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Was my reservation cancelled automaticially?

kathryndillman
Explorer C

Last weekend I had a trip from STL to Baltimore out on Wednesday back on Sunday.  Due to a funeral I had to leave Friday instead.  I tried to pay the fare difference but I'd booked the trip with points and didn't have enough to cover the difference.

 

I bought a new ticket with a rapid rewards credit card which was at a premium because it was last minute, but I expected as much....not the issue.

 

The issue is, I got an email Wednesday night that my points had been refunded and I looked in my southwest app and my trip (incudling the Sunday return ticket that I still needed) was gone.

 

I never canceled that reservation and I still needed that ticket. 

 

I knew I would be paying a bunch to book a new flight out (was $360+) but now I'm out an additional 6,798 points that should rightfully be refunded as I never cancelled my booking and fully intended on using my return flight. I'm very upset and confused about this. I've had the rapid rewards visa for 7 or 8 years and never had an issue like this.

 

Why was my reservation cancelled and how do I open a serivce claim to get my points back?

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Was my reservation cancelled automaticially?

bec102896
Aviator A

So what from what I have read it sounds like you may be a victim of Southwest's NO SHOW policy. That policy is if you don't cancel a ticket that you do not plan to travel on at least 10min prior to departure your reservation all flights will be canceled and you would lose your funds being that you were a points ticket the $5.60 or $11.20 would be held as a travel fund under your confirmation number and points would be returned to your account. With that being said I do believe that your return trip (if on the same confirmation number) was canceled as well that policy is on the confirmation email they send out as well as on the pricing page when booking airline tickets. If your ticket is canceled you would then need to book a new ticket at the current price which will probably be more expensive 

 

when you say you are out an additional 6,798 points are you saying when they canceled your flight the points for the return didn't go back in to your account or because that's the difference in points to rebook? If you canceled the going flight your return should still be booked as long as you or the agent on the phone didn't cancel the whole reservation. The best way to see if your flight reservation exists is to call southwest at 800-435-9792 and they can look up your confirmation number they can also tell if you were a NO SHOW or not.

 

sorry to be the bear of bad news on this.

 

Blake 

Re: Was my reservation cancelled automaticially?

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@bec102896 is right, when you no-showed for the first flight of the round trip reservation it causes the entire reservation to be canceled. Thankfully it was a points reservation because you gets points refunded in a no-show. Had you made a Wanna Get Away fare reservation with cash you would have lost 100% of it, no refund.

 

Yet one more reason to book everything as one-way flights. Miss/skip the outbound flight and your 2nd reservation for the return remains untouched. Sorry you learned this the hard way.

 

BTW, having the Southwest credit card provides no additional benefit regarding the reservation, flight, or anything beyond earning points on the purchases made.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Was my reservation cancelled automaticially?

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Unfortunately, when you didn't show up on Wednesday your entire itinerary including the return flight was canceled under Southwest's no show policy. Thankfully this was a points booking, so the points were returned to your account.