Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Review: Low Fee But Fewer Perks  

If you’re a small business owner with a preference for Southwest Airlines, the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a good way to rack up travel benefits.

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.

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 at gas stations and restaurants. 

You’ll also get travel perks like 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. 

However, since it has a lower annual fee than Southwest's other business credit card (the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card), it also has fewer perks.

Card Benefits

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card comes with the following benefits:

• Free first checked bag for you and up to 8 additional passengers on the same reservation
• Preferred seat selection within 48 hours of departure (when available)
• Group 5 boarding for you and up to 8 guests on the same reservation
• Annual 15% promo code on your cardmember anniversary (excludes Basic fare)
• 25% off in-flight services on Southwest flights (as a statement credit) 
• 6,000 bonus points each year on your card anniversary. 
• 2,000 tier-qualifying points toward A-List status per $5,000 in spending annually 
• 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points boost each year
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Referral bonuses of 20,000 points for each successful referral to the card (maximum 100,000 points per year)

The card also offers several insurance protections, including:

• Lost luggage reimbursement of up to $3,000 per covered traveler 
• Baggage delay insurance of up to $100 per day for up to 3 days if your bags are delayed by at least 6 hours 
• Extended warranty of one extra year on eligible warranties of up to 3 years 
• Purchase protection for 120 days against damage and theft, to a maximum of $10,000 per claim 

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 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 Premier business 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. 

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 free checked bags 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.

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.

Lastly, there's 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. 

But if you need flexibility, don’t live or work near a Southwest hub, or regularly fly to destinations not offered by Southwest (such as Europe), you’d be better off choosing a more general travel rewards card. 

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

Depending on your travel habits, you may find that Southwest's other business credit card suits you better — or maybe a non-branded credit card that offers more flexibility.

For more Southwest perks

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 2x points on directly booked hotels and local transit and commuting — bonus categories that you don’t get with the Premier.

You’ll also receive other perks not offered to Premier cardholders, like a statement credit to help with the cost of TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, unlimited free upgrades to extra legroom seats (when available), and preferred seat selection at booking (when available). 

For general travel rewards and cashback

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 that 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. 

FAQs

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.