Southwest Rapid Rewards - MKE to DC using Rapid Rewards.

Sorry if this has been discussed somewhere in the past. I have not seen it.

I am trying to book a flight between Milwaukee and Washington DC using SW Rapid Rewards. When I go to the SW site and enter a search between those 2 points it sends me to Airtran. I assume that means SW has no flights to DC Reagan. Airtran would be fine but it does not seem that I can use Rapid Reward points with them. Now that Airtran is becoming part of SW I assumed that you might be able to use miles/points/rewards between them. Am I wrong assuming this? I can not find a way to do this.

Is it possible?

Yes, I do know that the other option is to fly to Baltimore, but my real destination is DC.

Southwest begins limited service to DCA on July 8, and it probably does not yet include MKE.

Since April 19 it has been possible to convert RR points, credits, and Awards to AirTran credits, and AirTran credits to RR credits, as has been discussed in another thread. You could convert part of your RR account to an AirTran account and then see about booking an AirTran Award.

Be aware that AirTran still has change fees, baggage fees, and other policies that differ from SWA's.

OK. So I've been looking through some old posts. It appears that on Airtran I would need 16 A+ credits for a RT ticket. MKE to DCA. So, that would mean I would need to transfer almost 20,000 RR points. Is that about right? Checking on the web I guess I could do the Baltimore trip on SW for a few (not a lot) less points.

Yes, with exchange rates of 1,200 points per credit and 8 credits per one way Award, it takes19,200 points to book a round trip AirTran Award (assuming you have no existing AirTran credits).

Thanks. It would appear I have to weigh the advantage of flying to DCA (assuming I can book a seat) opposed to the hassle of creating an A+ account, transferring points, and probably having to pay for a piece of luggage. Hmm, perhaps flying to BWI is not such a bad idea.

OTOH Happen to catch a typical Monday FL sale and you'll earn 2 A+ points which could be transferred back to RR1 credits.

Depending on where you're headed in DC DCA might be well worth the effort. Whether you use points or cash.