Originally Posted by nsx
If Southwest had dropped the online bonus and kept the 12-month earning limit, that would have dramatically increased spoilage. The fact they they stretched earnings to 24 months demonstrates that increasing spoilage was not a concern this time. With bean counters in charge, you never know what the future may hold, but I am confident that Southwest has decided that promoting spoilage is not its game right now.
I expect some relief by next Spring on the 1-year award usage limit because of the difficulty of using Hawaii awards, which tend to require planning far ahead.
I agree with
SAPMAN here... the key time frame for spoilage is the time between earning the award and when it expires, not the amount of time you have to earn an award.