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- Southwest’s business credit card has an elevated sign-up bonus.
- If you sign up now for the card, you can earn up to 100,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points.
- Even better: All you have to do is meet this card’s spending requirements, and you’ll have enough points to earn one of the most coveted travel industry perks: A Southwest Companion Pass.
Relying on plastic is pretty much a way of life for businesses that need to charge expenses, often big expenses, on a regular basis, and the same way individual consumers have a dizzying array of personal cards to choose from, many issuers likewise offer variants of their card products tailored specifically to businesspeople. They all feature varying incentives, perks, and bonus rewards, and depending on your personal circumstances there are some it makes sense to take a closer look at and others to ignore altogether. For example, if you’re a business owner who also regularly flies Southwest, it might be time to consider the budget airline’s Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card, if you haven’t already, given that it’s running a pretty generous elevated welcome offer right now.
The welcome bonus: Right now, if you sign-up and are approved for this card you can earn up to 100,000 bonus Southwest Rapid Rewards points after hitting two spending tiers. Once you’ve spent $5,000 in your first three months, you’ll earn 70,000 points. Spend $25,000 within your first six months, and you’ll get the additional 30,000 points for the grand total of 100,000. In terms of how much this bonus is worth, The Points Guy values the full reward (after hitting both tiers) at $1,500.
Key points to note: This card is a step up from the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card and offers, in addition to the impressive sign-up bonus, an even more attractive rewards structure plus an abundance of perks for Southwest regulars. While this card is designed for businesses that are able to pay a higher annual fee, you’ll also be rewarded with treats like an easier path toward A-List status as well as the earning of a coveted Southwest Companion Pass (by earning the sign-up bonus and meeting the minimum spend requirements). The other nice thing is that, in terms of this card being meant for business owners, there’s at least little bit of leeway there — you can be anything from a small startup to a side hustle you do in your spare time, one for which you don’t even have a physical office building or dozens of employees.
Another seriously incredible perk of this card — just by meeting both of the spending requirements, you will have racked up enough points (125,000) to earn Southwest’s highly sought-after Companion Pass, which is exactly what it sounds like. A pass that allows you to choose one companion to fly with you free of airline charges (though taxes apply).
Earnings rate: Cardholders will earn 3x points per dollar spent on Southwest purchases, including purchases made from Rapid Rewards hotel and car partners. You’ll also earn 2x points on social media and paid search advertising, internet, cable and phone services, plus the standard 1x point on everything else. Meanwhile, for every $10,000 you spend with the card you’ll earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) up to an annual maximum of 15,000 TQPs, which can help you hit A-List status faster.
Perks: While this card does come with a $199 annual fee, it more than makes up for that fact with a slew of perks, which includes the following:
- Four upgraded boardings to enjoy each anniversary year. These A1-A15 boarding passes will let you be among the first to board. “Among” being the operative word, of course, since Southwest doesn’t assign seats.
- 9,000 anniversary bonus points
- Inflight Wi-Fi credits (up to 365 $8 credits per year)
- Free employee cards
- A statement credit of up to $100 for your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee once every four years
- Points Boost — 1,500 TQPs per $10,000 you spend, with the opportunity to earn up to 15,000 TQPs each year.
- Free checked bags
- No change fees when switching your flight itinerary
- Free cancellations
The final word
: It’s probably worth stressing one more time, this is definitely a card to put on your radar if you’re a frequent Southwest flyer, even more so if you’re interested in getting your hands on one of the airline’s Companion Passes. It’s got a solid up to 100,000-point sign-up bonus and tons of Southwest-specific perks that will offer value to many cardholders, perks that should easily help those cardholders meet their goals.
