enjoystravel
May 11, 01, 4:52 pm
I had been piling up Sprint Reward points (20 per dollar with the constraint that I remain Sprint Gold by spending over $50 per month) since inception.
Did my second redemption recently after a long time.
The Ugly:
=======
The tickets are completely unchangeable and you need to plan way in advance. The cash value or anytime discounts value the points for too little.
The Bad:
=======
It took me two days and several hours of redials/waits on speakerphones to reach live operators. There is no 24 hr service. The Sprint Rewards program seems to have been ended with just life support to grandfather old accounts. They do not send you statement balances in the mail and it is very hard to find anyone knowledgeable.
Points are not a true airline currency like miles. With miles you have a lot flexibility and award choices including biz class and F awards which are absend with Sprint Travel awards.
The Good:
=====
When I planned in advance, I was able to get decent travel awards. Free round trip companion in 48 US states was 40,000 points and complimentary round trip was 60,000 points. For some of the international fares, the discounts on preferred airlines amounted to decent savings. NW could issue e-tickets as well.
I used to value these at 2 points per mile (in the old days they used to give 10 miles per dollar spend on long distance) but with 5 miles per dollar now maybe 4:1 is not too bad. I might use them for family members that are flexible and do plan in advance.
Did my second redemption recently after a long time.
The Ugly:
=======
The tickets are completely unchangeable and you need to plan way in advance. The cash value or anytime discounts value the points for too little.
The Bad:
=======
It took me two days and several hours of redials/waits on speakerphones to reach live operators. There is no 24 hr service. The Sprint Rewards program seems to have been ended with just life support to grandfather old accounts. They do not send you statement balances in the mail and it is very hard to find anyone knowledgeable.
Points are not a true airline currency like miles. With miles you have a lot flexibility and award choices including biz class and F awards which are absend with Sprint Travel awards.
The Good:
=====
When I planned in advance, I was able to get decent travel awards. Free round trip companion in 48 US states was 40,000 points and complimentary round trip was 60,000 points. For some of the international fares, the discounts on preferred airlines amounted to decent savings. NW could issue e-tickets as well.
I used to value these at 2 points per mile (in the old days they used to give 10 miles per dollar spend on long distance) but with 5 miles per dollar now maybe 4:1 is not too bad. I might use them for family members that are flexible and do plan in advance.