Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business

The Performance Business leans on in-flight comfort: free unlimited Extra Legroom seat upgrades within 48 hours of departure when available, complimentary Preferred or Standard seat selection at booking, and Group 5 boarding for the cardmember and up to eight passengers on the same reservation. It also returns 9,000 points each anniversary, credits up to $120 for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS every four years, and earns 2,500 tier qualifying points toward A-List for every $5,000 spent. Southwest purchases earn 4 points per dollar, with 2 points on gas, dining, hotels booked directly with the hotel, and transit, and 1 point on everything else. The $299 annual fee is the hurdle, and clearing it takes a real Southwest habit, ideally with checked bags and seat upgrades in play; the 80,000 point welcome bonus also asks for $5,000 of spend in the first three months. If your team flies Southwest often enough to care about boarding position and legroom, it earns its keep, and if Southwest is an occasional booking, the fee outruns the benefits.