Earning Points with Southwest Statement Credits
When reviewing my wife's Southwest account the other day, I discovered a hidden perk with the Southwest Performance Business card. It turns out that purchases offset by the Southwest statement credits offered by the card still earn you Rapid Rewards points. This card was already my favorite Southwest card since its perks more than offset the card's $199 annual fee. Let's take a look at the details surrounding this hidden benefit, and why it makes the card even better.
RELATED: Why This Is the Best Card for Frequent Southwest Flyers
Southwest Performance Business Credit Card Benefits
The Southwest Performance Business card offers a number of excellent perks. Cardholders receive up to 365 inflight internet credits per calendar year for wifi. Southwest charges $8 for wifi on all of its flights. You can use the credits to pay for connecting multiple devices on the same flight at $8 per device. This means you can pay for wifi on your laptop, tablet, phone, and any other devices that you or your travel companions are carrying.
The Performance Business card also covers up to four upgraded boardings per year. The cost of upgrading your boarding to A1-15 varies depending on the flight. Southwest increased these prices recently, and they now range between $30 and $149 per segment. There is no dollar cap on the card's reimbursement, so this perk alone can offset the card's $199 annual fee depending on how expensive those upgraded boardings are.
Southwest Statement Credits Earn You Rapid Rewards Points
Here is where the magic comes in. Cardholders still earn Rapid Rewards points for inflight wifi and upgraded boarding even when receiving a statement credit offsetting those purchases.
That's right, if you purchase wifi with your Performance Business card, you'll earn 32 Rapid Rewards points for zero dollars. The same goes for upgraded boarding.
So what does this mean? The Performance Business card earns 4x points per dollar on Southwest purchases. That's 32 Rapid Rewards points per $8 wifi purchase. This means the card's 365 wifi credits can earn you 11,680 Rapid Rewards points per year for free.
Meanwhile, the four upgraded boardings can earn you up to another 2,384 points, assuming you're buying them at the max price of $149 each.
At the end of the day, the Performance Business card can earn you up to 14,064 Rapid Rewards points per year for free! If the card's perks didn't already pay for itself, these additional points should certainly help.
Earning Points with Southwest Statement Credits: ToP Thoughts
The Southwest Performance Business card offers statement credits for wifi and up to four upgraded boardings per year. It turns out that Southwest still issues Rapid Rewards points for these purchases even when they are offset by those statement credits. That means that on ToP of all of the card's other great perks, you can earn thousands of additional Rapid Rewards points every year just by taking advantage of these statement credits.
Have you been maxing these benefits from this card? Come share your experience in the ToP Facebook Group.
