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

[mfly]

I have a question. Not about a SW flight, but about the SW credit card. Hoping someone can answer it for me. I notice in the fine print it says “your points don’t expire as long as your credit card is open.” Does that mean I’ll lose whatever points I’ve earned if I close the account? I thought the points just transfer into my Rapid Rewards account and stay that. I don’t see anything in my RR account about points with an expiration date.

You keep your points even if you close your SW credit card. You’ll lose your RR points if you don’t have any earning activity on your Rapid Rewards account in 24 months.

 

[eeyoreland]

You keep your points even if you close your SW credit card. You’ll lose your RR points if you don’t have any earning activity on your Rapid Rewards account in 24 months.

Thank you. That's what I thought/assumed. So is that a scare tactic? "As long as your credit card is open."

 

[mfly]

Thank you. That's what I thought/assumed. So is that a scare tactic? "As long as your credit card is open."

I personally don’t see it as a scare tactic as much as an explanation of benefits - just the fact that you keep a card with SW ensures your points will never expire. It’s not saying they will expire if you don’t keep your card, although I can see how it could be interpreted that way (which I’m sure they don’t mind, if it means people keep their SW credit card).

 

[shoreward]

I have a question. Not about a SW flight, but about the SW credit card. Hoping someone can answer it for me. I notice in the fine print it says “your points don’t expire as long as your credit card is open.” Does that mean I’ll lose whatever points I’ve earned if I close the account? I thought the points just transfer into my Rapid Rewards account and stay that. I don’t see anything in my RR account about points with an expiration date.

Your Rapid Rewards points will not expire, as long as you have at least one RR transaction post every two years. That can include earning from a flight or even from a small purchase through the shopping portal. If you have no activity, but have the credit card, I believe that having the credit card keeps your RR points from expiring.

 

[eeyoreland]

Your Rapid Rewards points will not expire, as long as you have at least one RR transaction post every two years. That can include earning from a flight or even from a small purchase through the shopping portal. If you have no activity, but have the credit card, I believe that having the credit card keeps your RR points from expiring.

Thank you. That kind of makes more sense.

 

[DrFacilier]

Just wanted to thank the folks on here who have given me solid advice on how to get the most out of booking with SW! I just rebooked our flights for the 4th time tonight and recovered about 38,000 RR points. Not only that but we now have the exact nonstop flight times into and out MCO we were hoping for at pretty ridiculous rates. The good news is that I don't feel like I have to stalk the SW website daily anymore... but I probably will to see if I can squeeze any more points out of our return trip lol.

 

[B. Shoe]

I'm a total flight newbie, so hopefully there is some sage advice here that can help me make a wise decision:

DD and I are traveling to MCO on 10/21, returning on 10/26. There are two flights that are perfect for us to travel on ($161/ea., on a 4:55 takeoff to MCO; $211/ea. on a 7pm takeoff to STL. Total cost for us is approx. $740 for round trip)

These are the times that would be most opportune for us with our schedule. I'm fearful that if I don't just go ahead and grab them now, I'll lose the chance at them. However, like everyone else here, I'd like to travel as inexpensive as possible. The Wanna Get Away rates aren't cash refundable, and I'm honestly unsure if I'd make another flight trip somewhere in the window allowed to redeem the difference in rate.

Am I worrying over nothing? Should I just pull the trigger and be content with having flights I know I want, even if I end up paying more than I could have if I waited it out? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[richmo]

...Am I worrying over nothing? Should I just pull the trigger and be content with having flights I know I want, even if I end up paying more than I could have if I waited it out? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

Good questions and no easy answers, unfortunately. If you were flying again within the window, I'd have said go ahead and book and take the credit if there's a drop. But you're probably not. Yes, there's a chance the flights may go down. Mid October doesn't sound like a particularly busy time, but all it takes is some school group (music, sports, cheer, etc.)(or even individuals) to grab up whatever is left on a flight. There's some that say the best fares are about 2 months out and you're not there yet...but thats just a rule of thumb that you can't count on. My advice would probably be that if you're reasonably comfortable with the fares the way they are, go ahead and book them. If there's any chance you might fly somewhere within a year, check back now and then and take the credits, if they happen...otherwise, book it and don't look back.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

I booked flights on points for June travel for 5 of us. I now need to cancel as DH will be traveling out of the country for work and not sure when we will be able to reschedule our Disney trip. I know the points will go back into our account, but it doesn't seem to give me the option to refund the fees to the original payment form. Is that no longer available? It just says they will be held for as future travel funds.

 

[B. Shoe]

My advice would probably be that if you're reasonably comfortable with the fares the way they are, go ahead and book them. If there's any chance you might fly somewhere within a year, check back now and then and take the credits, if they happen...otherwise, book it and don't look back.

I probably could take another flight. My family keeps a winter home in Daytona and I could always take another weekend trip, I guess. It's whether DD would be able to travel along to make sure I used up all of the travel credit.

I don't feel uncomfortable about the price, as I'd originally figured it would cost us somewhere in the $630-680 range for airfare. I've explored Frontier and Allegiant for the trips to Orlando, but there's no real difference in price for us. And they can't really drop *too* much, can they? I mean, am I going to wake up one morning and see a flight ticket drop from $211 to $100? A realistic drop is more like $180, maybe? It seems like a lot of pacing, waiting and constant hunting to save $60 in the grand scheme of it all, if so.

 

[shoreward]

I booked flights on points for June travel for 5 of us. I now need to cancel as DH will be traveling out of the country for work and not sure when we will be able to reschedule our Disney trip. I know the points will go back into our account, but it doesn't seem to give me the option to refund the fees to the original payment form. Is that no longer available? It just says they will be held for as future travel funds.

If you made any changes, since the flights were originally booked, the taxes and fees are not refundable and will be held to use for future travel, within one year of original booking. You must save the confirmation numbers, which will be needed to use the credits in the future. If you have not made any changes, check to see if you can open the drop-down menu; it should give the option for a refund.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I booked flights on points for June travel for 5 of us. I now need to cancel as DH will be traveling out of the country for work and not sure when we will be able to reschedule our Disney trip. I know the points will go back into our account, but it doesn't seem to give me the option to refund the fees to the original payment form. Is that no longer available? It just says they will be held for as future travel funds.

How did you pay for the fees originally? Have you made any change to those flights (i.e. "rebooking" to save points) since you originally booked the flights?

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Got it! Thanks!

 

[B. Shoe]

I probably could take another flight. My family keeps a winter home in Daytona and I could always take another weekend trip, I guess. It's whether DD would be able to travel along to make sure I used up all of the travel credit.

I don't feel uncomfortable about the price, as I'd originally figured it would cost us somewhere in the $630-680 range for airfare. I've explored Frontier and Allegiant for the trips to Orlando, but there's no real difference in price for us. And they can't really drop *too* much, can they? I mean, am I going to wake up one morning and see a flight ticket drop from $211 to $100? A realistic drop is more like $180, maybe? It seems like a lot of pacing, waiting and constant hunting to save $60 in the grand scheme of it all, if so.

UPDATE: I bit the bullet and took the fare rates as current. Maybe they'll fall a ton, maybe not. Either way, I know I have the arrival and departure times I really wanted so we can do a quick overnight stay at a nearby hotel on Sunday, roll into Disney on Monday morning (our check-in day), and be able to at least hang around until 3 p.m. or so on Friday (our check-out day).

And hey, if the fares do dramatically drop, I'll re-book and have a good reason to take DD to Daytona and enjoy the beach for an extended weekend. (Which will involve a lot less planning than this trip involves!)

 

[jerseygal]

I feel bad even posting this in light of the trauma that the travelers went through recently as well as the woman who passed away on the NY to Dallas Flight, stopping in Phil.
So tragic, may prayers and thoughts of many comfort this womans family as well as the injured on the flight.
I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in SW customer service. This past Saturday, attempted to transfer 2,000 points on line from my RR account to my DH RR account, using the SW site for $20(I intended on using my SW Visa RR Credit Card to pay for the $20 fee to transfer). The site alerted me that "Sorry something went wrong with the transaction, your credit card was not charged". So, I tried again, same message came up. Ok, I know that this card is fine, so I called SW Visa and they told me that the $20 was charged TWICE. I called SW back again and the points were not transferred, but now I have TWO $20 inappropriate charges on my A/C. The reason for my outrage is this happened at 7:45AM on Saturday and was told that NOTHING could be done until Southwest Customer Relations opened up in Texas until Monday morning at 8am. I explained my dissatisfaction to a Supervisor that from 7:45Am for a corporation that is a 24 hour a day business, that IF something went wrong with their website, that SW Customer Relations is NOT servicing customers 24 hours, but instead operates in a Mon thru Friday mode. When I called back Monday morning, I explained the situation and explained that I had wanted to transfer the 2,000 points over the weekend to make flight reservations for my DH and me. I explained I was "held captive" by what I believed was a lack of customer service and that I was in a holding pattern all weekend and could not make the reservations because I was booking on points and needed the 2,000 point transfer to book the reservation. I asked if because of the practically 2 or 3 hours of wasted time, I would like the $20 to be considered "GRATIS" due to my inconvenience. Unfortunately, I went through two layers of Customer Relations in Texas, they were UNABLE TO OFFER ANYTHING, not even a lousy $20 free transaction fee to transfer my points for our inconvenience. As of Today, these TWO $20 charges which were erroneously charged are still pending. I just spent another half hour speaking to yet a third Customer Relations Person in Texas and was upset that these 2 $20 charges are still pending as of today and these charges dates back to Saturday, April 14th. So, after spending another half hour just now, the SW Customer relations Rep finally took the information and will send a Hold and Release Form to Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa. I will have to wait now another 5 to 7 business days for these pending charges to drop off. HERENDOUS customer service for an airline!

 

[DrFacilier]

I know I have plenty of time but I'm looking for some guidance on the best timing to apply for the SW cards to get a CP for 2019-2020. My wife applied in January of this year and got the CP in March. I'm looking to get mine as early as possible in 2019. Also, when should she cancel her current cards so she is eligible for the promotion again in 2020? Thoughts or links would be much very appreciated.

 

[eeyoreland]

I know I have plenty of time but I'm looking for some guidance on the best timing to apply for the SW cards to get a CP for 2019-2020. My wife applied in January of this year and got the CP in March. I'm looking to get mine as early as possible in 2019. Also, when should she cancel her current cards so she is eligible for the promotion again in 2020? Thoughts or links would be much very appreciated.

I'm by no means an expert, but it's my understanding you are eligible for the bonus 24 months after you've received a bonus. I don't believe it has anything to do with when you close the account.

So...you sound a lot like me. I had a card and got points, then my husband opened a card and got points. We recently cancelled his card. I just opened another card because I had the plus and now added the premier. I'm quite honestly thinking about a rotation between the two cards between my husband and me. We both have excellent credit so I'm guessing our credit scores won't take much of a hit.

Has anyone else ever done this that can poke holes in my thinking???

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I know I have plenty of time but I'm looking for some guidance on the best timing to apply for the SW cards to get a CP for 2019-2020. My wife applied in January of this year and got the CP in March. I'm looking to get mine as early as possible in 2019. Also, when should she cancel her current cards so she is eligible for the promotion again in 2020? Thoughts or links would be much very appreciated.

You may want to check out our "I Love Credit Cards" thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/page-1204#post-59115599

We discuss Southwest CP and a lot of other CC strategies to make free Disney travel a reality. It's an awesome community You may have some questions and you may also be able to contribute and help others too if you have some experience/knowledge.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm by no means an expert, but it's my understanding you are eligible for the bonus 24 months after you've received a bonus. I don't believe it has anything to do with when you close the account.

So...you sound a lot like me. I had a card and got points, then my husband opened a card and got points. We recently cancelled his card. I just opened another card because I had the plus and now added the premier. I'm quite honestly thinking about a rotation between the two cards between my husband and me. We both have excellent credit so I'm guessing our credit scores won't take much of a hit.

Has anyone else ever done this that can poke holes in my thinking???

You also may want to check out the thread I just referenced. (https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/page-1204#post-59115599)

We can show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes

 

[DrFacilier]

Thanks @SouthFayetteFan I’ll definitely check it out!