Is there way to get "never expiring" RR points back and reactivate expired account
Jan 8, 2017, 10:54 pm
#46
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
My suggestion, based on everything I have heard, would be that a letter would be a waste of time. Sorry. There are no "one time" exceptions. Your only case would be if you actually took paid travel for which points hadn't been earned (due to not including your RR number on the reservation). Otherwise, I have never heard of anyone ever being successfull.
Jul 19, 2018, 3:16 pm
#47
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New England
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Jetblue Mosaic (past)
Posts: 298
Did anyone get an email warning about the upcoming expiration / account inactivity deadline for losing your miles? Just lost 50k because while I’ve flown about 7 flights with southwest in the past 24 months I haven’t earned any miles and therefore because of their crazy rules I lost my 50k remaining miles with zero warning emails. I’ve always gotten upcoming expiration warning emails from Alaska, American, United and foreign airlines. Southwest is the only one where I never received any warning or notice whatsoever. Wondering if this is somehow an anomaly or if it is standard practice to not notify customers before taking away all of their miles?
Thanks! I sent in a message to southwest and also called their executive customer care team (1-855-545-4253) to voice my strong displeasure with the policy about redeeming activity not counting and also no notice being sent. Would encourage others to do the same.
Also thinking of launching a petition to see if we can push them to change as they have the worst policy of any major US airline for mileage expiration and that should be widely known public knowledge.
Thanks! I sent in a message to southwest and also called their executive customer care team (1-855-545-4253) to voice my strong displeasure with the policy about redeeming activity not counting and also no notice being sent. Would encourage others to do the same.
Also thinking of launching a petition to see if we can push them to change as they have the worst policy of any major US airline for mileage expiration and that should be widely known public knowledge.
Jul 19, 2018, 3:52 pm
#48
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: WN F9 HA UA AA IHG HH MR
Posts: 3,305
AA and UA miles expire in 18 months. NK and F9 have downright wretched expiration policies. WN points expiration rules are better than most at 24 months.
Jul 19, 2018, 3:57 pm
#49
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Did anyone get an email warning about the upcoming expiration / account inactivity deadline for losing your miles? Just lost 50k because while I’ve flown about 7 flights with southwest in the past 24 months I haven’t earned any miles and therefore because of their crazy rules I lost my 50k remaining miles with zero warning emails. I’ve always gotten upcoming expiration warning emails from Alaska, American, United and foreign airlines. Southwest is the only one where I never received any warning or notice whatsoever. Wondering if this is somehow an anomaly or if it is standard practice to not notify customers before taking away all of their miles?
Thanks! I sent in a message to southwest and also called their executive customer care team (1-855-545-4253) to voice my strong displeasure with the policy about redeeming activity not counting and also no notice being sent. Would encourage others to do the same.
Also thinking of launching a petition to see if we can push them to change as they have the worst policy of any major US airline for mileage expiration and that should be widely known public knowledge.
Thanks! I sent in a message to southwest and also called their executive customer care team (1-855-545-4253) to voice my strong displeasure with the policy about redeeming activity not counting and also no notice being sent. Would encourage others to do the same.
Also thinking of launching a petition to see if we can push them to change as they have the worst policy of any major US airline for mileage expiration and that should be widely known public knowledge.
Officially, Southwest says they send an (one) email prior to the points expiration.
AA and UA points are kept alive by any activity, including redemption. (Southwest is earning only.) Delta's don't expire. Alaska is 24 months but includes redemption. Frontier and Spirit are abysmal, true, but I think it's more fair to compare Southwest to the legacies these days than the ULCCs.
Last edited by ursine1; Jul 19, 2018 at 4:08 pm
Jul 19, 2018, 4:01 pm
#50
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,618
The chance that Southwest will relent and give you a break is approximately zero. They can't afford to set any precedent for leniency there. Real money is at stake.
Jul 19, 2018, 7:16 pm
#51
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,868
Last year, I realized in the nick of time that my other half's account was about to go dormant - it never occurred to me that his dozens of redeemed flights didn't count as 'flight activity.' I transferred 2k points to him to save his ~30k points, crisis averted - but I still think that flying on WN should qualify as flight activity. All in the parsing, I guess.
Jul 19, 2018, 8:37 pm
#52
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New England
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Jetblue Mosaic (past)
Posts: 298
Not the worst but not the best. I agree that email warnings should be sent. Perhaps they are. I seem to recall getting such an email for a family member. You need to whitelist southwest emails because gmail often drops them (at least the sale notifications) into your spam folder.
