???? For swa flyers about price drops/refunds

[copnlpn2]

I bought 2 RT "Wanna Get away" SWA tickets using my credit card, one ticket for me and another for a friend so we can go on a cruise together. Today, I saw a substantial price drop on the trip and changed both tickets to the lower fare.

 

As I understand, the difference between the original ticket price and the new, lower rate can be used toward a future flight. and I understand that even though I paid for both tickets, the amount of savings is applied back to the ticket holder and not to the purchaser.

 

My question is this...I fly pretty frequently and will easily be able to apply my "refund" to a future flight, but my friend is not likely to fly again anytime soon - so is there any way she can transfer her "refund" back to me/my account?

 

I'm glad to have saved money on my ticket (thanks, SWA!), but sorta sad if, on the other hand, I'm out the money I saved on my friend's ticket....

[Clarea]

I bought 2 RT "Wanna Get away" SWA tickets using my credit card, one ticket for me and another for a friend so we can go on a cruise together. Today, I saw a substantial price drop on the trip and changed both tickets to the lower fare.

 

As I understand, the difference between the original ticket price and the new, lower rate can be used toward a future flight. and I understand that even though I paid for both tickets, the amount of savings is applied back to the ticket holder and not to the purchaser.

 

My question is this...I fly pretty frequently and will easily be able to apply my "refund" to a future flight, but my friend is not likely to fly again anytime soon - so is there any way she can transfer her "refund" back to me/my account?

 

I'm glad to have saved money on my ticket (thanks, SWA!), but sorta sad if, on the other hand, I'm out the money I saved on my friend's ticket....

To my knowledge, there's no way for anyone to use the credited amount besides the person who was originally ticketed. It used to be that anyone could use the credit, but they took away that feature a couple of years ago.

[copnlpn2]

Thanks, Bob, for the speedy reply. I seemed to recall tranferring credits sometime in the past, but wasn't sure if it could still be done. You've answered my question - so I'll be happy with the amount I saved and forget about the rest!:)

[Keith1010]

I would call Southwest Airlines to verify this.

 

Keith

[Zach1213]

Thanks, Bob, for the speedy reply. I seemed to recall tranferring credits sometime in the past, but wasn't sure if it could still be done. You've answered my question - so I'll be happy with the amount I saved and forget about the rest!:)

 

It used to be the norm, but WN changed this roughly 2 years ago

[FlaGrl4Evr]

No it can not be transferred to one account. I bought 4 tickets on SW for our recent cruise. We had 2 rate drops for a total of $66 per ticket. Since I paid for all of the tickets using my AmX card, I too called to see if the total credit of $264 could be transferred to my account as I fly to/from Fla 3-4 times per year. The answer was a disappointing, Sorry and No.

 

Also, the credit must be used one year from the original booking date not the date of the flight.

 

Kind of a bummer but at least there is some sort of a credit albeit not what I was hoping for.

 

 

:)

 

 

 

 

.

[copnlpn2]

Thanks! I did check with SWA and learned the same thing...credit follows the person, not the credit card. It's great for me because I fly frequently enough to use the credit toward a future flight, but not the case for my friend whose last flight with SWA was two years ago...

 

I appreciate the credit and find no fault with SWA...I should have read the fine print more closely when I booked our tickets.

[kenish]

Thanks! I did check with SWA and learned the same thing...credit follows the person, not the credit card. It's great for me because I fly frequently enough to use the credit toward a future flight, but not the case for my friend whose last flight with SWA was two years ago...

 

I appreciate the credit and find no fault with SWA...I should have read the fine print more closely when I booked our tickets.

 

On the good side, you at least got a credit on your ticket. Most other airlines have a change fee that would have reduced or totally negated any fare drop (except for JetBlue or Alaska which have the same general policy as Southwest).

 

FYI your credit must be used for a travel date within a year of the date you purchased the original ticket. Also it will be increasingly important to check the fine print pre-purchase on all airlines. For example Southwest is sending smoke signals that their policy of credits for fare reductions and free checked bags might go away for the cheapest fare tiers.

[rakes5]

Also beware. If you use the credit on a future flight, the expiration date for that flight goes back to the date of the original booking. So if you only have a small credit, you may not want to use it on a future flight.

 

For example, you originally book a flight in May 2013 for a December 2013 cruise for $400. In July, there is a sale for the same flight for $250, so you re-book and get a $150 credit with a May 2014 expiration date.

In August 2013, you book another flight for $140, leaving a $10 Credit.

In March 2014, you book a flight for April 2014 for $500. You decide to use the remaining $10 credit. Now that entire flight's expiration date is May 2014, not March 2015, one year for the booking date.

For some reason, you are unable to take the April 2014 Flight, and would like to re-book to a June 2014 date. However, you are unable to do that, because the entire $500 expires in May 2014, not just the $10 credit from the original booking. So now you've lost the entire $500.

 

This happened to me once. I thought, why not use a remaining $8 credit, and ended up losing $$400.

[Clarea]

Also beware. If you use the credit on a future flight, the expiration date for that flight goes back to the date of the original booking. So if you only have a small credit, you may not want to use it on a future flight.

 

For example, you originally book a flight in May 2013 for a December 2013 cruise for $400. In July, there is a sale for the same flight for $250, so you re-book and get a $150 credit with a May 2014 expiration date.

In August 2013, you book another flight for $140, leaving a $10 Credit.

In March 2014, you book a flight for April 2014 for $500. You decide to use the remaining $10 credit. Now that entire flight's expiration date is May 2014, not March 2015, one year for the booking date.

For some reason, you are unable to take the April 2014 Flight, and would like to re-book to a June 2014 date. However, you are unable to do that, because the entire $500 expires in May 2014, not just the $10 credit from the original booking. So now you've lost the entire $500.

 

This happened to me once. I thought, why not use a remaining $8 credit, and ended up losing $$400.

Yes, I've been bit by that "feature" too.:(