Southwest points question?

[Pinnochio]

I'm looking at this extra 40% offer on points from Southwest....It says I can buy 43,000 pts + 17,200 bonus pts (40%) for $1182....I calculated via the SWA site that 60,000 total pts would = 6 one way flights of $150.....6 X 150 = $900....the math says i'm paying $282 more by buying points instead of just paying with a credit card.....

What am I missing??

 

[Auntrosie]

I thought the same thing when I looked into buying points. I calculate points I earn to be worth .0165 cents when I use them for flights so the math just did not work out.

 

[georgina]

I have never found any buy points offers appealing. They may be best for people who need just a few more points to combine with the ones they already have to book a flight.

 

[tooh8ful]

I've bought SW points when I was just a few short of getting a flight (or 2) but I've never, even with promotions,thought buying points was a "deal". I end up spending as much as I would have to buy the airfare outright but used up a bunch of points too.

 

[tzeitel]

Same here, only bought points once since I needed a few to get a flight. Not worth it otherwise - even with a special.

 

[Pinnochio]

thank you all for the responses....thought I was overlooking something here....

 

[DizMe]

My experience has been the same as the other posters. I have purchased points when I was just a bit shy of being able to book a flight with the points I had. It makes sense to do that for me because I need to cancel a flight often enough to prefer using points that just go back into my account rather than having to keep track of flight info, vouchers, etc. I book lots of flights and I hate keeping track of those confirmation numbers for canceled flights in order to use the credit balance. Otherwise, though, buying points isn't a deal.

 

[EACarlson]

Flights booked on points go back to points when you cancel or rebook for less. Flights booked with cash become travel vouchers only good for one year from date of original purchase.

 

[Pinnochio]

That's a plus