blueskynm

I have kept up with this thread daily. However, I'm still not clear about what seem to be some of the subtleties of the program. I would appreciate any feedback regarding these questions:

1. Does it make sense to exchange more than 100K Hyatt points to requalify for CP through 2012 (apart from doing the math of the saved CP ticket costs)? Are there other benefits?
2. What about making a mileage run to qualify for A-list status prior to 3/1?
3. Standard rewards I earn will remain just that, correct? No as of yet stated option for exchange for other (international travel?) travel options like previously to Hawaii with ATA?

Thanks.

expert7700

I'll bet with Tino, especially since WN has dropped the amex point redemption option a long time ago....

vmm

I have spent a long time reading the SWA website and this thread, and spoken to over half dozen southwest agents, things are still a bit fuzzy at SWA. To date, the best practical summary of the new vs old program I found was at a BLOG http://www.marsfrequentflyer.blogspot.com/

The Blogger has a couple of articles (Who Will Luv the New Rapid Rewards Program) and (New vs. Old Rapid SWA Rewards Program) that lay out really well how the SWA new program will work in the future and during the transition period. Wish I had found the above blogs before I wasted so much time trying to piece together the details myself.

VMM

sdsearch

You've got it backwards!

HHonors is the one where the problem would most likely be. No, not at Hilton, Doubletree, or HGI. There you get 500 miles per stay with the flat option. Maybe you only stay at those, or maybe you never try to collect with an airline other than Southwest and run into this, but at Hamptons, you only get 100 miles per stay with all miles-based airlines.

Ie, Hampton gives 1/5 of the miles that most other brands within HHonors do. And as a result, it gives way fewer miles than "budget" hotel families like Best Western and Choice, which give 250 miles per stay!

(And, if the Hampton isn't particularly expensive and you're only staying one night, you can't any better with variable miles.)

Thus no matter how little I need Southwest credits at a given time, I always credit my Hampton stays to Southwest because at 0.5 credit (600 points in RR 2.0 for now), it is clearly way more valuable than just 100 miles anywhere else.

toomanybooks

Yes, if you are hotel-hopping among $39 Hamptons, that .5 WN credit per night is a pretty nice return on top of the stays and the HH points.

Somehow I imagine that rate will be cut, but you never know.

ftnoob

Welcome to FlyerTalk, vmm!

Thanks for the link to that blog. A word of caution: don't rely on MARS for all your info about RR 2.0. For example, this statement is completely wrong (which is why I post it with strike-through):

vmm

ftnoob thanks for the heads. That's wierd because I called SW and spoke to 2 different people and they said that I could pay. Then I went back to MARS and saw that the article had been changed to read this:
"You can use your points as cash towards any ticket, but you do need to wait until you have enough for the entire ticket. The phone agents are still a little confused on this one. Some will tell you that you can purchase the difference, but what they mean is you can purchase points to make up the difference. Southwest will sell you a minimum of 2,000 points for $50, and then it's $25 per 1,000 points after that. "

Then I called back again and referenced this article, and they agreed. So thanks for pointing that out! I would've missed it. But I guess even Southwest doesn't know what they're doing just yet.

VMM


VMM

subdawg

Action items before 3/1:

1) Pay $50 for each of my expired awards that are 12+ months old.

2) Consider paying $50 for any soon-to-be-expired awards (possibly before Sept '11)

3) Spend like crazy on SWA CC to get my RR balance up. Get my closing date changed so that all credits will be posted before 3/1.

4) Try to get 80 credits via partner transfer for CP qualification. I know that Marriott is a horrible conversion rate, but that is pretty much where most of my points are. I could do a travel package deal (270k points = 80 RR credits + 7 nights in a categ 5 hotel). Thoughts? I've got a bunch of Hyatt, and maybe less than 50k in PC and HH.

