@chaun wrote:
Tried redeem points for hotels at
https://hotels.redeemrapidrewards.com/ a few months ago and it worked. While in this July, suddenly I’m unable to make any reservation using the points - it simply says "unable to complete this transaction".
Called the customer service a few times over the phone, and each time I’m just told that "relevance team is validating my account, or investigating if there are any issues", nothing they could do but keep waiting - which is not going anywhere. Pretty upset, looks they could hold this up forever.
Any suggestion how to address it? TIA!
Hello!
I would try booking again but through a different network or device.
However, it's possible the Agoda Rocket Travel booking engine that powers SW's Redeem Points for Hotels may be experiencing some technical or compatibility trouble as I too have been experiencing some issues. I'm not stating that as a fact but this is an educated guess as I brought up this website not too long ago to price check locations and ran into the error "Unfortunately, availability at this hotel changed when we reached out to confirm the reservation details" each time upon trying to look at the point redemption rates for multiple hotels. Logged on just now and got the same results when doing a demo search for a few locations near LAS for October.
Its sister website RocketMiles that basically emulates the Southwest Hotels Points Plus Property booking portal uses the same engine and I currently have an open action item with them in regards to being unable to relink my SW RR profile with their service...Trying to relink my RR profile via the website instantly brings a "Failed to add RR Account" error.
Personally, I've found that the point value trade-off that I get from SW's Redeem Points for Hotels portal hasn't been the best for me. Although there may be deals out there that I have yet to see, there have been times where I've been quoted rates that are nearly double to what I would have paid for in cash relative to the current point value of redeeming points for flights:
https://community.southwest.com/t5/Rapid-Rewards/May-24-Southwest-Hotels-Trip-Report-Redeem-Rapid-Re...
For my hotel needs, I've mainly utilized the Southwest Hotels Points Plus properties that is powered through Booking.com. That service has been stable for me where I pay cash for the room (I go for the Free Cancellation options). I'll often get a huge chunk of points that I can use for flights given the generous trade-off. If you're open to paying cash for your hotel and using the awarded points for flights (which usually posts within a week after the stay), I would explore SW Hotels Plus Points properties as an alternative:
www.southwesthotels.com
If you want to try SW Redeem Points for Hotels again, I would try connecting via another network or device to see if you have any luck. If not, try contacting SW Customer Service again but via a Twitter/X DM as this booking site doesn't appear to publish contact info. The social media platform seems to have good response times and high accountability standards.
Hope this helps!
