<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by enjoystravel:
It is amusing that a marketing VP so directly accepts that they are "following" southwest's lead. If they want to match southwest fares, they should try matching RapidRewards as well. They have NO capacity controls on rewards and allow you to redeem ANYWHERE WN flies. For online booking of ultra cheap fares, they even offer you double points. Sure, the redemption expired in 1 year and you lose credits if you don't use them (by reaching the threshold within 1 year) but most of the FFers I know find the tradeoffs pretty good. The only plus for airlines such as US was the elite status and the upgrades and with those eliminated they have a poor imitation of WN.</font>
The thing is, the programs are vastly different. I, for one, am not interested in rewards that are useless unless I utilize them in 1 year and are only good for domestic travel. The miles systems of other airlines can get you virtually anywhere in the world and give you plenty of time to build up miles for what you want. WN's program is only good for the regular domestic flyer who is only interested in domestic tickets. The value of the program is all in what a person's flying habits and what kind of awards they are looking for. I am sure that many of US's customers would prefer something like WN's program but many of them will also leave for a carrier that has an international schedule.