Any Rapid Rewards Users?

[BreckTxLonghorn]

I was curious if anyone has Southwest Rapid Rewards. If so, are you happy with it? Can you redeem for one way trips, or just round trip?

I've got AA miles, and not terribly happy with it. Heck, any rewards advice at all would be appreciated!

[Adidas410s]

I use both. I'm gold on AA and just below "A list" or "Companion Pass" on Southwest.

Where do you fly and how often? Do you have status on AA? Do you fly for business or leisure?

[BreckTxLonghorn]

Fly maybe once a quarter. Got lucky in the consulting gig and work locally, so my travel points take a hit in that department.

Got an AA credit card late last year to build up miles through purchases. Have enough AA miles to go one way to a wedding in VT in August, but they hinder what date I can leave and what flight I can take--I don't like this.


If I signed up for SWA, I get 8 'credits' immediately and could probably get 2 or 3 more==enough for a one way, but don't know if SWA swings that. Was debating get a card for it too to help build miles.


Preferences? Ease of use? My brother has capital one and says his allows miles to use for anywhere with no blackout-- sounds too good to be true though.

[Adidas410s]

Before I start...here's a key to the abbreviations I'll use:
WN = Southwest
AA = American Airlines
RR = Rapid Reward award tickets
DAL = Dallas Love Field
AUS = Austin Bergstrom Int'l Airport
SEA = Seattle/Tacoma Int'l Airport
r/t = roundtrip flight
Y = economy class
J = business class
F = first class

1. AA (and any other legacy carrier) have a pretty tight leash on blackout dates of reward flights. WN used to not have them but that has changed to an extent. Their only official blackout dates are around Thanksgiving and Christmas but they have in place what are called "capacity controls." This essentially means that they only allow X number of RR tickets on each flight. 18+ months ago you could theoretically be on a flight that was full of RR's but that is no longer the case. Some flights allow 15-20 RR's (about 10% of the plane), some (like Friday/Sunday trips to Vegas) may only have 3-5 depending on time of day. WN created what's called a "Freedom Award" that has no restrictions. However, you have to use 2 RR credits instead of 1 so it's really not worth it. As a point of reference, a RR credit values to about $225-250 depending on where you fly.

2. When signing up for the WN credit card, use THIS link ---> http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=southwest_airlines_f ly_e16

It gives you 16 credits after your first purchase instead of the standard 8...so you'll automatically earn a free flight. Also, you can sign up for the business card (call it BreckTX Interests or something) as a sole proprietor and it runs credit under your SSN...and bam there's another 16 credits for a 2nd flight. The card earns RR credits at a pretty good clip. For every $1200 on your card you get 1 credit. For every $600 spent with WN you get 1 credit. You also get 2 credits on your card anniversary each year.

3. Here's how RR works:
- For every 16 credits you earn (2 per r/t unless you fly on a biz select ticket...then it's either 2.5 or 4 per r/t depending on flight distance), you are given 2 one way award tickets. They'll be called A and B by WN.
- You can use A on one flight and B on another or book them both at the same time...it's entirely up to you. They're good for 12 months after issue.
- Also, you'll receive 4 drink coupons in the mail once you earn a RR.

Summary
Here's how I look at WN vs AA:
- I fly WN for shorter flights as the boarding process is better and I don't like sitting in my seat for 15-20 min on AA before we take off. I fly AA for most of my longer flights because the miles are now worth it, I can upgrade to first class on a deep discount ticket (because of status), and I don't have to deal with the one-stop service like I do with WN out of DAL.

- The WN RR program is leaps and bounds better than AAdvantage. Eight r/t flights and I get a free flight...doesn't matter if I'm flying DAL-AUS or DAL-SEA. On AA, I would have to fly DAL-LBB (which I fly often) 37 times to earn a free r/t in the US. I can fly it 8 times on WN. That's a no brainer for me.

- WN has by far the best customer service and fare policies of any airline. If I book a ticket and have to cancel it, I either get 100% credit for the ticket that I can use any time in the next 12 months or I get a full refund (depends on if it's a discount fare or a "biz" or "biz select" fare). With AA, they charge you a $100 change fee and then you get the difference back as a credit that you can use unless you're flying full fare Y, J, or F (often times 4-8x as much as deep discount).

Here's a great FAQ (in Wiki style) about all things WN ---> http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Southwest_Rapid_Rewards

Here's a 2,246 (and counting) post guide to all (or most) things AA ---> http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=702660

One is easy to use...the other is like deciphering the US Tax Code. ;)

Hopefully that answered a few questions for you...feel free to ask more and I'll do my best to help.

[BreckTxLonghorn]

Wow....that pretty much explains everything.

THANKS!

[jason]

american sucks - i will never fly with them again unless it is paid for by somebody else or my job forces me to do so....

i would rather drive......

[BreckTxLonghorn]

Originally posted by jason
american sucks - i will never fly with them again unless it is paid for by somebody else or my job forces me to do so....

i would rather drive......

I've been screwed around by them too; but with 40k miles, I at least need to use them a few more times.