Southwest Rapid Rewards!!! HELP!

[jamiesmom07]

I am new to SW and need help! I have booked our airfare online, I added my reward number to my reservation, it's only showing up on my portion of the fare. How do I add my reward number to my DH, DS and DSBF?? I feel like I'm challenged as I cannot figure it out. Can someone help me? TIA

 

[lauti]

They need their own rewards numbers. It can't all go to you.

 

[NotUrsula]

You open individual RR accounts for your family members, then you call SWA to add the numbers to the reservations, or you take the numbers with you to the airport and have the gate agent add them before your outbound flight (you cannot easily get credit for the points AFTER a flight; that requires snail mail forms.)

As a new feature that just became available recently, points my be transferred between RR members AFTER they are earned. There is a fee to do this; $10 per 1,000 points transferred. This is very useful for moving children's points to an adult account, because while adults may earn points via partner purchases (Rapid Rewards Shopping or Dining, rental cars, etc.), children can only earn miles butt-in-seat. Very few minor children ever earn enough for free flights on their own, unless they fly alone on a regular basis to visit noncustodial parents.

 

[jamiesmom07]

Hmm, ok, thank you for the explanation. So I have 55,000 points in my account. Let me see if I understand how it works then, I am the only one who can use those points unless another RR family member "buys" them for $10 for 1,000 points? I got the credit card and put our trip on it to get the points, then paid it off. I guess I will be flying for free and the fam will have to scrape their pennies together??

 

[masmmdj]

You can book airfare for anyone using your points. The RR number would come into play if you are paying for the flights and want to earn reward points. Then each person flying would need their own number. Down the road you could combine them into one account by using the point transfer method ($10 per 1000 points).

 

[gmeh1]

Hmm, ok, thank you for the explanation. So I have 55,000 points in my account. Let me see if I understand how it works then, I am the only one who can use those points unless another RR family member "buys" them for $10 for 1,000 points? I got the credit card and put our trip on it to get the points, then paid it off. I guess I will be flying for free and the fam will have to scrape their pennies together??

No, they charge you to transfer points from one account to yours. 10 per 1000 points.

 

[Autumnslight]

No, they charge you to transfer points from one account to yours. 10 per 1000 points.

I didn't know that. That's ridiculous!

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Hmm, ok, thank you for the explanation. So I have 55,000 points in my account. Let me see if I understand how it works then, I am the only one who can use those points unless another RR family member "buys" them for $10 for 1,000 points? I got the credit card and put our trip on it to get the points, then paid it off. I guess I will be flying for free and the fam will have to scrape their pennies together??

Log into your account on Southwest. Add flights for all of your family members making sure to check the button at the top for points and not $. The total number of points used (for all flights) will be deducted from your account.

They only need individual RR numbers if you are purchasing (with cash) flights for each member of your family so that they "earn" points for their flights. I do not believe you can earn points for flights purchased with points. So, they don't need their own RR numbers at this point.

 

[gmeh1]

I didn't know that. That's ridiculous!

Well, it is better than not having the ability to do it at all.

 

[LisaS]

I didn't know that. That's ridiculous!

Until recently you could not transfer points between RR members at all. For people who fly only occasionally it can take years to earn enough points for a free flight. Since flights keep going up in price, it's a bit of a moving target too.

Now you can consolidate points into one account and actually get some use out of them. However the cost associated with this is pretty high. According to SW's website, the cost to transfer points is one penny per point. (ETA: Looking back I see gmeh1 already posted the cost information.) A flight that costs $100 will cost 6000 points. It would cost you $60 to consolidate enough points to pay for that $100 flight in points. It's better than paying full fare for cases where the points would not otherwise be usable.

 

[NotUrsula]

MommyPoppins' post is correct; if what you are trying to do is BUY flights for other people with your points, all that you need to do is 1) log into your RR account before attempting to buy the tickets, so that you are inside the account and identified to the system as the account from which to deduct the points, and 2) select the radio button for "points" (as opposed to "dollars") when purchasing the tickets, and the system will take the points out of the account that is being used as the login for the session (provided that there are enough points in the account to cover the purchase.)

The previous advice that we all gave regarding individual accounts is in regard to others in your family EARNING points when they fly: they have to have their own individual RR accounts in order to earn points on PAID tickets. (You do not earn any new points on trips that are paid for via RR points, that would be getting something for nothing.)

As to charging you a small fee for transferring FF points from someone else's account into yours so that you can consolidate them to get more points on one account (and thus use them more easily to purchase flights), it's not ridiculous at all. In fact, it's amazingly generous. AFAIK, no other airline based in the US allows you to do it at all.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

As to charging you a small fee for transferring FF points from someone else's account into yours so that you can consolidate them to get more points on one account (and thus use them more easily to purchase flights), it's not ridiculous at all. In fact, it's amazingly generous. AFAIK, no other airline based in the US allows you to do it at all.

