A major U.S. airline has demonstrated a rocky relationship with the winter holiday season in the recent past.
Last December, Southwest AirlinesLUVexperienced a serious accident that caused widespread disruption to its passengers.
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The airline ended up canceling a large number of flights during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
Outdated computer systems had apparently struggled to cope with a surge in bookings, hurting Southwest’s ability to manage its flights.
The cancellations had a domino effect, stranding passengers across the country and separating them from their luggage.
The airline has implemented several measures to prevent a repeat of these incidents, but now appears to have a labor issue on its hands just before the 2023 holiday season.
Southwest pilots have begun preparing to attack. Those preparations include the opening of a Regional Strike Center in Dallas, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association announced.
And now, another change is coming that will affect the airline’s passengers.
Image source: Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Southwest Airlines devalues its points by around 4%
Members of Rapid Rewards, Southwest’s points earning program, can redeem points they earn by flying or spending with Southwest partners.
They can use these points for flights, hotel stays and rental cars through Southwest and for gift cards, merchandise and other items through participating credit cards.
Now, however, the airline is devaluing its points, negatively impacting members.
But there is still time to book flights before the change is implemented on January 1, 2024.
“The price of Southwest award tickets is based on the cash value of the ticket itself.” wrote a travel influencer Danny the Deal Guru on his website. “Rapid Rewards points are valued at about 1.4 cents per point. That means if a flight costs $140, then you’ll be able to book it with 10,000 Rapid Rewards points. That can vary slightly depending on routes.”
But the airline now says, starting the first day of the new year, the required points per base fare dollar will increase by about 4%.
“So, with this 4% increase, the same $140 flight we took as an example above will cost 10,400 Rapid Rewards points starting next year,” the website wrote. “That’s not a huge devaluation, but it is a devaluation nonetheless. That brings the value of Rapid Rewards points to about 1.35 cents each.”
The last time Southwest devalued points during the pandemic was two years ago, after allowing passengers to convert their travel credits into points.
“After its historic operational crisis a year ago, the airline gave points to passengers,” wrote Gary Leff in View from the wing. “Your apologies for last Christmas will be worth 4% less to anyone who saves their points.”
Leff also provided a historical perspective on the measure.
“With this change, Southwest will have devalued about 43% in the 12 years since the launch of ‘Rapid Rewards 2.0,'” he wrote. “And there’s really no good reason to devalue your points other than greed. Currently, each point is worth about 1.2 cents each for base airfare, or closer to 1.4 cents when you take into account the taxes saved”.
Southwest travelers with award-winning trips to book should consider doing so soon.
“There is little downside to redeeming your Southwest points now, before January’s 14% devaluation, and you may come out ahead,” Leff wrote.
“At least they have given some advance notice.”
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