SWA RR question

[LoveToDisney]

I have a weird question regarding tickets purchased with reward points for another person we will call Friend A. When I purchase air travel for Friend A using my reward points and that friend cannot travel and needs to cancel, those points go back into my own RR account from which they came upon cancelling that ticket, correct? Are those points marked in any way or can they be used with my other RR points to buy another ticket that requires a different amount of points for Friend B or myself?

Do reward points and cancelled reward points stay in one big pot from which we can draw out and put back? Do they never expire, even the ones that were reserved and then cancelled as long as I continue to earn points?

How about the points that are purchased....do they have an expiration date?

My thought is, it would be better to purchase points and pay a bit more for the ticket via points if I don't know if Friend A will cancel on me. If I pay with cash, I cannot use the credited travel funds for anyone but Friend A. If I pay with points, do I understand correctly that those points will return to my RR account upon cancellation and can be reused to fly someone else or myself on another trip instead?

Whew! Sorry for the confusing question...Thanks!

 

[LoveToDisney]

Well, I called and visited with a SWA agent on the phone. They said the points do not expire as long as the account stays active, no matter whether they are new points, cancelled points or purchased points. The taxes that are charged when using the RR points gets credited back to the charge card used. The only loss would be EB if that had been purchased for the RR ticket and then cancelled.

 

[MarcyMouse]

Thanks for sharing! I was wondering about how that would work.

 

[lyonking3]

Since the RR points go back into your pot of points of not use, I often will use the RR points as a back up. So if something happens, all i'm out is the $2.50 I paid to book the ticket. It's a good program