zdcatc12

I usually don't fly WN, but needed to this time, as they were the lowest cost for my destination and work was paying. I was wondering why my points and segments hadn't posted to my account yet and saw that they don't post until after completion of the whole ticket. That to me is just crazy in this day and age. If I fly on one of the legacy carriers, sometimes the flight that I just got off of posts even before getting on the connection. Is this just a WN IT issue? In case anyone asks, I can not book these particular flights as two one ways to get around this.

joshua362

This is just they way they do it. I do not know why or if it differs from others.

It was actually beneficial to me for many years to push points and status into the next calendar year, that was the only reason why I'd book RT's vs OW's.

Do you really need the points that fast, e.g. before you've completed the round trip?

djp98374

if you book a RT then they don’t process till the RT is done because pts is tied to fare paid and class of ticket not flight mileage.

the return portion in theory could be changed to a higher fare or class, thus changing earnings.

if this a corporate account then this complicates it further.

if you had booked as two one ways thrn they’d be processed differently.

dmbolp

I assume it goes back to when only Southwest had no change fees, and therefore many more changes/cancellations compared to the other airlines. You can still cancel the return of a round trip, and then Southwest would need to claw back the points associated with the cancelled return.

Now that other airlines also offer free changes/cancellations I assume they aren't going to give you points before completing the flights.

zdcatc12

No, but I hold on to my boarding passes until they post, so that is just one more thing that I need to do.

I understand that it is tied to fare class, but on the others, they break the fares into segments and post that way, even on a round trip. My reservation has a fare class and amount paid for each direction, so why don't they just use the fare amount for each direction in the final calculation? Like if I had flown DAL, they would have broke my fare into a SAT-ATL fare and a ATL-IND fare and posted those MQDs based on that. Not sure why WN couldn't do that. E.g. my trip up was SAT-DAL-IND, that fare is separate from my return and now complete. Why can't those points/segments be posted already? Not sure what changing my return would have anything to do with completed segments.

Why does the return have anything to do with it. Why can't their IT post the points for the first part of the R/T. My reservation confirmation is broken down into each direction, with fares shown for each direction. Yes, the other airlines still are posting miles after a flight is completed. That is my whole point, how does a completed segment for one of the directions on a R/T affect the earnings for the return on a R/T? After the first one-way is complete, that no longer has any bearing on the return---or it shouldn't.

NoStressHere

Since you usually do not fly them, I guess the points don't matter anyways?

And, as others said - it is just the way they do it. Sorry the fools at your company will not let you book one way tickets.

joshua362

FWIW, they are very accurate and timely in the posting once the flown ticket is complete.

IME I've never had a problem in 20+ years of posting as long as the RR number is there and correct. I've never bothered to track them.

Finally if you are forced to buy the cheapest WGA fares, its going to be a long time before those points accumulate into something usable. And they are pretty much worthless (now) outside of airfares.

Really nothing to worry about...

dmbolp

Why?

TheRoadie

Paper boarding passes? How quaint. Screenshot your phone BP if you don't trust their IT.

Tanic

I've got so many WN boarding passes in my Apple Wallet that the iPhone is bulging.

djp98374

other airlines pts earned is miles flow* fare class f multiplier. No paid amount plays 8n to this. You could have booked a FC ticket fir the same fare you4 last minute flight cost you.

on southwest it’s directly related to cost of ticket purchased* fare class multiplier.

zdcatc12

You must not fly other airlines much, e.g. on Delta: On Delta-marketed flights in Main Cabin or above, earn 5 miles for each $1 spent on your ticket and Earn even more when you achieve Medallion Status - up to 11 miles per $1 spent. The fare also is what determines the MQD for Medallion status. Hence, why on my post above, it shows that they break down the fare by each segment.

djp98374

I fly every major airline regularly.

because those airline attach spending requirements on top of miles flown to status. Spending factors is tied to things like airline cc and current status which makes it less objective.

the miles portion is still calculated the same as I mentioned.

zdcatc12

To begin with, I had a hard time deciphering your first post above. I had to guess what you were trying to say. Again, with the other majors (maybe AA excluded as I haven't really seen how their new loyalty points thing is calculated), miles (points) are accumulated based on the fare amount, not mileage, exceptions being consolidator and partner flying internationally, which are based on miles.

I don't see how you can say that flying on SWA and earning 6 points per dollar on a Wanna Get Away ticket is any different than flying on DAL and earning 5 miles per dollar as a Medallion member. They just refer to points as miles. Mileage does not even come into play for anything other than status qualifying or one of the above situations on international/partner flights. Status doesn't come into play here other than the amounts earned PER DOLLAR SPENT. The only difference is on SWA the amount of points is related to fare class and on the others it is related to status. In the end game, it is still based on the COST OF THE TICKET.

Again, back to my original post. I don't see how my return ticket has any bearing on what points I earned on the first half of the ticket after those segments were completed. My fare for a completed segment can't change after the fact that would change my earnings for those flights. Why can't those points be posted after those segments are completed?

DinSC

I just wanted to say thanks for answering this. I was wondering the same and was hoping to find the answer here. I usually fly one ways on Southwest where I get the points quickly or points booking so I never thought of this. I flew the outbound on a return ticket recently but noticed no points had posted to my account. Wondered why that was and apparently I have to fly the return portion before I get them!