Originally Posted by
mwsea
Definitely disappointing, but at least there was reasonable notice.
That's the silver lining, plus the fact that the devaluation was not presented as an enhancement. The letter respects the member's intelligence, an important concession many programs refuse to make.
Originally Posted by
ksuwldkat
Just makes the standard awards more lucrative.
Yes. If too many people start using that loophole, it will close either abruptly or via tighter capacity controls. Several members have observed improved availability of standard award seats in the last several weeks. That could change.
Originally Posted by
mile ho
And this is supposed to be a revenue based program. The rates for redemption should remain static as the fares move. Higher fares = we pay more points. We earned them at a certain rate and their value was SUPPOSED to have remained the same.
That was your understanding and mine. Southwest never promised it, but IMHO they should have. Now I know why the conversion rate was not a simple 100 points per dollar.
I told myself that although the revenue-based program devalued my earnings by 2/3, that would be the end of devaluations. Earnings and redemption would track each other from that point on. It's very disappointing to see this change, which I believe is the first devaluation of points for any program which is revenue-based for both earning and redemption.
In summary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwxc_zLH560&t=60