dillspearpaddler

Forgive me if this has been recently discussed as I have been away for a bit. There was much discussion Pre-RR2.0 regarding whether or not it would be more or less rewarding. I have crunched the numbers for me and they are as follows:

A+
3/1 - 4/30:
- 16 Flight Segments
- 11 Partner Postings

Under RR1.0 = 21.5 Credits = 1 Standard Award + 5.5 Credits

Under RR2.0 = 62,776 pts = $1,046 in WGA Fares = $628 in AT Fares

For me RR2.0 is far more rewarding when booking WGA reward tickets and about even to slightly better for AT reward tickets.

smmrfld

Been a wash for me re: earning points vs. old credits, but remains to be seen what will happen after 12/11 when new A+ and CP earning requirements kick in for renewal after 12/12.

bon95

I would be in the better column if ALAMO WOULD ACTUALLY POST DOUBLE CREDITS.

for that matter i still have one Alamo rental that hasn't even posted the 600 points.

i shouldn't have a 2nd full time job tracking southwest points.





GET CHARGED $4.50 FOR AIRLINE RENTAL CREDIT


NO POINTS POST

alxir

My Hertz triple 600 points post 6 days after returning the rental car. After ten weekly rentals, I've got 18,000 points. Also, about 10K points from the SW Visa credit card so you gotta put me in the better column.

Boraxo

So far better for me. I get a much better return on my $400 anytime tickets, and my wife was able to use points to purchase a RR flight for Friday travel to Vegas at the WGA rate vs. no inventory for old RR awards. The old program was great when you could get 2x bonus on $39 flights, but those days are history.

johnslloyd

+1 for sure. 6 Alamo rentals going back 2 months, no bonus points. Pre RR2.0 Alamo base and bonus credits posted the next business day. No more! Alamo is about to lose a customer.

boeing727

30-minutes on hold with SWA Customer Service to inquire as to why I am missing double Alamo points on last 5 rentals. Was told as a ONE TIME COURTESY that SWA would deposit 600 points in my RR account. However, they would not honor the other 2,400 missing bonus points unless I call back in 30 days to see if they've show up. Of course they won't!

By the way, there seems to be a pattern at SWA these days when you bring up problems. They make you feel like an idiot and that your problem is the first time they've heard about it. I CAN'T be the only one who has called with missing rental car points. No way. So I'm the idiot???

ksdavis

Definitely better for me. I'm a frequent last-minute short-haul flyer, so the $400 to $500 R/T's RDU-BNA typically got me, well, nothing much... I would typically earn 2-4 credits per R/T (depending on SW Visa use and whether I was on BS fares).

Now as an A+ member, I'm earning 24 x 500 or about 12,000 points per round trip. I usually plan weekend trips in advance so am booking WGA... that works out to a few hundred dollars a month in future free airfare. Which is even more valuable as a CP-holder.

Personally, I'm extremely satisfied with the new system. I was rarely doing WGA before and almost never getting the $39-59 fares so I feel like I'm actually being rewarded for what I spend with SW.

(OK, having to sit on hold on the A+ line this morning for 20 mins. then another 15 mins. with an agent because the website errored out adding my companion didn't feel rewarding, but hey...)

toomanybooks

For us I think it's somewhat better:

1. Relatively low average fare out of MDW, compared to east/west coast folks. I never valued a 1.0 Award as much as others did, and I often used to burn standard Awards for $250 value or even less if they were expiring soon. Most of my WN 1.0/2.0 earning was via WN CC and transfer. Now for the "equivalent" 19,200 2.0 points, I'll generally get $320 value. And I can dribble it out in small amounts more quickly. No risk of expiring or $50 renewals, and no particular reason to build up a large balance of 2.0 points for leisure redemption, unless one trying to get TQP.

2. Up to 2 years on the CP now. Big impact few have mentioned. Quite valuable (worth way more than the 2.0 points themselves to us).

