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Tis the Week of the Relaunch of Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards Program

March 3, 2011 at 1:26 PM | by | Comment (1)

This is the week! After leaving their Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program virtually untouched since launching it in 1987, Southwest Airlines has revamped it and hopefully made it a bit easier to redeem your miles for flights you actually want. The refreshed Rapid Rewards program launched on March 1, and although they have been technical kinks to work out of the system over the last couple days, we're sure it's here to stay.

In the new Rapid Rewards, we're seeing a change to points rewards based on the price of your flight and the level thereof (ex: "Wanna Get Away" fares versus Business Select). What's more is the rewards you earn can be used on things like cruises, rental cars or even gift cards [Update: if you have the Southwest credit card, as the commenter below points out]. No more automatically generated flight vouchers.

And, for frequent SWA flyers, the new program puts A-List status easier within reach, as it now takes only 25 one-way flights (instead of 32 previously) to earn it. For A-List Preferred—a completely new addition—, we're talking 50 one-ways in a calendar year and the extra perk of free in-flight WiFi if your plane is equipped with it.

For our full analysis on the changes to the program and new benefits, click here.

On the credit card front, our friend The Points Guy takes a deeper look at the new Rapid Rewards 2.0 Chase cards, each with sign-on bonuses currently. Read all about that right here.

[Photo: gTarded]

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Benefits of RR 2.0

"What's more is the rewards you earn can be used on things like cruises, rental cars or even gift cards."

One thing you didn't mention is that this feature is only available to those with a Rapid Rewards Credit Card from Chase.  Along with the international fights and hotel rewards, it's part of the "More Rewards" program which is limited to Rapid Rewards Credit Card members:

"As a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmember, you can use all your points to redeem for International flights, hotel stays, car rentals, and gift cards. That means that all of your points earned from flights and Partners, not just those earned from the Chase Credit Card, can be used for these exciting reward redemption opportunities."

(From https://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/redeem-more-rewards)

Redemption rates appear to be in the 100 points per $1 rate.  As an existing Companion Pass holder (and Rapid Rewards Credit Card holder) I understand why they made these these moves, but for me there is limited value to paying into a system to gain access to additional awards that aren't that exciting, whereas you could get a decent value under the old credits system.  While it wasn't glamorous, the old system represented a great value -- now there is no incentive to try and extract the maximum value, everything is built in and pre-calculated.

I will continue to fly Southwest, but it is unlikely that I will earn a Companion Pass again next year and I will probably cancel my Rapid Rewards Visa and either replace it with a cash back card that awards bonuses on broader categories (rather than just Southwest flights or Rapid Rewards partners) and allows the rewards to be used for more than Southwest flights (and More Rewards at an inflated point value.)  The PenFed PenFed Premium Travel Rewards Amex sounds pretty sweet at 5% back for flights with no annual fee.  I already have a Discover, but what I need is something that consistently offers a decent return on purchases in standard categories like dining, rental cars, etc. without having redemption options as limited as RR 2.0.  The Amex Blue-series cards sound pretty sweet since the $75 annual fee on the Blue Sky Preferred is more than offset by a $100 annual allowance to be used on airline incidentals for any carrier.

Anyhow, although the changes devalue the program and betray my interests as an award-seeker, I understand their motives and wish Southwest luck.  I predict that they will get along just fine even if the program is significantly less generous than before.  Southwest is an excellent carrier and probably doesn't need a high-value rewards program to be successful as much as some of the legacies.

Ted3x on March 3, 2011 at 2:45 PM #Permalink

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