Well, I may have read it before, but it didn't click............

My SW credit card payment is due on the 28th of the month. My RR points usually post around the 3rd of the month. CP points must be "earned" by 12/31.

Sooooo, I realized at the end of Nov. that we were short on CP points. No problem, I thought--my DH had a large business purchase that would do the trick. He made the purchase by 12/15 and I paid the credit card bill on 12/18. When a few more holiday purchases trickled in, I paid the bill again before we left to visit family on 12/23. I added up all of our points earned [by flying] and paid for [by paying the credit card] in 2013: 112,515 .

Today I check my RR account. No CP, but 12% earned toward next year's.

I call RR CS. Result: because the points didn't POST until after 12/31--even though they were earned and paid for well before that date--no CP.

I never chose the "posting" date for RR points, but I now see how convenient it is for SW to have it be in the MONTH after the CC actually closes and is paid. Had I realized that SW does NOT employ a "smart" system that takes into account when the purchases were made and paid for, I would have changed my CC closing date and payment date a long time ago--assuming that if the CC closed on the 15th, the points would post in the same month????

So, I now know that that SW RR points are not earned until they're credited.

With the way my account dates are set up, my purchases in Dec. will never result in credited points until Jan. of the following year.

I'm pretty sick about this. I hate learning the hard way and it's left a bad taste in my mouth [the attitude and tone of the CS rep I talked to didn't help at all, either].

Yes, I still have the points--and I'll use them to work the system the best I can, but my loyalty has been tested and I think I'll find myself checking other airlines for the first time in nearly 15 years. And, I'll be changing my CC closing & payment dates to something well before the 25th of the month--just in case.