As far as the CP clarification email that SWA sent stating that the rolling 12-mo period will continue on, is the only difference between doing it now vs post-3/1 for the old Standard awards (considering that I won't be needing the CP designation that soon)? For CC earnings, it's currently $1,200 spend = 1 credit. I think I read that $1,200 spend = 1,200 points after 3/1, so it's all the same?

Thanks for any help!

TravelGuy1965

The first summary was excellent and I skimmed through a couple of the follow on pages but didn't see any information (or guesses) on two aspects that would be very helpful to get answers or opinions on. I appreciate your inputs.

The first is on availablility for the standard awards once the new program rolls out. I have a bunch of Standard Awards and never fully figured out how they managed the 'standard' vs 'freedom award' availability. When the new program transitions how will this be managed? Will all standard awards be good for any flight, only those with 'wanna get away', or some other unknown method? Any ideas on how the 'stand award' inventory is managed today and if it will change when the new program is rolled out would be wonderful.

The second is on partner transfers remaining in place. The Southwest Overview shows Diners Club (Credit Card) as a place listed for point transfers (it is today and is listed as being there in the new program) but it does not mention Choice Privileges or Hyatt as transfer options. It mentions the hotels for earning, but not specifically for transfers. Does anyone have any reason to beleive the transfers from Hyatt or Choice Privileges will stop? I have a lot of Choice Privileges that I stored up to maintain companion status but have already requalified for this year so I'd keep them there if the transfer option was going to stay in place at a similiar redemption to todays conversion rate (Eg instead of 1.5RR for 6,000 points it moves to 1800 WN Points per 6,000 ChoicePriv Points if it follows the change in Diners transfer ratio or the one time offer of point->RR conversion of 1200:1).

A third item I just thought about. If in 9 months from now I still have an old style standard award and points in the new program - can I choose which I want to use for a given award or will WN force me to use up my old standard awards first? I'd of course want to save them for longer trips and then used points for any very short trips I have. Was anything mentioned on this?

Thanks.

nsx

I think FTers' consensus is that the travel packages are the best deal. HH used to offer a CP (actually 100 RR credits) award but they dropped it a few years ago.

Yes, that's how I see it.

TravelGuy1965

The Diners Club Points are getting more valuable to me each year

nsx

I expect no change. You will see Standard Awards available when fares are in the <$150 range, but the real advantage over points will be availability for off-peak flights less than 7 days ahead of travel.

We don't know, but it would be un-Southwest to allow a zero-notice change to occur. Yes, Choice has done it before and Southwest seemed not to care about the damage to the image of RR, but I expect greater sensitivity at this time. I'd be surprised if anything changed on March 1, except that with Choice you can't count on anything. [/QUOTE]

Under those circumstances I would probably take the gamble. I would watch the Choice website daily for any indication of devaluation, and post here if you see it.[/QUOTE]

Yes you can choose. The booking process is different for awards than for points.

SWSNA

I wasn't assuming all the spending is from WN flights, but I was assuming that all future CPs (after 12/31/12) would be 12 months in duration.

For example, let's assume I have my CP through 12/31/12. I can start banking points (say with Starwood) today, and I can accumulate 110K (at $5K per month) by 12/31/12. So far we agree....

On 12/31/12, I'll transfer all my points, and be awarded a CP good through 12/31/13. On 1/1/13, I'll be reset to 0 on Starwood (and WN), and have to accumulate 110K points in the next 365 days to avoid being shut out on 1/1/14. To do that, I'll need to spend $10K per month in 2013.

The green text might be where we disagree. I'd like to think you are correct, so please help me understand why I am not.....

TravelGuy1965

Thank you for the quick clarification on this one and advice on the others.

TravelGuy1965

If they maintain the method for setting 'Standard Award Availability' and you can't change Standards to Freedom after March 1st I guess I need to think through the value of things and decide if I should convert some now. Or dump my CP's over now and convert them to Freedom Awards. With Companion passes for my wife and I both our kids fly free and it has been what kept us with Southwest over the years.