I have been a proud SW flier for six or seven years. In the interest of full disclosure, I am also a stockholder.

I believe that some of the moves made recently have been brilliant, particularly the ATA code share.

I have been lucky enough to be a SWABIZ user, receiving double credits and more (BWI bonuses, etc.), but I fully expect that to evaporate at year's end.

This recent move is insane to me. It has been said, more than a few times, that this hurts the most frequent flier the most. This is very true. Not only the most frequent fliers, but also, most likely, the most lucrative. Personally, most of my travel on SW is shorthaul, but at full fare. I do have options, though. My twice a month BWI-PVD could easily be BWI-BOS on Airtran or AA. The fares are comparable, but I really liked RR. Until now!

While the extension of the RR earning period works great for Grandma flying to see the grandkids twice a year (no offense to grandma's or grandkids intended), I can't see this compensating for the full fare business that they now risk losing. How many markets does SW now have a low fare competitor in or a legacy carrier matching fares? Most probably. I can think of some great ads that AA or CO could run in the Texas market, for example, to demonstrate the decline of RR.

This is a bad move for a company with 35 years of good moves.