Currently, Chase's Southwest co-branded business credit cards are offering cardholders the chance to earn up to 80,000 Rapid Rewards points and get a head start on earning a Southwest Companion Pass!
Worried about whether or not you'll qualify for a business credit card? You might be surprised to learn just what the banks consider a small business. Odds are, if you've got a side hustle, do consulting work, or even just buy and sell items on eBay or Facebook Marketplace, your business would qualify.
So what's the Southwest Companion Pass? Oh, just one of the best deals in all of travel. With the Southwest Companion Pass, you get to choose one person to fly free with you every time you buy a flight or redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards points. No blackout dates and no questions asked: If the flight is bookable, you can add your companion.
Here's how these bonuses work – and how it can help you earn a Companion Pass:
- *southwest performance biz*: bonus_miles_full
- *southwest premier biz*: bonus_miles_full
Beyond the bonus points and opportunity to get a coveted Companion Pass, these cards come with other benefits like anniversary bonus points, early bird check-ins, upgraded boardings, and a discount on in-flight purchases.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about these Southwest credit card offers.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Anniversary Bonus: Each year on your cardmember anniversary, you will receive 9,000 Rapid Rewards points.
- Get 10,000 bonus points toward earning the Companion Pass: Southwest will deposit 10,000 Companion Pass-qualifying points in your account at the start of each calendar year.
- Earn 4x Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on Southwest purchases.
- Earn 3x Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on Rapid Rewards® hotels and car rental partner purchases.
- Earn 2x Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services; local transit and commuting (including rideshare).
- Earn 1x Rapid Rewards points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
- Four upgraded boardings per year (when available).
- Get up to a $100 statement credit (up to $120 beginning Oct. 1, 2024) every four years for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
- Get up to 365 Inflight WiFi Credits each year.
- Chase 5/24 Rule: The card will be subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so you may not be approved for the card depending on how many credit cards you've opened in the last two years.
- No foreign transaction fees
- Annual Fee: The card has an annual fee of $199, which is not waived for the first year of card membership.
Learn more about the *southwest performance biz*.
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Anniversary Bonus: Each year on your cardmember anniversary, you will receive 6,000 Rapid Rewards points.
- Get 10,000 bonus points toward earning the Companion Pass: Southwest will deposit 10,000 Companion Pass-qualifying points in your account at the start of each calendar year.
- Earn 3x Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on Southwest purchases.
- Earn 2x Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on Rapid Rewards® hotels, car rental partner purchases, local transit and commuting (including rideshare).
- Earn 1x Rapid Rewards points per dollar on all other spending on the card.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® per year.
- In-flight purchase discount: Save 25% on in-flight purchases when using your card.
- Chase 5/24 Rule: The card will be subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so you may not be approved for the card depending on how many credit cards you've opened in the last two years.
- No foreign transaction fees
- Annual Fee: The card has an annual fee of $99, which is not waived for the first year of card membership.
Learn more about the *southwest premier biz*.
Easy Path to BOGO Flights
You won't find a better deal in the world of travel than the Southwest Companion Pass: an unlimited buy-one, get-one flight pass. Even after Southwest (slightly) increased the points needed to qualify for the Companion Pass, we're still singing its praises.
Typically, the Southwest Companion Pass requires you to earn 135,000 qualifying Southwest Rapid Rewards points … or fly 100 one-way revenue flights in a calendar year.
Considering Rapid Rewards points earned through a sign-up bonus count towards the Companion Pass, you'd only need to earn an additional 55,000 points by the end of the year if you went with the 80,000-point bonus on the Southwest Performance Business Card. But it's really less than that: Since all Southwest credit cardholders get a 10,000-point Companion Pass boost just for having a card, you'll really only need to earn an additional 45,000 points to get that coveted Companion Pass.
Once you earn all the points you need, you get your Companion Pass for the rest of the year and the entire following year. That means with the end of the year quickly approaching, now isn't the best time to earn it. But if you time your application right, there's a way to earn the sign-up bonus at the very beginning of 2025 and then have the remainder of the year to earn the additional 45,000 points needed.
If you apply sometime in October, and then complete the minimum spending requirement after Jan. 1, 2025, all those bonus points would count towards earning a Companion Pass for next year. With some careful planning, you could get within a few dollars before the end of the year and then make a smaller purchase right away in 2025 to finish it out. Taking this route, you'd be setting your self up for nearly two full years of BOGO flights!
Unfortunately, you can't simply open a second Southwest business card to get the remaining 45,000 points – Chase only allows you to hold one version of their business cards at a time. And you can't simply cancel one card and open another, either: Timing and restrictions on how often you can earn bonuses mean that won't work.
But you can easily bridge this gap with one of the personal Southwest credit cards.
Otherwise, you could earn the remaining points you need the harder way: Simply flying with Southwest. You'll earn at least 6 points for every $1 you spend on the cheapest Southwest Wanna Get Away fares or up to 12x points on the priciest Business Select tickets. If you already do a fair amount of flying with Southwest, you might be closer than you think.
Finally, you'll also earn more Companion Pass points (and Rapid Rewards) for every $1 you spend on your Southwest credit card.
If you don't go with the tandem of a business and personal Southwest card, some combination of earning this big bonus, spending more on your card, and flying with Southwest could be enough to get you a Companion Pass for more than a year.
What to Know Before You Apply
There are some considerations to work through before you apply, none more important than determining whether or not you're eligible to open business credit cards.
Do you have any income from freelance work, or plans to start freelance work? You have a business. Have you ever sold an item on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, or other platforms, or have plans to do so in the future? You have a business.
In fact, many Americans have what the banks would consider a small business and don't even realize it.
At the end of the day, if you are selling any goods or services, or contracting with a company to do so in an attempt to make a profit, you have a small business and thus are typically eligible to apply for a small business credit card. That makes it possible for just about anybody to apply for a business credit card.
The next big consideration is figuring out if you're eligible to open a Southwest Business card specifically.
While Chase only lets you hold one Southwest personal credit card at a time, the same isn't true for business cards. That means you can already have one (but not both) of these cards and still qualify for the other. And if you've had one of these cards in the past, you'll need to make sure it's been more than 24 months since you last earned a bonus. Even if you've since closed the card, you won't be eligible for it again within that 24 month window.
Finally, these cards are also subject to Chase's dreaded Chase 5/24 rule, so getting approved for one of these cards may be difficult depending on how many credit cards (from any bank, not just Chase) you’ve opened in the last 24 months. If you've opened five or more credit cards with any bank in that period, you will not be approved for Chase credit cards, regardless of your credit score or history with Chase.
But if you are eligible, these Southwest credit cards are easily among the best credit cards you can get if you are under the Chase 5/24 rule. That’s especially true with these big bonuses clearing an easy path to Southwest's Companion Pass.
Read our master guide to the Southwest Companion Pass!
Pair with a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred
Both of these Southwest Business cards make great companions to either the *csp* – or even the *chase ink preferred*. That’s because Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be instantly transferred to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account on a 1:1 basis, meaning 1,000 Chase points get you 1,000 Southwest Rapid Reward points.
You can even transfer these points to Southwest to book a ticket to use with your Companion pass, paying just the taxes and fees on both tickets. It’s a great deal.
Learn more about the *csp*.
Learn more about the *chase ink preferred*.
Bottom Line
Chase is currently offering up to 80,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending a total of $5,000 in the first three months of card membership on the Southwest business credit cards.
