A couple of years ago my father-in-law died suddenly, and my wife and I had to fly from the Chicago area to San Antonio. UA and AA offer non-stops, and AA offered a bereavement rate (now called "compassion fare" I believe) of about $600 roundtrip per passenger. Southwest was about the same, but of course no funeral/sickness excuse is needed with WN.

We booked an afternoon nonstop on AA from ORD, and the baggage check-in line was so long that we wound up missing the flight, after running all the way to the end of the K concourse. It was very frustrating. We got our money back and flew Southwest out of MDW that evening. It was much better to get credits and to have the Southwest flying experience. Although we got in several hours later, looking back on it I'm glad it happened this way.

Now of course with a Companion Pass, we fly WN almost exclusively for our domestic travel.

I make every effort to keep an award coupon in the drawer at all times just in case a sad phone call comes. Another thing I do is talk to my friends about when their awards expire, and if I'm going to use a freebie I'll call them up and offer to exchange one of mine that won't expire for a few months. Also by having friends with awards, in the event I'm out and need one in a pinch, I know who to call to borrow one.

Rapid Rewards is awesome.