New Southwest Rapid Rewards Program Gets Mixed Reviews

Are they saying that the dollars on merchandise and services using my SW Visa will no longer be accruing me points toward a free ticket on SW Airlines?

I guess we need to get used to it. SW is still a good deal compared to other airlines. They’re in business to make money and they need to do what will continue to bring in the bucks.
Cheers,
Interior Designer Detroit

A program reboot with some winners and some losers beats a program with just losers…doesn’t it?

Keith claims that he is now going to change to USAir instead of SWA because of this change because they are “cheaper”. But don’t forget – every change on USAir is a $150 change fee plus the fare difference – but SWA has no change fee – nor a bag charge. Doubt that USAir is a viable alternative to SWA – I used to be top level on USAir – but left them long ago because of their dismal service, dirty planes, and rude employees.

Who are all these people that make all of these last minute changes? And if you travel with any frequency and stay with one airline, you will get free bag check as a perk. Many times SW is not the cheapest fare, and big deal about the possibility of international/Hawaii flights…surely you would have to change planes at least once or twice and it would end up taking a day just getting there. I will now shop on most direct routes and price instead of giving loyalty to SWA. Like so many others have said, it was a great ride while it lasted…good luck with your “new Coke” of a program!

I fly on the West Coast, and have been flying exclusively on SW at the expense of Alaska for the last few years. I switched because of the Rapid Rewards program.

SW has been fine, but many of the flights require plane changes and thus take twice as long. I don’t care about free bags because I don’t check anything.

I have rewards credit cards without a yearly fee too. When I look at this new program, I think I may be giving up the Chase card and using the free card that gives me points on all the Airlines.

I think it will be interesting to see if they actually do make more money from this. I think it will at least make the planes a bit less crowded.

Southwest was unfair as hell in giving people only 1.5 months to accumulate 100 RR credits to earn a Companion award that was previously on a rolling 12-month basis and now on a calendar year basis. I’m sure there are other folks out there who have 60 to 90 credits from last spring/summer until now and would have gotten their 100 credits by this summer but that’s now impossible due to imposition of Southwest’s new complicated program (RR 2.0).

I am a big fan of Southwest and the Rapid Rewards Program. Southwest has been the most consumer friendly of any airline and the most generous. They are responsible for low fares and “The Southwest Effect”. I am not happy with the changes to their Rapid Reward program, however from a Business Standpoint I feel it something they had to do. All good things unfortunately come to an end.

Did anyone notice that it now takes 10/20 segments to get the same value ticket, as opposed to 8/16 segments which could be used on any flight of equal or greater value.

I earn about 150,000 southwest points on my visa each year and have loved using my free tickets. Now, my credit card miles will only earn about 1/2 the tickets, at best. I am now changing credit cards because the SWA card is just like all the rest now…and I have more city options with other airlines. Goodbye SWA. I will miss you.

Someone above pointed it out quite simply. Chase even knows they are getting screwed on this. Chase is offering 20,000 points to open an account. Well depending where you fly, Chicago to Phoenix, this is not even enough credits/points/whatever they call it now. Yes, if you book Anytime fares or Business Select you get the mega points. But for me who chose to fly Southwest for business trips monthly from Chicago to Minneapolis – there is no advantage to me. In fact, it hurts me more. Companies make business decisions to better themselves…not that of the customers. Week minded people listen to marketing schemes. (pyramid schemes) Do the math though. Flight to Phoenix is $380 r/t if you get it early enough. To get RR average of 25,000 for the flight, I need to spend at minimum $4166 at the Get Away Fare.

By Chase Credit Card…no advantages versus better credit cards. AA will be happy to take my business back.

Southwest has effectively alienated it’s hard core customers. Like Vegas who relies on the slot machine players to stay viable, the RR program was the backbone of their success. It’s a shame they see it differently….. They are dead wrong with this change and will see the results on the bottom line. And one can only hope they can get the website up and running.

New system does not allow you to convert your old awards to credits. You can also not convert standard awards to freedom awards. You are stuck with whatever you had at the end of Feb. This will cause a lot of unused awards, I guess that is what SW wants. Is the only airline I have flown in last 8 years. I will now be looking at others. SW no longer fills my needs because of the changes.

Sorry. Meant to say “losing us low-end folks en masse” not “using.” You catch my drift!

