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Re: Unused Travel Funds

Hillschool
Explorer C

If you are on hold waiting to speak with Southwest's customer service representatives you will hear a lot about Southwest's committment to transparency and fairness to their customers. The ability to track travel funds through Rapid Rewards accounts would enhance transparency and fairness rather than the current process whereby customers are to sort through old emails on their own and and in many cases discover that their travel funds have already recently expired. Saying it should happen but that "it is unlikely" begs the question, why not if customer service and transparency would be enhanced?

 

The post below states "Southwest gives you a full year from purchase in which to complete travel on even non-refundable tickets." Yesterday I called Southwest, explained that there was a family medical emergency that precluded the use of tickets purchased a few months ago with some previous travel funds, including additional money paid in February of 2019. The Southwest representative informed me that all of the funds including those purchased with money paid in February had expired 5 days earlier this June of the the same year. Does this example and the following statement that this is way better than every other carrier, truley reinforce flyers' perception of positive customer service, transparency and fairness? 

 

 

Re: Unused Travel Funds

dfwskier
Aviator A

@Hillschool wrote:

If you are on hold waiting to speak with Southwest's customer service representatives you will hear a lot about Southwest's committment to transparency and fairness to their customers. The ability to track travel funds through Rapid Rewards accounts would enhance transparency and fairness rather than the current process whereby customers are to sort through old emails on their own and and in many cases discover that their travel funds have already recently expired. Saying it should happen but that "it is unlikely" begs the question, why not if customer service and transparency would be enhanced?

 

The post below states "Southwest gives you a full year from purchase in which to complete travel on even non-refundable tickets." Yesterday I called Southwest, explained that there was a family medical emergency that precluded the use of tickets purchased a few months ago with some previous travel funds, including additional money paid in February of 2019. The Southwest representative informed me that all of the funds including those purchased with money paid in February had expired 5 days earlier this June of the the same year. Does this example and the following statement that this is way better than every other carrier, truley reinforce flyers' perception of positive customer service, transparency and fairness? 

 

 


There are tradeoffs to the ways different airlines handle their versions of travel funds.

 

a) Some airlines provide a convenient way of keeping track of them on their websites, but charge somewhere around $200 per fund when you try to use them

 

b) Southwest does not provide a web based method, but provides e-mails that let  disciplined passengers   easily keep track of funds. It charges nothing to use the funds.

 

It's important to understand the details of any program people participate in. For example, Southwest clearly states that when using travel funds in full or part to buy  new ticket that ALL FUNDS used to purchase that ticket are subject to the earliest expiration date of ay travel funds applied to the purchase.

Re: Unused Travel Funds

BullsFan
Adventurer A
I'd hate to accuse Southwest of making it difficult to use left-over travel funds, but.... It's the ONLY link on the website that requires chapchta verification! I have been stymied in the past by Cap/No Cap in either first or last name, by having/not having a middle initial in the name, any tiny difference between the name on the funds and what you type into the search available funds search will cause an error- and it DOES NOT give you any hint as to the error. I am highly confident that this is all intentional. Otherwise, I could just look this up with the RR account # like I can everything else

Re: Unused Travel Funds

churd21
Explorer C

I totally agree that Southwest Airlines, being the LUV airlines that they are, should be transparent with travel funds by making them available for quick reference via your Rapid Rewards account. This is "pro-consumer".  However, as someone stated earlier, why would they if it is not in their best interest? One can only imagine the millions of dollars in unused travel fund that go unused and are forfeited. As our local consumer advocate would say "It ain't right!". C'mon SWA live up to the top 10 airline reputaion that you are know for....