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The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card offers the standard 2X points at Southwest, but it doesn’t have much else to offer for its annual fee aside from some anniversary bonus points.
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The information related to Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card has been collected by Credit Card Insider and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product.
We give the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card 3 out of 5 Stars. It’s a mildly rewarding card with a useful selection of shopping and travel protections, but it doesn’t stack up well with other cards at its fee level.
Most business owners could probably do better than the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card. It’s about as rewarding as your average airline card and features a good selection of travel protections, but not much else.
If you like Southwest, you might want to consider the upgraded version, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.
You’ll get bonus points from your Southwest flights depending on the type of airfare you purchase. For “Wanna Get Away” fares you’ll get 6X Southwest points, for “Anytime” flights you’ll get 10X, and for “Business Select” you’ll get 12X. So with 2X Rapid Rewards points from the card, you’re looking at cash back equivalents of at least 12%, 18%, or 21% respectively.
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With your next business trip marked on your calendar, it’s time to redeem your points. Here’s what you can redeem for:
But as this is a Southwest card, your best bet will be to redeem for reward flights to get the most value. There are no blackout dates to keep track of, and your points won’t expire.
It’s very simple. All you need to do is go to Southwest’s website and plug in where you want to go. Choose the box that indicates you’d like to pay with your points and you’re all set.
Below we’ll run through a few one-way flights so you can have an idea of what your points might be worth. These flights are all examples of Southwest’s Wanna Get Away fare.
Flight | Point Cost | Dollar Cost | Point Value |
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LGA to DEN | 19,140 | $287.00 | 1.50 cents |
ORD to BOS | 4,991 | $92.00 | 1.84 cents |
HOU to CVG | 16,238 | $247.00 | 1.52 cents |
SEA to IAD | 30,241 | $440.00 | 1.45 cents |
MCO to BWI | 16,223 | $238.00 | 1.47 cents |
These point values are pretty good, but keep in mind yours will likely be different depending on where you’re flying to and from, and when you plan to go.
If you’re earning 8X points per dollar (2X from the card, 6X from the Wanna Get Away fare), the flight from Chicago to Boston would net you a cash back equivalent of 14.75%, which is very good. For the lowest point value, the flight from Seattle to Washington-Dulles, you’d still get a cash back equivalent of 11.64%, which is a pretty high return.
The benefits here aren’t overly impressive, especially for a card that requires an annual fee. Other travel cards will typically offer you more for your money. That’s not to say you won’t find some value from the travel protections; most of them could prove pretty useful given the right situation.
Purchase APR | Balance Transfer APR | Cash Advance APR |
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15.99% - 22.99% Variable | 15.99% - 22.99% Variable | 24.99% Variable |
Annual Fee | Foreign Transaction Fee |
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$99 | $0 |
Balance Transfer Fee | Cash Advance Fee |
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Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. | Either $15 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater. |
Penalty APR | Late Fee | Returned Payment Fee |
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Up to 29.99% Variable | None | $39 |
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card is a decently rewarding card for people who love to fly with Southwest Airlines. However, the perks leave a lot to be desired for a travel card that asks for an annual fee.
You may find some value here if you fly occasionally, but there are other cards at this level that offer much more for the price.
If you’re a Southwest frequent flyer, consider the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card. The annual fee is higher but you get quite a bit more for your money. If you’re a more general traveler, you could look into the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Review).
Or, check out our other choices for the best business travel credit cards.
Follow the link below to learn more about how to apply.
The credit card issuer (Chase) will usually give you an instant decision, but in some cases you may need to supply more information.
The Rapid Rewards Premier card is designed for business owners with good credit.
Good credit typically refers to credit scores of at least 670 for FICO, or 700 for VantageScore.
However, you could still be approved if your credit isn’t so great, and you could be denied even with excellent credit. Factors like revenue and other business financials are involved, along with credit scores, which could lead to your approval or denial.
You’ll get pretty basic benefits with the card, including free employee cards for your business, a handful of shopping and travel protections, and 6,000 anniversary points.
Take a look at the benefits you can expect.
If you’re only taking the occasional business trip, it could be worth it, but even then there are better cards to choose from. Consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Review) if you don’t have a favorite airline.
However, if you fly more frequently with Southwest, you’d get more out of the upgraded version of the Premier card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card is the upgraded version of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card.
As such, it offers better rewards and more useful benefits. But it also comes with a larger price tag. However, even if you don’t travel too often, it would serve you far better than the Premier Business card.
The improved benefits include four upgraded boardings per year, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit, 9,000 anniversary points each year, and 365 $8 WiFi credits per year.
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The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® is a good option for businesspeople who prefer to fly with American Airlines.
There is an annual fee, so it’s a good idea to only consider this card if you travel relatively often. The rewards you’ll earn will equate to about 7%–14% cash back, so it could be a little less rewarding than the Rapid Rewards card. But the benefits are more helpful than what the Southwest card offers.
Your first checked bag will be free (not something you have to worry about with Southwest), and you’ll get preferred boarding, a 25% in-flight purchase discount, and a 24/7 personal business assistant for help with hotel, travel, and dining arrangements. However, there aren’t any travel protections like the Southwest card offers.
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Assuming you’re redeeming your miles for AA flights, they should be worth about 1–2 cents in most cases. In addition to earning 2X miles from your card, you’ll also get at least 5X miles from your AA membership. That means you should get a cash back equivalent of 7%–14%.
Citi is a Credit Card Insider advertiser.
If you’d rather fly with Delta than Southwest, perhaps the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card (Review) is the card for you.
It does carry an annual fee, but the benefits offer more value than what you’d see from the Southwest card. The Delta card earns a cash back equivalent of at least 7%–10%, so the rewards are a little lower than what you’d see with the Southwest card, but again, you’d get more value from the benefits.
The benefits include a $100 travel credit (after spending $10,000 in a calendar year with your card), a 20% discount on in-flight purchases, and priority boarding. There are, however, fewer travel protections.
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You’ll earn 2X miles from the card and at least 5X miles from being a SkyMiles member, meaning you’ll earn a total of 7X miles for Delta flights. If your miles are worth about 1–1.5 cents, you’ll see a cash back equivalent of 7%–10% for Delta flights.
Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
The information related to Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card has been collected by Credit Card Insider and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product.
Unlike the other cards compiled here, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Review) isn’t tied to any one airline.
It carries an annual fee, but if you don’t strictly adhere to flying with one airline, it could be the card for you. Thanks to its 1:1 transfer rate to Chase’s travel partners and 25% redemption bonus for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, it can be a great choice for traveling business owners (and yes, Southwest is a transfer partner, along with other popular airlines and hotels).
You won’t get any airline-specific benefits here like in-flight discounts, checked bag fee credits, or priority boardings, but you will get a nice selection of shopping and travel protections, with the addition of a cell phone protection perk. That’s another reason why this card is best suited to people who don’t travel every weekend.
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You can get a higher cash back equivalent by transferring your points to Chase’s travel partners, where they could be worth more. If you find a per-point value of 2 cents or more, you’d see cash back equivalents of 2%, 6%, and 10% for the 1X, 3X, and 5X bonus categories.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, please click here.
Evan graduated from SUNY Oswego with a degree in journalism and creative writing. In his professional writing career, he strives for precision and comprehension in his work. He’s written news articles, blog posts, and copy, working across a slew of different mediums. With in-depth research and great care for accuracy and detail, he now works to bring you the most up-to-date credit information.
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