I am now free to move about the country

September 22, 2006 1:22 AM

Rapid Rewards Filter: Am I going insane?

Plastered all over Southwest's site is:

Rewards are closer in a world without miles. Fly just eight (8) roundtrips in 24 consecutive months and we'll give you a roundtrip Award valid to any of more than 60 destinations Southwest serves. Rapid Rewards—where flying is what counts.

So here's what's confusing me:

June 24, 2006 - September 22, 2006
Credits earned 06/24/2006 - 09/22/2006: 8
Credits needed to earn my next award: 8
My 16th credit must be earned by: 08/11/2008
DateFlight
NumberOrigin
CityDestination
CityCredit
EarnedCredit
UsedDescription09/11/061044DTWPHX2 09/03/062988PHXDTW2 08/12/062368LASPHX2 08/11/060523PHXLAS2

So I'm earning 2 credit per leg, and 4 credits per RT, which equals 4 Roundtrips per free ticket, yes?

Is this just something they're running lately? Is my relatively low-volume account special? Am I just horrible at math? Is anyone else able to see a source from Southwest or a FF forum talking about 4 RT RR's? (It's a pretty big deal when it happens, or so I thought.)

Thanks for keeping me sane!

posted by disillusioned to Travel & Transportation (14 answers total)

Okay, so Preview != Output, when using HTML tables.

Yikes.

Trying again:

09/11/06 1044 DTW PHX 2
09/03/06 2988 PHX DTW 2
08/12/06 2368 LAS PHX 2
08/11/06 0523 PHX LAS 2
posted by disillusioned at 2:08 AM on September 22, 2006

It sounds like they are giving you 2 credits per flight. Don't rock the boat! Did you notice any "double points special!" when you were booking those flights?
posted by antifuse at 2:50 AM on September 22, 2006

(or, it could be that that 16 credits isn't actually a free trip? But some other, lesser award? I'm just throwing out guesses here)
posted by antifuse at 2:51 AM on September 22, 2006

I'm all about not rocking the boat, but my history going back a year is as such:

01/08/06 1653 LAS PHX 2 2
01/04/06 0347 PHX LAS 2 2
05/29/05 0703 STL PHX 2 2
05/25/05 1818 PHX STL 2 2
05/21/05 0788 LAX PHX 2 2
05/16/05 2023 PHX LAX 2 2
04/10/05 4 4 College southwest.com


I have no clue what College southwest.com is. I didn't sign up through any sort of program, I just created my account through SWA's site. My big question is: Are any MeFites only making 1 credit per trip leg?
posted by disillusioned at 3:06 AM on September 22, 2006

(Naturally, there was a free trip redeemed after the Jan. LAS trip.)
posted by disillusioned at 3:13 AM on September 22, 2006

Do you have to switch planes on your trips? Is it possible that if you change planes en route, they see it as two disinct round-trips, even though its booked as one?

I fly SWA a lot, but only on direct routes so far. I only ever see one point per leg, but I only ever have one leg per trip.
posted by hwestiii at 4:31 AM on September 22, 2006

It sounds like you're registered for this promotion. However, I can't explain why you would be signed up for it without remembering it.
posted by blue mustard at 4:31 AM on September 22, 2006

Wow, blue mustard. That must be it. The strangest thing is that I can *swear* to you I never signed up through their program—I was shocked to see those additional 4 points appear last year when they first did. And I've been a college dropout since before 2005...

Hrm. Sweet gig, that.
posted by disillusioned at 4:48 AM on September 22, 2006

Southwest is pretty liberal with the bonus points. I got 4 bonus points last year because the White Sox won the World Series. And then they sent me two books of drink tickets!
posted by macadamiaranch at 5:35 AM on September 22, 2006

I flew Southwest A LOT for a while, and occasionally I'd get double credits for booking during a particular window of time or something like that. I could usually figure it out, but sometimes it was a mystery.
posted by MarkAnd at 5:50 AM on September 22, 2006

My wife, a SWA cult member/employee tells me that this kind of stuff happens all the time. Don't ask any questions and enjoy your free flight.
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 6:31 AM on September 22, 2006

So how do you tell? I'm a member of Rapid Rewards but unlike other frequent flyer programs, they never send me anything, so I never know how many credits I've earned.
posted by Rash at 9:52 AM on September 22, 2006

I don't know how it happened, but you're definitely registered in the College program. Perhaps you followed a link to sign up from the college RR page instead of the main page? Regardless, enjoy your extra miles, and if you have RR questions, the Flyertalk Forums are an excellent place to get them answered.

Rash: Go to the Southwest website and log in - all of your data is online.
posted by chrisamiller at 10:11 AM on September 22, 2006

Chrisamiller, thanks—the Flyertalk site was down for maintenance last night. :-)
posted by disillusioned at 3:10 PM on September 22, 2006