Kudos to Southwest Rapid Rewards

I met these friendly Southwest Airlines team members at the              NSA Conference in Dallas in 2018.

Since today is Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d send some LUV to Southwest Airlines and the Southwest Rapid Rewards program.

Recently, I decided to redeem my airline points for travel in order to go to Los Angeles for my dad’s birthday. I have points on three major airlines. Surely one out of the three would have flights on the days and times that would fit my schedule.

Since I don’t often fly on United Airlines, I thought I should start there in order to get my balance closer to zero after this redemption. I found a day and time that would work for both my departure and return home. Hooray! But during checkout, I read the fine print about the redemption charge. My free ticket was going to cost more than $85, only $11 of which was the taxes paid that points don’t cover. Hmmmm. So much for a reward.

I exited out of United’s shopping cart and went to American Airlines. They offered an even better date and time for my schedule, so I decided to book with them. During checkout, this is what I saw:

W.O.W. How is it a reward if I have to pay you $75 to use miles I paid for in the first place? (If you earn miles through shopping or flying, you’re paying to earn your miles.)

I guess I’m just a spoiled Southwest girl. I use Southwest Airlines for all of my domestic travel, so I accrue quite a few points in the Southwest Rapid Rewards program. And I never have to pay a fee to redeem them. Thank you, Southwest, for having a rewards program that is, well, rewarding!