Southwest Visa points question

[sydneysmom]

Good morning! I'm hoping that someone w/ the Southwest Visa can please answer a few questions for me.

We keep getting the offer for 50,000 points (good enough for 2 round trip tickets it says) and then you get 6,000 points on your anniversary. (with $ 99 annual fee) My question is, can I use the points for ALL our flights or only 2 round trip tickets (as it says in the ad)? It's me, DH and DD and when I priced out the SW flights out of Memphis to Orlando, it looks like I can get all 3 flights for 56,000 points (give or take). (give or take) What I'd like to do is get the card well in advance so we can get the 50,000 points and then add to that the 6,000 anniversary points.

If I have a total of 56,000 points, can I apply that to all three flights to pay for them (or is it only 2 flights?)

If we only have 50,000 points at the time we purchase our tickets, can I still use the points and then pay the difference? How does that work? (or are you only allowed to use the points when you have the exact amount, not anything less??)

I'm absolutely baffled and their website doesn't offer up great information on this. Thank you in advance!!!

 

[las3888]

It takes a little time after you get your card and make your first purchases, but then what happens is that you will find 50,000 SWA points in your account. You can do whatever you like with them. You can buy more than 2 tickets. I don't know why they state that on the advertisement because you often can buy more than just 2 tickets. If you are short 6,000 points, what we have done in the past is buy 2 round trip tickets with points, then for the 3rd person, buy a one way segment (using the most amount of points that you can) then pay cash for the other segment (the cheapest one). Hope that helps. We often cancel the card before the annual fee hits so we don't usually receive any anniversary points.

 

[JanaDee]

It takes a little time after you get your card and make your first purchases, but then what happens is that you will find 50,000 SWA points in your account. You can do whatever you like with them. You can buy more than 2 tickets. I don't know why they state that on the advertisement because you often can buy more than just 2 tickets. If you are short 6,000 points, what we have done in the past is buy 2 round trip tickets with points, then for the 3rd person, buy a one way segment (using the most amount of points that you can) then pay cash for the other segment (the cheapest one). Hope that helps. We often cancel the card before the annual fee hits so we don't usually receive any anniversary points.

For exactly that reason, the annual fee is now being charged on the very first statement.

 

[2Monkeys]

We used our bonus points for 4 flights - caught it at a great time and got all 4 for 48,000! I think they say 2 flights because most flights cost enough that you would only get 2.

 

[kristenrice]

We did this last January and had the 50,000 points by March. I was able to book 2 R/T tickets for DH and I for our trip in November which totaled less than 19,000 points. We've accumulated a few more and I was able to book 4 more R/T points (about 44,000 total) for our upcoming trip in October. I currently have about 13,000 points, but since our next trip is scheduled for May 2016, I'm sure I won't have enough accumulated to cover more than 1 R/T ticket, but that's better than nothing.

 

[ZiPaD3doDAH]

Morning!

First off, you need to go to the website and pick the days you want to travel. On the page with the prices, choose for it to show points instead.

Some flights can be as low as 20k roundtrip (mine was from Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego) but when you get closer to the date you want to travel, it can be VERY high and about 14k for just one-way.

You can use your points however you wish. All at once or one ticket at a time, or in your case all 3 tickets at the same time.

I don’t have the answer to your last question about the difference as I still have many points leftover on my account after choosing a flight.

 

[sydneysmom]

you all are the best ! thank you for the great advice. I was hoping that we could use the points as we wanted to.

And yes, I'm going to plan this out in plenty of time... we're not going until June 2016, so I am planning to get the card before the end of this year so I can plan around spending the $ 2,000 in the first 3 months to get the points. We're buying airfare for another trip next year, so that will help get us to that $ 2,000 level.

Thank you all so much for your help!!!

 

[briand1023]

The $99 annual fee for 6000 pts is decent as I have found flights for 6000 points that were much more than $99 had I paid cash.

