Originally Posted by
jacksonSFO
I've never been a big RR accumulator. For a newbie, what are the fastest ways to buy or accumulate points at a good cost in order to defray the $195 each way ticket.
Do you do any hotel stays?
Marriott for another month or two has 3x "miles" (ie, 1800 points) for every stay after the first stay, if you register for MegaMiles. (Normal 600 RR points for your first stay.)
WyndhamRewards for another couple weeks has 4x "miles" (ie, 2400 RR points) for your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th stays. (Normal 600 RR points for your first stay.)
Also check out the sticky thread in this forum about Southwest car rental promos, if you ever need to rent cars.
All hotels and car rental partners so far do a minimum of 600 RR points per stay/rental. This makes earning very quick with many short stays and many short rentals, and amazingly quick if you can get 3x or 4x (or sometimes even 5x) promos. But that only works if you "naturally" need hotel stays or rental cars...
But be careful . That $195 ticket cost is today's price: It may go up by the time you accumulate the points, and Southwest points cost is more or less proportional to cash cost! So beware waiting to accumulate points while the cash costs goes up! That could end up costing you more than purchasing the ticket outright (further in advance).