The chance that Southwest will relent and give you a break is approximately zero. They can't afford to set any precedent for leniency there. Real money is at stake.
The chance that Southwest will relent and give you a break is approximately zero. They can't afford to set any precedent for leniency there. Real money is at stake.
Of the six largest US carriers (and skipping Frontier and Spirit since they are in a different league), I'm 100% convinced Southwest has the worst rules around expiring miles. While technically American and United are 18 months vs 24 months with Southwest, both American and United count redeeming miles towards extending the expiration date AND they send you warning emails in advance of your expiring miles. Here's a chart I created to make crystal clear in a side-by-side format how terrible Southwest's policies are compared to the other five carriers:
Jul 19, 2018, 10:06 pm
#53
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New England
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Jetblue Mosaic (past)
Posts: 298
For those that are interested, I just started a Change.org petition to see if we can get Southwest to change their very customer unfriendly policies around miles expiring and the lack of advance notification. Go check out the petition and please consider signing it/sharing it with friends: https://www.change.org/p/mr-gary-kel...ng-their-miles
Jul 25, 2018, 9:50 pm
#57
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New England
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Jetblue Mosaic (past)
Posts: 298
Quick update. Got my 50k points reinstated into my account by SW. Emailed the CEO and it worked.
Talked with a senior exec and was told they are considering some changes. Potential points won’t expire rule change or other favorable changes eluded to and told to stay tuned for coming announcement. Don’t have an exact timeline but sounds like maybe in August or September.
Talked with a senior exec and was told they are considering some changes. Potential points won’t expire rule change or other favorable changes eluded to and told to stay tuned for coming announcement. Don’t have an exact timeline but sounds like maybe in August or September.
Jul 26, 2018, 2:35 am
#58
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Quick update. Got my 50k points reinstated into my account by SW. Emailed the CEO and it worked.
Talked with a senior exec and was told they are considering some changes. Potential points won’t expire rule change or other favorable changes eluded to and told to stay tuned for coming announcement. Don’t have an exact timeline but sounds like maybe in August or September.
Talked with a senior exec and was told they are considering some changes. Potential points won’t expire rule change or other favorable changes eluded to and told to stay tuned for coming announcement. Don’t have an exact timeline but sounds like maybe in August or September.
This is astonishing, as your outcome is unheard of to date. Literally.
Jul 29, 2018, 4:53 pm
#59
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Land of Enchantment!
Programs: Southwest RR, Alaska Mileage Plan™
Posts: 341
A Good example of the 'squeaky wheel gets the grease'.
Thankfully I am on the rapid Rewards opinion panel and get surveys every month [well, every day actually], that keep me earning points here and there.
Thankfully I am on the rapid Rewards opinion panel and get surveys every month [well, every day actually], that keep me earning points here and there.
Aug 4, 2018, 5:42 am
#60
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New England
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Jetblue Mosaic (past)
Posts: 298
Realize I beat the odds with this one. It sounds like a few things helped my case: I redeeemed points for seven different flights in the last two years, they claim they sent a warning about points expiring back in April but I never received it (and they checked and could see the email was never opened) and I added 10,000 points from Chase UR before I emailed and booked an upcoming award flight...that way my expiring was extended to July 2020 and it wouldn’t be an issue when they re instated the points. Clearly this is rare but it is nice to see Southwest being responsive to customers when you email Gary Kelly (CEO) with a legit issue and back it up with a solid case and a polite / loyal customer tone.
I’m more excited to hear that they might be changing their RR policy overall to count either spending miles (like all the other major airlines do) or maybe join DL and B6 in doing away with expiring miles altogether. I was told by the Southwest exec somehow they’ve done some testing/modeling and if miles don’t expire it doesn’t actually have as big a difference as you’d think in redemptions but obviously involves a faster growing liability on their balance sheet so that’s tricky.
I’m more excited to hear that they might be changing their RR policy overall to count either spending miles (like all the other major airlines do) or maybe join DL and B6 in doing away with expiring miles altogether. I was told by the Southwest exec somehow they’ve done some testing/modeling and if miles don’t expire it doesn’t actually have as big a difference as you’d think in redemptions but obviously involves a faster growing liability on their balance sheet so that’s tricky.