Dangjr213

Hello everyone. I'm hoping to get advice from all of the FF experts out there who can validate my choice for my primary rewards program. My passion is crusing, and am looking for the best program that would allow me to use points to fly to the different cruise ports (since i've now done all the cruises within driving distance).

A few months ago I did a ton of research online and decided to go with Southwest Rapid Rewards. I ended up choiosing rapid rewards for the following reasons: no blackout dates, points don't expire, and the Chase offered me a 50,000 sign up bonus.

I thought the most important reason was no blackout dates (since I am trying to schdule the flight with a cruise, I didn't want to have trouble getting an award flight). Since I book crusies far in advance, I'm starting to second guess if that should have been my most imporant factor.

I've spent the past few days reading TONS of posts on this forum and have seen advice range from signing up for all programs, or concentrating on one single one. I figured if i shared some information, the experts out there can help get me on the right path so i'm not scattering purchases:

Main goal: Free flights to different cruise ports around the US (2 a year)

background: don't fly very often, (most points will need to come from credit card spending). Not interested in mileage runs, willing to sign up for different credit card(s)

Current credit card: Barclay's carnival fun points

Credit card usage: average $3k a month in charges (not including charges to my discover card for the differnt monthly 5% categories

Any help is appreciated, I just want to make sure I'm on the right path before i keep racking up rapid reward points.

KevinInRI

I'd say if you don't travel that much, you're not concerned about upgrades, and you mainly travel within the US, then that's probably a good choice for you. You'll get free checked bags and the ability to change your flights with no change fees. However, the "no blackout dates" benefit is a bit misleading. The "new" Rapid Rewards program that started last year in my opinion is not as rewarding as the old one. Most frequent travelers try to earn as many points/miles for as few dollars as possible and redeem them for the most valuable flights. In the old program, one could earn, for example, 16 credits for 8 round trip flights from Providence to Baltimore (typically around $100 roundtrip if bought far enough in advance and during one of their fare sales) for about $800 altogether. One could redeem these 16 credits for a $400 roundtrip cross country flight (around a 50% return on investment). In the new program, if you travel mostly on the lowest cost "Wanna Get Away" fares, you earn 6 points per dollar spent, and you redeem for flights at a cost of 60 points per dollar, which is almost ALWAYS a straight 10% return on investment. So if you spend $3,000 per year on Southwest flights, you will most likely earn enough for $300 worth of free travel. However, if you use the Southwest credit card wisely, you may be able to get a little more out of the program. It's been reported that the 50,000 points you earn from the credit card count as qualifying points toward a companion pass, which requires 110,000 points per year. If you spend $3,000 per year on Southwest tickets, you're already earning another 24,000 points (including the card bonus). That means if you spend $3,000 per month on other spending, you should have enough points by the end of the year to qualify for a companion pass.

Dangjr213

KevinInRI,

Thanks for your feedback! I tried to do quite a bit of research before choosing rapid rewards since I needed a program that didn't require you to fly often. The biggest drawback for me was that southwest doesn't fly into Miami.

I wish I would have waited to sign up for the southwest credit card. I got my 50k points in November which only gave me two months to earn the other 60k needed for the companion pass. I had to start back at 0 in Jan.

Chickenpants

Southwest is not a terrible choice. Keep in mind that their redemption rates are strictly based on the fare. Since you claim to book so far out in advance, you will probably be finding the best fares. This means that you will get some decent redemption rates. Many airlines charge the same amount of miles no matter where you are flying domestically. You do not mention where you originate from, but this will also determine your fare to your destination. As an example a flight from SEA -> FLL on Southwest at the beginning of August would be doable for ~36k points, while the same flight SEA -> MIA on UA is 50k points. Of course all points are not generated equally, but since your primary source is points is through credit card spending both of these programs give 1 point per dollar spent, so they actually are equal. It turns out that you would get more free flights using Southwest than United.

Southwest may not fly to MIA, but it does fly to FLL. For my purposes, these are the same airport, but to you it might be like night and day.

The only disadvantages to the Southwest Rapid Rewards program is if you need to book last minute fares (expensive in price, therefore expensive in points) or if you want to travel internationally. Since these are not your goals, I would say that you made a safe choice.

toomanybooks

Depends in part where you live. Avios can be a great program for short flights, especially from an AA hub. WN is probably your best bet if you have someone to serve as Companion and can acquire the points.

110K is a lot of points by December if you don't fly much and only spend $3K a month. Going to be very hard to get there. Might need to aim for $4500-5000 minimum and even then you'll need more from other sources. Start looking for additional ways to get points. Pay bills for your parents/siblings/business and get reimbursed, that sort of thing. Put everything on the CC.

Remember if you use the WN Visa to buy WN tickets, you get double RR points. So it's 8 per dollar all-in rather than the 6 that you get for the flight itself. same with WN partners like hotels and rental cars. And individual hotel nights/car rentals get you 600 CPQPs points each, which will add up, even if you don't travel that much. Hop from hotel to hotel every night.

You should visit the Southwest forum and start reading.

Dangjr213

Thank you both for your feedback. I can't believe I didn't think about listing my home airport, SAT.

deirdre

They do fly into FLL (Ft. Lauderdale), though, which is only 30 miles away. Having lived in FLL and flown out of MIA more than once, it's inconvenient but doable.

Dangjr213

I guess a lot of people who cruise out of MIA fly into FLL. On the carnival forums I just read they offer a shuttle for $60pp round trip might be worth the extra few bucks to take a cab.

jethro

RSW is also a nice option for access to the Miami ports. They have shuttles running every day as well. Air tran and Southwest both are present there.

pdisme

I'm curious where you're seeing the 50,000 mile sign up bonus? Or is it just something they offered by phone?

I signed up for the Southwest Premier card spring 2011 because I knew I'd be spending an unusual amount of money on my card last summer and with the 30,000 point sign up bonus they were offering at the time, I was able to successfully get to the 110,000 threshold to get companion pass thanks to the 5000 bonuses that kick in at certain spending intervals. They only seem to be offering 25,000 sign up points now though, which hopefully are still companion pass points for those trying to get there.

Companion pass has really been awesome; I've used it several times since last fall. I think their points are great too from a value perspective. I calculated it out that on the flights I typically book, I'm getting about 1.5% equivalent cash back using the card, and that's not factoring in the $800 or so I've already saved from companion passes.

Unfortunately for me, I began having to fly a lot for work last fall and that's all Delta, and without the sign-up bonus, I would have no chance of making the 110,000 companion pass threshold this year, so that's going away whether I use my Southwest card or not.

I started running the numbers and with the Delta Reserve Amex and the flights I'm already going to have to take for work, I can make Delta diamond by fall. So now several personal flights with my wife that I would have taken on Southwest this year, I'm considering paying for on Delta to make sure I get to diamond. I really wish Southwest had first class, I'd rather be loyal to them since I feel like they have better prices.

Dangjr213

I got a targeted offer via email for the 50k points. The same day I got my offer they sent my wife one but it was for only 30k points and a $99 annual fee instead of the $69 fee I got. According to one of the others posts on this board it appears people are still getting the 50k point offer.

UA Fan

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...er-thread.html