@troy0566 wrote:
I made a reservation to National Harbor, MD April 14-17 + Hotel.
Today, March 26th, learning that my employer had rooms reserved for us, I called Southwest wanting to either Cancel the hotel portion of the reservation or cancel the reservation entirely and rebook the flight. Note: the confirmation email concerning the hotel states, "Hotel Cancel Policy: CANCEL PERMITTED UP TO 3 DAYS BEFORE ARRIVAL".
I was told that I can cancel the hotel but I would not receive a refund to that portion regardless of weather I canceled the hotel or the entire package. This is misleading.
I have always been a fan of Southwest, but I will not book a vacation package with them again as they are not clear in their policies regarding changes and cancelation.
Greetings-
As a frequent SW flyer and frequent user of Southwest Hotels, I have not used the Southwest Vacations booking portal as I'm not a fan of its packaged hotel cancellation policies--same reason you stated. The cancellation policy is defined in the SW Vacations Terms of Service.
As an alternative, I have used the Southwest Hotels/Rocket Miles portal extensively (powered through booking.com) as the Rapid Reward bonus deals are great for the Points Plus properties, rooms can be booked regardless if it involved a SW flight, and most properties offer a free cancellation option up to 72 or even 48 hours prior which I have needed to use a couple of times after noticing price drops in the market.
Since Southwest Airlines currently has a generous Promotional Companion Pass offer live for today and tomorrow for new flights, and your business trip to National Harbor falls within the required travel-by date, I would do a fresh price check for the flight portion of the trip.
If the posted airfare is still reasonable, I would completely scrap the entire Southwest Vacations booking and take the hit on the hotel cancellation fee. Per the terms, the SW Vacations airfare portion would be a SW Flight Credit. I would then activate the Promo Companion Pass offer in your Rapid Rewards account by clicking on "Register Now" on the front page of Southwest's website while logged in.
After activating the promo, while logged into your same Rapid Rewards account, book your flight for your business trip directly through Southwest as a new flight...and yes, you can pay for a portion of this flight using the flight credit from your cancelled Southwest Vacations and it will qualify for this promo. The value of the Promo Companion Pass should certainly offset the cost of SW Vacations hotel cancellation fee and any differences in airfare.
Hope this helps!
