toomanybooks

I did a search and couldn't find that.

The rules say you can change Companion up to 3 times a year, so it seem unlikely they'd restrict to spouses!

Dummyflier

Since I fly mostly on reward travel and a few paid flights (2-3 per year) and have no need for a CP (only me), am I correct in assuming this may not be such a bad change? I do have 3 awards now and one waiting in Choice Points(should I redeem it now?) that I can use for the next year.

Mr. July

Can we add info on the earning rate DING! and other fare types to the list of outstanding clarifications? There's a DING! today for travel in March, but it's not clear to me whether it earns at the WGA rate. T&C and FAQs suggest that you're eligible to earn something - but not clear on the point. Presumably, DING! could be used in the future to deliver cheap award inventory (but that's just my speculation).

Also, the following new provisions deserve further analysis - I haven't followed the issue of TTF tracking, but depending on what is meant by a 'ticket,' this could have real implications for those of us with lots of residual funds floating around (and every now and then a stray buck or two actually expiring). Also looks like you continue to be better off booking round trips as two one-ways. Grateful for anyone who wants to try to take this on.

-Rapid Rewards Points are earned and deposited into the Member’s account after action has been taken on the entire ticket (i.e., flown, used as payment toward another ticket, refunded, or a combination thereof). The actual number of points earned for each individual flight is calculated after completion of the entire ticket...

-A Member who flies only part of a ticket will not earn any points unless the Member takes action to complete the unused portion of the ticket. The Member can do so by applying the unflown portion of the ticket as payment for a new ticket or by requesting a refund for the unflown portion of the ticket (only allowable on refundable tickets). Cancellation of an entire ticket or a portion of a ticket is not considered taking action on a ticket. The Member will not accrue any points for any portion of the ticket that has been flown until the entire ticket has been completed (i.e., flown, used as payment toward another ticket, refunded, or a combination thereof). If the Member fails to take action to complete the partially flown ticket before the ticket expiration date, the Member will not accrue any points for the flown segments of the expired ticket

SAPMAN

I agree, never saw anything that CP companion will be limited to spouses, obviously many single people are members.

However, it says 3 changes during duration of CP -- so if you get a CP good Mar 2011 thru Dec 2012, likely only 3 changes for the 22 month period. And I assume the 3 changes does not include the initial assigned companion (which I guess carrysover from your current companion if you have a re-qualification).

SAPMAN

I assume it has been mentioned, but too many posts to be sure.

One benefit with new 2.0 RR is that infrequent flyers can redeem a short haul ticket much easier. Used to be one would need 16 credits to earn an Award, which got a RT. Now they can use points to get a One Way ticket.

Although earnings may be a bit worse, only need to get to about the 1/2 way point in earnings for a OW ticket. So one that flys 3 RTs per year should be able to get something within 15 months (depend on price of ticket).

benmaller

I think this would only be an issue when first qualifying for a companion pass.

if you qualify yearly, then you would be changing your existing CP and your next pass will not be in effect until Jan 1 the following year.

benmaller

Anniversary credits post with points from the statement that includes your annual fee. If your annual fee was dated 3/1 last year than it will be the same this year and the anniversary bonus will drop with the statement that follows 3/1.

sbm12

How do you generate your award credits and what types of fares do you redeem on? If you mostly redeem for last-minute fares, more expensive fares then this change is going to hurt you a LOT.

InkUnderNails

It all sounds rather confusing, but I think I have it nailed after every post in the thread over the past few days. I have few complaints as I really have little choice when it comes to moving to another carrier. Call it the BNA curse. I did have 55 OW segments in the last 12 months, so I am guessing I am a lock for Preferred especially when I add my CC spend.

I do think they should have made Preferred a little more special. A paid Priority Pass membership would be nice. And, if they include a boarding system that really recognizes A-list as the significant revenue generators that they are by eliminating serendipitous A-list cancellation replacements and allowing late purchase A-list members to board between A-30 and A-31 would have been sweet.

The bonuses and Wi-Fi are great, but who calls for reservations? Give us a dedicated web site that allows easy CP reservations with chat and IM features. I am hearing-impaired and the internet sites that have chat features are very appreciated, but I may be an outlier.

nsx

That's a reasonable concern.

nsx

I thought I put that in the OP from the beginning, based on email from Southwest. 6 points, same as WGA. Redemption based on Ding fares is unknown so far.

Good point on those two provisions making one-way bookings even more advantageous.

Dummyflier

I generate most my credits via CC purchases. I tend to fly last minute but award travel has been harder to find lately. If I save my existing awards for longer flights, CC purchases (40k/year) should get me several short haul flights a year. Am I correct?

rove312

I see that my annual fee was dated 4/1/10, so it's pretty clear that I'd get the bonus as new-style points, so it's a better value. It makes it more difficult to decide whether to make an effort to maximize my final 1.0 balance, or just leave it at 1 credit, which could expire without much pain if it doesn't work out for me to convert 18,000 new points.

rove312

It would be useful to get this confirmed. The fractional credit would then be a placeholder to allow a conversion, but would eventually expire.

As I understand it, conversion can only happen at 1200 to a full credit, so if you end up with 7.5, for example, you'd need to convert enough points to get 9, and the 0.5 would go to waste. No point in going for a final partner transaction that would leave you with such a balance.

benmaller

The point simulator shows converting 15000 points for 12.5 credits in my case, so it would appear a partial credit can be converted.