80,000 Southwest Points for $3,000 of Spend, and the Card Helps With Companion Pass

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card is offering 80,000 points, the same bonus as the pricier Performance Business card, for less spend and a lower fee.

• Bonus: 80,000 points, up from 60,000
• Spend: $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
• Annual fee: $149, applied to your first billing statement

The Performance Business card carries the same 80,000 points but asks for $5,000 in spend and charges a $299 annual fee.

The card can help you toward the Companion Pass. Points earned on Southwest credit cards count toward the 135,000 qualifying points (or 100 qualifying one way flights) it takes to earn one, and this card adds a 10,000 point boost every calendar year (one Southwest card account per member). Earning one takes more than this bonus and boost alone, and Southwest sets the rules. Once you have it, you pick one person to fly with you free of airline charges, on flights you buy with cash or points, for the rest of the year you earn it plus the whole next year. Taxes and fees currently start at $5.60 one way.

Southwest has no award chart, so what a flight costs in points varies by route, date and fare. With a Companion Pass you spend points on one seat and your companion pays only taxes and fees.

Mind the calendar. Per Southwest, purchases made after your December statement date do not count toward Companion Pass status that year, because they post in January.

You can't get the bonus if you currently hold this card, or if you received a new cardmember bonus on it within the last 24 months. The offer is subject to credit approval.

The offer is limited, so check the Chase page before you apply. It may suit a business that already has $3,000 of ordinary spending coming in the next three months. If you would have to invent expenses to get there, this one is not for you.