Compare the Features and Benefits of Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card and
Capital One Venture X Credit Card

Small business owners that occasionally fly Southwest should consider getting the Southwest Premier Business Credit Card. You’ll get a solid earning rate on Southwest Airlines purchases and select travel purchases, a statement credit for two EarlyBird Check-Ins each card membership year, plus 25% back on inflight purchases.

In addition to the bonus points earned after account opening, cardholders earn points at a rate of 3x Rapid Rewards points on Southwest purchases, 2x points on Southwest Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases, local transit, commuting, and ride-hailing services, and 1x Rapid Rewards points on all other purchases.

When you earn points through the Southwest Premier Business Credit Card, they count toward earning the Southwest Companion Pass. Plus you’ll earn 1,500 Tier-Qualifying Points toward A-List status for every $10,000 spent on the card in a calendar year.

You can boost your point earnings by adding employee cards at no additional cost. If you want a unique way to reward your employees, the Southwest Premier Business Card reimburses up to $500 in fees for points transfers.

When you go to redeem points, Southwest offers a simple rewards structure. You’ll pay between 81 and 83 Rapid Rewards points per dollar of base fare on Southwest flights, valuing the points around 1.4 cents each. While there are no blackout dates, that also means there’s no way of getting more value from your Rapid Rewards points.

Although the Southwest Premier Business Card is a solid card, Southwest frequent travelers should strongly consider getting the Southwest Performance Business Credit Card instead. For a $199 annual fee, you’ll earn higher rewards in several rewards categories: 4x bonus points on Southwest purchases, 3x points on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases, 2x points on social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services, and 1x on other purchases. Plus, you’ll get four Upgraded Boardings each year and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee statement credit.

Lastly, this card is great for getting halfway to a Southwest Companion Pass with the bonus offer. Read our guide on earning a Southwest Companion Pass for up to two years via new account bonuses.

The Capital One Venture X rewards credit card is an incredibly well rounded travel credit card that is easy to recommend to almost anyone. The first objection is always the annual fee, but once you see that the $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 miles anniversary bonus (worth $100 or more) nets out the annual fee, it’s much easier to go and focus on the benefits.

If you consider the annual fee to effectively be -$5 as I do based on the above though process, then you are looking a a TON of benefits for a card where you aren’t out a ton on the annual fee with nothing in return.

You’re getting Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Capital One Lounges, and Virgin Clubhouse airport lounge access, free authorized users that get that get the same (even when not traveling with you), top tier car rental status, Global Entry (or PreCheck) fee reimbursement, the ability to earn up to 10X miles on travel booked via Capital One, primary car rental CDW, cell phone protection, Extended Warranty, Purchase Protection, and travel benefits like trip delay or trip cancellation.

See, that’s a mouthful! You would expect to be paying a massive annual fee for all of that (without credits that net it out) and in this case, you’re just not. Of course, you’ll still have to pay the $395 fee upfront, but you’ll also be able to get that early spend bonus of 75,000 miles worth at least $750. I think that offsets it nicely!

In my opinion, this card is simply one of the best travel cards around in terms of both benefits and value for money.