Earlier this month, Southwest completely changed the way it values your points. Instead of every Wanna Get Away fare being for sale at the fixed exchange rate of 70 points for a dollar of airfare, it decided to let that exchange rate vary. Some flights it could be higher (more expensive), others would stay at the usual 70 point per dollar rate.

When we looked at prices just after the change, it was generally bad news. Many flights went up in price to 75 or 80 points needed per dollar of airfare, while the rest stayed at the 70 point per dollar rate.

But there is some good news to report….

Southwest just announced a nationwide fare sale that’s open until May 7th, and we were surprised to see the marketing explicitly mention how low the fares are IN POINTS, and not just the cash prices.

Which got us to double checking the point exchange rates being offered.

And looking at the prices, it appears Southwest now offers some flights at a BETTER point exchange rate of 65 points per dollar.

Here are some examples from the current fare sale, with the prices before taxes:



So the lesson is…

Save your Southwest points for flights that are on sale.

Southwest wants you to use points during times when it’s having a harder time filling planes, so it’s willing to give a better price in cash, and now, it’s willing to give you an even better deal in value for your points, by stretching them further.

You can see destinations that are on sale here. Not all sale priced flights offer the good 65 point per dollar rate, but many do. And some that aren’t on sale do as well.

In some ways, this is like the way JetBlue handles its mileage program, with less expensive flights generally available at a more favorable point exchange rate.

In 2013 Southwest proved that even revenue-based programs devalue. Just two years into their new program they reduced the value of points on Wanna Get Away fares from 1.67 cents apiece to 1.43 cents apiece.

Then mid-April they devalued again, breaking away from having a fixed value for points.

Instead of being revenue-based where points are worth a certain amount period, or a certain amount for certain types of fares, they now have a value which changes — and is unpublished.

It appeared initially as though it cost 70 to 80 points per dollar for ‘Wanna Get Away’ fares — the more expensive the fare, the more you need your points, the less valuable they become.

It does appear though that it’s possible to do better than 70 points per dollar now. It’s not possible to do as well as prior to the 2013 devaluation, but as MileCards noted you may be able to get 65 points per dollar when redeeming for certain sale fares.

So they’re making your points worth a little more than before (but not as much as they used to be worth) when planes are empty enough to warrant a sale. That makes sense. On the absolute cheapest fares, when you’d otherwise just pay cash, you can get a better value for your points.