What do YOU think of the new Southwest Rapid Rewards program?

[mom2brooke76]

I just got an email this morning saying this, and after reading about it, I'm not so sure how I feel. I know that the points don't expire, which is nice, but the downside is that it will take me twice as long now to earn a free flight it seems (unless I book the most expensive fares). Here's the link about it:

http://www.southwest.com/html/trave...tQGhvdG1haWwuY29t&src=MAILIANWKND000000110115


And here is the calculation that they seem to be going by (remember that it now takes 1,200 points to aquire 1 credit, and 16 credits to earn a free round trip. I enjoyed getting the cheapest fare and earning 1 credit for each leg. Gone are those days, it seems.):

How can I calculate the number of points I should earn for my ticket?
The actual number of points earned for each individual flight is calculated after completion of the entire ticket and is based on the final dollar amount paid for the advertised fare and fare product purchased for that flight. Airport- assessed Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs), federal segment fees, government-imposed September 11th Security Fee, and other taxes and fees are not eligible to earn points. Points are earned based on the advertised fare (base fare plus excise tax) paid for a ticket.

As an example:

DAL-RNO Business Select Anytime Wanna Get Away
Advertised Fare $404 $384 $172

(Comprised of ($404 x 12pts per $) ($384 x 10pts per $) ($172 x 6pts per $)

Base Fare + 7.5% Excise Tax)

Points Earned 4,848 3,840 1,032

 

[mom2brooke76]

Surely I'm not the only one that has an opinion on this

 

[3happydancers]

Surely I'm not the only one that has an opinion on this

I too received an email about this but to be honest, I do not truly understand the new calculations. I do have to say that I have never earned a free flight because I do not fly enough to earn the amount needed (we fly 1x a year).

How many points are needed now to earn a free flight?

 

[mdurette]

Well....I prefer the ease of the old system.
We fly SWA about 4-5 times per year - family of 3.
I think the short haul person and the last minute flyer will be the ones that feel the pain of the new program.

I am a "credit junkie" and earned a Companion Pass last year with limited flying and practically no hotel stays. Most done through my SWA Visa charge.

I like that they extended my CP until Dec 31st, 2011 (was going to expire in May)
Also like the idea that they allow me to reach my 2012 CP within the rolling 12months.

My plan of action - since I believe awards will be more valueable to me:
For me: continue to put all charges on my SW Visa to I can earn the CP untill Dec 2012.
Once that is done....
For husband: He is short 8 credits for a reward. Build up points by using his Visa instead and then take my one time transfer and get his award.
For Daugher: Still trying to figuere out a plan. This is much harder. Almost impossible to get credits for kids unless I fly with her. She will be two short at the time of the conversion. If I could figuere out how to get her the two prior without flying prior to conversion I would.

 

[mom2brooke76]

According to what I read, 1,200 points= 1 credit, with it taking 16 credits for a round trip. So, that should be 19,200 points.

The problem for me is that I book the cheapest fare. They multiply the total amount you spend by 6 to figure out your points (it's multiplied by a number higher than 6 for the more expensive categories, thus getting more points). According to those calculations, I would MAYBE receive one credit per round trip when I fly to my usual places now. In the past you received 1 credit for each one way flown (or 2 for round trip). Hope that makes some sense!

 

[3happydancers]

According to what I read, 1,200 points= 1 credit, with it taking 16 credits for a round trip. So, that should be 19,200 points.

The problem for me is that I book the cheapest fare. They multiply the total amount you spend by 6 to figure out your points (it's multiplied by a number higher than 6 for the more expensive categories, thus getting more points). According to those calculations, I would MAYBE receive one credit per round trip when I fly to my usual places now. In the past you received 1 credit for each one way flown (or 2 for round trip). Hope that makes some sense!

Thanks, makes sense and it also sounds like I would be in the same situation as you. I purchase the cheapest fares but I also do not use the cc for charges so I earn even less. Not likely for me to see free anything.

 

[Lewisc]

Most of us book the cheaper fares. You get 6 points per $100. It costs 60 points per $100 to redeem a flight. That means after 10 flights you'll have enough points to book a reward flight that's equal to the average fare you paid for your 10 flights.

We lose the ability to earn flights and dirt cheap flights and redeem them on very expensive flights.

People flying SW for business, and paying anytime/business select fares but redeeming their points for wanna getaway fares will make out much better.

 

[CarolMN]

We don't fly SWA often enough to qualify for a free flight before the credits expire. We don't have a SWA cc.

So the new plan, even if it takes longer to earn a free flight will work better for us. I read that as long as your account has some activity in the last 24 months, the points won't expire.

It seems fair to me that if you earn a free flight buying the lower priced fares, then that is the reward flight you should get.

FWIW, we fly SWA for overall price (no bag fees & no change fees are important components of that) as well as the friendly on-time service. FF awards are not important to us because they are usually so hard to redeem that we stopped even considering them in our purchase decisions. SWA's redemption rules are very customer friendly and a big plus in their favor, IMO.


.

 

[Rpsemont]

It makes a head hurt to try and figure out whether I'm better off or not.

We usually fly 3-4 times a year on SWA. Through hotel stays, rentals cars, etc, DH usually would get a free ticket once every other year.

I have a SWA VISA and could mange one about once evey 12-18 months.

I usually buy the wanna get away fares and seldom spend more than $100. We definitely won't be earning as fast.