3. We never got to take much advantage of those $29/39/49 fares. Most of our trips have been medium long-haul to MCO, BWI, LAX.

But our family strategy differs now.

1. Wife who flies for business gets all the paid personal travel to bulk toward A-Plus.
2. I get most of the award travel spend from her earnings.
3. Son mostly uses CP

If it appears in the next couple months the wife will have a shot at CP herself, that will become a target via bulked-up CC spend. Not sure. I have mine until 12/31/12.

nsx

Better or worse?

Yes.

Better for the former losers, worse for the former winners.

Worse for me due to 60% earnings devaluation and demotion from A-17 to A-30 or more. Occasional free wifi (when it's not broken) and priority standby are the only bright spots.

But even with no RR at all I would still love the airline for its people and the lack of change fees.

iansltx

Out of everyone on this thread, I probably fly the least. However since I'm mostly bouncing DEN-SAT or DEN-AUS fares are inexpensive (thank you United and Frontier), so credit card based earning is miles better under RR2 than RR1. For $19,200 of spend I would get one R/T ticket under the old plan. Under the new one...since I'm always able to get WGA...that's $320 in credit. If I flew into/out of Austin on non-peak fares I could get two round trips for that price.

The other tip that my family takes relatively often (mom) is SAT-PBI. It's a more expensive trip, sure, but if I remember correctly it wasn't too much more than $320; might have even been less. I don't remember too clearly because it was completely paid for by the SWA Visa 30K point sign-on bonus.

When you compare WN's credit card earning scheme to that of other airlines for domestic travel (I'm specifically comparing with F9) WN wins. 25k miles for a R/T redemption vs. 11,400 points (actually more like 10,000 due to redemption calculations) on a $190 WGA flight...pretty much no comparison.

UnitedEF

You realize that the highest redemption value for your $10k spend on the WN Visa card is $.0167 right? Unless you really want to redeem for international awards or need the TQP from the card you would be better off just getting a cash back card or Citibank TYP card or any of the other myriad of 1 point/$.01 redemption cards. At least with those cards you can redeem on any carrier and in any class of service for a fixed rate and earn miles for your flights.

slider34

I fly probably 6 times a year (2ish for work, maybe 4 for personal vacations). I "thought" the new system would benefit me as I get most of my points through my SW Visa at roughly 1.67 back per dollar spent. That's a good enough deal, BUT...

When I look for 5 flights for my family and Southwest is now the new price leader (being one of the highest) and I book $400 flights with points when I could get the same flights for around $250 my 1.67 back goes down the toilet.

I do like the fact that I can get any flights and I don't have to dig for awful times if I can find them at all. Free bags are worth SOMETHING but not as much as I'm losing.

So I'm still on the fence but leaning towards not liking it. My AA bonuses are done so I have 300,000 miles to use and the SW Visa is back to my daily spender but not sure how much longer that will be the case. I'm in the process of building a home (reviewing bids) so until I get my rate locked in, no more new CC's for me.

formeraa

Well said! Honestly, the no change fees and the no bag fees (although I rarely check bags) are the only things that are keeping me on Southwest. As for people, I can find similarly nice people on Alaska.

I really can't wait for Hawaii service on Southwest.

InkUnderNails

I agree.

Looks like I will lose CP as I fly nowhere near 100 segments and my points are not keeping pace with what is needed. I may move my CC spend to the Chase card and away from my hotel card to see if I can keep it. The CP is not worth a lot as my companion does not fly a lot. I may switch it to myself as my companion for the last half of the year to see what happens. I am almost COS, and I wonder if they will deny me this benefit. It would be worth a lot more to me if I can claim myself as a companion. An always open middle? woo hoo! I would even do segment runs if this works out.

A+ is good, and it looks like I will keep this.

As I fly mostly WGA, the points build very slowly.

As I fly out of BNA, I have very few options to do anything different in carriers.