Southwest. Is purchasing points a bad deal?

[eeyoresmom]

I need a little advice before I close my SW Visa. I have the regular one and believe I pay a $60 annual fee but all I use it for is booking SW flights as my AMEX Blue give me much better rewards. I have been justifying keeping it because I get 3,000 points each time the $60 fee is due. Without a sale on points though, when I go to book a flight using those points and the few I have earned in other ways, I am sure it is more expensive. So, I guess what I'm asking is does make financial sense to pay the annual fee and purchase expensive points if I am only earning around 4,000 points per year???

 

[kydisneyfans]

It depends on what kind of flying you do. Long trips vs short, weekends vs weekdays, holidays, etc. I have 6 flights booked between Orlando and Louisville for 3525 points each. My SW CC has the $99 fee with 6,000 points though.

 

[hsmamato2]

it's a $69 fee...and I forget the exact numbers, but it is the general value of those 3k points.(possibly slightly less now) IDK I value SWA points VERY highly,as they are waht enable us to travel a lot. I have even bought points when they ran a sale to top off my acct,simply b/c booking/rebooking with SWA is so painless and simple it's that valuable to me. If you aren't accruing enough to use,or not flying SWA,that's different. only pay the AF on a cc that you can use for the rewards. BTW, SWA has it's own shopping portal,it's own dining rewards program,and you can transfer Ultimate rewards points into it also. Easy ways to make more points faster. Also if you book on SWA and pay with your cc, you get extra points per dollar. Only you know if it's worth it to you to hold the card.

 

[eeyoresmom]

That's just it, I'm not sure if it's worth it. I THINK I may be losing money the way I use it. Let's say I have 4,000 points. If a flight costs 19,000 points, I am then buying a lot of points which I THINK I'm ending up paying more for than if I had just paid in dollars in the first place. Even worse when I use just a few hundred points for family members flights.........

 

[supersnoop]

Points are worth about 1.67 cents each. If you're paying $69 to earn 4000 points, you're just below the break-even point.

 

[hsmamato2]

Points are worth about 1.67 cents each. If you're paying $69 to earn 4000 points, you're just below the break-even point.

usually it's cheaper to just pay than to buy points to use.... except if you're like me,and you already have mostly enough points,and you value those points over other considerations(like paying a bit more for their flexibility) in my neck of the woods 4k points is almost enough for a free one way to FL.... I have gotten them for around 5200 points in the past....

 

[2TxAgs]

NOOOO, you are not getting good use out of your card if you are only using the yearly bonus and then buying points. I have a flight that costs $253 or 16000 points. If I have 4000 points already and want to buy the remaining 12000, I'm going to be charged $342 on the SWA website (as of today, with no bonus offer). No deal at all. The value with southwest is a) flexiblity. You can change flights with no fee to a lower fare anytime the fare goes down. You can cancel and the points go back into your account. b) some amazing prices if you're willing to keep checking. I've seen flights from Dallas to Denver as low as $36 and $44. That's a steal! Dallas to NYC for under $100. You're not gonna find these prices with the other carriers. BUT, you have to use the card and earn the points. Buying the points at full cost is rarely a good deal.

 

[eeyoresmom]

NOOOO, you are not getting good use out of your card if you are only using the yearly bonus and then buying points. I have a flight that costs $253 or 16000 points. If I have 4000 points already and want to buy the remaining 12000, I'm going to be charged $342 on the SWA website (as of today, with no bonus offer). No deal at all. The value with southwest is a) flexiblity. You can change flights with no fee to a lower fare anytime the fare goes down. You can cancel and the points go back into your account. b) some amazing prices if you're willing to keep checking. I've seen flights from Dallas to Denver as low as $36 and $44. That's a steal! Dallas to NYC for under $100. You're not gonna find these prices with the other carriers. BUT, you have to use the card and earn the points. Buying the points at full cost is rarely a good deal.

Even if I get rid of the SW credit card, I will still fly SW for all the reasons listed above, as most still apply, even when paying with dollars not points. And yes, that is how I have been using it. (around 4,000 points but buying the rest). I think I'm going to dump it. If it were my primary cc and I was racking up the points, I could see the benefit. I don't think the 3,000 points I get justifies the $69 fee.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Since you have an Amex blue also, you might want to consider using that for obtaining free flights. You are able to transfer Amex rewards points into many hotel and airlines miles. But (sadly) SW is not included in this list.

 

[georgina]

I cancelled my SW card (although my DH still has one). I get my SW points through the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire cards, we don't use the SW one DH has for much. I may reapply sometime later this year for the SW card just to get the 50,000 bonus points, but don't think it is worth it to keep the SW card. I also don't think it is a good deal to buy points.