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Today, Chase launched a brand new card: the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card. What’s awesome about this card is its new cardmember bonus, good for 80,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. While the timing for earning a Companion Pass dictates that the best time to apply is usually late in the year, this bonus might be particularly timely for those who got in on one of the personal cards earlier this year and need to fill in the blanks to extend a companion pass through the end of 2020.
The Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
80K points ⓘ Affiliate 80K after $5K spend in first 3 months$199 Annual Fee This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). |
Key Card Details
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
|---|
$199 Annual Fee Earning rate: 4X Southwest ✦ 3X Rapid Rewards(R) hotel and car partners ✦ 2X rideshare ✦ 2X social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services ✦ 1X on all other purchases. Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: If you earn 135,000 points in one calendar year, you'll get a companion pass good for the rest of that calendar year and all of the next year ✦ Earn 1,500 TQPs for each $5K in purchases Noteworthy perks: 9000 bonus points each year upon card renewal ✦ 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available ✦ Global Entry or TSA Pre✔ Fee Credit ✦ Up to 365 Inflight WiFi Credits ✦ 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year. |
Quick Thoughts
This card is interesting at the moment because of the huge welcome offer: I don’t ever remember seeing a larger new cardmember bonus on any of the Southwest credit cards. Since Southwest points are worth around 1.5c towards Wanna Get Away fares (but can sometimes be worth more), that means that this bonus will buy you somewhere around $1200 worth of Southwest Wanna Get Away fares. That’s pretty solid on its own.
The card furthermore isn’t a bad value since it covers A1-A15 boarding up to four times per year when available, which is typically a $40 value (though of course you wouldn’t value that at face since you may not otherwise pay for it and/or it may not be available when you need it). The card details also covers in-flight Wi-Fi on Southwest — up to 365 credits of $8 per calendar year for in-flight Wi-Fi. That could be a really useful feature if you ordinarily work while in-flight with Southwest. Finally, the 9,000 points awarded at anniversary buy around $135 worth of Wanna Get Away fares, so it’s a not a bad deal despite the $199 annual fee.
Still, the real intrigue here is in using the bonus towards earning the Southwest Companion Pass. The Southwest Companion Pass is earned when you earn 110K points within a single calendar year and is good for the rest of the year in which you earn it and the entire next year. This means that the usual play is to try to earn your points as early in the year as possible. For example, if you could open two cards in late 2019 and complete the minimum spend in January 2019, you could end up with a Companion Pass good for the rest of 2020 and through December 31, 2021. See our Complete Guide to the Southwest Companion Pass for more on the pass, how to earn it, and how it works.
Southwest introduced restrictions last year limiting card members to a only being able to have one of the personal cards at a time (and being ineligible for a new cardmember bonus on a new Southwest person card if you have earned the bonus on another personal card within the past 24 months.
However, that restriction does not apply to the business cards, which means you can still open one personal card and one business card in the same year in order to earn the pass. Again, now is not the ideal time to do so as earning 110K points now will give you a pass that’s only good through the end of 2020 (less than a year and a half once you earn the bonus(es).
On the other hand, this is a great opportunity for those who got in on the special Companion Pass welcome bonus on one of the personal cards earlier this year. That one-time bonus offered a companion pass that is only good through the end of 2019 and 30K points after meeting minimum spend. If you opened a card under that offer, you would need to fill the gap to earning 110K points this year in order to extend the validity of your Companion Pass through December 31, 2020. Keep in mind that you need to earn the difference during 2019; if you wait until January 2020, you start at zero and need 110K points during 2020.
Of course, if this bonus sticks around, it would be somewhat easier to earn a Companion Pass with a single card. That said, my bet is that this bonus will only be around for a limited time. How limited is anyone’s guess.
Again, this isn’t a great offer for those starting at zero, but might be great for those who are halfway there. Keep in mind that this card will almost certainly be subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so if you are at or over 5/24, you are probably not eligible.
| Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months. To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely. |
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So if I get this card this week and wait to spend 5k between Jan 1 and 12, 2020 I will have companion pass until Jan 21?
You would then have it through 12/31/2021
[…] Awesome new Southwest Business card debuts with 80K bonus […]
[…] 15:25 80,000 Signup Bonus Southwest Business Credit Card (FM link) […]
Or you could just get this card while it has an 80K bonus, then MS the 25K needed to complete the CP. Boom, CP with 1 card only.
wow, $25k spend? unless one is over 5/24, better to get 2 cards with much lower spend or less costs, time & effort for MS
Over 4/24 would most likely preclude one from getting this card. Anyways it could be a good strategy for someone that wants to minimize Chase SW cards and still get the CP ad infinitum. 4 example: perfomance biz now with ~$25K MS = CP1 through end of 2020. End of 2020 get 2 other SW cards and CP2. End of 2022, rinse, wash, repeat, CP3.
I think you answered this above, but just to be sure – I received a Companion Pass earlier this year during the period when it was one of the perks for getting one of the personal cards, and the welcome bonus was 30,000 points. Is it clear that those 30,000 points would now count toward my getting a different, conventional Companion Pass for 2019-2020? Specifically, if I now get the Performance Business Card, will I have the necessary (30,000 + 80,000 =) 110,000 points during 2019 and receive the 2019-20 Companion Pass? Thanks!
Yes, absolutely.
Canceled my old personal and business cards 12/26/18. Both opened 3/1/14.
Can I get the bonus popints again if I get a business and personal card again?
Will meet 5/24 rule in July. I assume I should get he business card first since it does not count towards 5/24.
Yes to all of the above. However, in your shoes, I’d wait until after 10/1 to apply for anything and then wait until January 2020 to meet spending requirements. That should set you up for about 23 months of Companion Pass. If you apply in July, you’re not getting the points until at least August – so best case scenario you’ll get there Companion Pass for about 16.5 months.
Dang. I just got the Chase SW Business Premier offer for 60k. Is it possible to get this card as well, or will having a SW business card preclude getting another one? I know it’s early for data points, but I’m interested…
Doubtful, but not positive yet.
Nick, per chase t&c wordings, sound that this card’s bonus is exclusive, whereby we can get the bonus for this even having gotten the bonus for the biz premier before 24 mo; could u help confirmed if that’s correct? Thx