HOWEVER, since they changed the program a couple years ago, generally the tickets we get with our RR tickets never cost more than $149 (and usually not that)
So being able to use a coupon on a more expensive flight, makes it worth much more - even if it does take more to earn.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

They did not make this program better for most passengers; those of us booking advance purchase Wanna Get Away fares. Southwest continues to want to lure more business travelers to the airline since they pay the highest fares. Thus, the program was changed to make it better for THEM along with the continued addition of business cities such as Boston, New York, Newark, etc to also attract THEM. So in most cases for most people, the program has been downgraded with the only plus being the points don't expire so theoretically one can finally earn a free ticket eventually.

BobK/Orlando

 

[LisaS]

So in most cases for most people, the program has been downgraded with the only plus being the points don't expire so theoretically one can finally earn a free ticket eventually.

Another plus is that they will no longer restrict the number of seats available for reward travel. This has been an issue for me in the past (had rewards, couldn't use them on the flights we wanted) so that is an improvement over the existing program.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I like it - only because I have spent a fortune in tickets lately.

Last minute trip to LA for New Years - $980 in business select
One way to Vegas last Friday - $460

So I had to buy business select which was the only class of service available, but get to use the points to "buy" wanna get away fares.

 

[RMAMom]

Like the last program I will never earn enough credits. I wish they would apply the credits to whoever pays for the flight instead of per person. I purchase 4 round trip tickets and get credit for one! Oh well, I guess it really doesn't matter because I just don't fly enough.

 

[DMRick]

I got my letter from Chase and what I thought I had figured out, I no longer do. It says I will earn 1 point for each dollar I spent (on non sw flights). I can do the one time conversion to earn the 8.5 credits I still need (because 1200 points = 1 credit). That part I get.

Then it says instead of 16 credits, free roundtrip flights start as little as 9,500 points. So, do I earn 6 X 100 points for each flight that costs $100, and I pay (when using points) 60 points per 100 for each flight..in which case a $300 round trip would cost me 18,000 points, instead of the usual 19,200 points it took to get 16 credits for a free reward. Or, if my flight is $400, will it now cost me 24,000 in points, instead of the usual 19,200? So cheaper flights are a savings and we pay more to fly farther in points?

And why can't I grasp if it will cost me more or less in points? BTW, all of my free trips are from my visa....I use it for everything. So, I never earn points from flying. But I wonder if I might want to look at a different cc to earn mileage, or use my other Chase, that gives me 1-5% back and just pay for my flights (I guess I would have to figure out what % I would have gotten from them, because that can be from $192 - 300 (they have a cap..but we do have two cards). So confusing.

 

[LisaS]

Then it says instead of 16 credits, free roundtrip flights start as little as 9,500 points. So, do I earn 6 X 100 points for each flight that costs $100, and I pay (when using points) 60 points per 100 for each flight..in which case a $300 round trip would cost me 18,000 points, instead of the usual 19,200 points it took to get 16 credits for a free reward. Or, if my flight is $400, will it now cost me 24,000 in points, instead of the usual 19,200? So cheaper flights are a savings and we pay more to fly farther in points?

Yes, you are correct. Under the current scheme, your VISA points get converted to credits. As you state, 1,200 VISA pts earns you 1 SW credit, 16 credits (19,200 pts) earns you an award good for two one-way flights. The new scheme drops the conversion of points to credits and just uses points instead. You can book any flight you want (no seat restrictions) and pay with points. Multiply the cost of the fight by 60 to determine the number of points needed.

If you can find flights for under $160 each way (or under $320 round trip) then the new scheme is cheaper because that round trip will cost you less than the 19,200 points you needed under the old scheme to earn award travel. If your round trip flight costs more than $320, you pay more under the new scheme because you will need more than 19,200 pts to pay for that flight.

I do like that there are no seat restrictions under the new scheme. I couldn't book the flights I wanted for my next trip using awards but will be able to do so in the future using points. The particular flights I wanted were $347 round trip so they would have cost me a bit more under the new scheme (20,820 pts instead of 19,200) but I would be OK with that to get the flights I prefer.

I wonder if we will be able to rebook a flight if the price goes down. If I use 9,000 pts to book a $150 flight and later the price goes down to $128/7680 pts, will I be able to rebook and get some of my points back? I can't remember whether they mentioned anything about that.

 

[DMRick]

I wonder if we will be able to rebook a flight if the price goes down. If I use 9,000 pts to book a $150 flight and later the price goes down to $128/7680 pts, will I be able to rebook and get some of my points back? I can't remember whether they mentioned anything about that.

I haven't seen that anywhere.

I wonder if we will be able to use points to book dings. Most likely not, but that would be great.

 

[thunderbird1]

As cross country fliers and people who earn most of their credits through partners (mainly VISA), this new program is much, much worse than the old. Just doing a quick search for getting to WDW, it looks like a free ticket that would have cost us 19,200 points under the old plan would now cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 points.

It also sounds like that figure will change day by day, hour by hour, along with their fares. And, as LisaS pointed out, will require constant monitoring IF they let you make changes after booking. One of the many things we liked about the Rapid Rewards program was the simplicity of it compared to other airlines, but now it sounds like it will be even more complicated than the others.

I'm really glad we learned about the changes before we renewed our Premier AP, because I don't see nearly as many trips to WDW in our future. We've flown almost exclusively Southwest for the past 10+ years, earning over 50 free tickets and a companion pass over the years. It was a good run, but Southwest just lost a loyal family of customers with this move.