When to book flight with SW rewards card

[LuvindisCruiser]

I got the southwest airlines rewards card.
My 50,000 bonus points are now in my account.

We are flying to Orlando in June 2012, our flights will be available to book the middle of this month.

Question for you that have the card.......

Should I book our flights right away, are their only so many seats available for reward customer?
I don't want to wait and not be able to use my rewards.

Thanks guys.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

All seats have a dollar value and a point value. If the seat is open you can book either way. If you go to the site and put in your dates you will be able to click a button at the top of the box saying dollars/points and you can see the cost either way.

Make sure after you book you keep checking back. If the price goes down you can adjust the fare using the travel tools options and they will return the extra points to your RR acct! Make sure to book your flights as one ways and not round trip. It makes it easier to rebook when the fares drop.

 

[Marionnette]

Another nice feature is that you can re-book your award flight if the "price" comes down and they will return the extra points to your Rapid Rewards account.

Now, there has been some discussion on flyertalk.com that there are glitches in the online booking system that forces you to cancel and then re-book your flight rather than just re-faring your ticket. But it does work. The points go right back into your account when you cancel so that you can book the lower fare immediately.

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Great info, thanks!