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Expired voucher caused ticket to exprie?

jerhan2
Explorer C

My wife received a voucher for $75 because her flight was delayed for several hours.  We planned a trip for the two of us in Sept 2019, using the voucher for her ticket and paying an additional $189.00, and paid full price for my ticket.  That trip fell though so we planned another trip in November 2019.  She was told that the voucher AND the $189 expire the end of October 2019.  I get the voucher expiring (which sucks) but I DO NOT get Southwest keeping the additional money we paid out of pocket.

 

We were told by a Southwest customer service person, that AFTER the ticket expires, we can "try and get our money back"...  She said... "There is no way to split out the payment when two forms of payment are used on one ticket".  REALLY??  There is "no way"?  So now we still have plans to travel mid November that we will have to pay for 100% her ticket when we have $189 "Credit" on another ticket.

 

There has to be a better solution to this.

 

Any input?  

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Expired voucher caused ticket to exprie?

SWDigits
Aviator A

See this thread as @chgoflyer does a nice job of summarizing the key points:

 

https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/General-Travel-Policies/Expired-travel-funds/m-p/91457/high...


Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: Expired voucher caused ticket to exprie?

chgoflyer
Aviator A
Solution

@jerhan2 wrote:

My wife received a voucher for $75 because her flight was delayed for several hours.  We planned a trip for the two of us in Sept 2019, using the voucher for her ticket and paying an additional $189.00, and paid full price for my ticket.  That trip fell though so we planned another trip in November 2019.  She was told that the voucher AND the $189 expire the end of October 2019.  I get the voucher expiring (which sucks) but I DO NOT get Southwest keeping the additional money we paid out of pocket.

 

We were told by a Southwest customer service person, that AFTER the ticket expires, we can "try and get our money back"...  She said... "There is no way to split out the payment when two forms of payment are used on one ticket".  REALLY??  There is "no way"?  So now we still have plans to travel mid November that we will have to pay for 100% her ticket when we have $189 "Credit" on another ticket.

 

There has to be a better solution to this.

 

Any input?  


Whenever you apply a voucher or travel funds to a new booking, all funds associated with that new booking take on the earliest expiration date of any funds applied. This is shown on the voucher, and again when you apply the voucher online, but many people overlook it. (I've highlighted the important parts in yellow below.)

 

In your case, I'd recommend you reach out to Customer Relations via the chat function in the app or direct message via Twitter for the quickest response. (Note: This isn't the "regular" reservation department.) Since the funds you applied were from a voucher given for a customer service issue (not from a flight change you made) they may be able to assist you. It's at least worth a shot.

 

If they aren't able to make an exception for you, once expired you can request the funds be reissued as a voucher. Southwest charges a fee for this of $100 per passenger. Were your tickets purchased individually, or together on one confirmation number? If together, please be aware that they both expire in October, and that the fee to reissue would be $200.

 

For the future, I recommend always booking individual one-way flights for each passenger. This will limit your exposure if you do apply any vouchers or travel funds. And although I realize it's hard to anticipate when you might need to cancel a flight, it's worth some consideration when applying funds, as in some cases it may not be worth the risk (such as applying a small fund to a large fare ticket.)

 

I hope this info helps!

 

voucher-terms.jpgapplied funds.jpg