Help! Need 1/2 credit by 4/30/10
Apr 15, 2010, 1:15 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 63
Help! Need 1/2 credit by 4/30/10
I just looked at my account and noticed I'm sitting at 15.5 credits. I have no upcoming SWA flight plans and further noticed that beginning 4/30/10 my old credits from 2 years ago start rolling off. Crap!
What would be the cheapest way to get 1/2 a credit before then so I get my free ticket redeemed. I thought about renting a car for a day but there has got to be something cheaper and less of a hassle. All ideas appreciated.
Thanks a bunch,
Mike
What would be the cheapest way to get 1/2 a credit before then so I get my free ticket redeemed. I thought about renting a car for a day but there has got to be something cheaper and less of a hassle. All ideas appreciated.
Thanks a bunch,
Mike
Apr 15, 2010, 1:20 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Houston (HOU/IAH)
Programs: WN, UA, DL, AA, Chase UR, Amex MR
Posts: 2,269
Sign up for RR dining and start eating? That's actually not that bad of an option if you eat out/go to bars a bit *and* you can find participating places that you like/might be willing to try.
That second part is the rub on RR dining.
That second part is the rub on RR dining.
Apr 15, 2010, 2:11 pm
#3
Join Date: Dec 2009
Programs: Hertz #1 Gold Five Star, Marriott Platinum, Southwest RR
Posts: 123
If you have stayed at any Hilton Hotels they do double dip on points, so you can send in a request for points to them showing yourstay with Hilton for .5 credit! Hopefully you have a Hilton stay you forgot about!
Apr 15, 2010, 2:22 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: Used to be elite in UA, SPG and Hertz...now I'm just a regular guy
Posts: 384
Depending on where you live, renting a car might be pretty cheap and not much of a hassle. I rented in STL for one day last weekend for $17 (about $23 after taxes). Got 1 full Rapid Rewards credit with a Hertz/Southwest promo. Not a bad deal.
Apr 15, 2010, 8:03 pm
#6
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: New England
Posts: 485
How about a Teleflora flower purchase. Probably will cost $40 to $50, but certainly is easy. 2 minutes on the computer. When is the last time you sent mom, wife, girlfriend, friend, etc flowers for no reason! (Ok so you have a reason.....but they won't know that!)
Apr 15, 2010, 8:15 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, AA 600k, DL 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
Rent an Alamo car for a weekend day at $15 base rate, add your RR number, and make some fun out of it. I just got this:
https://www.alamo.com/index.do?actio...Day15andUp_A_I
I also remember a person recently had just lost 1.5 million or so miles in another program. He put out the call in FT: What to do? Several people rallied to his side by PMing the contract numbers of car rentals that they hadn't earned miles on, back prior to the expiration of his miles. It worked!
https://www.alamo.com/index.do?actio...Day15andUp_A_I
I also remember a person recently had just lost 1.5 million or so miles in another program. He put out the call in FT: What to do? Several people rallied to his side by PMing the contract numbers of car rentals that they hadn't earned miles on, back prior to the expiration of his miles. It worked!
Last edited by Firewind; Apr 15, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Apr 15, 2010, 9:37 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: SJC and ONT
Programs: WN A-List/CP, HHonors Diamond, CX J with AA miles, US Gold/*G
Posts: 2,082
But if you don't want to leave the house, sending surprise "just because" flowers is not a bad way to do it.
Apr 15, 2010, 9:44 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: SJC, Northern Cal.
Programs: SWA RR BIS 6.2M, A+'20, CP'20, AA, UA Gold, Hertz PC, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 909
Apr 16, 2010, 12:23 am
#10
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, AA 600k, DL 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
Apr 17, 2010, 1:02 pm
#11
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 226
Apr 18, 2010, 1:19 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 63
Great ideas. I especially like the flower ones. When I called SWA, they kept telling me a car rental or other partner credit would take 6-8 weeks to post but sound like that is not the case.
What I ended up trying (and it worked) was to call a friendly customer service person for a hotel chain (SWA partner) that I had recently stayed at and asked them if I could "undo" my points in their program and instead could I get SWA credit. The credit hit within 24 hours and I am now the owner of a free RT ticket (hmmm, where to go )
They were very kind to do this for me and the customer service person I talked to understood what I needed and was very helpful. Not sure if it's an option all the time but it worked in this case. Maybe file it away if you find yourself in a similar bind.
Thanks all!
Mike
What I ended up trying (and it worked) was to call a friendly customer service person for a hotel chain (SWA partner) that I had recently stayed at and asked them if I could "undo" my points in their program and instead could I get SWA credit. The credit hit within 24 hours and I am now the owner of a free RT ticket (hmmm, where to go
)They were very kind to do this for me and the customer service person I talked to understood what I needed and was very helpful. Not sure if it's an option all the time but it worked in this case. Maybe file it away if you find yourself in a similar bind.
Thanks all!
Mike
Apr 18, 2010, 6:00 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
I don't think it takes that long for a car rental to post, and does Southwest go by the date of the posting or the date you actually rented the car?
Apr 18, 2010, 9:45 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,975
In terms of fitting within the expiration period of the credits, it's the date of the rental. If there's a delay in posting, they go back and see that it was before your credits expired, and issue the award. The award expires a year after the date that it's issued: if you should have reached 16 today, but it's delayed and the award isn't issued until June, the award expires in June 2011.
My recent credits for Hertz and Alamo rentals have posted within days.
My recent credits for Hertz and Alamo rentals have posted within days.
Apr 19, 2010, 11:32 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: SJC and ONT
Programs: WN A-List/CP, HHonors Diamond, CX J with AA miles, US Gold/*G
Posts: 2,082
In my experience, Alamo rental standard credits post lightning fast (as in same day, literally within seconds of turning in the car). Had an episode with bonus credits taking a bit longer, however, those were posted easily within a month.