Terrible, terrible terrible. I have been flying SWA for years. It is shameful that they market this new RR as a better plan. In no way is this better for the end user other than the $800 round trip booking Business Select user. Even for them I’m not so sure. I hope people make their feelings know on the internet to cause change! It used to cost 19,500 points for a free round trip. Now a round trip can cost you about 100,000 points if you wait and book it within 7 days on the anytime fair. They are now the same as the rest like United. This was such a wonderful airline, what is happening. Even calling there 800 # they used to pick right up, now 20 min wait. Shameful!

I used to bear standing in line (like in grade school) next to a number, elbow to elbow waitng for the cattle call to see who would get the “best seats” on the airbus. Then listen to some lame jokes, get a small glass of coke, peanuts and hop and skip all the way from Florida to California (Hours and hours). I did this because of the RR program. NOW, that is a thing of the past. I can catch a non-stop and be there in 5-6 hours versus 10-12. ADIOS SW, you may have screwed your loyal customers ROYALLY, but in the end, you will see you ultimately screwed YOURSELF!

AWFUL AWFUL!! They have really screwed us. Try to book a flight with new points – TONS available at VERY LOW point totals. Try to book the SAME FLIGHTS with standard awards? NOTHING AVAILABLE!! This is nothing short of a stealth, mean-spirited devaluing of existing free travel awards. SHAME SHAME Southwest!!!

I am very unhappy with the new Southwest program and will be looking for a new program. I am currently A list and have a companion pass. I feel they really don’t care about me and don’t want my business. They are encouraging that I charge my company for an expensive flight just to get points–that borders on being immoral! I am out the door!

Always considered Southwest an option for me when I travelled. This has gone from “consider” to never, ever consider unless the flight is pleasure and cheap, cheap, cheap as my flights are Detroit – Chicago, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Baltimore, etc. Going with Delta out of Detroit. Already have no fee baggage as most frequent travellers do. This new program is so different from the old that it is unrecognizable. Terrible move and one that as more find out what exactly it means the more the reviews will be negative.
- A Delta Gold Member thru 2013

Just tried to use it for the first time. My “old” awards are blocked out for the whole month of July! My “new” credits are so dilluted I can’t even use them to buy the tickets. I suppose it is more in line with other programs now, good job. You’ve lowered the bar to your competitors. I think I will opt for one of the competitors over you if it is close, at least then I *know* that I am getting screwed, instead of being told how “exciting” it is!

Thumbs down. The biggest incentives to fly Southwest were always 1) the free checked bags and 2) easy-to-accrue rewards. I pack light and don’t check bags anyway, and now Southwest’s FF program is just the same as everyone else’s — so what incentive do I have to go out of my way to fly on Southwest? Not much, that’s for sure. In my mind, now SWA is just lumped in with all the other legacy carriers and their “fuzzy math” FF programs. I was seriously considering getting the SWA Chase Card late last year, but that is DEFINITELY not happening now!

No longer a SW Flyer. As soon as I earned my last reward.I Switched to other airlines due to the change in RR progam. It is a really bad deal for the loyal SW flyers. Shame on SW. The other airlines must love them for all the customers that are switching.

Glad to hear the Frontier is a good option. I will miss Southwest…but I am out the door.

I am not sure how I feel about the new program. I just want the Awards I earned in the previous program to be honored. I was shocked when I went to reactivate my Awards to use towards a flight and saw that they had been cancelled. I spent one entire day calling their customer service. I started the next day at 7:00 and finally got someone. I am now waiting for a manager to call back. They claim that the rules regarding expiration dates had not changed, they were only being liberal and making exceptions in allowing the addition 24 months to use the Award. All though their website stated 24 months and several times I was told not to use old Awards, but to use current and unexpired Awards for travel. Now I have no clue when my remaining Awards expire. For a program that say Don’t worry your Awards are safe….Not when they are now gone. In their email they stated that they are sorry that they had caused disappointment. I don’t think it is disappointment, maybe in SWA, that I feel. I lost money and faith in an airline that up until today, was my chosen carrier for all locations the flew.

This is a horrible change for anyone that had earned rewards under the old system. Mine are all but unusable now. They (Southwest Reps) keep saying that nothing has changed but the truth is you can not find flights within reasonable planning time frames that allow use of the old award tickets. They have also taken the conversion of two tickets to “freedom awards” away. That has left me with 18 virtually worthless award tickets. I never would have thought Southwest Airlines would start doing this kind of cut throat business.

Other posts have said it all. I now will fly off my awards and I’m going with another carrier. Way to screw your loyal customers! Stunningly stupid as it seems the loyal base will be leaving in droves. Goodbye Southwest.

