@dfwskier wrote: I can go to "my account", "my trips," "past," and then click on whichever past trip I want to learn more about. One of the options is to print the receipt. I suspect you can do the same thing. Yes, for past trips. The point is that you cannot do it for upcoming ones. Many business travelers need to apply to be reimbursed, or submit a detailed receipt to balance against a corporate charge, as soon as possible after booking, since that process can often take quite a while.
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05-30-2018
10:58 AM
05-30-2018
10:58 AM
We are currently accepting air reservations through November 3, 2018. On May 31, 2018 we will open our schedule for sale through January 6, 2019. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.
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05-30-2018
12:44 AM
05-30-2018
12:44 AM
My understanding is that the expiration occurs exactly when it becomes the stated expiration date. For example, if the expiration date was January 1, then at midnight on December 31 -- as soon as it turns January 1 -- the funds expire. Southwest's booking system won't let you used funds/vouchers to book travel that takes place after the expiration, so you can check this yourself when you try to apply the funds/voucher.
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05-29-2018
08:24 PM
05-29-2018
08:24 PM
@Jodyisfishing wrote: Don't dare try to modify your reservation with a companion attached, it's the ole NOPE message we all love. I'm not sure why someone marked the earlier comment as a solution, when it's not one. It's actually expressing the problem in a specific context that's even worse than the original issue. Earlier, I asked Passenger1c what the agent did for them that they considered a "solution," which may have caused some confusion. To address Jodyisfishing's comment: You can refare an itinerary with a companion attached, but any other change requires you to first cancel the companion's booking. After the changes, you'll need to add your companion back. It's unfortunately been that way for as long as I can remember. One hopes this will eventually be fixed (but knowing Southwest's IT, don't get your hopes up.) 😉
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05-29-2018
08:13 PM
05-29-2018
08:13 PM
Here's how it works: Chase adds the points for your purchases (and any applicable bonuses) when your account closes and the statement is generated each month, and then sends those points to Southwest. Southwest usually posts them to your Rapid Rewards account in 2-3 business days following the credit card statement. Signup bonuses can sometimes take longer. Depending on how close to the statement closing you meet the spending requirement, they may not post until the next month's statement. You can track all this online at Chase for your card statement and Southwest for your Rapid Rewards account.
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And hopefully that employee is dealt with appropriately.
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05-29-2018
02:29 PM
05-29-2018
02:29 PM
Southwest still sends the companion pass card. You don't generally need it in order to travel as a companion. However, Southwest has tested allowing companions to board with the companion pass holder -- instead of at their later assigned position -- and in that test, the companion needed to show the card in order to do so. If this becomes policy, companions may want to make sure they have the card.
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05-29-2018
02:28 AM
05-29-2018
02:28 AM
To be clear: There is no such thing as the "proper paperwork" to prove a disability or request pre-boarding. When requesting pre-boarding, the Southwest agent will ask you if you have a disability that causes you to require assistance boarding the plane, and/or a specific seat once onboard. If the answer is yes, you qualify to pre-board.
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Sadly, they don't actually announce that "family boarding is after A but if you are a single A with a minor, just have them board with you." The agent that stopped you was correct. Official policy is that, in order to board together, you both board either at the later position or during Family Boarding (which only applies to those with children age 6 and under.) This, as you've noted, means that A-Listers are effectively "penalized" when traveling with a minor companion. But that's the policy. This is yet another reason Companions should (hopefully someday) be allowed to board with the CP holder. Boarding the Plane Do families get to preboard? An adult traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the “A” group has boarded and before the “B” group begins boarding. If the child and the adult are both holding an “A” boarding pass, they should board in their assigned boarding position. Can groups assigned to different boarding positions board together? Yes. However, in order to maintain the integrity of the boarding process, we ask that earlier boarding positions board with the later positions. For example, if a passenger is assigned position A16 and wants to board with a passenger assigned position A45, the passenger holding the A16 boarding pass should board with the A45 passenger.
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05-28-2018
02:00 PM
05-28-2018
02:00 PM
A-Listers without a A boarding pass can always board between the A and B groups. And anyone can pay the Upgraded Boarding fee ($30/$40/$50 depending on location) if there are open A1-15 positions. If you were turned down, it was because there were no positions available, not because you're A-List. Note that Upgraded Boarding is not the same as an upgrade to Business Select. Depending on the fare you originally paid, upgrading to BS can be very expensive (you pay the difference to full-fare), but it will include all the BS perks in addition to A1-15 boarding (more points, free drink, fly-by lanes).
