Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card – Review [2023]

Great Card If

• You’re a frequent Southwest flyer
• You want a card that can help you reach elite status with Southwest
• You want a card that gets you free Wi-Fi on all of your Southwest flights

Don’t Get If

• You don’t fly with Southwest
• You want a card that earns transferable rewards

Southwest Performance Business Card — Is It Worth It?

For business owners who regularly fly with Southwest, you’d be hard-pressed to find many better options than the Southwest Performance Business card.

Not only is it great at earning points across 4 separate bonus categories, but it also offers a wide range of benefits that will offer a lot of value to cardholders.

For starters, the card gives you 9,000 bonus points on your cardmember anniversary each year, which you can use to book around $120 worth of Southwest flights (or more if you have the Southwest Companion Pass).

Further, for those who like to work during flights, or stream their own entertainment, the card offers 365 inflight Wi-Fi credits each year. Beyond that, you also have 4 Upgraded Boarding certificates each year (so you can get a better seat), and the ability to spend your way to Southwest elite status through card spend.

Southwest Performance Business Card Top Benefits

Southwest Benefits

• 9,000 Anniversary Points Each Year — Worth around $120 towards Southwest flight redemptions
• Four Upgraded Boardings per Year — Upgrade your boarding position to A1 to A15 for no added cost when available
• 365 Inflight Wi-Fi Credits per Year — Your card reimburses you for the cost of Wi-Fi on all of your Southwest flights
• Earn Tier Qualifying Points — Receive 1,500 tier qualifying points towards elite status for every $10,000 you spend on the card
• Point Transfer Fee Credit — Your card reimburses you for up to $500 in point-transfer fees when you pay for the fee with your card

Card Protections

• Baggage Delay Insurance — If your baggage is delayed by more than 6 hours, you’ll be reimbursed for up to $100 a day towards essentials like clothes and toiletries, for up to 3 days.
• Lost Luggage Reimbursement — If your checked or carry-on luggage is lost by the carrier, or items inside are damaged, you’ll receive coverage of up to $3,000 per passenger.
• Purchase Protection — Items purchased with your card are covered towards accidental damage or theft up to 120 days from purchase, with up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• Extended Warranty Coverage — Adds 1 year of warranty coverage to items purchased with standard warranties of 3 years or less.

Best Ways To Earn and Redeem Your Southwest Rapid Rewards Points

Your Southwest Performance Business card is going to help you earn more points, both when you are flying with Southwest and on your business expenses. However, it’s not the only tool you can use, as there are many great ways for you to earn lots of Southwest Rapid Rewards points.

When it comes to redeeming your Southwest Rapid Rewards points, it’s important to know that it’s a fixed-point currency. This means that the number of points needed for an award ticket is directly tied to how much Southwest is charging for the ticket in cash.

In our experience, you’ll usually get about 1.3 cents per point in value when redeeming your Southwest Rapid Rewards points on Southwest flights, though this can vary a bit. With that, here is a look at some of the great destinations you can visit with your Southwest Rapid Rewards points!

Alternative Cards to the Southwest Performance Business Card

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

If you’re looking for an all-around business travel rewards card, then we highly recommend the Ink Business Preferred card. With it, you’ll earn 3x points per $1 spent on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines, plus internet, cable, and phone services.

The card also offers access to the great collection of Chase airline and hotel transfer partners, which includes Southwest Airlines. This opens up your redemption options far beyond what the Southwest Performance Business card can offer you.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

If you’re a Southwest fan, but don’t fly with the airline quite enough to justify the Southwest Performance Business card, then the Southwest Premier Business card is a happy medium.

The card is effectively a less potent version of the Southwest Performance Business card, with a more reasonable annual fee. The cards offer the same bonus categories, except your rewards are reduced to 3x points on Southwest purchases.

It also offers 6,000 points on your cardmember anniversary, a 25% rebate on inflight purchases, 2 EarlyBird check-in certificates each year, a $500 fee credit for point transfers, and tier qualifying points for card spend.