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Cancelled Booking, and Travel Funds.....a human and computer blooper

vanhack
Explorer C

Hi folks,

I and my family of 1 son and wife are travelling to the USA, where we will be visiting LA, Phoenix, Houston and back to LA to take our flight back to Dubai, UAE where we live.

 

Today I recieved an email informing me that my flights from LA Burbank to Phoenix, and after 14 days Phoenix to Houston Hobby had been cancelled. I did not cancel this booking, and the message is that the funds are being returned to my mastercard, although the funds are non-refundable and are credited to SW Travel funds.

 

Anyhow I am sure that the cancellation is a computer error, hacker, or human error, either way I am sure it will be fixed. I just hope that I can rebook at the same rate that I paid in April 2018 under the "get away" pricing, as the total for 3 passengers for the 2 flights was approx. USD710.00. 

 

I tried to call the support number, but was on hold for 15 minutes and gave up, as the toll free number is charged to us whilst outside the USA, so I have sent an email asking for an explanation and re-booking.

 

I know the above is not a really big issue, and just a 1st world problem, and I am excited to be in the US visiting the sights, and family and friends of new and old. We have to put these issues into perspective to those who have real world issues.

 

My 2nd issue, which is completely my fauly due to a lack of diligence on my part. I booked a flight from phoenix to Houston, thinking that i don't hold a booking, and hold a LA to Phonix and nothing onwards to Houston. I requested  a cancellation, and learnt that I have travel funds that can be used only on new bookings under the passengers' names, the funds are valid for 1 year from the date of booking, or is it cancellation.

 

But my issue is that I don't believe that I am going to be able to fly on Southwest in the next 12 months, as visiting the US is an expensive holiday for us, as we have to fly 16 hours direct from Dubai and a tremendous cost, and to make that the 16 hour flight worth our while, we need to spend some time here, which I would love to do, but time and money are constraints.

 

I could use the funds to make a hotel booking, that I have made on booking.com that has not yet been transacted that I am going to use in pismo beach for my wife's reunion with her university friends, or my stay in Moab for 5 nights.

 

If only flights can be booked, I am going to loose approx. USD446, which like anyone here and Southwest airlines would not like to do, but this is my error and I request some exception be made as I am your future guest in your airline and country. 

 

Thank you for reading my looooooooooong post, have a good day.

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Cancelled Booking, and Travel Funds.....a human and computer blooper

elijahbrantley
Aviator A

Hi vanhack,

 

I would suggest reaching out to the SW Twitter team.  They are so awesome and responsive.  THey could provide context about the reservation and let you know your options.  You might tweet them letting them know you have a question, and they will likely encourage you to direct message the details and conf number to them.

 

Good luck!

-A List, Companion Pass holder

Re: Cancelled Booking, and Travel Funds.....a human and computer blooper

dfwskier
Aviator A

 I agree with elijah.

 

Something flaky is going on. If SW had simply cancelled your flights, SW would have tried to put you on different flights. It would not have put your funds in your tavel funds account.

 

It sounds like something happened to your specific reservations.

 

Please do reach out to SW's twitter team for an appropriate resolution.

 

Good luck.

Re: Cancelled Booking, and Travel Funds.....a human and computer blooper

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Reaching out to Southwest via Twitter (@SouthwestAir) is a good idea to avoid the costly phone call. This may actually work in your favor though. As Southwest cancelled the flights without you requesting a cancelation, you should see a refund back to the original form of payment (credit card), not travel funds. When you ask to rebook those flights you should be able to use the travel funds from your errant booking that you are worried about not being able to use. Like you said, hopefully the fares are still close to what you originally paid. Let us know how it goes. Can you also bring some kunafa and baklava?

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancelled Booking, and Travel Funds.....a human and computer blooper

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Just a note that Southwest will cancel reservations it feels are "duplicates," and refund to the original payment method. Did you happen to have mutliple flights booked for the same day? Or overlapping itineraries? Their system may have interpreted it as a duplicate booking. If that's the case, the rep should be able to rebook at your original fare.

 

Please do come back and let us know what you learn, and how it works out.