Wow! Way to totally alienate your frequent flyers. We are cancelling our SWA credit cards that we have used for years to accumulate CREDITS which were EASY to use and held VALUE for frequent flyers like us. This program is no where near as attractive to a frequent flyer as the old RR program. This was the best thing going. Now is it as crappy as all the other programs. EPIC FAIL, SOUTHWEST!

I didn’t think the new Rewards program was going to be that different when I read the marketing materials, but I was WRONG. The amount of points is takes to book a reward flight is grossy unbalanced with the amount of points you earn for the same flight. I am considering cancelling my SW Credit Card and flying USAir whenever possible. There is no advantage now to flying SW and using that credit card. I could earn more w/ Discover and use my cashback for a flight that would cost more using SW points.

The new design of Southwest Airlines’ website provides little information on how the new rewards program works, booking flights with the old rewards and just trying to locate the old rewards. Purchasing a one way ticket at a prime time (6:00 am flying east) can be as high as 50,000 points or more. I mistakenly reissued 3 current rewards and Southwest refused to return the $50 on each of the rewards. We were forced to dispute the charges on the Chase credit card and the charges were finally reversed. The staff at Southwest Airlines only answer questions with a “yes” or “no” answer and do not provide any additional information. Fortunately, Chase offers other airlines programs, so we will most likely make a change.

My daughter flys every month back and forth to Florida. It seem as all our past flights have disappeared, she was one trip to a free flight at the change over, now she’s three round trips to a free flight and she’s already had two round trips to California since then. I’m so unhappy with it I regret all the time I spent enrolling my family of six and the effort I spent on keeping track of everyones credits. What a mess!

Southwest was my only choice in airlines. I am HORRIBLY disappointed in this “new” program, which essentially makes Southwest as TERRIBLE as the rest of the airlines. I used to be able to use my RR last minute and did so frequently, and as a result chose SW for EVERY FLIGHT.

No longer. It is so very sad. They also aren’t answering their phones anymore.

I feel like I have lost a good friend. Has anyone researched to see if they have hired a new IDIOT VP of Marketing that has implemented this “new and improved” read terrible just like all the other airlines policies….

wow. No longer flying SW exclusively. It so really sad. Has anyone researched to see if some other startup airline focused on customer service (as I sit here waiting on a 38 minute hold time)… heard of that before their “NEW AND IMPROVED programs”…..

I would say I would switch immediatly but all the other airlines are terrible. Is any other airline trying to be like the old Southwest ? Please advise, I would love to know.

I am flying all Delta, getting upgraded regularly and have not taken a SW flight since the program started. I am glad they pushed me into a new airlines. They probably lost over 50 segments with me alone this year.

They will bring back the old RR program after they see it had failed. They are just trying anything possible to raise $$ for the shairholder. Give it 2 years max. After being a loyal customer for 18 years, I now fly other airlines to enjoy a flight rather than sitting in the cattle cab.

Looks like my wife and I are losers in this. We’ll be winding down our usage of SW. They are often not the most convenient airline for us anyway. Too bad. They were growing on us…

I took my first Southwest flight from Austin to Lubbock in 1977. Sat in the back and it was noisy but fun.

I have been a Rapid Rewards member since 1988 and a have been fortunate to have gotten a companion pass for the last 10 years. I came to Southwest because I was tired of not being able to use my points on American, Delta and Continental. Southwest made it easy for me to get and use the rewards system it had in place. Originally you could use a free ticket even if they had one seat left, but that changed. Then you had to trade in two rewards for an anytime reward. I guess it was just a matter of time before they changed the entire system to their favor. Unfortunately, many good and loyal customers are looking elsewhere for a better deal.

I’m sure SW thought long and hard about how to change their rewards system and knew there was going to be some fallout from us and they probably thought they could recoup their losses by gaining new customers from other airlines. It doesn’t seem from these posts that it is working. What happened to the “Airline that Luv built”?

What really started to change the rewards system in my opinion was the introduction of the Chase Southwest Visa program. I believe they didn’t expect to be giving out so many free tickets, companion passes and a-listers. As a result finding a seat was becoming as difficult as a “Legacy Airlines” which incidentally, Southwest is becoming.

So, I’m not making any threats of not using Southwest again, but I have not flown on SW since they’ve made this change and don’t have any immediate plans to change that pattern.
I’ve had some great inflight moments while flying with Southwest but it seems they no longer value me as a customer.

