Originally Posted by
EWR-6785
Thanks for the useful feedback, both in response to my question and your other posts on the board.
You're Welcome
Is there a rule of thumb as to the break-even point between using a standard award and paying cash for a ticket? Complicating matters is that I am currently A-list so would earn 1.25X on the paid ticket now, but I won't be able to maintain A-List after this year.
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I don't look at is as cost trade off, but rather situational. I try to use my points/credit for personal flight and pay for business flights. I can deduct the cost of the business tickets. I sometimes use Credit for last minute flights where the cost is very high.
If you do the math I think equivalent ticket price is somewhere around $148.25.
If I take 300 points for the RR signup bonus to create a 1/4 Airtan credit and then transfer it back to Southwest to seed a Standard Award, don't I risk stranding that credit if not used within a year?
Yes you do, but it's only 300 points you risk. You can keep the rest of your points until you need the Flight. Once converted to awards you can't go back.