Sorry, I must not have been clear. My point was that with the current structure, you know what you’re aiming for. You need 25,000 miles or whatever, and that’s your goal. With these revenue-based redemptions, it’s a moving target so you can’t save up for a specific amount and be assured that it will get you what you want.

true, but with the 25k mile in your account you don’t necessarily get a seat when you need it either.

(the same has been true with the current WN RR program).

My main gripe with WN as an occasional customer is the expiration policy. It actually causes me to fly WN less than I otherwise would because the thought of having the points expire frustrates me.

I don’t think WN cares about adding an overseas airline partner for RR redemptions, really. And to be honest, the majority of the American traveling public CAN’T do overseas travel, since most people don’t own a passport. Most Americans are fine redeeming a loyalty reward to go to Vegas or Disneyworld (which WN can get to just fine)- the people on frequent flyer boards who hoard miles to travel in CX F to exotic locales are a tiny sliver of the traveling public.

Let me know if you have any questions, feedback, or concerns…I’m happy to share!

Christi Day
@southwestair

I wasn’t aware the VX didn’t have award redemption with VS. I live in Dallas where my two best options are AA and WN. Just made Platinum for the first time with AA and am already eyeing Spain as an option to redeem miles.

That’s why I like and stick with AA. They have a network WN can’t match. While I’m surprised VX can’t redeem on VS, it makes more and more sense to me for one maverick airline (WN) to link up with the other (Virgin Group) and offer some kind of world coverage for their FFYs if they’re not planning on going overseas themselves.

I bought travel on WN last year for the first time in my life. That should tell WN something but if they don’t miss or need me, I’m quite happy where I am as well.

I really hope that WN will not use a point system that is more or less equal to the dollar amount of the ticket. VX and B6′s system isn’t that friendly to redemption. WN has won year after year the awards for easiest redemption process…they need to keep it that way!

WN is on the right track for awarding more award points for the business select fares. Extending extra credit to full fare non-business select flights would be a nice perk… WN does have to keep differentiating the business select fare as something worth paying the extra money for.

Um, I’ve redeemed twice on VX in the space of 3 years, and they’re not my primary airline (AS is). It’s not that hard if you fly them a few times a year.

Sorry, I must not have been clear. My point was that with the current structure, you know what you’re aiming for. You need 25,000 miles or whatever, and that’s your goal. With these revenue-based redemptions, it’s a moving target so you can’t save up for a specific amount and be assured that it will get you what you want.

“While I see the value in this from an airline standpoint, I remain unimpressed by these programs since you really can’t save up for a free flight.”

Um, I’ve redeemed twice on VX in the space of 3 years, and they’re not my primary airline (AS is). It’s not that hard if you fly them a few times a year.

WN and VX’s big problem is point expiration… and WN would be eliminating that, it seems, so yes, you should be able to save up. (The part that WN rocks on now is their car/hotel award rates, which totally blow other airlines away. It’s ridiculously easy to get 2 or more RR credits from hotel stays and car rentals on a single trip- the equivalent of a roundtrip on WN or more. I seriously hope that doesn’t go away.)

@Traveling Optimist:

“If they want to take a page from Virgin America then borrow some inventory from Virgin Atlantic and throw in some redemption plans to Europe and South Africa.”

You realize VX doesn’t HAVE those redemption options yet, right?