Originally Posted by
launcher
Buying points? That sounds risky. Just because last minute flights can be available doesn't mean they will be. It's at best a 50/50 proposition and for some city pairings and times of the year when flights are at capacity, just forget it! I feel as though your tip should at least contain a disclaimer, since southwest doesn't allow us to check standard award availability unless we have awards to spend, and you can't unbuy points that were bought on a whim.
This is inaccurate. For a while now, WN has made Standard award search available even to people who don't have any flight coupons to use. So one can search for what they need and once availability is confirmed, they can choose whether to purchase enough points for a standard award or book with points only.