Originally Posted by
happy2fly
So doesn't that give an advantage to purchasing tickets using points? I can cancel those whenever with no penalty. If I use cash with a "wanna get away" fare, when I cancel the funds are tied up with southwest for a year and risk not being used at all.
Yes, points are the most flexible - until you run out of them of course. Easy to put back into your account. Especially good if you are buying tickets for someone else. Cash refunds go to THAT person, and not you. Points come back to you.
The only time it makes any sense to do cash vs points is if you are working towards A-List or somebody else is paying you back. Otherwise, might as well use points as far as I can tell.