I'm not picking on Southwest, as the all do it, some of the "justifications" can be downright humorous.

"To avoid our member's point balances the inconvenience of growing too large to keep track of easily, we've decided to help you use them up faster by increasing our redemption rates" - would be my guess.

Remember they were handing them out like Halloween candy after the Christmas meltdown, there has to be an equal and opposite force!