ftnoob

We ought to be able to answer this from the T&C, but oddly enough the T&C never even mention earning RR points at anything other than 6x/10x/12x. As far as I can tell, the A/A+ higher earning rates are only discoverable by clicking on the "roadWarrior" and "elite" links on the "how to earn" page.

slider34

Correct after 16, I'm saying if you got 16 + 1 total before March 1st you then have the option to trade in points to cash out your RR credits. It's a one time option. If by March 1st you only have 16, 15, etc or less you can only cash in your points towards a standard award once.

That might be clear as mud....

On March first if you have 15 RR credits you can only cash in 1200 points to make it to 16 RR credits and it's a standard reward for doing so. If before March 1st you somehow get the standard reward you are looking for AND you have even 1 RR credit from earning however you now have either a year or 2 (can't remember which is is) to trade in 1200 points per RR credit to get another standard reward. You only get to do that once. Make sense? You could spend/earn $18,000 to earn your 18,000 points and either bank them or trade them ONE TIME for 15 RR points (or however many you are short, $1200 = 1200 points = 1 RR credit)

Some think the standard reward is worth much more than $350 (under the new program that's what $19200 is basically worth) so you have to determine if it's worth the hassle. If you plan on using it for a $700 flight somewhere it probably is. If most of your flights are around $350 or less, it's not.

Whew!

ftnoob

Something I don't think has been mentioned yet, IIRC:Presumably that applies for both phone, and online changes. Except for irrops, it may also apply to at-the-airport changes.

Chuck2009x

I think you previously said you only had a few RR1.0 credits banked.

If you only have a few, I don't think it makes any sense to spend any cash out of pocket to get to 16 before 3/1. It MAY make sense to convert hotel points, etc to RR1.0 credits prior to 3/1, but by my calculations, only if it gets you to 16.

I'm an example. I'm not really a frequent flyer - 2 - 4 RTs a year. I have one award flight already booked for Feb. I'm going to go into 3/1 with 1 RR1.0 credit. My deadline for getting to 16 is 9/21/2012.

I could convert Marriott, Hilton, and Priority Club points to RR1.0 credits before 3/1, that would probably get me to 4 RR1.0 credits.

Once thing that factors into my decision whether or not to covert hotel points before or after 3/1 is that, if I convert them BEFORE 3/1, those credits are useless after 9/21/2012. So if I convert now, I'll have 4 SW credits, and then I have until 9/21/2012 to earn 14,400 RR2.0 points. Will I spend $14,400 on SW airfare between 3/1/2011 and 9/21/2012? No way.

Even if I had 8 RR1.0 credits going into 3/1, I can barely see any cost benefit to a) doing 4 short haul RTs before 3/1, b) doing 32 car rentals (lol) @ 0.5 each before 3/1, or c) No way I'm spending $9,600 on airfare by 9/21/2012 either.

So what I'll probably do is just wait until after 3/1 to exchange hotel points for RR2.0 points (which don't expire), let the 1 credit I currently have just die a natural death, then just wait 5 years lol or whatever until I have enough RR2.0 points to go where I want.

I think if you're close to 16, there's a way to cost/benefit it to get to 16 before 3/1. After looking at it, at least from my own situation, I DON'T see any benefit to carrying 1 or a few into 3/1.

ftnoob

At the lowest earn rate (WGA/no A-list), it would take $2,400 of airfare to earn 14,400 points.

sbm12

Given the statement that bonus points do not count to TQPs and that the 25% extra is listed as bonus in the details about the benefits of A+ status I would be VERY surprised to learn that this is true.

This is how I understood it as well.

Earning for CP seems to count all points but for A and A+ those bonus points shouldn't count as I read the T&C.
Indeed, though this highlights one of the bits of complexity in the program that will be confusing to folks going forward. The 1:1 concept is pretty hard-coded into most folks' brains; choosing the 6/10/12x ratios is going to confuse folks.

SWABrian

II may have gotten it wrong. I tried the simulator but it won't let me enter A-list to see. I will ask Marketing to find out for sure. It might be Monday before I hear but I will see if i am wrong or it's the simualtor.

mreed911

Who was in charge of writing the app for S/W? Someone who never heard of the iPad? Hint: Business Traveler = iOS. Look around next time you're on a plane. SW just hit everyone who plays Farmville at the expense of anyone using a mobile device.

MikeyZBT

So... let me see if I get this correctly.

Currently, 16 flights earns you one round-trip free ticket. Right? Right.

Under the new system, my math would say that you need 20 flights to earn the same thing...

Here's what I thought...

If you earn at 6, 10, or 12 points per dollar, but have to redeem at 60, 100, or 120 points per dollar, that would imply that you need to redeem points for 10 flights to get the same flight for free.

That would mean, to earn a roundtrip (for the same flight), you'd need to fly 20 legs to be able to get one round-trip for free (2 legs).

This is devaluation in it's PUREST form.

Also, this is a "best case" scenario since the flights are of equal value. If, which is more likely, I fly (and pay for) several short (i.e. inexpensive) legs, I'll have to earn even more points to redeem for that one long (cross-country) flight... However, currently, I can fly 16 SAN-LAS legs and then redeem for SAN-BWI-SAN... Can't do that in the new system.

Seems like just another airline devaluing the frequent flier system.

ticketatl

Hey Folks: Take a look at my post on The TICKET about how the new program affects AirTran A+ Rewards members.

http://theticket-atlanta.com/2011/01...wards-members/

Thanks,
Chris

hyho61

The redemptions based on the fare system is complicated. The problem is if you have 100,000 points, it will hard to guess how many award tickets for a destination you have. The number of award tickets to be redeemed will constantly change with the fares.

Would have preferred a system based on distance, i.e. each 1 mile = 10 points. Say if you want to redeem from HOU to PHX, you would need about 10090 points (1009 miles). It is much simpler than the fare based system. You can have a minimum about 2000 points for less than 200 mile distances and also a maximum for distances more than 1500 miles could be capped at 15,000 points.

Some legacy carriers have this for less than 750 miles or 1000 miles.

dweeb

Chris, I read through your blog, and I think that there are some things that either I don't fully understand, or you have explained wrong.
Companion Pass is not an elite status. It does nothing except grant you to have a designated companion fly "free", just pay the fees, when you fly.
The other is that the companion Pass does not grant free in-flight internet.
Like I have said, I may have it wrong here, but that is how I have understood the last two days of what Southwest has said and put out.

Chuck2009x

You're right. All the math finally fried my brain. I won't end up doing $2,400 either.

KelseyR

Senior fares are a discount fare. So they earn 6x points, redeem at 60x, like WGA fares.

The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not reflect those of Southwest Airlines, SW's directors, board or employees.

jrpaguia

Oh, I don't know. How about a system where a set number of points (something like 8 perhaps) is what you'll need to redeem for a one-way flight, regardless of distance?