Do you have the Southwest CC?

[walkdmc]

I'm thinking of getting one and would like to know how one accumulates flight credits. I read somewhere that for every $1200 spent, you get 1 flight credit and it takes 16 for a roundtrip flight.

Every time I try to research the benefits, I am directed to the "Rapid Rewards Program" which I signed up for without having the CC....I even have 4 credits in there already. Is the Rapid Rewards Program the CC program?

 

[bridget]

Their program is changing in March- going to points.

Right now for every $1200 you spend you get a credit.

 

[walkdmc]

Do you think the new program will require you charge more, than the current plan, to earn a free flight?

I actually just filled out an application for DH for all sorts of incentives...first purchase gets us 1 flight (8 credits), $500 SW GC as long as we spend (I think) $1,000/mo. for 3 months and 1st year no annual fee. I'm hoping we get approved. The odd thing is, the CC is from Chase, the same company that supports the Disney Visa. When I applied for my Disney Visa, I got notice immediately that I was approved...and DH's credit is better than mine. Maybe they're uber picky, given all the good incentives?

 

[cepmom]

we have 2; just opened the 2nd one that gave us 2 free flights with any purchase, no annual fee. As mentioned above, the plan is changing though so I'm sure exactly how it is going to work when the changeover happens

 

[walkdmc]

We can only hope it's as least as good I guess.

I'm putting off non-essential dental work that will cost me $1700 while I wait for our approval/denial. $1700 could be a free flight plus!

 

[bridget]

If I understood correctly, if you are willing to get the "wanna get away" fares, you will use less points!

I pretty much pay everything with this card!!! The only bill that is not getting paid with my SW CC is my water bill. If Sam's Club would take Visa, I would be set

 

[MELSMICE]

We can only hope it's as least as good I guess.

I'm putting off non-essential dental work that will cost me $1700 while I wait for our approval/denial. $1700 could be a free flight plus!

You can earn a lot of credits on SW, but you definitely have to spend to get the credits. I use mine for my business & earn a lot of credits in one year. We also put college tuitions on the card.

Between that & the flights we take I probably get anywhere from 2-4 round trip tickets per year. I actually just earned a companion pass because of the # of credits I earned this year. A companion that I name can fly free with me anytime for the next 12 months.

Your dental work will earn you 1 credit plus put $500 towards your next credit. You need 16 credits to earn a roundtrip ticket (that's with today's promotion.....as someone mentioned they are changing it).

I thought you needed to earn the 16 credits within a one year's time frame to get a free flight, but I could be wrong about that.

 

[Frannie115]

I just applied and should get two free flights with first purchase. Hope it all works out in time for our June trip.

Now about paying for everything with the card and paying it off every month, I just don't think I'm good at budgeting to do that. Are there any secrets out there? I'd love to do this. I use my debit card for everything.

 

[Suz D]

From an online "newsweek" article

"What's changing: Earning points
Fliers will earn points for every dollar spent. You'll earn 6 points per dollar for cheap, nonrefundable "Wanna Get Away" tickets, 10 points per dollar for fully refundable "Anytime" tickets, and 12 points per dollar for expensive Business Select tickets, which comes with perks like free WiFi and drinks. You'll also earn bonus points for buying tickets in the nicest classes of service, which means that business class tickets are much more rewarding than before.


Eyes on the price: Free Southwest seats
What's changing: Redeeming points
There is a different calculation for each class of service. For a free "Wanna Get Away" ticket, you need to earn 60 points per dollar of fare to have enough for a free ticket. Case in point: If the fare for a specific flight is $100, you need to earn 6,000 points for a free ticket (60 times 100).
For a free "Anytime" ticket, you need to earn 100 points per dollar of fare. For a free "Business Select" ticket, you need to earn 120 points per dollar of fare.
What about expiration dates and blackout dates?
You can keep all of your points alive if you have some "account activity" every two years. "Account activity" can mean opening a Southwest Chase credit card, redeeming miles, or buying a ticket. Under the old system, each flight is worth one "credit," and credits expired after two years.
The airline says there are getting rid of blackout dates and dropping limits on how many reward seats are set aside on any given flight.

What if you don't have enough points?
You can buy points. It costs $50 for 2,000 points, and then $25 for every additional set of 1,000 points.

How does you do under the new rules as a budget-conscious traveler?
Not as well under the old system on average, though it depends on the type of flights you take and how often you fly Southwest. In general, the change favors high-spending travelers. If you are someone who mostly flies short-haul flights at the dirt cheapest prices, you're going to have to work harder now—spending about 20 percent more, roughly speaking -- to earn the valuable long-distance or last-minute flight.

What's the best deal under the new rules?
Buy lots of "Anytime" tickets and then redeem for a cheap "Wanna Get Away" ticket.

What about the credits you've already earned but haven't used yet?
Each old credit is worth 1,200 new points each. For a short time, if you have a bunch of credits and just need a little more to get a free round trip you can convert points from the new system to earn the last gasp of credits for one last award."

 

[scottmel]

I applied for the SW Visa about 2 weeks ago and it came quickly! What I did was call customer service after getting it and move my cut off date to by rather soon vs. waiting a whole month and THEN having the awards post. It worked perfect. I got the card on 1/29 had the card close on 2/5. I logged into my SW rewards account under my SS Rapid REwards number and bingo the free ticket had posted. Here is the tricky part though. I had signed up for the other offer of free RD ticket and 500 gift card. So the gift card takes a while to ship but the round trip ticket was hard to use. Flights were sold out for the free tickets. I was a little surprised. I am leaving PGH early June for ORLANDO and had to do Thursday to Thursday as Fridays and Saturday were just booked solid on free tickets. Even the Thursday flights were slim pickings. So that surprised me somewhat....I don't know how long it would take SW to let you know your free round trip was available, I guess on the statement it would say but I found out immediately once the month closed.

