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Southwest business credit cards new offer — earn up to 120,000 points in a year

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5 days ago

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Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

  • Rewards

    Earn 4X points on Southwest® purchases; 3X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partners; 2X points on rideshare; 2X points on social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services; 1X points on all other purchases

  • Welcome bonus

    Earn up to 120,000 points. Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening and an additional 40,000 points when you spend $15,000 in 9 months.

  • Annual fee

    $199 applied to first billing statement

  • Intro APR

  • Regular APR

  • Balance transfer fee

  • Foreign transaction fees

  • Credit needed

Member FDIC. terms apply.

Pros

  • Bonus counts toward earning a Southwest Companion Pass
  • Generous ongoing benefits
  • Free employee cards

Cons

  • Higher annual fee
  • No intro-APR offer
  • Not as rewarding as other cards for certain purchases

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

  • Rewards

    Earn 3X points on Southwest® purchases; 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare; 2X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners; 1X points on all other purchases

  • Welcome bonus

    Earn up to 120,000 points. Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening and an additional 60,000 points when you spend $15,000 in 9 months.

  • Annual fee

  • Intro APR

  • Regular APR

  • Balance transfer fee

  • Foreign transaction fees

  • Credit needed

How to qualify for the bonus offer

To qualify for the bonus offer on either card, you can’t currently have the card and you can’t have received a new cardholder bonus for the card in the past 24 months.

If that describes you, then the only thing left is to spend money on the card to earn the bonus points. Here are the details:

  • The Performance Business card requires you to spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening to earn 80,000 points. If you spend $15,000 within 9 months from account opening, you earn another 40,000 points to bring your total to 120,000 bonus points.
  • The Premier Business card requires you to spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening to earn 60,000 points. If you spend $15,000 within 9 months from account opening, you get another 60,000 points. Again, the total bonus point amount is 120,000.

How to use this bonus to maximize your time with a Companion Pass in 2024 (and beyond)

One way to get a Companion Pass is by earning 135,000 points within a calendar year. Once you reach that threshold, you have your Companion pass for the remainder of the calendar year in which you earned it, plus the full year after that.

Considering this perk lets one person fly with you free of charge (except for any taxes and fees), you’ll want to maximize how much time you have the pass before you have to qualify for it again.

We’re about halfway through 2024, but if you think you can charge $15,000 worth of expenses on the card in a short amount of time, the 120,000 points from the bonus and the (at least) 15,000 points you would earn from that spending would qualify you for the Companion Pass. That still leaves you a solid chunk of 2024 with the Companion Pass, plus the entirety of 2025.

Other ways to get a Companion Pass

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

  • Rewards

    Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases, 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare; 2X points on internet, cable and phone services; select streaming. 1X points on all other purchases

  • Welcome bonus

    Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

  • Annual fee

  • Intro APR

  • Regular APR

  • Balance transfer fee

  • Foreign transaction fees

  • Credit needed

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

  • Rewards

    Earn 3X points on Southwest® purchases, 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare; 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming. 1X points on all other purchases

  • Welcome bonus

    Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

  • Annual fee

  • Intro APR

  • Regular APR

  • Balance transfer fee

  • Foreign transaction fees

  • Credit needed

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

  • Rewards

    Earn 3X points on Southwest® purchases, 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare; 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming. 1X points on all other purchases

  • Welcome bonus

    Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

  • Annual fee

  • Intro APR

  • Regular APR

  • Balance transfer fee

  • Foreign transaction fees

  • Credit needed

Southwest is also not the only one to offer money-saving benefits to bringing a travel companion. For example, Delta offers Delta Air Lines Companion Certificates which are offered as a benefit to select Delta SkyMiles credit card holders after renewing your card each year. These cards include:

Terms apply.

Delta offers two types of Companion Certificates across its co-branded credit cards. One is valid for domestic Main Cabin flights, and the other is valid up to domestic first class. The first-class Companion Certificate offers more value, as these tickets are typically the most expensive. As a cardholder, you can add a companion to a qualifying round-trip domestic Delta flight for just the cost of taxes and fees. All you need to do is book a flight for yourself and pay the taxes and fees for your companion.

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