Keeping SW points from expiring?
Mar 6, 2017, 9:05 pm
#6
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,624
Mar 7, 2017, 5:34 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
That's the beauty of it! I do it all the time.
I get a lot of auto parts this way. I have three older cars; I do all my own maintenance on them. Its cheaper to order from places like Rockauto.com, but when I need something right now, I rack up the points by ordering parts online from Autozone and picking them up in the store.
I get a lot of auto parts this way. I have three older cars; I do all my own maintenance on them. Its cheaper to order from places like Rockauto.com, but when I need something right now, I rack up the points by ordering parts online from Autozone and picking them up in the store.
Mar 7, 2017, 7:27 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
Posts: 4,948
Mar 8, 2017, 1:29 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,406
Mar 8, 2017, 2:23 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
I don't understand. The annual fee doesn't earn points. If you choose to hold the Southwest Visa and never use it, and only pay the annual fee, you wouldn't earn any points, lacking an anniversary bonus. If there is an anniversary bonus points tied to the annual fee, that's what keeps you points alive, not the annual fee itself.
But aren't there multiple versions of the Southwest card? Do all have an annual fee? Do all earn anniversary points? If not, do they really keep your points from expiring if you never charge even a dollar?
In general, many airline cards have an annual fee without any anniversary bonus, and so that should make it clear that's it not the annual fee, but the anniversary bonus (if there is one) that makes the card earn points annually even without spending.
Mar 8, 2017, 2:44 pm
#13
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Sorry -- to clarify, the anniversary points, granted at the time the annual fee is charged, are what keep a Rapid Rewards account alive and any accumulated points from being forfeited.
All Chase Visa cards have an annual fee (even those grandfathered at a lower annual fee that currently offered). All award anniversary points.
Chase specifically advertises that "points don't expire as long as your card account is open."
All Chase Visa cards have an annual fee (even those grandfathered at a lower annual fee that currently offered). All award anniversary points.
Chase specifically advertises that "points don't expire as long as your card account is open."
Points expiration: The points transferred to your Rapid Rewards account won't expire as long as your card account is open or there is flight or Southwest Airlines partner earning activity on the Rapid Rewards account every 24 months. If your card account is closed, the points in your Rapid Rewards account will expire if there isn't flight or other Southwest Airlines partner earning activity every 24 months.
Last edited by ursine1; Mar 8, 2017 at 2:49 pm