 

[appleseed1]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Suz D]

I applied for the SW Visa about 2 weeks ago and it came quickly! What I did was call customer service after getting it and move my cut off date to by rather soon vs. waiting a whole month and THEN having the awards post. It worked perfect. I got the card on 1/29 had the card close on 2/5. I logged into my SW rewards account under my SS Rapid REwards number and bingo the free ticket had posted. Here is the tricky part though. I had signed up for the other offer of free RD ticket and 500 gift card. So the gift card takes a while to ship but the round trip ticket was hard to use. Flights were sold out for the free tickets. I was a little surprised. I am leaving PGH early June for ORLANDO and had to do Thursday to Thursday as Fridays and Saturday were just booked solid on free tickets. Even the Thursday flights were slim pickings. So that surprised me somewhat....I don't know how long it would take SW to let you know your free round trip was available, I guess on the statement it would say but I found out immediately once the month closed.

We're using a free RT from PHG to ORL in early June as well. The nice thing about the new program is that the tickets will not be booked solid for free tickets. I don't mind taking a bit longer to earn a free ticket if I can actually use it. It just bugs me that you earn one but there aren't any flights available.

 

[Frannie115]

We're using a free RT from PHG to ORL in early June as well. The nice thing about the new program is that the tickets will not be booked solid for free tickets. I don't mind taking a bit longer to earn a free ticket if I can actually use it. It just bugs me that you earn one but there aren't any flights available.

I applied a few days ago. Does this mean I won't be able to get the free flights for a Sat. in June? I hope not.

 

[cepmom]

I applied a few days ago. Does this mean I won't be able to get the free flights for a Sat. in June? I hope not.

on the old Rapid Reward program, there was a chance that there would not be an "award" seat available on all flights, and there were some black out dates(mostly around major holidays)

After 3/1, when the new Rapid Reward program rolls out, there will no longer be any blackout dates or any seat restrictions., So you should be able to to get a free flight anytime you want.

 

[cepmom]

I just applied and should get two free flights with first purchase. Hope it all works out in time for our June trip.

Now about paying for everything with the card and paying it off every month, I just don't think I'm good at budgeting to do that. Are there any secrets out there? I'd love to do this. I use my debit card for everything.

just saw this post...one thing you can do to help keep your budget in line, is to make payments right away. Say you charge your groceries one week on the SW card instead of your debit card; when you get home from shopping, or at the end of the week, send a payment to cover those charges. You'll still get your points for using the card and you won't get a giant bill at the end of the month.

 

[Frannie115]

just saw this post...one thing you can do to help keep your budget in line, is to make payments right away. Say you charge your groceries one week on the SW card instead of your debit card; when you get home from shopping, or at the end of the week, send a payment to cover those charges. You'll still get your points for using the card and you won't get a giant bill at the end of the month.

This sounds like a good plan for me. I just wanted to be sure I'd still get the points even if the monthly statement did not close out yet. Thanks!

 

[scottmel]

Will this work? As I said I got one free RT booked but barely due to seat availability. Over the weekend I applied for ANOTHER SW VISA in my name instead of DHs. so in theory once I make a purchase I "earn" a free round trip on this card. So say my card comes 2/25. Do I hold making the purchase until 3/1 to be under the new plan or can I make the purchase 2/25 and by the time it posts I am under the new plan? Does that make sense?

 

[cepmom]

Will this work? As I said I got one free RT booked but barely due to seat availability. Over the weekend I applied for ANOTHER SW VISA in my name instead of DHs. so in theory once I make a purchase I "earn" a free round trip on this card. So say my card comes 2/25. Do I hold making the purchase until 3/1 to be under the new plan or can I make the purchase 2/25 and by the time it posts I am under the new plan? Does that make sense?

make the purchase whenever...the points from teh credit card will not post to your Rapid Reward account until the credit card statement closes, which will more than likely be after 3/1.

 

[scottmel]

Thanks Cepmom! so under the new plan there are no blackout dates if I understand you correctly? So I already have 1 RD booked free and when the new one posts - in March -I should get on the flight no problem so long as there are seats to be sold. Doesn't matter a tier system to use them etc. If there is a seat it is mine. I like that too actually!! thanksfor clarifying. i was kind of worrying about it after having a little difficulty getting a RD to work for me the other day for a June flight...

 

[cepmom]

Thanks Cepmom! so under the new plan there are no blackout dates if I understand you correctly? So I already have 1 RD booked free and when the new one posts - in March -I should get on the flight no problem so long as there are seats to be sold. Doesn't matter a tier system to use them etc. If there is a seat it is mine. I like that too actually!! thanksfor clarifying. i was kind of worrying about it after having a little difficulty getting a RD to work for me the other day for a June flight...

yes, there will be no blackout dates, so as long as there are seats available to be sold on any flight, you may book it, redeeming points to "pay" for it. While it is more confusing then the old plan and will require some shopping around to get the best price for a flight (to use less points), I do like that all flights will be able to be booked using points and no blackout dates to think about.
here is a link to the SW new program info page:

http://www.southwest.com/newRR/homeFlash.do