Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Review 

You’ll earn points on all your purchases, with extra weight given to Southwest purchases. 

Rapid Rewards points never expire, and they accumulate to let you qualify for a Companion Pass, one of the biggest incentives for using a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card. Your sign-up bonus provides almost half the points required to earn that benefit.

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Overview of the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

If you’re looking for a business credit card that rewards travel on Southwest Airlines, the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card has a lot to offer. For a reasonable annual fee, you can earn triple rewards on Southwest purchases and double rewards on partner hotel and car rental purchases. 

While this credit card is limited in the way it rewards spending, if you swear by Southwest Airlines, the rewards are quite lucrative. Southwest is unique due to the Companion Pass as well as its reasonably priced fares. 

You’ll get travel perks like early check-ins for flights, discounts on in-flight purchases, and coverage for lost or delayed luggage. And you’ll get a sizable welcome offer that jump-starts your progress towards earning a Companion Pass. 

LEARN MORE: Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

Redeeming Rewards

Southwest Rapid Rewards points can be used for rewards like gift cards and merchandise, but the really exciting redemption comes in the form of free and discounted flights. 

You can use your Rapid Rewards points to book Southwest Airlines flights, with the point value of each flight corresponding to the price of the fare (price discounts mean point discounts as well). 

Southwest Airlines offers a fairly wide selection of cities for departures and destinations — more than 100 across the U.S., Mexico, and the Caribbean.  

You can also use points to pay at major retailers, shop for merchandise, book hotels, and try unique events and activities. Statement credits are also an option for rewards redemption if you’re unable to fly or use points otherwise. 

READ MORE: How to Maximize Credit Card Rewards

Earning the Southwest Companion Pass

The Companion Pass is a significant perk of flying with Southwest. It allows you to select a traveling companion to fly (mostly) free on any Southwest flight with you. You’ll pay only taxes and fees starting from $5.60 per one-way flight. 

And by using your Rapid Rewards Premier card, you can earn points that count towards the Companion Pass. Normally, you earn the Companion Pass by flying 100 qualifying one-way flights in a year. But you can also score the pass by earning 135,000 qualifying points in the calendar year. 

The Companion Pass is an awesome benefit and your welcome bonus points provide a big jumpstart to qualifying — you only need to earn another 75,000 points.

READ MORE: The Southwest Companion Pass: Ultimate Guide

Benefits of the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

This card has a ton of mainly travel-based benefits for business owners:

• Receive 6,000 bonus points each year on your card anniversary. 
• Unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs). These are earned at a rate of 1,500 TQPs per $5,000 in spending. 
• Get reimbursed for up to 2 EarlyBird Check-Ins per year. This enables you to check into your flight before the typical 24-hour window. 
• Save 25% on in-flight services purchased on Southwest flights (as a statement credit). 
• Transfer points to another Rapid Rewards member or a charity and be reimbursed up to $500 for point transfer fees. 
• Unlimited rewards seats to over 100 destinations with no blackout dates when you book using Rapid Rewards points. 
• Lost luggage reimbursement of up to $3,000 per passenger for you or an immediate family member. 
• Baggage delay insurance of up to $100 per day for up to three days for essential purchases if your bags are delayed by at least six hours. 
• Extended warranty of one extra year on eligible warranties of up to three years. 
• Purchase protection for 120 days against damage and theft, at a maximum of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account. 
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Referral bonuses of 20,000 points for each successful referral to the card (maximum 100,000 points per year).

LEARN MORE: Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

What We Like About the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

We like that the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card enables you to earn substantial Southwest perks, but without the higher fee of its sister card, the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.

Benefits like in-flight discounts and early check-ins are pretty appealing if you regularly fly Southwest.

We especially like that you can use Southwest credit cards to earn the Companion Pass, which can help you save a lot of money if you have someone who regularly travels with you.

Lastly, we appreciate that the card offers generous baggage insurance, as well as extended warranty and purchase protection. 

READ MORE: Baggage Delay Insurance: How It Works

What We Dislike About the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

While the card is more affordable than Southwest’s other business credit card, it’s not as lucrative in the rewards. Because of that, it’ll take you longer to reach the number of points you’ll need to reach the Companion Pass — which is the biggest benefit of having a Southwest credit card.

The other downside to the Southwest Premier Business is that it’s not as flexible as some other cards if you want to transfer your points to other loyalty programs. While this is fairly normal for an airline-branded card, it also means you need to be extremely loyal to Southwest to get the most out of your rewards.

Finally, it is unfortunate that there is no trip delay, interruption, or cancellation insurance with this card, which some other airline credit cards offer.

Who Should Get the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card?

If you own a business and fly often with Southwest, the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a great option. It’s relatively low-cost and offers a way to earn points that could get you into the skies for less. 

If you plan to fly mainly on Southwest (and your employees will too) and can earn the welcome bonus, you’ll get a lot of value out of the card. In particular, the Companion Pass is great if you have two people who will frequently fly together. 

Who Shouldn’t Get the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card?

This Southwest business credit card is not a great option for business owners who need flexibility. If you don’t live or work near a Southwest hub, or plan to fly on a variety of carriers or to destinations not offered by Southwest such as Europe, you’d be better off choosing a different card. 

Also, if you’re not able to meet the spending and/or flying benchmarks to earn a Companion Pass, you might consider other travel rewards cards. 

Alternatives to the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

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If you’re a true Southwest devotee, you may want to consider another card in the Rapid Rewards business family. 

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card is the next tier up from the Premier card, with a higher annual fee. 

But for that, you'll get 9,000 anniversary points versus 6,000, and earn points on internet, cable, and phone services, as well as on social media and search engine advertising — bonus categories that you don’t get with the Premier.

You’ll also receive other perks not offered to Premier cardholders, like up to $100 reimbursement for TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, four annual upgraded boardings, and up to 365 in-flight wifi credits per year. 

LEARN MORE: Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

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If you’re looking for a more general cashback credit card for your business expenses, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers flexible travel rewards for a reasonable annual fee. 

What’s great about this card is you can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to a large number of travel partners, including Rapid Rewards. So you can still get great Southwest travel benefits, but also use your points with other airline loyalty programs, as well as three major hotel travel partners. 

Plus, you get robust travel insurance benefits, whereas Southwest’s travel protections are fairly limited. However, you do need to spend more to earn the welcome bonus. 

LEARN MORE: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

FAQs

Is a Southwest Rapid Rewards card worth it?

Not surprisingly, a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card is most worth it if you frequently fly Southwest. Depending on which card you choose, you can get perks like discounts on in-flight purchases and free checked bags. 

And with any Southwest credit card, you can use your everyday spending to work towards the Companion Pass, which enables you to invite a travel companion for free for up to two years.

However, if you aren’t loyal to Southwest, a Rapid Rewards card probably won’t be worth it for you.

How do you apply for a Southwest business credit card?

You can apply for a Southwest business credit card online. You’ll need to supply some financial information about both you and your business, including your gross annual income, business structure, business revenue, and estimated monthly spending.

The Bottom Line

If you’re a big fan of Southwest, you’ll probably want to consider the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, so you can score points for flights you’re planning to take anyway, collect Southwest-specific perks, and even earn your way up to a Companion Pass.

Or, if you’re a superfan of Southwest, you may even want to consider the Premier’s pricier sister card, Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, which offers even more rewards and Southwest benefits.

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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.