Yes, I have experienced that too, but I have found that the Gold Points are pretty valuable, typically more than the $7-8 that the SWA points are worth these days, so I don't really worry about it. A few weeks ago I used 900 Gold Points (from about $600 in rental expenditures) for about $45 off. Saving $45 on $600 comes down to 7-8% discount, the same or more as the SWA points would have been worth. The alternative is to choose a different car rental company: Budget still nicely awards SWA points, and their Fastbreak is pretty good.