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Can Refunds be used to upgrade?

SCOUSE85
Explorer C

Hi All,

 

Im am due to fly with Southwest in the next few weeks and it looks like I may need to cancel the outbound flight to go at an alternative time. Can the refund voucher be used to upgrade my seat on the return leg or can they only be used for new bookings?

 

Thanks all,

 

Andy

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Can Refunds be used to upgrade?

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A
Solution

Travel funds (refunds from canceled reservations) can only be used to purchase a ticket and cannot be used to purchase EarlyBird Check-In or upgraded boarding positions that are available to purchase at the gate. As there are no seat upgrades I assume you are referring to the upgraded boarding position option. You could cancel your current reservation entirely and use the travel funds you get from canceling to purchase a Business Select fare which includes the upgraded boarding position, but this would be a rather expensive way to do it. You would be better off using the funds from the one leg you want to cancel for another trip at a later time. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Can Refunds be used to upgrade?

SCOUSE85
Explorer C

Thats great, thanks for the advice.

Re: Can Refunds be used to upgrade?

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

As long as the methods of payment are in the same category can do this… For instance a cash booking could be upgraded with travel funds or voucher. 

 

If if you have a points booking, then you can’t use the travel funds to change the ticket, but you could use more points.

 

Funds or vouchers cannot be useful for upgraded position at the gate, that’s cash/credit only.

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Can Refunds be used to upgrade?

SCOUSE85
Explorer C

Thats great, thanks for the advice.