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

Josh GarberFebruary 13, 2020
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

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 2 points for every $1 spent on Southwest Airlines purchases, as well as with Rapid Rewards rental car and hotel partners. 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

Bonus spending categories

In addition to the 2 points for $1 spent on eligible Southwest Airlines flights, it would be great if the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card offered other category bonuses.

For example, travelers with the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® earn 2 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on purchases at telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rental merchants, gas stations and American Airlines purchases.

» Learn more: Chase 5/24 rule explained

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.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2021, including those best for:

Planning a trip? Check out these articles for more inspiration and advice: Southwest Rapid Rewards program: The complete guide Guide to earning Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points Find the best travel credit card for you

We want to hear from you and encourage a lively discussion among our users. Please help us keep our site clean and safe by following our posting guidelines, and avoid disclosing personal or sensitive information such as bank account or phone numbers. Any comments posted under NerdWallet’s official account are not reviewed or endorsed by representatives of financial institutions affiliated with the reviewed products, unless explicitly stated otherwise.