Southwest Rapid Rewards - Interesting WN Survey

Got an interesting survey link from WN the other day. It was a lot more detailed than the typical "where do you rate WN on a scale of 1-10" survey they send out.

This survey took a long time and asked very specific questions about travel patterns, why I've flown WN less this year than last year, what I think of other airlines etc. The interesting part asked about a "new loyalty tier."

If I recall correctly, they'd give you 3x bonus points on WN flights, free drinks, the highest boarding priority, a dedicated phone line and lounge access at (I think) 50 airports. You'd also get AirTran A+ status free, and they specifically mentioned upgrades.

They didn't say what the threshold was, but I'd expect it to be around 90 flights/90k points. Not sure how I feel about it. The lounge access seems interesting, but I'm not sure how, or where they'd have these lounges. SJC, OAK, DAL, HOU and MDW don't have lounges for example.

I think the RR 2.0 originally surfaced in one of these surveys which is why I made a post about it.

Got an interesting survey link from WN the other day. It was a lot more detailed than the typical "where do you rate WN on a scale of 1-10" survey they send out.

This survey took a long time and asked very specific questions about travel patterns, why I've flown WN less this year than last year, what I think of other airlines etc. The interesting part asked about a "new loyalty tier."

If I recall correctly, they'd give you 3x bonus points on WN flights, free drinks, the highest boarding priority, a dedicated phone line and lounge access at (I think) 50 airports. You'd also get AirTran A+ status free, and they specifically mentioned upgrades.

They didn't say what the threshold was, but I'd expect it to be around 90 flights/90k points. Not sure how I feel about it. The lounge access seems interesting, but I'm not sure how, or where they'd have these lounges. SJC, OAK, DAL, HOU and MDW don't have lounges for example.

I think the RR 2.0 originally surfaced in one of these surveys which is why I made a post about it.

DAL has a privately operated lounge between ticketing and baggage claim on first level

I think the RR 2.0 originally surfaced in one of these surveys which is why I made a post about it.

Indeed. Based on that experience, if anything comes of this it will probably take a year or more to happen.

Note that if Southwest offered 3x earnings for a top tier, the 1x earnings would HAVE to be reduced. Otherwise you'd get a 60% effective rebate for BS, an absurd ratio. Perhaps reductions in the 1x earnings are being planned regardless, but the program is far too young for Southwest to start with devaluations!

I doubt that Southwest wants to give people a huge benefit just for taking 90 $60 flights. Heck, they won't even give us a reasonable path to Companion Pass from there. We aren't profitable enough to Southwest.

As to lounge access, A-listers and above don't really need it except for changing planes at hubs, I mean focus cities. FWIW US Airways has a club in T1 at LAX. If US and AA merge, that club space (and a few US gates) should become available. But I'd rate lounge access very far down my list of priorities for benefits. The bigger benefit is not having to wait so long for your flight in the first place!

As to lounge access, A-listers and above don't really need it except for changing planes at hubs, I mean focus cities. FWIW US Airways has a club in T1 at LAX. If US and AA merge, that club space (and a few US gates) should become available. But I'd rate lounge access very far down my list of priorities for benefits. The bigger benefit is not having to wait so long for your flight in the first place!

I rank lounge access pretty high with Delta's SC and I fly almost all direct non-stops from a Delta hub. If you have a flight that ends up getting severly delayed the lounge access is great, while they can be crowded at times, I would rather be sitting in the lounge with power access and free wifi and drinks and snacks than in the concourse. There have been times I have gotten to the airport to stand by on a full flight in hopes there would be a no-show or misconnect and if that doesn't occur, the lounge access is nice to wait on my regular flight. If you have IROPS the lounges are a God-send, instead of waiting in a long line for an agent or on hold, there is usually only a couple minute wait to see a SC agent and get rebooked (and in this case WN would have to be operating their own lounges which I don't see happen).

If WN starts doing Red-Eye, or if you are on a FL red-eye the access is nice as well even if you are on a non-stop if you fly into a big airport. There have been a few times where I will take a Sunday night redeye home and go to the lounge after landing and use the shower and change, grab a bagel or bowl of oatmeall from the lounge and then just head to the office.

Nothing may ever come out of that survey anyway. I did a survey a year or two ago for citi's Hilton asking all kinds of questions about enhancements and how much I would be willing to pay for them, etc and nothing came of it.

Got the same survey...interesting that the only real data mining that it included was the new top tier. All other questions were the typical stuff included in every similar survey - leisure vs. business travel, number of annual flights, demographics, etc.

Note that if Southwest offered 3x earnings for a top tier, the 1x earnings would HAVE to be reduced. Otherwise you'd get a 60% effective rebate for BS, an absurd ratio. Perhaps reductions in the 1x earnings are being planned regardless, but the program is far too young for Southwest to start with devaluations!
Keeping in mind that the "3x" was only mentioned in a survey and presumably not explained in detail there, it could mean other things IMHO. It could be poor wording for meaning that you'll earn at a BS rate no matter which fare you buy, if you are in this elite level. That wouldn't require devluation for others, right?

Since I don't do anything other than WGA and mostly just redemptions, I forget: What is the current earning multiplier for BS over WGA on paid fares? If it's less than 3x, they still might mean 3x of WGA earnings, in that case meaning a slight increase for BS over regular BS earnings but nowhere near 3x of regular BS earnings.

WGA = 6x$
AnyT = 10x$
BS = 12x$

I forget: What is the current earning multiplier for BS over WGA on paid fares? If it's less than 3x, they still might mean 3x of WGA earnings, in that case meaning a slight increase for BS over regular BS earnings but nowhere near 3x of regular BS earnings.

3x base is how I interpreted the OP. Just modify:
WGA = 6x$
AnyT = 10x$
BS = 12x$

to add either:

SuperTier = 18x$; or
SuperTier = 24x$

But the folks who would reach this tier probably already have more points than they know what to do with.

Just got the email. Filled out the survey. Some interesting questions.

3x base is how I interpreted the OP. Just modify:


to add either:

SuperTier = 18x$; or
SuperTier = 24x$

But the folks who would reach this tier probably already have more points than they know what to do with.
I only fly the 70k TQP (including paying out of pocket from the higher WGA categories to BS on some flights) and I have about as many as I can handle.

They need to offer more legroom, not more TQPs, if they want to bring back the mid-con/transcon business traveler.