include:
- Primary Rental Car Insurance: Covers up to $60,000 in theft and collision damage for most rental vehicles when you decline the rental company’s insurance and pay with your card.
- Roadside Assistance: Provides services like towing, lockout assistance, and tire changes. Costs for services are your responsibility.
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement: Offers up to $3,000 per traveler to repair or replace carry-on and checked baggage if lost, damaged, or stolen during a covered trip.
- Baggage Delay Insurance: Reimburses up to $100 per day, for up to 3 days, for essentials like toiletries and clothing when baggage is delayed over 6 hours.
- Travel and Emergency Assistance: Provides help during travel emergencies, including referrals for medical, legal, or translation services. Costs for third-party services are your responsibility.
- Travel Accident Insurance: Offers up to $500,000 in coverage for accidental death or dismemberment during a covered trip paid for with your card.
Purchase protection benefits
The Southwest Premier Business Card also offers purchase protections and extended warranties for purchases made with the card. They include:
- Purchase Protection: Covers new purchases against theft or damage for 120 days from the date of purchase, up to $10,000 per item.
- Extended Warranty Protection: Extends eligible warranties by one additional year when the original warranty is three years or less.
Southwest Premier Business Card Earning Rates
When using the Southwest Premier Business Card, you'll earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points at the following rates:
- 3X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on local transit and communting, including rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: The Best Rewards Credit Cards for Each Spending Category
Redeeming Points With the Southwest Premier Business Card
Far and away, the best use of Southwest Rapid Rewards points is for booking Southwest flights. To redeem points for Southwest flights, you simply need to select “points” instead of “$” when searching for flights on Southwest's website:
The more cash a flight costs, the more it will cost when redeeming points. Southwest uses an exact formula to convert the base cash fare into a points price. However, the exact redemption rate will vary due to differences in taxes and fees.
Southwest offers a low-fare calendar, which comes in handy when trying to find the best redemption options for your trip. You can select this when searching for flights, and you'll get a calendar view of the price for each date.
Because Southwest doesn't charge change fees, you can reprice your flights over and over again after booking, potentially earning back some of the points you initially spent.
Southwest Premier Business Card Application Restrictions
The Southwest Premier Business Card is issued by Chase, which is famous (or infamous) for its 5/24 rule. This rule dictates that you will not be approved for a Chase card if you've opened five or more cards from any bank in the last 24 months. While most business credit cards don't add to your 5/24 count, you do need to be under this number to be approved.
This is important to remember since Chase offers some of the best rewards credit cards available, so it's ideal to pick your credit cards wisely. If you're currently at or over 5/24, you'll want to wait until you have less than five credit card approvals in the last two years before applying.
Other lesser-known credit card application restrictions make it unlikely that you'll be approved for more than one business card from Chase in less than 90 days or two cards — business or personal — within 30 days. This means that if you're trying to earn a Companion Pass through credit cards, you'll need to space your applications at least 30 days apart.
You also cannot receive the bonus on this card if you currently have the card or have received a bonus in the last 24 months. From the offer terms:
“This new cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this business credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this business credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this business credit card within the last 24 months.”
Related: How to Check Your Chase 5/24 Status for Free
Cards That Compete with the Southwest Premier Business Card
Before settling on the Southwest Premier Business Card, you may find it helpful to compare other options. Here are some of the card's closest competitors:
- If you want a Southwest card with more benefits, consider the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees). This card currently offers an 80,000-point welcome offer, charges a $199 annual fee, and includes a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry statement credit, earns 4X on Southwest purchases, reimburses four Upgraded Boardings per year, and reimburses up to 365 in-flight Wi-Fi credits per year. See our full review of the Southwest Performance Business Card for more details.
- If you want transferrable points that can be used with Southwest and other airlines, consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees). This card currently offers 90,000 points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. It has a low annual fee of $95 and lets you transfer points to all of Chase's transfer partners — which include Southwest. See our full review of the Ink Preferred to learn more.
- If you like to fly overseas, consider The New United℠ Business Card (Rates & Fees). United has a vast international network, which is much larger than Southwest's. The United Business Card earns 75,000 bonus miles and 2,000 PQP bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Card perks include a first checked bag free, two United Club passes per year, and a $125 annual travel credit — which makes up for the $150 ongoing annual fee. See our full review of the United Business Card for everything you need to know.
- 4X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners
- 2X points per $1 spent on social media and search engine advertising, Internet, cable and phone services
- 2X points per $1 spent on rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X 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
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
- 2x on United® purchases
- 2x on local transit and commuting — including train tickets, taxicabs, mass transit, tolls and ride share services
- 2x at gas stations, restaurants and office supply stores
- 1x on all other purchases
Related: Best Small Business Credit Cards
Bottom Line
If you like to fly Southwest but can't stomach the higher annual fee on the Southwest Performance Business Card, the Southwest Premier Business Card card is a great option. The welcome bonus can get you a significant way toward earning a Southwest Companion Pass. Plus, the card includes a handful of useful benefits on Southwest, and the cardholder anniversary bonus offsets almost the entire annual fee.
- 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 rental partners.
- Earn 2X points on rideshare.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 3X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on local transit and communting, including rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and The New United℠ Business Card (Rates & Fees)
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