Insulator-King

I was considering buying points for use on an upcoming trip. I currently have 0 points in my account. I saw on southwest.com webpage an offer for 35% more points when purchased.

Has anyone done this?
Is there an advantage to buying points vs simply paying cash?
Can you buy points using a SW gift card?

Also, the website is having problems. When I click on the link, the following message comes up....Couldn't seem to find any thing in the wiki.

rsteinmetz70112

I think you'l find it costs more than paying cash for the ticket. The only advantages I can think of is that you get the points back if you cancel then the points can be kept alive indefinately and can be used for others.

Tanic

Interesting strategy of turning a WGA fare into an almost-refundable fare by using purchased points. Of course there is the lost opportunity of earning 8%ish rebate in points when paid cash, and no accrual of A list segments.

Dsm2m2

1. Add up how much the trip should cost if you purchase it with cash

2. Add up how many points it would take to purchase trip

3. Add up how much it would cost to purchase said points

4. If points purchased is cheaper than straight cash for ticket, then MAYBE consider this route.

Positives:
- Cheaper
- Can get points refunded back to account if flight you cancel flight

Negatives:
- No points earned for flight (may not matter to you)
- No bonus earned for purchase

astig19

Im also interested if you can pay with Southwest Gift card (purchased with Chase Freedom 5% churn).

toomanybooks

This question gets asked every few weeks like clockwork.

The answer is that it is virtually never a good deal. Probably not even worth the effort of ever looking.

Insulator-King

Thanks for the info so far.

Well, I discovered why I could not get the buy points to load. Turns out southwest.com has a re-direct to buy.points.com , and I have re-directs to a different website blocked by default in Firefox.

Once I whitelisted buy.points.com, I was able to actually get to the purchase screen.

Turns out that you can NOT use a giftcard to purchase points. The only payment options are Paypal or credit card [Visa/MC/AMEX/Discover].

Thru 22 APR you can get 35% additional points, which makes it quite close to the cash price for Wanna Get away fares.
Examples follow
7,000 + 2,450 Bonus = $192.50
8,000 + 2,800 Bonus = $220.00
10,000 + 3,500 Bonus=$275.00

contrast with points vs cash
$181 flight = 10,315 points [WGA fare], and 50,409 points Anytime.
$236 flight = 13,896 points.
About a 16% premium even w/ the 35% bonus.

HOWEVER, if you do purchase w/ points and later cancel, even the Wanna Get Away [WGA] fares are fully put back as points into your account, according to the terms.

Certainly FAR cheaper than the cost of anytime points.

rsteinmetz70112

This strategy would really only benefit someone who flys infrequently. If someone flies on a regular basis they could probably use the TTF you get for a canceled flight.

Others have pointed out you forgo the points you would earn, increasing th premium for this strategy.

One situation that comes up regularly here is tickets for children who would travel only occasionally.

toomanybooks

Plus if you buy WN gift cards right, you should be able to get 5-8% or so in value from grocery/office supply stores and maybe even fuel points on top of that (Kroger has 4x this week, worth up to 14% toward gas).

magman4x4

That is pretty much what I used them for, by the time Christmas/thanksgiving comes around I have enough points to fly my 6 year old anywhere we want to go and she fly's free.