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Re: Is Southwest The worst frequent Flyer Program ?

SWFlyer007
Aviator C

@nomoresouthwest Sorry to see you go, NOT.  This means there might be an open seat for me not to have to sit next to a grumpy passenger.  I totally disagree with everything you stated, I'm forever grateful to SWA and plan to continue to save thousands of dollars every year with my wife flying with me for free.  Since I've flown every major airline I can tell you I've had issues on each one of them, and yes, SWA as well.  But I can live with it a bit more when I getting on the plane in the top 40 passengers, (A-List) and my wife is flying for free. 

  

Re: Is Southwest The worst frequent Flyer Program ?

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@nomoresouthwest  Your rant is ridiculous.

 

1. You acknowledge the free standby perk is a benefit of being A-List.  Want your wife to have the same benefits?  Well then she should work on getting A-List.  How is something a benefit for status flyers if anyone can just go and request it?  I'm glad they don't deviate from policy, it ensures seats are available for those that actually earn the perk.  And it's not a transfer fee, you're paying for the difference in fare.  If the flight you wanted to change to was the same price as what you had originally paid there would have been no charge.

 

2. This one is great.  Southwest gives you $800 worth of travel in the form of a free flight to Hawaii AND says your wife can fly with you for free on all other flights with you for a year AND allows your wife to keep the $800 in credit that she can use on her own for a year AND you complain about it.  You mentioned a 2 year old in your family so it seems like the smart plan would have been to make the 2 year old your companion and have your wife use the travel credit, BUT you decided to complain about it after the fact instead of asking for advice as to how best utilize the credit.  Nicely done.

 

3. Did you even bother asking customer relations about this one?  Numerous people have shared their experience here that vouchers have been extended.  And, if you had been smart about the travel funds as mentioned above you wouldn't have been in this situation.  So I don't really feel sorry for you on this one if you didn't use the funds when you could have.

 

Anyway, have fun with your sense of entitlement without status or a Companion Pass on another airline. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Is Southwest The worst frequent Flyer Program ?

gsking
Aviator C

Thanks for saying the thoughts so eloquently that were in my head, MiddleSeat.  (Although I'd have added...any reasonable person would just consider they got their wife's $800 ticket for $100 rather than free, due to THEIR mistake in premature booking, and still consider it a $700 win).

 

Ha, I have many of the same "problems".   I have to find ways to book my wife 25 flights to maintain her A-list because she's my companion.  (Oh wait, only 15 now thanks to Covid and SWA generosity).   So I am carefully booking her flights to get there.  We're actually leveraging her Jan-Feb CP to fly ME to Mexico, and use up her flight credits and get her 2 closer to A-list.  Oh, my first world issues...

 

The irony is that every other FF plan just gives you what you get EVERY day at SW...free checked bags.  Beyond that, you have to scratch and claw to get rewards tickets.   Psst...a few hints he doesn't understand:

 

1.  Points tickets on other airlines are only worth it for long flights.  On SWA, you better off getting the cheaper flights.  Points are worth more due to lack of taxes.

2.  You can cancel those tickets without penalty...forever.  (Like does anyone get a full priced fare with points???  I hope not)

3.  If the price goes down, points refunded.

4.  You can even get a CP ticket on a points ticket.  How crazy is that?

 

So basically I use my points for "just in case" flights for family members at bare bones prices, and change my mind at my whim.

 

Good luck finding that anywhere else.

Re: Is Southwest The worst frequent Flyer Program ?

SWFlyer007
Aviator C

@gsking @TheMiddleSeat 

 

I might add to my post, this gentleman's argues that this is the worst reward program and yet says he is AList for 2 years.  Well, I flew a different airline last year because SWA didn't go to that upper midwest city.  No AList to fall back on I wanted a choice seat near the front of the plane and got it..........FOR A PRICE.  Yes, choice seats cost more, unlike A-List, only by choice have I sat further back than the middle exit row seats, and at no extra cost.  On my last flight, because of AList, I was in the 4th row sitting all pretty.  

Re: Is Southwest The worst frequent Flyer Program ?

ffflyer
Frequent Flyer B

IMHO SWA is one of the very best rewards programs simply because there are no restrictions.

 

Like any program, you need to know the rules and yeah, you will lose your miles if you don't use them by the deadline.

Re: Is Southwest The worst frequent Flyer Program ?

gsking
Aviator C

@ffflyer wrote:

IMHO SWA is one of the very best rewards programs simply because there are no restrictions.

 

Like any program, you need to know the rules and yeah, you will lose your miles if you don't use them by the deadline.


This post is iironically originally from 2018, and now the points never expire.