Is airline conversion new for Choice points?
 

I guess I haven't been paying attention or something... but I recently noticed that Choice points can be converted to airline miles, minimum of 5,000 points for 1,000 miles. Not the best conversion rate, but nice to know for 'emergency' topping off of mileage accounts if/when necessary. In fact, not so long ago, I ended up buying an airline ticket because some airline bonus miles didn't come through soon enough... Would have been been worth saving 100s for the sacrifice of 5,000 points!!

Nope. It's been around as long as I've been in the program (a little over a year now). Most hotel programs have a similar conversion capability.

What's nice about the Choice program is:

1. With their promos, you can rack up a lot of points, so you can get a lot of miles if you choose to, and,
2. You can do it on-line. The points are taken out immediately, and they usually show up within a couple of days.

Also, you can move points to miles as you wish. Dribble in when you need some activity when facing expiration dates for miles or to top off an account to get to Award level. I also have had them post within a few days -- so much better than some that make you wait 2-3 weeks.

I converted my Choice points for 16 RR on Monday and have not seen the credit on my Southwest account yet. It has beeen 6 days.

Is SW a little slower acknowledging?

Airline conversion has been available for about two years, I'd say.