All I do is swipe

So this happened awhile back and I hadn't realized how rare it might've been until now.

I was checking random fares and flights out of DAL looking for a vacation spot. Checked Denver and there was a certain fare available for 789 points one way. Yes, only 789. Literally an $8 fare if you want to value points/miles at 1 cent/point. Not sure if anyone has ever spotted a fare like this - if you have let me know!

joshua362

I used to frequently & quickly swipe, now I have to put on my glasses, fumble to find the slot, insert and wait and wait...

Good find, someone posted recently about 900 point fares recently.

All I do is swipe

I feel like there should be a dedicated thread that shows the super deal fares that are usually hard to find - with Southwest's dynamic rewards pricing theres always something to be found

jiph

It's a $25 fare, so it's a good redemption for sure but not an abnormally low price relative to the dollar rate.

All I do is swipe

At the time it was more expensive, maybe $50-60 if I remember

ftnoob

When used for WGA flights on SWA, RR points should always be valued at significantly more than 1 cent per point. You may have seen a 60 points / $ fare*, in which case the 789 points would translate to about a $19 $27 fare if a non-stop--still fantastic! It would have been great if you could have captured more details about the dollar and points versions of the fare for the specific itinerary. I'd love to know whether the points/dollar rate actually dropped well below 60 for this flight.

* 1.67 cents/point before considering taxes, fees, and cost of not earning points on the paid version of the flight.

birdiedouble

Still seeing flights between IAD and MCO both ways for $34 in Jan. Points are 1325. Here is the cash breakdown:

Base Fare $18.40
+ add Excise Taxes $1.38
Subtotal with taxes $19.78
+ add Segment Fee $4.10
+ add Passenger Facility Charge $4.50
+ add Security Fee1
1 Security Fee is the government-imposed September 11th Security Fee.
$5.60
Total per Passenger $33.98

RoadWarrior707

$25 or 723 points between LAS and DEN on many dates Nov-early April. Typically at very early and very late times of the day, however.

synergistic

IIRC, it wasn't an especially low ratio - there was no 'super low' points cost for early/late flights. There was just an incredibly low price - $25 - and a similarly low base fare - I think only $10, the lowest I've ever seen. Even accounting for foregone points if you'd paid cash for the flight, it's worth almost 2.5c per point. Pretty amazing, tbh.

synergistic

Hmm, perhaps I misspoke - I recall checking these and was pretty sure that the base fare was $10, and that the fare was available all day and not just in the very early/late hours of the day. If they're still available I'll check again and post to confirm my earlier numbers.

EDIT: Surprisingly, these fares are still available - $24.98 or 723 points. Same price and ratios for 5:00am as for 4:00pm and later, midday flights are higher in both cash and points. Base fare is $10.03.

Base fare calculation:
$10.03 / 723 points => 1.387c per point or 72.08 points per dollar - pretty typical ratio these days

Actual value calculation accounting for foregone points:
$24.98 - $5.60 = $19.38
723pts + 61pts = 784pts
$19.38 / 784 points => 2.47c per point or 40.45 points per dollar - I believe this is the best value I've ever seen.

ftnoob

Seeing the same $24.98 versus 723 points for a flight from MCO-PHL on 29-Nov, and at a reasonable (8:15 AM) N/S departure. Report other examples here to benefit your fellow FTers.

jeffandnicole

I've seen this in both directions all the way into January, popping off and on for various dates. And at first it was for the very early or late flights, but I've see mid-day popping up too. Nearly all are non-stop flights.

Very tempting!

benfro6

Have seen multiple instances of 1,126 point redemptions DEN-MDW for January-March, including peak weekend travel. Thought I was losing my mind!

lowfareair

It's an odd quirk of the program, but due to the flat fees (except the security fee of $5.60) like PFCs and segment fees not being included in award ticket pricing, as those are not charged on $0 tickets, plus RR charging fewer points/$ the cheaper the fare class, the cheaper your airfare, the higher cents per point (cpp) one gets out of it.

synergistic

That's what's been so interesting to me about these particularly low rates - I don't remember at what stage that change occurred, but making redemptions revolve around the base fare and not the total has resulted in some incredible points values on low fares. I'm hoping they keep up these matches for awhile, I'd gotten away from WN for a little bit because of the loss of the Getaway Finder map. These fares make it worth the (much larger) hassle in finding weekend escapes.