Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[barb969]

OK - so I have confused myself...even though I've had CP for the last 3 or 4 years....

In my SW RR account, I have just over 79k points but I know I need 125k points for CP. When it hits 1/1/22 do my earned points poof and I have to start all over again trying to earn the 125k or do I keep the current points and then those are applied towards my next CP?

AND, lets say I earn those 125k points in April, does that mean I'll have CP for the rest of 2022 AND 2023??

thanks!

First question- you will lose the points at the the end of 2021 and start over in 2022.
Second question- yes. I did this last year and got the CP in June. It’s good until 12/22.

 

[Avery&Todd]

First question- you will lose the points at the the end of 2021 and start over in 2022.
Second question- yes. I did this last year and got the CP in June. It’s good until 12/22.

so that means if I lose all the 79k points I've earned so far towards the CP on 1/1/22, then there is no way I'll earn 125k by April 2022 since I'll have to start all over again at zero and get back to 125k...

oh well - it was nice having CP while I did! I do have A-List for next year so there's that!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

so that means if I lose all the 79k points I've earned so far towards the CP on 1/1/22, then there is no way I'll earn 125k by April 2022 since I'll have to start all over again at zero and get back to 125k...

oh well - it was nice having CP while I did! I do have A-List for next year so there's that!

CP is normally quite hard to get it repeatedly just because of the high threshold. When it was 110,000 it was hard now it's even harder.

Also don't forget about their Rapid Rewards Shopping. I really don't earn much (on average 11 points or so each transaction) when I do it with my cat's wet food through Petsmart. The way I see it is I'm literally doing nothing different except making sure to log into my SWA account first and go through their shopping portal. You may still not even get close to a Companion Pass but it helps I suppose (and you'll just keep adding points onto your account little by little).

 

[EACarlson]

Rapid Rewards Dining as well. No effort, register your credit card number and when you eat at participating restaurants you get RR points. 3pt/$ spent. I've gotten enough in the last two years to pay for my flight to MCO next month.

 

[barb969]

Rapid Rewards Dining as well. No effort, register your credit card number and when you eat at participating restaurants you get RR points. 3pt/$ spent. I've gotten enough in the last two years to pay for my flight to MCO next month.

Rapid rewards surveys can add some.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Rapid rewards surveys can add some.

I haven't done them in a while (sorta forget about them) but one of the ones I did over the summer got me 100 points for like a 20min survey

 

[Gitelfor]

Car rentals booked thru the Southwest RR portal can give your RR account a quick boost. Several years ago, when I was regularly booking rentals for a number of weeks in the same city, I would return and then check the car out again, on a weekly basis. With 3000 RR points per weekly rental, my RR account increased in value in good spurts. Of course, it’s always worth checking to see if the rate is competitive against rates available thru other booking channels, to see if the bonus points are worth booking thru Southwest. Unfortunately, 3000 point bonuses are no longer offered; the largest bonus, for companies such as Avis and Hertz, is up to 2400 RR points, per rental.

Hotels booked thru Booking.com on Southwest’s site can sometimes offer large bonuses, but I find that the room rates usually are out of line, when compared against other OTAs. There are hotels that have rates with up to 10000 RR points, per night, sometimes. There can be different room rates displayed for the exact same room, with a higher rate for more points, compared to the same room with fewer points awarded. So, you basically are buying those bonus points by booking the higher rate room.
Southwest hotel offers with bonus RR points

 

[focusondisney]

OK - so I have confused myself...even though I've had CP for the last 3 or 4 years....

In my SW RR account, I have just over 79k points but I know I need 125k points for CP. When it hits 1/1/22 do my earned points poof and I have to start all over again trying to earn the 125k or do I keep the current points and then those are applied towards my next CP?

AND, lets say I earn those 125k points in April, does that mean I'll have CP for the rest of 2022 AND 2023??

thanks!

First question- you will lose the points at the the end of 2021 and start over in 2022.
Second question- yes. I did this last year and got the CP in June. It’s good until 12/22.

Just to clarify, you won’t “lose” the points. You’ll still have them & be able to use them to book flights. But every January, you start over in your attempt to earn a CP. You must earn 125,000 points from January 1- December 31 to earn the CP.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Just to clarify, you won’t “lose” the points. You’ll still have them & be able to use them to book flights. But every January, you start over in your attempt to earn a CP. You must earn 125,000 points from January 1- December 31 to earn the CP.

we "easily" earned CP for many years when our oldest was in college as we would put his tuition/expenses on the card and then just paid it off and it earned us CP quite easily, but he's now done with that and our youngest is going to a cheaper college so his expenses are "less"...therefore fewer RR points..

and yes, I realize I keep the points earned for flight but its a bummer to realize I lose them towards CP...

oh well...

thanks everyone - this is why I love this thread!

