Late last summer I experimented with a technique to defer issuance of RR Awards. I've not seen it discussed here (apologies if I missed it) so I thought I'd share it now that I'm registered to post. Note, however, that the A-List, which was introduced
after I came up with this technique, significantly limits this technique's usefulness for those who rely on A-List status for priority boarding.
The one-year life of RR awards means it can be important not to earn one "too soon." Imagine you have the following scenario: you plan to take round trip flights on SW in late August and again in mid-September and late-October. You have 14 credits in your account so the August flight credits will trigger your next award. You were hoping, though, to use the award ticket for a leaf-peeper trip to New England in mid-October
one year hence. If the award is issued as expected in August it will have expired before you can use it for the New England trip, and you'd rather not pay the $50 extension fee.
Here's a fairly simple solution: a) don't provide your RR number when you book your August to October flights; b) after the first of November or so, log in to your account and use the
Add Past Flight Credit screen to claim your credits for the August through October flights. The award will be issued within a couple days after submitting the request for past credit, and will expire one year
after issuance--late enough for you to use the award ticket for the leaf-peeper trip.
Presumably it has always been possible to use a variation of this technique; it just wasn't very convenient to do when we had to mail in documentation of past flights when reporting missed credits.
The one chance I had to experiment with this I was only able to defer one award issuance in my wife's account by about five days. She was already scheduled for a second trip that would trigger her next award, with RR number already in the record, within a week of the first trip. (The "second trip" was
booked before the first trip and before I came up with the idea of not entering the RR number; we didn't call to see if a RR number can be
removed from a record and it would have been much too expensive to cancel and rebook the second trip.) Because we decided not to go to Hawai'i in April, I now wish I'd come up with this deferral idea sooner; I don't know that we'll be able to make good use of that award before it expires in September.
Obviously Rapid Rewards Visa card users and car-rental credit claimers have to be more careful with their planning. You also need a good tracking and reminder system so you don't forget to claim your credits.
ftn