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I got an email from Southwest this afternoon with information about a change in the way that Southwest Rapid Rewards are valued.  The email was a newsletter with a link to some “important news” for Rapid Rewards members

rapid-rewards-news

From the press release:

Beginning April 17, 2015, the number of Rapid Rewards Points needed to redeem for certain flights will vary based on destination, time, day of travel, demand, fare class, and other factors. However, there are still many flights which will stay at the current redemption rate. And don’t forget that when fares go on sale, so do the points needed for redeeming for a reward flight on those fares.

So….. what does that mean?

southwestlogoWell…. I don’t know.  But I do know that intentionally vague press releases by company are rarely good for us.  If you’ll remember, Southwest devalued their currency from a point being worth 1.67 cents (60 points per $1 of fare) to 1.43 cents (70 points per $1 of fare).  Southwest has a (pseudo-) fixed rate of Rapid Rewards, though it’s not QUITE 1.43 cents

(SEE ALSO: How much are Southwest Rapid Rewards points REALLY worth?)

The reason for that is that the points required are based on the cost of the BASE fare, excluding any airport taxes and fees

(SEE ALSO: Comprehensive guide to Caribbean airport taxes and fees)

Which is why for our recent trip to somewhere warm, we chose to go to Puerto Rico, because it galled me to have to pay $100 (times 2!) for my “free” tickets.

I see now that Mommy Points and Travel Summary have also covered this story.  Some of the comments / speculation in those posts are interesting – at this point, nobody really knows what’s going to happen, though again, I doubt it’s good.


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