 

[Gitelfor]

For a change, Southwest is not the airline with high rates of flight cancellations.

Reviewing flights in/out of MCO, this weekend, Delta and jetBlue have had quite a few cancellations and delays, while Southwest has had a few rare cancellations or delays. Hopefully, Southwest will be able to continue with this trend.

 

[teawar]

Our family had great travels in and out of Orlando before the Christmas break. SWA impressed me when our flight crew was stuck in traffic outside of the airport and they had another set of flight attendants help with the boarding process. They worked to get us out on time until our crew arrived. This crew didn’t have to do this, but they did it with smiles on Christmas Eve.

 

[Gitelfor]

Our family had great travels in and out of Orlando before the Christmas break. SWA impressed me when our flight crew was stuck in traffic outside of the airport and they had another set of flight attendants help with the boarding process. They worked to get us out on time until our crew arrived. This crew didn’t have to do this, but they did it with smiles on Christmas Eve.

It may or may not be well-known, but the flight attendants only are paid when the airplane’s door is closed and secured on the flight they are working. They are not paid while passengers are boarding/deplaning. For those F/As to help board passengers on a flight they are not assigned is a great gesture.

You may want to let Southwest on social media know about this. They will ask you to DM your confirmation number, so that those crew members can get recognized for their actions.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Our family had great travels in and out of Orlando before the Christmas break. SWA impressed me when our flight crew was stuck in traffic outside of the airport and they had another set of flight attendants help with the boarding process. They worked to get us out on time until our crew arrived. This crew didn’t have to do this, but they did it with smiles on Christmas Eve.

When we landed back in KC from Vegas on 12/15 it was about 12:30am and SWA played "Kansas City" by The New Basement Tapes as we connected up with the jetway. While normally that would appreciated most of us were just sorta grumpy because of a flight delay/extended boarding/halting of boarding, etc. Plus the Derecho was occurring back home that day (had mostly subsided though the winds provided us with an amazing tailwind) most of us were worried about our homes and stuff. BUT I do love the added touch SWA had to do that. We were also flying on a MAX-8 and just after boarding they changed the lights to be green and red momentarily before going back to blue, still a nice touch. I've found over the years SWA to be quite good as a whole

 

[teawar]

It may or may not be well-known, but the flight attendants only are paid when the airplane’s door is closed and secured on the flight they are working. They are not paid while passengers are boarding/deplaning. For those F/As to help board passengers on a flight they are not assigned is a great gesture.

You may want to let Southwest on social media know about this. They will ask you to DM your confirmation number, so that those crew members can get recognized for their actions.

Thanks for sharing this and I will definitely push it out on Twitter/Instagram.

 

[Kazi7]

I'm sorry, I know this question gets asked a lot but I don't want to screw up. My new credit card closed on Dec 24th with $1500 charged so far, next posting date is Jan 24th. Is it correct that everything charged this week will post in January, so therefore my 50,000 bonus points will post after the Jan 24th date? I've seen people advise to wait until Jan 1 "just in case", but I have several expenses due this week so I really want to use it before Jan 1.

And if I get to the $12,000 mark before Jan 24, will I get the second 50,000 points at the same time? I need to book flights this spring and I'm anxiously holding off to get the points.

 

[barb969]

Yes
yes

 

[Kazi7]

Yes
yes

Thanks, straight to the point! I love it.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

If you book Business Select are you guaranteed A1 - A15 boarding?
Would you still need Early Bird?

Thoughts on different fare categories?

I am thinking refundable fare could be helpful during uncertain Covid times.

 

[teawar]

If you book business select, you will definitely be in the first 30, if not 15 to board the plane. You would not need early board booking. The only people in front of you would be preboards with special passes. You also get a lot more Rapid Reward Points with this booking class.

 

[EACarlson]

If you book Business Select are you guaranteed A1 - A15 boarding?
Would you still need Early Bird?

Thoughts on different fare categories?

I am thinking refundable fare could be helpful during uncertain Covid times.

Business select is guaranteed A1-A15, no need for early bird, in the before times it also came with free drinks. A refundable fare would make sense if you think you may have to cancel. Another option and one I avail myself of regularly is to book with points. If you book with points and have to cancel for any reason all of the points get returned to you.
I only book WGA fares. To me, if I have to pay Anytime fare prices, I can usually find the flight cheaper on another airline.