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FYI: Southwest is considering a policy change that would allow Companions to board with the Companion Pass holder. They tested it last year, but have yet to implement it. One hopes it's not been decided against.
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The air travel industry is definitely in a race to the bottom. And while Southwest may be bringing up the rear, they're unfortunately still running in it. Southwest definitely does many things right -- no change fees as a great example -- but the company they are these days is simply not the company they were 10 or 15 years ago. In so many ways. And that's sad. It would be one thing if the cuts were all necessary to keep the company alive, but as we know Southwest has remained fantastically profitable -- even setting new records for shareholder return in recent years. Profit has become king. I'm certain they are well aware of the concerns I've expressed here, as I'm far from the only one expressing them. Unfortunately, customer opinions don't really have much effect on policy anymore. With a couple minor exceptions, management is calling all the shots these days, and the financial bottom line is really the only motivator for most decisions.
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05-26-2018
08:07 PM
05-26-2018
08:07 PM
I agree. Southwest should consider allowing customers to combine points and cash. But that's very unlikely to happen. Operationally, it would present challenges that I suspect the IT team would have difficulty overcoming. And since it wouldn't actually benefit Southwest monetarily, management would likely never give it priority of the many other IT initiatives. You may want to consider booking one-way flights instead of a round trip, using points for one and cash for the other, if that helps.
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05-26-2018
04:13 PM
05-26-2018
04:13 PM
FYI: If you did happen to buy a "refundable" fare (Senior, for example) then you'll only be able to get a refund if you've made no changes to the itinerary.
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05-26-2018
04:10 PM
05-26-2018
04:10 PM
@rtbarron wrote: Taking advantage of any Customers, military or civilian, is very UN-Southwest like. I honestly don't know what Southwest's reason for not allowing military passengers to check in on-line is and would be interested to find out. Hopefully the issue will be fixed somehow so that our service members are treated at least as well as other Customers. Good luck to you. I hope this problem will be satisfied to your satisfaction. Yeah, that used to be true. These days, I'm not so sure. While I do not know what the actual reason is for this policy, over the last few years there have been quite a few policy changes, many allegedly caused by "system limitations," that negatively effect the customer. Confirmation numbers, needed when reusing travel funds, are no longer detailed on email confirmations when using those funds, or show the remaining balance, and cannot be researched by phone reps using the credit card number. Southwest actually took legal action against Award Wallet, a site that helps flyers track their own earned awards. (Southwest benefits when customers don't use their funds/awards.) Refundable fares now become non-refundable if you make any itinerary changes. (This one is absolutely the most absurd to me.) Also, sadly, "fixes" don't really happen anymore. Customers outside the US have been blocked from accessing the website for three years now. For three years Southwest has said that they are "working hard on a fix." Customer Relations reps are less empowered than ever before, due to management directives of "zero tolerance" enforcement on policies like no-show and expired points (among others). Rapid Rewards points have been devalued multiple times since the move to the revenue-based system. Early Bird Check-In fee was $10, then $12.50, then $15. (And will likely increase again, I suspect.) Every changes seems to continue to be customer-negative. Aside from allowing A-Listers to board at the end of the B group if they don't have an A position, I cannot think of a single customer-positive change that's happened in the last several years. Southwest used to be head-and-shoulders above the competition.
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05-26-2018
03:52 PM
05-26-2018
03:52 PM
The latter. Companion Pass qualification is based on the calendar year (January-December), so in order to qualify again for 2020 you'll need to earn 110,000 again points beginning on Jan. 1, 2019. The rest of the points you earn until then will continue to be redeemable for travel, and any you earn from purchased flights will also qualify towards A-List (note that the A-List counter also resets on Jan. 1).
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$1 per point would be insanely expensive. 😉 As it is, at 3 cents per point, it's already expensive... the value of a Rapid Rewards points is generally considered to be ~1.9 cents. If you're buying enough points for a whole ticket, you're definitely paying more than the actual ticket amount. Purchasing points is generally not a good idea. The exceptions are 1) when there is a special offer that decreases the point cost, and 2) if you just need a small amount in order to "top off" your existing balance so that you can purchase a specific itinerary.
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05-26-2018
02:46 PM
05-26-2018
02:46 PM
Tier Qualifying Points (those that will earn you A-List status) are only earned from actual travel (base miles earned when you fly) and, as you've noted, up to 15,000 TQPs (1,500 for every $10,000 spent) if you have the Premier card. All other points you earn from the card are Companion Pass Qualifying, and can be redeemed for travel on Southwest (as well as merchandise, hotels, rental cars and gift cards through More Rewards). If your primary goal from the card is A-List qualification, then yes, I'd recommend transferring spending to another card that has a better earn rate once you've spent the $100,000. Are you really spending $200,000 anually on the Southwest card?
