Southwest Performance Business Credit Card Review 2024
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This small business credit card is well worth its
Southwest Performance Business Credit Card Overview
Chase offers five co-branded Southwest credit cards with varying annual fees and benefits. The
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Southwest Performance Business Credit Card Rewards
Welcome Offer
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How to Earn Points From the Southwest Performance Business Card
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Cardholders also earn bonus points in other categories of small business spending such as social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services, local transit, and commuting. Here's the full breakdown:
- 4 points per dollar on Southwest purchases (including flights, inflight purchases, Southwest gift cards, and Southwest Vacations packages)
- 3 points per dollar on Rapid Rewards hotel and car partners
- 2 points per dollar on local transit and commuting, including rideshare (and also passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, rideshare, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages)
- 2 points per dollar on social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services
- 1 point per dollar everywhere else
You can earn even more points by referring a friend for any Southwest card. Southwest cards currently offer 20,000 Rapid Rewards points per approved referral, up to a maximum of 100,000 Southwest points per year.
How to Use Southwest Points
The easiest way to use your points is by redeeming them for flights on Southwest. The airline has a substantial domestic route network (including Hawaii), and it also flies to a number of international destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America.
Unlike many airlines, Southwest doesn't have an award chart — instead, the number of points required for an award flight is directly tied to the price of a paid ticket. You can expect to get an average value of around 1.4 cents per Southwest point, based on Personal Finance Insider's points and miles valuations, when you redeem them for award travel. There are no blackout dates and no seat restrictions; as long as there's a ticket available for purchase, you can book it with points.
Using your Southwest points to book award flights online is straightforward — once you log into your Rapid Rewards account, just search for flights as if you were looking for a paid ticket. You can toggle between the cash price and the points cost, so you can easily compare the two.
If you're not ready to get back in the air yet, there's no rush to redeem your points, because they'll never expire. However, Southwest credit card holders do have other options for redeeming points through the More Rewards program, including merchandise, gift cards, car rentals, hotels, cruises, experiences, and international flights on other airlines. The value you'll get per point varies, but it's usually a poor value compared to redeeming for Southwest flights.
Southwest Performance Business Card Benefits and Features
Earn the Southwest Companion Pass
Widely considered to be one of the best deals in travel, the Southwest Companion Pass allows you to bring a designated companion along on paid and award flights for just the cost of taxes and fees (typically about $6 on domestic flights) — and you can use your Companion Pass an unlimited number of times while it's valid.
You'll need to accumulate 135,000 qualifying Southwest points in a calendar year to earn the Companion Pass, and points earned from the bonus and spending on the
Anniversary Bonus
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Upgraded Boardings
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This benefit is different from Southwest EarlyBird Check-In, which you purchase at the time of booking or add afterward. Upgraded boarding is sold at the gate, when there is extra space available, for the A1-A15 boarding group.
Southwest doesn't offer preassigned seating. Instead, your boarding position (and opportunity to choose a seat) is based on when you check in for your flight. Upgraded boarding is a great way to get on the airplane sooner and avoid getting stuck in the middle seat.
Inflight WiFi Credits
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If you use this credit 25 times, you'll get enough value from this perk to offset the entire annual fee. You're limited to a total of 365 credits across your account between yourself and any authorized users you add.
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS Credit
Every four years,
Fast-Track to Southwest A-List Elite Status
If you're trying to qualify for Southwest's A-List or A-List Preferred elite status, the
A-List status normally requires 25 one-way flights or 35,000 tier qualifying points (TQPs) per calendar year, and A-List Preferred requires 50 one-way flights or 70,000 TQPs. Benefits include bonus points on qualifying flights (25% for A-List and 100% for A-List Preferred), priority boarding, check-in and security line access, a dedicated phone line, and free inflight Wi-Fi (A-List Preferred only).
Southwest Transfer Fee Credits
When you use your
Transferring points to others is usually not a good deal, because Southwest charges $5 for every 500 points transferred, with a minimum transfer amount of 2,000 points. However, with this fee rebate, you'll be covered for up to 50,000 points worth of transfers.
Car Rental Insurance
When you use your
However, this doesn't include liability, so you'll have to pay for that separately or carry coverage through your own personal auto insurance policy.
Baggage Delay Insurance
If you use your
Lost Luggage Reimbursement
Cardholders and their immediate family members are eligible for up to $3,000 per passenger in coverage if the carrier loses or damages your bags when you use the card to pay for your ticket.
Travel Accident Insurance
When you use your
Purchase Protection
If an eligible new item you've bought with your
Extended Warranty
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Travel and Emergency Assistance Services
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Roadside Dispatch
Cardholders can also access a 24/7 roadside dispatch hotline, which can arrange things like towing and jumpstarts when you're on the road for a set fee, which gets billed to your card.
Free DoorDash DashPass Subscription
Through December 31, 2024, you can activate a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription for 12 months which gets you no delivery fees and reduced service fees when you order from DoorDash and Caviar delivery services.
Southwest Performance Business Card Fees and Other Costs
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There are no fees for authorized user cards, so you can earn points from your employees' spending at no additional cost. Like most other cards, the
Compare the Southwest Performance Business Card
If you don't fly often enough to take advantage of these perks, you'll likely do better with a different small business credit card. Here are some alternative options for you to consider.
Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card - Product Name Only vs. Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card - Product Name Only
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Alternatively, you could consider one of the Southwest personal credit cards if you primarily travel for leisure:
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
These all come with varying benefits and annual fees, so one of them could be a better fit for you depending on your travel habits.
Chase small business credit cards vs. Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card - Product Name Only
If Southwest isn't the only airline you fly, you might benefit from the flexibility of a credit card that earns transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. You can still transfer your rewards to Southwest when you need them, but you can also use Ultimate Rewards points for award travel with a number of other airlines and hotels.
Southwest is just one of well over a dozen Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer partners, and cards such as the
Southwest Performance Business Card Frequently Asked Questions
What credit score is needed for a Southwest business card?
You'll need a good to excellent credit score to qualify for the
What is the annual fee for Southwest business credit cards?
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Can anyone get a Southwest business card?
You don't have to be a big-shot business owner to get the
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed the Southwest Performance Business Card
Personal Finance Insider's credit cards team focused on the following factors when reviewing the Southwest Performance Business card:
- Ease of use — Does the card have a rewards program and benefits that are easy to use and navigate? Is it easy to redeem rewards?
- Rewards earning — If there's a welcome bonus, is it competitive with other cards? Are there ongoing bonus categories, and are any capped at a maximum spending amount?
- Benefits — Are the card's benefits useful, especially to business owners, and do they justify the card's annual fee if there is one?
- Annual fee — If the card has an annual fee, is it offset by the value of the rewards and perks it offers?
Here's our guide to how we rate credit cards for more information about our ratings methodology.