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Update: Some of the benefits listed below are no longer available. View current offers here.
The recent launch of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card has created major problems for consumers. How do you decide which of Southwest’s great business credit cards to apply for? Apply for one business card in short succession to earn the required 125,000 points plus one year (or more) of free flights for your companion. Today, we’ll take a look at how this newcomer stacks up and help answer the key question: “Which Southwest Business credit card is right for you?”
Comparing Performance and Premier Business Cards
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card | Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $199 | $99 |
| signup bonus | 80,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months | 60,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months |
| rate of return | 3x on Southwest purchases, Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases
2x on social media and search engine ads, internet, cable and phone services 1x Elsewhere |
Double Points on Southwest purchases and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases
1x Elsewhere |
| Anniversary bonus points | 9,000 | 6,000 |
| Elite status benefits | Earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points with every $10,000 purchase, up to 15,000 Tier Qualifying Points per year | Earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points with every $10,000 purchase, up to 15,000 Tier Qualifying Points per year |
| Benefits and statement credits | Four A1-A15 boarding passes per year, if available
Up to $365 $8 inflight Wi-Fi credit per year (covers all-day pass) Global Entry or TSA PreCheck enrollment fee of up to $100 every 4 years |
none |
A key question when comparing an entry-level card to a competing premium card is, “Does the increased benefit outweigh the additional cost of the annual fee?” In this case, Southwest Performance Business costs $100 more each year than Southwest Premier Business, so that’s the threshold for the extra benefits you need to be worth it.
Performance begins by offering 9,000 bonus points on your account anniversary. Premier is 6,000 points. TPG values Southwest points at 1.5 cents each. Southwest uses a revenue-based award pricing structure, so you should be able to get this exact redemption value without any real work. narrows down to just $55.
The next great perk of the Performance Card is Wi-Fi credit. Basically, you can buy his 1-day pass for $8 every day of the year. You can buy at least as many days as your southwest flight. For business travelers who value their time, this is a great perk and a great value. If you fly southwest just eight times a year, your Wi-Fi credits will be $64, completely voiding the remaining high annual fee on your Performance Card.
The more you fly, the clearer your choices become. The Performance Card also comes with four space-available A1-A15 Priority Boarding Passes. Southwest charges $30-$50 for these round trip flights, so even on the low end you save an extra $120 a year.
Performance cards also have a significantly better bonus category, but that alone doesn’t make sense. Southwest flights and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners earn him triple points, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or 5x Membership Rewards points using The Platinum Card® from American Express when you book directly with the airline or through Amex Travel. Up to $500,000 per calendar year on these purchases. If you charge your Ink Business Preferred credit card and earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent, even the 2x category for business is better (each account’s anniversary year total purchases up to $150,000).
Of course, there are still compelling cases to choose the Southwest Premier instead. I also want to say something to keep the cost of cash down. It’s much easier for business owners to justify a $99 annual membership fee than a $199 annual fee.
Should I get both?
Chase was one of the first credit card issuers to introduce a “family limit” that prevents multiple bonuses on similar cards. For example, if you earned a bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card in the last 48 months, you cannot earn a bonus on the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
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Chase has a similar limit for the 3 personal Southwest credit cards they issue, please note:
“This product is not available to (i) Southwest Rapid Rewards current cardholders.® credit card, or (ii) a former cardholder of a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card who has received a new cardholder bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Card and Employee Credit Card product cardholders. “
Luckily, this restriction doesn’t apply to Southwest business cards (at least not yet). So you should be able to apply for both Performance Business and Premier Business. These cards are limited by Chase’s 5/24 rule (which means anything over 5/24 won’t be approved), but normally if you apply for a business card he’ll get 5 It does not add to the /24 total.
Someone has a real motivation to get both of these cards and get them ASAP. Combined with the welcome bonuses on these two cards, you’ll get 140,000 Rapid Rewards points, plus about a year and a half of the famous Companion Pass! Earned points are counted. This is a big development because the usual combination of a personal credit card and one business credit card leaves him with only 100,000 points and he has to come up with the rest of his 25,000 points himself.
Conclusion
Whichever Southwest card you decide to apply for, the launch of the Southwest Performance Business Card can only be good news. Now, he has one more option for small businesses to choose from when looking for a credit card. This is a very attractive option. The high annual fee is easily compensated for between 9,000 anniversary bonus points, $8 daily Wi-Fi credits, and a bonus category for businesses. If you’re looking to get the Southwest Companion Pass this year, both Performance and Premier may be the fastest way to do that.
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