Transferring Rapid Rewards Points

[Dollyfinn]

My wife and I have been Southwest Rapids Rewards members for over twelve years. we have always been very satisfied with the rewards program and servicing options. However, sometime in the last year or two Southwest has made a change in the ability to transfer points between accounts, and this is not in the customer interest. I was trying to transfer 10,000 points that I have earned into my wife's account, something that was always very easy to do in the past. However, now Southwest wants to charge me for this ability - and it is not a small charge. I was looking to transfer 10,000 points and the charge was $100. 

This is wrong and disrespectful to all rapid rewards members. I would like to see an official response from Southwest on how they justify this charge.

[chgoflyer]

I think you may be confused.

Southwest has always charged a fee (1 cent per point) to transfer points from one account to another. They utilize a 3rd party company (points.com) to manage the points sale and transfer function. They "justify" these fees by suggesting the responsibility for the fee is the fault of the 3rd party company, but that's not true since these fees generate profits for Southwest. 

You likely won't get any "official" response here -- if that's what you seek your best bet would be to contact them directly (I recommend via Twitter). Be aware though that you'll probably just get a copied/pasted form reply that repeats what I said above re: the 3rd party.

The good news is that you don't really need to transfer points, as anyone's points can be used to book flights for anyone else.