The Demise of Rapid Rewards and Southwest Airlines

Ditto to what has been said about SWA. We all hate the newRR2 but as I cruise for a cheaper Buffalo to Las Vegas flight for late August (SWA is offering $184 one way-non stop-per person) I find that Usair's $169-(B.B. = Before Bags) with a stop in Philly (via Puddle jumper) or D. C. (via puddle jumper) or Delta's $169 (B.B.) thru Atlanta (8 plus hour trip) is not quite as good as my current SWA non-stop offer. I'll probably will book that flight this week and just wait to see if the rates go down later (advantage SWA). I already booked a return flight for the 29th of August at $184 per because I believe that those, Monday, fares will probably go up!

SWA changes may look bad but when you compare them to other airlines....they aint tooo bad!

When I used to fly every other month I was an avid AA flier and only flew other airlines when AA didn't work out. However due to the difficulty in using free tickets at any airline at the 25k level I now fly the airline that will get me from point A to point B the fastest and cheapest.

A current example is in August I am flying AA from NYC to Reno and the return is Jet Blue from San Fran.

My AA advantage bank is now used for car rentals.

Instead of airline affinity cards I now use hotel affinity cards due to the ease in getting the free rooms

no domestic lines are worth it. And I blame myself. i started gouging them for weekend fares and priceline fares as soon as the internet provided these opportunties. I travel nearly every month, free to vegas most times using sky miles off my AMEX, and I work hard to get a good seat. I failed two flights in a row last weekend. Horrible seats. Now, as for SWA... beats the delta, the AA, the us air, the continental, and the last united seat I've had for pitch. That they are no longer the discounter they once were, isn't getting turned around. The business press ?WSJ/NYT/WAPo? carried a SW flack statement about this very topic in the last couple days. Maybe senator ensign gets allegiant on track now that he's not busy any more! Good Luck!