We all know Southwest Airlines is one of the best in the business when it comes to being able to cancel or change your ticket without charging any absurd fees. I believe that the greatest flexibility on flight changes comes from booking a flight with Rapid Rewards points.
Booking with Rapid Rewards points vs. money (credit card or Southwest Airlines gift card)
If you book a flight on Southwest using a credit card or a gift card and you end up canceling the ticket, those funds are available for use, but only for 1 year. However, if you use Rapid Rewards points and later cancel the ticket, the points are just returned to your account with no limitations as to when you have to spend them by. The refund of points is instant. Compare that to canceling a reward flight booked with United miles, where it sometimes takes a while to see your miles in your account again.
In addition, if you book a flight with credit or gift card and later cancel, those funds cannot be used by another person. They have to be used by the same person whose name was on the cancelled ticket. Again, if you use points, that restriction does not exist. The points are returned and can be reused to book a ticket for anyone.
Taking advantage of this flexibility
Book 2 different flights on the same day: Sometimes, I am unsure of what flight times will work best for me. I will book 2 different flights on the same day using my points. Once my plans become more sure, I will cancel the other one and the points will be refunded. You can even cancel at the very last minute.
Book far in advance and change when the fare drops: Points give me the flexibility to book months in advance. I can book something now, knowing that if the price drops, I can change the ticket and the price in points will be adjusted accordingly. With other airlines, I do not have the option of multiple changes to get the lowest fare possible.
Book the same passenger twice on the same flight: You might be asking why anyone would want to do that. This scenario really applies if you have a companion pass. For example, once, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go on a trip with my wife. However, she was going to go regardless. So, I booked my ticket using points with a free trip for her as my companion. I then booked her on a separate ticket using points on the same flight. Surprisingly, Southwest allows this. So, if I decide at a later time that I can’t go, and as a result can’t take advantage of the companion pass booking, I can just easily cancel. She still has her separate ticket. If I do decide to go, then I can cancel her separate solo ticket.
It is best to book one-way tickets: Booking one way tickets allows for the most flexibility. For example, suppose you have a roundtrip (Segment A – destination, Segment B-return), you should book them separately as 2 one-ways. Why? Let’s say a few days later, the price of segment B drops and price of segment A rises. If you booked them separately, then you can just rebook segment B independently at a lower price. However, if you booked it as a roundtrip, the segments are tied to each other and you have to change them both.
It may be cheaper to book with points: Technically, one rapid reward point is worth 1.67 cents. However, you can get more than 1.67 cents of value as explained here from Points For The People.
The flexibility that Southwest Rapid Rewards points provide to me are invaluable as it doesn’t tie up any of my money. As a result, I try to make all my Southwest bookings with points as opposed to money.
If you don’t have a Southwest Rapid Rewards account, I highly recommend creating one on the Rapid Rewards website.
That’s interesting that you can book a person twice on the same flight. I have the companion pass, so i can see how that can be pretty useful.