This is not correct. All airlines let you transfer points/frequent flyer miles to someone else. All charge fees, and have limits on the amounts of miles you may transfer to one person.

 

[NotUrsula]

Then I stand corrected on that point; my apologies.

(Does SWA limit the number of points that can be transferred? I didn't see a limit noted on the info page, but perhaps I missed it.)

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Then I stand corrected on that point; my apologies.

(Does SWA limit the number of points that can be transferred? I didn't see a limit noted on the info page, but perhaps I missed it.)

I could not find that information either.

For an airline which flies a lot of inexperienced travelers, Southwest Airlines has one of the worst websites. It's really hard to find anything!

 

[kristenrice]

We just got the SWA Visa card in February with the 50,000 points. I created a RR account for myself but not my family. I used 18,000 points to book DH and I from GRR-MCO in November. I still have 45,000 points in my account right now.

Next October, we are all (family of 4) flying to Orlando and I am planning on using the points. I doubt we will have enough for 4 tickets, but we should have enough for three. My question is, what would be the best option for paying for the one cash fare? Should I just book it under my RR account or should I set up a RR account for DH? Or, should I set up an account for one or both of the kids and book the cash fare under one of them?

 

[fishing gal]

Next October, we are all (family of 4) flying to Orlando and I am planning on using the points. I doubt we will have enough for 4 tickets, but we should have enough for three. My question is, what would be the best option for paying for the one cash fare? Should I just book it under my RR account or should I set up a RR account for DH? Or, should I set up an account for one or both of the kids and book the cash fare under one of them?

If it were me, I would book the cash ticket for myself. For these two reasons:
1) I would earn more rapid rewards points for my own account. If you've already got some points, then this will add to those points.

2) If for some reason I have to cancel the paid with cash flight or the price goes down and I get a credit I will have 12 months from the time I booked the flight to use the credit. If I had booked the flight for my kid, then my kid would have to use the credit. But, I am more likely to be flying in the next 12 months to be able to take advantage of the credit. (note: this credit only applies to reservations paid with cash. If I make a reservation with points and then cancel or rebook at a lower points rate, then those points go back into the original point holder's account and there is not a 12 month window that I have to use them for)

Sorry, it sounds kind of confusing, but this is just what I would do if it were me in your case.

ETA: sometimes I have enough points for just one-way on one ticket, so I'm essentially using points to pay for 2 and a half people to fly and then cash for the other one-way. I just wanted to make sure you didn't overlook that option. It's nice to use points as much as possible.

 

[NotUrsula]

[snip]
...
ETA: sometimes I have enough points for just one-way on one ticket, so I'm essentially using points to pay for 2 and a half people to fly and then cash for the other one-way. I just wanted to make sure you didn't overlook that option. It's nice to use points as much as possible.

Yes, that is absolutely crucial to know. Due to capacity controls, purchasing flights with RR points is not always possible on certain routes on certain days (for instance, try booking something from a coast BACK to the Midwest on a Sunday after lunch -- it almost never works). However, it may well be possible to book the entire party in one direction on points, and then pay for the return, or vice-verso.

As a general rule, if there is capacity, we try to book the flights on the more expensive days (ex: Fri, Sun, any kind of event-travel day) on points, and pay cash in the direction that is cheaper.

Also, since the OP has a non-family member in her party, let me mention another issue that it pays to be aware of: if you have any person in your group who is outside your control in terms of schedule (a child's friend, for instance), or anyone of any age who has demonstrated a tendency to back out of trips in the past, it is best to book that person's entire trip on points wherever possible, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO BUY POINTS TO DO IT. The reason for this, as the PP said, is that credit for cash fares purchased but not used can only be held for use at a later date by that same passenger, but that credit for unused fares purchased on points will pour back into the account of the person who originally purchased them, and can then be re-used by any person who the originally purchaser wants to use them for.

 

[LisaS]

Then I stand corrected on that point; my apologies.

(Does SWA limit the number of points that can be transferred? I didn't see a limit noted on the info page, but perhaps I missed it.)

According to Southwest's website:

Points can be transferred in blocks of 500 with a minimum initial transfer of 1,000 points and a daily maximum of 60,000 points.

It's in the fine print at the bottom of this page: http://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/points-center

 

[LisaS]

Due to capacity controls, purchasing flights with RR points is not always possible on certain routes on certain days (for instance, try booking something from a coast BACK to the Midwest on a Sunday after lunch -- it almost never works).

Is this a change? When they first announced the new RR program they said if there is a seat available for cash it will also be available to book with points. This was one of the good things about the new program because, unlike the original one which limited the number of award seats on each flight, there were supposedly no limits on seats available on points.