My reaction reading this news was unprintable.
IMHO this is a huge mistake by Southwest. It's much worse than the first devaluation of points. That devaluation was a loss of 1/7th of the value per point. This one could be a lot worse. It makes the value of your points a complete unknown, at the same time opening the door to unlimited devaluation without notice, continuing forever. I could hardly imagine a more adverse change to the program.
The only possible ray of sunshine is the statement "there are still many flights which will stay at the current redemption rate". If that means that the low buckets of WGA fares will remain at 70 points per dollar, Southwest needs to come out and tell us that. Immediately and unambiguously. Otherwise we will presume the worst.
I agree - this sounds pretty bad, is poorly phrased, and was terribly delivered.
I'm thinking that:
- Rapid Rewards 2.0 existed from 3/1/2011-1/26/2014 (60 pts/$1 RR redemptions - with 3 month advance notice);
- Rapid Rewards 2.0.1 existed from 1/27/2014-3/30/2014 (Earnings/Redemptions changed to Base Fare Only {formerly Base Fare + Excise Tax} - with no advance notice) (edited to add);
- Rapid Rewards 2.1 existed from 3/31/2014-4/16/2015 (70 pts/$1 RR redemptions - with 5+ month advance notice); and
- Rapid Rewards 2.2 will exist from 4/17/2015-[???????] (To be explained - with 2 month advance notice).
At this pace of devaluation, should I expect another devaluation before the end of 2015 with only a 3 week advance announcement?