Benefits We Wish Came With the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

There are a lot of benefits to having the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, particularly if you are a frequent Southwest Airlines flyer. The welcome bonus (worth about $840 based on our valuations) is already more than enough to justify the $99 annual fee: Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

On top of that, you will receive an additional 6,000 bonus points (worth $84) every card anniversary, which helps to cover almost the entire annual fee.

In addition to receiving a welcome bonus and annual renewal points, you will earn 3 points for every $1 spent on Southwest Airlines purchases, as well as 2 points with Rapid Rewards rental car and hotel partners and rideshares. All other purchases earn 1 point per $1 spent.

Cardholders also receive baggage delay insurance and lost luggage reimbursement for airfare purchase with your card.

Even though it already has some great features, here are some of the benefits that I wish came with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card.

» Learn more: Who can benefit most from the Southwest Premier Business Card?

Priority boarding

When looking at any airline credit card, my hope is always that the card will come with priority boarding. Unfortunately, the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card does not currently have priority boarding as a benefit, meaning you will have to pay to board early if it is important to you.

Another Southwest credit card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, does come with four upgraded boardings per year — we think a perk like this belongs on a business card too.

» Learn more: Full review of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card

Lower (or no) annual fee

The card’s annual fee of $99 is in line with comparable business credit cards like the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® and United℠ Business Card.

However, all of those cards offer additional benefits that the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card lacks. Those other cards offer free checked bags, while all Southwest Airlines passengers already receive two free checked bags.

The Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines business cards all come with priority boarding, which the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card does not currently include.

Because the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card does not include any additional free checked luggage benefit or priority boarding, I wish it had a lower annual fee.

» Learn more: United Business Card: Rewards, perks make up for fee

Discounted food and drink purchases

To be more competitive with comparable cards, I also wish the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card came with 20% - 25% back on in-flight purchases.

This would not only help to offset the card’s annual fee but would also make flying as a cardholder more enjoyable, since it would make it cheaper to buy drinks that aren’t complimentary.

The good and the bad of the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® ...

While this card does have its shortcomings, the points earning rates and benefits like the two EarlyBird Check-In® allowances per year that come with the relatively low annual fee may mean the card hits the right spots for some travelers. The EarlyBird Check-In® allowances, for example, put you in a better position to snag your preferred seat during boarding. Whether that's enough to make up for the lack of priority boarding is up to you.

No card is perfect, but the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® might just meet your business travel card needs.

The information related to the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.

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