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Luv Vouchers

Raineygirl3
Explorer C

I am just wondering if anybody else here has experienced what I have in trying to use my luv voucher!  It's been a real nightmare to say the least.  

 

They keep saying that it was emailed to me and I never get it!!  I have to wait at least 30 min on hold just to talk to someone at the corporate office and then they have to reissue it and once again, I don't receive the email.  I'm pulling out my hair.  I get all of the other emails from Southwest....funny how I can't get the email with the luv voucher in it.  This has been going on for months and they even sent me the voucher in the mail.  However, I didn't know the numbers on it were bad until I tried to book my flight.  This is unreal.  I'm so upset with Southwest and apparently the people that work there are not trained enough to handle situations like this.  They keep saying it's on my end about not receiving the emails.  No way!!  Then, one person told me that the email they have was misspelled [verzon] and she corrected it and I still have NOT received an email.  

 

This is unacceptable to me.  Anyway, I just needed to vent and see if anybody else had this problem with Southwest.  Certainly not a way to want to keep an existing customer.

 

Rainey

9 REPLIES 9

Re: Luv Vouchers

Jeanmiddleton
Explorer C

Rainey, Just saw your post as I was trying to find out more information regarding love vouchers. I did not have a problem receiving as you did, but it did take close to 3 weeks to get. My disaster was trying to use it. It states you can redeem it 3 ways..online..calling or a ticket counter. I tried calling several times and waited up to 40 minutes before I gave up and went online. This was in August and I had to make a last minute trip to Washington DC from Chicago. The flight was $406, but I had a $233 voucher so I figured I was ok. I made the reservation, put in my voucher number and security code, but it continued to show the full price. At that point I decided that perhaps they adjust the price after it gets in the system. I called to check on it, but after waiting 10 minutes, I left a voice mail for someone to call me back. I left for the airport a couple hours later and when I got back four days later, there was a message from SW left in the late afternoon on the day of my departure. Long story short I called twice and waited for 52 and 54 minutes and was told there was nothing they could do since my trip was over!!! Now I have the $233 which I have to use by Jan 26th or it expires. I came on the website to see if I could exchange the money for miles since there is no way I can travel by that date! I have always loved Southwest and the founder, Herb Kelleher who always believed the corporate culture should be as easy as Follow the Golden Rule! They must have forgotten this in the LUV voucher department!! Senior Citizen Jean

Re: Luv Vouchers

Jhenry805
Explorer C

I am having same exact problem and have been on the phone with them for hours over past several days. Excruciating timesuck with zero results and prices of flights I am trying to book have gone up by hundreds. Such incredible irony that a gesture of good will from SW for delayed flight could cost them so much bad will. And as I am checking my emails every hour for 5 straight days looking for the vouchers that they say they have sent 3 times, I get an email from them with customer survey on the experience (but no friggin vouchers ). It is hard not to think that they are doing it to me on purpose. I am wondering if an ex-girlfriend of mine now works in their customer service department. I will be calling AGAIN today and will not hang up until someone resolves this ! Incredibly frustrating !!!

Re: Luv Vouchers

dfwskier
Aviator A

Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

It is frustrating to feel like you are not getting anywhere.

 

Have you tried e-mail or twitter? People have reported that they get retty quick resuts by doing that. Here's how you do both:

 

https://www.southwest.com/contact-us/contact-us.html?clk=GFOOTER-CUSTOMER-CONTACT-US

 

 

Re: Southwest Love Vouchers

reneerose
Explorer A

Hi:

 

I'm new here.  Can I get travel funds converted into love vouchers?  I have $49.50 to use in travel funds and apparently if I have to use it by Sept 18 then it won't let me even if I book a flight 8 months past the Sept 18 expiration date of the travel funds....Why does Southwest do this to people?

Re: Southwest Love Vouchers

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@reneerose wrote:

Hi:

 

I'm new here.  Can I get travel funds converted into love vouchers?  I have $49.50 to use in travel funds and apparently if I have to use it by Sept 18 then it won't let me even if I book a flight 8 months past the Sept 18 expiration date of the travel funds....Why does Southwest do this to people?


After they expire you can have them converted, however we've heard on this community that the fee is $100 to do that, so it won't be worth it in your case to salvage the $49.50.

 

I know it can be difficult, but the fact that they offer the travel funds without a change fee is already industry leading, unfortunately sometimes the travel funds still won't end up being used.

 

 

 

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

Re: Southwest Love Vouchers

dfwskier
Aviator A

@reneerose wrote:

Hi:

 

I'm new here.  Can I get travel funds converted into love vouchers?  I have $49.50 to use in travel funds and apparently if I have to use it by Sept 18 then it won't let me even if I book a flight 8 months past the Sept 18 expiration date of the travel funds....Why does Southwest do this to people?


Hi.

 

You can convert expired travel funds to vouchers,  but there is  $100 fee to do so. So that doesn't sound like it makes sense for your $49.50 in travel funds. Sorry.

 

Every airline I'm aware of does the same thing with their equivalent of travel funds: they expire after a year. The difference is that the other airlines charge you $200 or more before the funds become "travel funds." Southwet does not do that.. I don't know if other airlines let their customers convert expired travel funds to vouchers.

 

The reason airlines have a one year rule is that   travel funds represent an ongoing liability to the compnies. If the liability gets too large, it represents a financial threat to a company. For example, if an airline had say $3 billion in travel funds on the books, and suddenly $3 billion in travel funds were used, it would cause financial havoc.

 

It's the same reason grocery coupons now have expiration dates while 30 years ago most did not.

Re: Southwest Love Vouchers

reneerose
Explorer A

Thanks DFW and Dancing David!

 

 

Okay that makes sense sort of...but then it's a travel expense like traveling on the subway brings in revenue, and you can always use the balance,  it should maybe give a little middle ground to use the extra travel funds within 6 months of the expiration date instead of by the expiration date.   But yeah subway commuting vs plane flights are a bad comparisn.   Would Southwest be able to make up in additional bookings the money they are afraid to lose if they would only be a little flexible with the expiration date and pushing it out to 6 months of the expiration date?   Curious if that would change their profit margin. 

Re: Southwest Love Vouchers

dfwskier
Aviator A

@reneerose wrote:

Thanks DFW and Dancing David!

 

 

Okay that makes sense sort of...but then it's a travel expense like traveling on the subway brings in revenue, and you can always use the balance,  it should maybe give a little middle ground to use the extra travel funds within 6 months of the expiration date instead of by the expiration date.   But yeah subway commuting vs plane flights are a bad comparisn.   Would Southwest be able to make up in additional bookings the money they are afraid to lose if they would only be a little flexible with the expiration date and pushing it out to 6 months of the expiration date?   Curious if that would change their profit margin. 


Yes it could, in a worst case scenario change their profit margin. Let me give an extreme example. It's one that likely would not happen, but it illustrates the point.

Let's say it's 10 (or 5 or 4, etc) years later. There's $500 million of travel fund dollars  (from 10, 04 or 2 years ago)  that are suddenly used. That's $500 million that it won't have to pay fuel, employees, airport fees, etc. That's a revenue and profit hit.

 

Having an expiration date let's the company forecast a financial worst case scenario. No expiration date makes such a forecast impossible. A longer expiration date would also be forecastable, and SW kind of does that by allowing passengers to convert expired travel funds to vouchers.

Re: Southwest Love Vouchers

reneerose
Explorer A

Oh...since you put it that way.  🙂  Long live Southwest!