The CNN Underscored Money editorial team has developed a star rating so you can see the best card for specific categories. While we believe this card excels in this category, its overall star rating may differ.
CNNU Money editors awarded this card 3.6 stars as the Best Chase business card for airlines.
If you’re looking for a Southwest credit card that will earn you a nice chunk of points, then the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card is the one for you.
With the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card welcome offer, you can earn Earn up to 120,000 points after you spend $3,000 on the card within the first three months. And since Southwest Rapid Reward points are worth an average of 1.4 cents apiece, this offer is worth around $840 points when redeeming for Southwest “Wanna Getaway” fares.
We receive compensation from our partners for Featured Offer placements, which impacts how and where their offer is displayed.
Earn 90k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 cash back or $1,125 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel?
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO? credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Digging into the Southwest Premier Business card
The Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card is just $99 per year, making it the cheaper of the two Southwest business credit cards. It comes with some nice perks, including two EarlyBird Check-In credits, 25% back on in-flight purchases and no foreign transaction fees. You’ll also earn 6,000 bonus points (worth $84 toward Southwest Wanna Get Away fares) each year on your card holder anniversary starting with the second year you have the card, which alone almost offsets the card’s annual fee.
These benefits aren’t nearly as valuable as those found on the higher-end Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Performance Business Credit Card. But if those extra perks aren’t necessary for your travel needs, this card will fit the bill, and it comes at a lower price.
Points earned on the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card never expire and you’ll never have to worry about blackout dates or seat restrictions when redeeming your points. The number of points required to redeem for a flight is directly tied to the cost of the ticket, so a low-cost ticket means fewer points are required for that flight. Southwest also doesn’t charge any fees when changing or canceling a ticket booked with points, so if your plans change, Southwest’s flexible policies make it very easy.
Advantages of the Southwest Premier Business card
The Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card comes with several perks that will appeal to small-business owners who use the airline regularly. The card includes two EarlyBird Check-In credits per year. EarlyBird Check-In is normally an add-on option that automatically checks you in to your flight prior to the 24-hour check-in window.
Since Southwest doesn’t offer assigned seats, a better boarding position allows you to board the plane prior to those who didn’t purchase EarlyBird Check-In, thus allowing you to pick a more preferred seat. For busy business travelers, this means you don’t need to worry about checking in on your own and receiving a better boarding position. EarlyBird Check-In normally costs between $15 and $25 per flight.
Additionally, putting your business expenses on the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card can help you earn Southwest A-List or A-List Preferred elite status. With every $10,000 in purchases on the card, you’ll earn 1,500 tier qualifying points (TQPs). A-List status requires earning 35,000 TQPs, while you’d need to earn 70,000 TQPs to get A-List Preferred status.
There’s no longer a cap to the amount of TQPs you can earn, so theoretically, you could earn status without stepping foot on a Southwest plane. But we wouldn’t suggest shifting business spend over to this card solely to earn status. More likely, you’d want to combine TQPs earned on the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card with those earned from flying on Southwest. If you’re a business traveler who’s on the road often, having A-List status can definitely make your travel experience that much better.
Other perks of being a Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card holder include a $500 annual fee credit for transferring points between Southwest Rapid Reward accounts per year, 25% back on in-flight purchases, shopping protection benefits and no foreign transaction fees.
Additionally, all points earned on the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card count toward the hard-to-beat Southwest Companion Pass. This includes the card’s welcome bonus along with points you earn from everyday spending.
Disadvantages of the Southwest Premier Business card
Aside from the opportunity to earn a Southwest Companion Pass — which is admittedly a huge perk — the points earned with the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card are relatively low. You’ll earn 3 points for every dollar you spend at Southwest and 2 points per dollar on local transit and commuting purchases (including ride-shares) and hotels and car rentals booked through the Rapid Rewards travel website, then 1 point per dollar on everything else.
That 1 point per dollar includes many categories that typically earn bonus points on other credit cards, such as travel (aside from Southwest), dining out, gas, advertising and office supplies. Since Southwest points are worth around 1.4 cents apiece when redeemed for the airline’s Wanna Get Away fares, you’re effectively only earning a 1.4% return on these purchases. That’s pretty low, especially since there are many business credit cards out there with the same annual fee or less that can earn a 2% return or more in these categories.
For example, the Ink Business Preferred? Credit Card earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150,000 spent each year in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines, and then 1 point per dollar thereafter and on all other purchases. And frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Chase Ultimate Rewards? points at a higher 2 cents apiece, meaning you can effectively earn a 6% return in these categories.
Plus, since Southwest is a partner airline with Chase, you can even transfer any points earned with the Ink Business Preferred? Credit Card directly to your Southwest account at a 1-to-1 rate, or you can choose to use your points elsewhere since Chase has 14 total airline and hotel partners in its program. The one thing to note is that points transferred from Chase to Southwest don’t count as qualifying points when it comes to earning a Southwest Companion Pass.
If you want a pure cash back business credit card, the Ink Business Unlimited? Credit Card is a great option. With this card, you’ll earn a flat 1.5% cash back on all your purchases. And if you have a premium Chase credit card — one that allows you to transfer points directly to partner programs — you can ultimately transfer your rewards earned with the Ink Business Unlimited? Credit Card directly to Southwest, just as you can with the Ink Business Preferred? Credit Card.
Another downside of the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card is that you won’t receive the same travel protection benefits that come with many other Chase business credit cards. While the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card offers some handy benefits, such as auto rental collision damage waiver, baggage delay insurance, lost luggage insurance and travel accident insurance, it doesn’t include more premium benefits, such as trip delay insurance or trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
Other credit cards similar to the Southwest Premier Business card
Within the Southwest family, there are actually five different credit cards — three personal and two business — so there are four other Southwest cards to consider.
If you’re looking for a Southwest business card that’ll provide you with more benefits, you might want to take a look at the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Performance Business Credit Card. With this card, you’ll earn more points in bonus categories, and get increased anniversary points along with a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck? fee credit, four upgraded boardings per year and in-flight Wi-Fi credits.
Or, if you’re looking for a personal Southwest credit card, you might consider the?Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card— Southwest’s mid-tier personal credit card. The benefits on the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card are very similar to the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card, with a few exceptions, and with the same $99 annual fee.
Should you get the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card?
If you have a small business and you can spend enough on your business credit card to earn a Southwest Companion Pass — and you don’t need all of the other benefits that come with the higher-end Southwest credit cards — then the Southwest? Rapid Rewards? Premier Business Credit Card is a great option to consider. Being able to have a friend or family member fly with you for free (plus taxes and fees) for over a year is huge and will save you a ton of money on your Southwest travel, and could be a great reward for all the purchases your business makes on its credit card.
