Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card Review: Incredible Value at an Affordable Price

Frequent flyers will find a lot to like about the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. It offers a sign-up bonus that can cover several free flights, and potentially help you earn a companion pass, plus many other great perks with Southwest Airlines. Read our full Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card review for all the details.

This credit card is a good fit for: Business owners who fly with Southwest Airlines multiple times per year.

Top perks

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is packed with useful perks.

60,000-point welcome bonus

Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

The value of Southwest points can vary from flight to flight, but on most redemptions, you'll get $0.014 to $0.018 per point. That means 60,000 points can be worth $840 to $1,080.

SEE MORE: Best Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus Offers

Earn a Southwest companion pass

One of Southwest's most popular perks is its companion pass. You can earn this by taking 100 qualifying flights or earning 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. Once you earn it, you can select a travel companion to take with you for free on all the Southwest flights you take, whether you pay in cash or points. The companion pass lasts the rest of the year and the next full calendar year.

Points earned with Southwest credit cards count toward the companion pass requirements. That means if you complete the sign-up bonus requirements within the calendar year, you could earn a companion pass through that alone. The $15,000 in spending will earn you at least 15,000 points, and you'll also earn 120,000 bonus points, giving you the 135,000 points that are needed.

6,000 anniversary bonus points each year

You'll receive 6,000 bonus points every year you have this Southwest card, starting with your first cardmember anniversary. Since Southwest points are worth $0.014 to $0.018, 6,000 points can save you $84 to $108 on airfare -- already potentially enough to cover this card's annual fee.

Earn up to 3 points per $1

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card earns:

• 3 points per $1 on Southwest Airlines purchases
• 2 points per $1 on purchases with Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners
• 2 points per $1 on local transit and commuting (including rideshares)
• 1 point per $1 on other purchases

Earning rates are similar to other top airline credit cards in the same price range. If you book travel frequently through Southwest and its Rapid Rewards program, you'll earn points fairly quickly.

SEE MORE TOP PICKS: Best Credit Cards

Earn tier qualifying points to reach A-List status

The Southwest Rapid Rewards program has elite status tiers you can reach by earning enough tier qualifying points. A-List status requires 35,000 tier qualifying points (or 25 qualifying one-way flights) and A-List Preferred requires 70,000 (or 50 qualifying one-way flights). This card helps you get there faster, as you earn 1,500 tier qualifying points for every $10,000 spent, with no limit on how much you can earn. Benefits of Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred status include:

• Priority boarding
• Points earning bonuses
• Dedicated A-List member phone line
• Priority lane and express lane

Two EarlyBird check-in credits per year

Each account anniversary year, you automatically receive reimbursement for up to two EarlyBird check-in services. Since Southwest seating is first come, first served, this is a helpful benefit. It could make the difference in getting the seat you want and easily finding overhead space for your luggage.

$500 fee credit for points transfers

Southwest lets you transfer points to other Rapid Rewards members, but it's usually not a good idea because of the fees involved. You pay $0.01 per point, which is a sizable hit for points that are worth $0.014 to $0.018 apiece. But if you have this Southwest credit card, you get a $500 fee credit for points transfers each account anniversary. That effectively allows you to transfer up to 50,000 points fee free.

Purchase and travel coverage

This Southwest business credit card offers the following complimentary protections on eligible purchases:

• Lost luggage reimbursement
• Baggage delay insurance
• Extended warranty protection
• Purchase protection

You can learn more about these protections, including how they work, what they cover, and coverage limits, in the guide to benefits that comes with your card.

What could be improved

There isn't much to complain about with this Southwest card, but there is one small drawback.

Annual fee

This credit card has a $99 that's applied to the first billing statement. It's a reasonable amount, especially considering how much value you can get from all the benefits. But if you're trying to keep your costs as low as possible, you may want to look at credit card reviews for no annual fee cards instead.

A FICO® Score of 670 or higher is recommended when applying for the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. Approved applicants generally have good to excellent credit. A score of 720 or higher is even better.

Because Chase issues this business credit card, there's also an important application restriction to know about. Chase normally declines applications from anyone who has already opened five or more credit cards within the last 24 months. If you've opened that many credit cards, you may want to hold off on applying.

LEARN MORE: A Guide to Chase's 5/24 Rule

You fly with Southwest at least two or three times per year and you're looking for an affordable business credit card. For its $99 annual fee, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card can provide quite a bit of value.

Frequent flyers who don't mind paying more should also consider the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card. It has more features, but a $199 annual fee. And if you don't always travel with the same airline, you may want to look at more versatile travel credit cards not tied to Southwest. But for loyal Southwest flyers, this is a great option.

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.