SWA-Can I do this?

[minnie1928]

We recently flew to Orlando ( to visit the mouse, why else? ) and I thought that trip would give my DH, DD and DS enough credits for our next trip down to be free. They each had 12 credits and in the past we received 2 credits per flight (4 credits total RT). Well, it turns out that on each of our prior flights I had booked during a double credit special. So instead of getting 4 credits, this time they each got 2. They are all 2 credits shy of reaching the 16 needed for a free flight.

Ok, here's what I'm wondering. Can I buy a cheap ding and not actually fly on it in order to get the 2 additional credits? I need to fly before 5/24/07 and our next trip isn't scheduled until the first week of 6/07 (darned school system!)

Thanks!
kc

 

[PattiPB]

They must actually fly. Book the cheapest Ding to anywhere you can find, and have a quick weekend trip.

 

[scammermom]

I had a friend actually do that! She needed just one more roundtrip. So she went to NY for the day.

 

[TDC Nala]

You actually have to board the flight to get the credit.

 

[chrisp]

If you have American Express rewards, you can transfer points to get credits on Southwest. Check the Southwest website for any other partners they have that allow you to transfer points.

 

[NotUrsula]

There are a ton of things you can do to pick up credits, but the trick is that children can't legitimately do pretty much any of them except fly. You can get the CC and earn a lot of credits on that, but again the only account that earns the credit is that of the principal account holder. Same deal on rental cars; only the driver.

The only way I can think of to get credits for a kid without flying is to get them through hotel stays. (See the list at SWA.com) Go to the hotel, pay cash, and use the child's RR number for SWA credit. Hotels, particularly the more moderate ones, usually don't mind letting you fudge a bit on whose RR account you are crediting. One stay gets .5 credit; if you want to get multiple credit on a single stay you have to actually make a series of reservations and check out and back in again, preferably under a different name.

 

[mareed]

I'd recommend getting the Choice Privileges Visa at http://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...090RAFR00400800121979EN000&requestTimeout=120. You can earn and transfer Southwest credits to any Rapid Rewards account. I used it to top off my 2 kids earlier this year. The flexibility is great! There's no annual fee, and you get 2 RR credits for every $2500 spent. This is compared to 1 RR credit for every $1200 spent with SW Visa, but you pay an annual fee, and the RR credits only go to the account the credit card is set up with. You also control the timing of transferring the credits with the Choice Visa where it's automatic with the SW Visa. I cancelled my SW Visa and have been using Choice Visa for about a year, and it's been great.

 

[PattiPB]

I'd recommend getting the Choice Privileges Visa at http://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...090RAFR00400800121979EN000&requestTimeout=120. You can earn and transfer Southwest credits to any Rapid Rewards account. I used it to top off my 2 kids earlier this year. The flexibility is great! There's no annual fee, and you get 2 RR credits for every $2500 spent. This is compared to 1 RR credit for every $1200 spent with SW Visa, but you pay an annual fee, and the RR credits only go to the account the credit card is set up with. You also control the timing of transferring the credits with the Choice Visa where it's automatic with the SW Visa. I cancelled my SW Visa and have been using Choice Visa for about a year, and it's been great.

Not the OP, but thanks for posting this...I'll have to look into it.

 

[cigar95]

This reminds me of a time back in the 80s when several airlines were offering an incredible special - fly at least twice (I think) before a certain date, and get **triple miles** on all your flights for the rest of the year.

For the last couple weeks before the deadline, there were a lot of sold out flights from San Francisco . . . . . . . . . to Oakland!