Originally Posted by
ursine1
With some considerations.
- Gift cards are shipped, not delivered electronically, and that takes time (generally about a week, sometimes less). In that time the price of your flight may have increased. (One way to avoid this might be to keep a stockpile of gift cards ready for use as needed.)
- Only $50 and $100 denominations are available, so you may need several to book an itinerary, and will be subject to Southwest's odd limits on forms of payment.
- Purchases made with gift cards aren't refundable like points transactions, if you refare/cancel/rebook you'll receive travel funds linked to passenger name and with expiration in one year from date of purchase.
- You'll pay the additional taxes and fees that don't apply to points purchases.
- There's no guarantee that WN gift cards will always be available through the More Rewards portal, and/or that the redemption rate will stay at 100 points/$1.
- But… on the upside, your purchase using a gift card will earn new points.
Suddenly that .01 floor isn't looking so solid anymore! A lot of work and planning needed. Gift card shipping cost?
Can the super smart amongst us put a number on at what point multiplier it makes sense to go the gift card route? So many variables, i.e if its for yourself, you earn points (at what value though?), if a gift for someone else it doesn't matter as much.