Is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card worth it?

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The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best deals in travel, letting one other person travel with you for nearly free (just pay taxes and fees) when you fly Southwest.

One of the most common ways to qualify for this coveted pass is to earn 125,000 Southwest points in one calendar year. Achieving this will give you a Companion Pass valid through December 31 of the following year. In other words, your Companion Pass is valid for up to two years, depending on when you earn it.

Perhaps the best part? Receiving the intro bonus on any of Chase’s Southwest cards counts toward that point requirement.

The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is currently offering a welcome bonus of 60,000 Southwest points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Southwest points value is usually around 1.5 cents each. So those points are worth ~$900 in Southwest airfare, not to mention you’ll also be more than halfway towards qualifying for the Companion Pass after meeting minimum spending. That makes this one of the best Southwest credit cards for earning the Companion Pass.

But if you’re still on the fence as to whether this card is worth it, here are some more details.

Is the Chase Southwest Premier Small Business Card worth it?

When you apply for the Chase Southwest Small Business Card, you can earn a welcome bonus of 60,000 Southwest points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months.  If that spending requirement sounds difficult, check out this post for ideas of how to meet it! Welcome bonuses are the best way to earn Southwest points.

You can receive a surprising amount of Southwest travel for those points. See, there really isn’t a Southwest award chart — the price you’ll pay in points is tied to the cash price of the ticket. Southwest is constantly publishing sales, so when the cash price goes down, the points price goes down, too.

As a cardmember, you’ll also be treated to the following perks:

• 3X points on Southwest Airlines purchases
• 2X points with Southwest and Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases
• 1X Southwest points on all other purchases
• 6,000 bonus points each account anniversary year
• Free employee cards
• No foreign transaction fees

All these benefits and more make it one of the best airline credit cards on the market.

You’ll also receive primary rental car insurance when you rent a car for business purposes and pay for the entire rental with your Southwest Premier Business card (so long as you decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver). This could save you $15 per day over purchasing the in-house coverage from the rental agency. You’ll also get primary coverage if you’re renting for personal reasons outside the US or if you don’t have your own automobile insurance.  Coverage is secondary in the US if you rent for personal reasons.

Another handy perk is the card’s delayed baggage insurance. When you pay with the Southwest Premier Business card, you, your immediate family, or employees can be reimbursed for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over six hours (up to $100 a day for a maximum of three days).

The Southwest Premier Business card is also handy for more than just travel. It comes with various extended warranty and purchase protections. For example, the card protects eligible new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.

The card comes with a $99 annual fee.

This product is catered towards business owners, but don’t worry — it’s quite easy to qualify for a small business credit card. Pretty much any income you earn outside your regular 9-to-5 job will likely qualify you as a business owner. So if you sell items on eBay or drive for Uber or Lyft, you can apply for this card.

In other words, you don’t need to be a VP of a large multi-million dollar corporation. It’s even possible to qualify for the card as a brand new business owner with almost no business income.

Is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card worth keeping?

There are very few downsides to applying for this card. You don’t have to be the chairman of Mensa to see that the ~$900 value of the welcome bonus far exceeds the $99 annual fee. So even if you later find out it’s not the best card for your spending patterns, you’ll still have received more than you paid.

You’ll earn 6,000 bonus points each account anniversary year. That’s roughly worth the same value as the card’s $99 annual fee, making this card a definite keeper, even if you don’t fly Southwest that often.

But here’s a very important note: You won’t be approved for this card if you’ve opened five or more cards from any bank (excluding certain business cards) in the past 24 months.

However opening this card does not add to your Chase 5/24 count, because it won’t appear on your personal credit report. From that perspective, it won’t hurt your chances of getting approved for more cards from Chase.

So if you’re eyeing the Companion Pass, you can also earn the welcome bonus on a personal Southwest card after you get your hands on this business card if you’re interested in fast-tracking your way to the Companion Pass.

Read our full guide to the Chase Southwest Business benefits and perks. And read our full Southwest Business Card review.

Bottom line

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card comes with a $99 annual fee. Even if you don’t fly Southwest that often, this card still offers incredible value. It comes with a welcome bonus of 60,000 Southwest points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening your account. That’s worth ~$900 in Southwest flights, which easily offsets the card’s $99 annual fee. Furthermore, cardmembers also receive a bonus of 6,000 points each account anniversary year, a bonus valued at nearly the card’s annual fee.

If you’re a business owner, you’ll definitely want to consider this card, because earning the intro bonus will get you more than halfway towards qualifying for the almighty Southwest Companion Pass.

You can apply here for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. And subscribe to our newsletter for more close looks at which credit cards are worth a place in your wallet.