 

[sydneysmom]

The $99 annual fee for 6000 pts is decent as I have found flights for 6000 points that were much more than $99 had I paid cash.

well, and that's exactly what we thought too. I priced out three flights and it came to $975. So even paying the $ 99 annual fee, we get 50,000 points after the first 3 mos and then the 6,000 on our 1 year anniversary. So combined, that covers the flight to Disney. and saves us $ 975.... how can we beat that?? It's WAY better than driving, that's for sure ! We'll have to fly out of Memphis because SW doesn't fly out of our airport anymore, but I'm willing to drive the 3 hours to Memphis to save that kind of money.

 

[Marionnette]

The $99 annual fee for 6000 pts is decent as I have found flights for 6000 points that were much more than $99 had I paid cash.

The RR points were "devalued" in April and now they are worth about 1.43¢. That makes 6,000 RR points worth $85.80. So, if you want the CC just for the annual bonus RR points, you're actually losing money. If you keep it for the other perks (it's a Visa Signature Card), then the additional $13+ is probably worth keeping the card, although there are other rewards CCs that cost the same amount and provide more flexible rewards and better benefits.

 

[Pembo]

We got our card at the end of January, charged the $2K. I bought 4 RT from Ohio to FL at the end of March and still have some points left over.

 

[hkriw]

How quickly did your points (50K bonus) post to your card once you spent the money?
THanks

 

[djmeredith]

How quickly did your points (50K bonus) post to your card once you spent the money? THanks

The general consensus on here is that if you hit your required spending amount within the first couple weeks of your billing cycle, your bonus points will hit your account just a few days after your billing cycle close date. It has varied for some people, but this how it has worked for most people.

 

[hkriw]

thanks- I'll start spending!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

If you are short points by just a little you can buy pts or transfer if you know someone willing to give. I have done this between dh and our kids accounts. 6000 may not be worth buying but right now they are offering a discount through the end of May. If you have the time it's probably easier to just make purchases to earn the pts needed

 

[SMCURT28]

If you are short points by just a little you can buy pts or transfer if you know someone willing to give. I have done this between dh and our kids accounts. 6000 may not be worth buying but right now they are offering a discount through the end of May. If you have the time it's probably easier to just make purchases to earn the pts needed

With the recent devaluation and transfer fees, it is rare that it would be beneficial to transfer or buy points; it would be better to just pay for one leg of the flight with cash. Like you said, if you have time prior to statement close, buy a gift card or prepay a utility bill to get your spend points and avoid wasting money. Also, buying, transferring, gifting points do not count toward companion pass status.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Also the beauty of booking with points is that if your booked flight should drop in price you can "change" it online, choose the same flight and bank the difference in points. I just did this last night. Our Sept flight went from $144 to 119. Dh got a refund of over 1600 pts.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

With the recent devaluation and transfer fees, it is rare that it would be beneficial to transfer or buy points; it would be better to just pay for one leg of the flight with cash. Like you said, if you have time prior to statement close, buy a gift card or prepay a utility bill to get your spend points and avoid wasting money. Also, buying, transferring, gifting points do not count toward companion pass status.

We never qualify for companion status and it was only $20 to transfer what we needed for a flight out west that would have cost $232 one way. It was worth it to me

 

[sydneysmom]

If you are short points by just a little you can buy pts or transfer if you know someone willing to give. I have done this between dh and our kids accounts. 6000 may not be worth buying but right now they are offering a discount through the end of May. If you have the time it's probably easier to just make purchases to earn the pts needed

if you're short the points, can you still use the points and pay the balance in cash? For example, if our flights add up to 56,000 points and we have 50,000 points, can I use the 50,000 points? that part confuses me.....

 

[Marionnette]

if you're short the points, can you still use the points and pay the balance in cash? For example, if our flights add up to 56,000 points and we have 50,000 points, can I use the 50,000 points? that part confuses me.....

No. It's either points or cash but not a combination of the two.

Use the points to buy the majority of your flights and then pay cash for the flight(s) not covered by points.