Southwest Airlines made the announcement two weeks ago that the Rapid Rewards loyalty program may feature fresh “variable” prize prices. It is now present. A spokesperson confirmed to TPG on Wednesday that the airport silently began rolling out its much more flexible forgiveness price for consumers looking to book flights using items. How much benefit you’ll receive from a Southwest stage may vary considerably from one flight to another as you progress. It’s a change South executives made known on March 11 as part of a much bigger reform of the airline’s business strategy, which also saw the end of its infamous “bags fly free” plan. Reactions to the airline’s significant changes,” The Day Southwest Died” Response reactions are pouring in. The installation offered relative consistency even though it didn’t give itself to the previously sweet spots on airlines that used award charts for fuel redemptions. In line with a Jet TrueBlue point and a United MileagePlus hour, but significantly higher than the value of a Delta SkyMiles hour, TPG’s points and miles estimates for March 2025 indicate that the value of a Southwest Rapid Rewards level is about 1.35 cents. What we’re seeingTPG will be evaluating the modifications to Southwest’s forgiveness rates to see how they may impact the future journey you’re hoping to publication with points and will update you on what we see. However, these are just a couple examples. The one-way,$ 597 flight can be redeemed for 54, 000 points on this flight during the week of July 4 from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport ( PHX ) to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport ( HNL ). That price is significantly lower than TPG’s earlier level of 1.35 cents, or 1.1 cents per stage. On the other hand, you can get just over 1.7 cents per point by redeeming 7,500 points for this Tuesday flight from PHX to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport ( OAK) in California instead of paying the comparably low$ 29 for the flight. Redeeming rates for flights from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport ( BWI ) to Las Vegas ‘ Harry Reid International Airport ( LAS ) are currently hovering around 1.2 cents per point for one Friday in June. On the same day, the redemption rates for flights from Mexico’s Cancun International Airport ( CUN) to Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport ( HOU) are comparable to historical averages ( between 1.3 and 1.4 cents ). For a trip from Chicago’s Midway International Airport ( MDW) to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport ( MSY), you’ll receive about 1.17 cents per point in value over the Memorial Day weekend. Flights to and from Hawaii are especially difficult, Bay Area-based community travel blog Leslie Harvey of Trips With Tykes told TPG after checking award costs for about 100 planes on Wednesday. When discussing some of the modifications she observed with TPG, Harvey, a frequent South brochure, said,” I’m seeing mostly across the board that Hawaii flights are a worse price than other kinds of more regular, mundane flights. It’s primarily negative, in my opinion. A few flights I’ve seen have been, I suppose, better than I’m used to seeing. However, they appear to be true outliers. We’ll continue to check the numbers and report back on trends we discover. Rapid Rewards redemptions are now available on both LineSouthwest and Delta, just days after the airline reduced the points that passengers can earn on its lowest fare classes. Prior to now, Seattle/The Points Guy flyers had to earn 10 points per dollar in order to receive the new earnings of just 6 points. In comparison to what was previously the case, passengers on the Wanna Get Away make only 2 points per dollar. A new “basic” fare class will replace Wanna Get Away as of May 28. Business Select customers will continue to receive two free checked bags even after the “bags fly free” benefit expires, and they will also earn more points per dollar ( 14 ) than they did before. Readings that are related:
