Originally Posted by yanxfann
For those that still want to sell their RR tickets but are discouraged by the recent periodic ebay "crackdowns" keep in mind that is more than one way to skin a cat and ebay isn't the ONLY game in town.
Case in point: I know someone who in the past week or so sold a RR award to an "internet stranger" that needed one short-notice roundtrip, to minimize any possiblility of problems with what some call the Rapid Rewards Police the seller did the following:
1. DID NOT use ebay
2. DID NOT use a ticket broker
3. Actually spoke on the phone to the eventual buyer before the sale to explain the ins and outs of using the award and to "get their story straight" in the highly unlikely event that questions were asked (they weren't of course)
The end result was a win/win situation for the two parties involved: after expenses the seller ended up with slightly over $375 in their pocket and the buyer saved $200+ from what they would have had to pay for a "normal" ticket.
You forgot to mention the losers:
1) All Southwest fliers that buy their tickets. They have to pay more for the tickets because the buyer dishonestly frauded Southwest out of $200+
2) Other frequent fliers that accumulate large amounts of RR tickets. Because some people choose to violate the rules and sell tickets, the airline is forced to crackdown on award redemptions. This has resulted in some people receiving letters after (honestly) giving their tickets away. It may also lead to increased restrictions on the ticket redemptions (capacity controls, blackouts, restricted transfers)
3) Southwest. They have lost revenue. They have also needed to devote additional resources to deal with people who violate the terms and conditions of the reward program.
There are plenty of ways to make money selling Rapid Rewards tickets. However, they are all in violation of the terms of the program, which specifically states that the reward tickets cannot be sold.