![]() ![]() ![]() The Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business could be well suited even to business travelers who fly with Southwest® only a few times a year. The caveat is that the value you’ll get from points is likely to be a third to a half lower for these uses than when points are redeemed for Southwest® flights. You can, however, use Rapid Rewards® points to redeem for international flights with several airlines, as well as for hotel stays, car rentals, and merchandise with a number of Southwest® partners. No points transfer to other loyalty programs: You can't transfer points earned with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business to any other loyalty program.Compared to the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit card or the Chase Ink Business Preferred card, it's about twice as expensive. This card is no exception, with an annual fee of $199. As a general rule of thumb, the more perks and rewards a business travel credit card offers the higher the annual fee. Similarly, this card’s one-time offer is comparable with those of many of the co-branded airline cards costing about $100, in terms of both the number of points and the bonus’s total value. That makes the $199 fee for the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business on the high side, and it lacks the luxury benefits such as lounge access that are common to the premium cards. Annual fee and bonus spending threshold are on the high side: While there are premium co-branded cards with annual fees of $500 or more, the majority of such cards cost $100 or so.You can also earn 3X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners. With their collective value of almost 2X points, those earnings compete well with (if not exceed) what you might make on purchases of advertising or telecom services with many other small-business cards. That’s to be expected for a card that’s co-branded with an airline. Less common from such a card are the 2X rewards for some common business expenses and commuting categories. Respectable rewards, even on some non-Southwest® spending: At 4X points on Southwest® purchases, the rewards the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business provides for Southwest® spending is more than decent.The card also gives you a bonus of 1,500 of these tier-qualifying points for every $10,000 you spend. The bad: They’re not “tier points,” the ones that help you achieve Southwest®’s A-List and A-List Preferred tiers, which you can reach only through points earned through spending. ![]() The good news: These bonus points count towards reaching the 135,000 annually that are required to earn a free Companion Pass. ![]() Worth about $135, the value of the annual bonus justifies a portion of the card’s $199 annual fee. In addition to the one-time offer, your account receives 9,000 points on each card anniversary. Spending $5,000 in your first three months after opening an account earns you 80,000 points, worth an estimated $1,200 when used for Southwest® flights (using Investopedia’s valuation of these points at 1.50 cents each). Multiple points bonus: The points bonus with this card comes with fairly hefty spending requirements.No points transfer to other loyalty programs Annual fees and bonus-spending threshold are on the high side ![]()
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