I’ve done some sales in my time and one thing we always talked about was; it’s much easier to keep a good customer than it is to go out and find a new one? I wish them luck in the future trying to overcome that challenge.

I’ve had been a fan of Southwest for many, many years. The old rewards program was a large reason why. Now I’m searching for a different credit card since Southwest in no longer worth having.

Stop whining!! Southwest has a track record of staying ahead of the competition by creating value for its customers while still making a profit for its shareholders. This move is what appears to be a compromise that threads that business needle.

What bothers most of these customers is that they can no longer game the system at Southwest’s expense.

I can speak first hand how good it has been for our family to fly Southwest. I am retired and my spouse is still working. She travels a lot between San Diego and Sacramento (short haul air travel). We have been able to cobble together a combination of transferable points from Choices Hotels and use of Rapid Rewards credit cards to get a companion pass each of the last five years. This enables me to accompany my spouse, share some of the burden of driving, etc. at the cost of the TSA fee.

We have been able to use the free flights to visit our daughter on the east coast. We have been able to game the system by flying at company expense the short haul and flying coast to coast for free. Now we will have to pay more in line with what it costs Southwest to sell us a seat. We are losers but not enough to negate the remaining advantages.

Bottom line, Southwest has a track record for delivering value vis-a-vis the competition. This is just an on-going tweaking of the system to make it more economically rational.

If the whiners can do better they should take their business elsewhere. Unless they have not done their homework properly, I don’t think Southwest is going to lose any sleep from a long-term business perspective. People will either see that they did it right and stay with or return to Southwest or Southwest will go the way of NetFlix if they have blown it. I’ll put my money on Southwest but only time will tell.

As a 25-year frequent flyer on Southwest, I’m worried about the continuing changes away from what made Southwest different from other carriers. True open seating has gone to a multiple-tier system based on $$$. Rapid Rewards is morphing into a FF program much like the big airlines. I’m OK with these changes, and I understand the value. What worries me is what other changes are in the works…change penalties (Air Tran still charges $75 for ANY change…not matter when), bag fees, etc.

My favorite thing about Southwest is that they don’t impose change fees. In my opinion, those fees are intended to take advantage of someone whose plans have changed. I FULLY understand that a customer should pay the best fare available at the time of change…that’s fair. But to simply tag a customer $75 to change a flight time, when the original fare is still available, is punitive in my opinion, especially if the customer makes the change online.

Southwest…please don’t take this feature away from your customers. I see the evolution of benefits, and I hope this isn’t a target of change. My job requires flexibility, as my customers often reschedule…usually with plenty of lead time. Please keep the current policy in place, where if I change a flight, I can still get the best available fare, and not get punished for needing to alter my schedule.

No bag fees and no change penalties. That’s what sets Southwest apart. I hope those two policies remain untouchable.

By the way, Kelly is absolutely right in her analysis of the NEW rapid rewards program. It sucks! Ditch that southwest card and go to another airline. That’s what I did!

I was ripped off by SW. I have been a rapid reward user since 2002. Yesterday I went to check on my point status and all my points were missing. All that was there were 2,382 points from a Jan 2012 round trip, Baltimore MD to Detroit MI. And guess what it was all my fault. Even if I had proof of a few flights they can do nothing to bring them back.
They say it was my job to do their book keeping of my points. I short double check regularly to keep them honest. Southwest in my option are flat out dishonest.

Well well. I quit flying southwest as I had previously qualified for 3 flights and somehow all of my points were gone? Yes that’s right! 24 segments. I was a frequent flyer from NC to FL. Also you should know that I tried to use the points several times with 30 days advanced notice, and EACH TIME was refused and ended up paying for companion travel. Maybe I’m confused but it’s not while sitting on a SW flight.

Well I was willing to give the new Southwest RR a shot, but not any longer. Comparison: flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles-Wanna Get Away-will net you 430-480 points when paying. To get the same flight using points it is 4,000+. So I will get 860 points for a round trip or use 8000+ points for a round trip. A round trip to New York will wipe out my account. So no this was not a good switch for me. Where before I was getting a free roundtrip ticket 1x/year now I will be lucky to get one every 2-3 years. Sorry, but I refuse to pay $400 for a roundtrip ticket to Los Angeles to get more points. As soon as my points are used up I will be cancelling my RR account and credit card and sticking with United/Continental at least they are international and I can go to Hawaii. The new RR program would make sense if SW had as many destinations as the other airlines, but news flash they don’t. So, why would they change the RR program to the way the old airlines programs are?