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05-25-2018
03:42 PM
05-25-2018
03:42 PM
Agreed. Southwest is great at a lot of things, but IT implementation is absolutely not one of them.
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A bit of advice: If you do reach out to Southwest directly, you'll have the best results if you keep it short and stick to the facts.
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05-25-2018
03:37 PM
05-25-2018
03:37 PM
@rtbarron wrote: Since you're in SAN, I'm guessing you're either U.S. Navy or Marine Corps. Either way, thank you for your service. Your situation would be frustrating to any traveler but should definitley not happen to members of our military. Given Southwest's solid commitment to veterans, I can't imagine that this is a Southwest policy and wonder if it has something to do with the terms of the DOD contract. It is certainly worth looking into and correcting. I hope that the situation is adequately explained and, hopefully, resolved, for you and your fellow service members. Good luck to you! Unfortunately, it does appear to be a Southwest policy. Online Check In Who is eligible to use online check in at Southwest.com and print a boarding pass? To use online check in at Southwest.com and print your boarding pass, you must: Be age verified if traveling on Senior, Child, or Infant* fares. Check in beginning 24 hours prior to your scheduled departure time. Check in at least one hour prior to your scheduled departure time. Have purchased an eligible fare type (Customers holding reservation for military fares must proceed to the airport check in). Note that, at the discretion of the OPs agent, military in uniform may be allowed to board between the A and B groups.
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Do you have Travel Funds or a Voucher? Travel Funds are the result of a cancelled or changed itinerary. They are held under the original confirmation number. They expire one year from the original purchase date, and are valid towards airfare, taxes and fees for the original passenger(s) only. When you apply these to a new booking, that booking takes on the oldest expiration date of any funds used. Once expired, travel funds may be reissued (as a Voucher) for a fee of $100 per ticket. The fee is deducted from the travel funds balance, meaning that it's only worth requesting this exception when the funds balance is greater than $100. Vouchers are given by Customer Relations for things like delays or baggage issues, or when travel funds are reissued for a fee after expiration. They are valid for air fare only (no taxes or fees) but can be used by anyone. They generally expire one year (or six months in the case of reissued travel funds) from the date of issue. Vouchers are generally not reissued once expired. However, depending on why/how you received the voucher initially (for example, if it was because of a customer service issue) Southwest may reissue it, and if so, there is no fee. To request, you'll need to reach out to Customer Relations -- my recomendation is via Twitter direct message.
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Unfortunately, there's nothing that Southwest can/will do. (This complaint has come up before.) In general, I don't recommend Southwest gift cards. The limitations in use make them problematic. One upside to the new terms is that the limit of (now) 3 forms of payment is per passenger, not per purchase. Meaning that you can use twice as many if booking an itinerary for two people. (Although in general, I never recommend booking multi-passenger itineraries, this is an exception.) Southwest® gift card Terms & Conditions
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Excellent advice above. Just one note: Southwest won't actually let you pay the UM fee for a child that's over age 11, or provide any special services. They consider children age 12 -17 traveling alone Young Travelers. Here's more info: Young Traveler Terms and Conditions
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Take a look here: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/traveling-with-animals/index-pol.html#intl-assist-support-animals Law Enforcement/Search and Rescue Dogs Southwest Airlines accepts fully-trained law enforcement service dogs trained in explosives or drug detection (or other specific functions) and search and rescue dogs for transportation, without charge, when accompanied by their respective handlers on official business. Each Customer traveling with a law enforcement or search and rescue dog must present a letter of mission and a copy of the animal’s certification. In accordance with federal safety regulations, the dog(s) must be positioned so as not to obstruct Customers’ expeditious evacuation in the unlikely event of an emergency. In addition, law enforcement and search and rescue dogs may not occupy a seat or sit in an emergency exit row. However, because your itinerary includes an international departure, I'd recommend they follow the advice below: We encourage Customers to contact the appropriate consulate, embassy or other governmental authority well in advance of travel to ensure applicable requirements are understood. Customers are solely responsible for researching and complying with applicable laws, requirements, and/or procedures with respect to the transport of trained assistance and emotional support animals. From this link, it appears you'll just need to have proof that the dog has had it's rabies vaccination in order to bring it into the US: https://www.cdc.gov/importation/bringing-an-animal-into-the-united-states/dogs.html
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05-22-2018
12:51 AM
05-22-2018
12:51 AM
This could be related, the "can't refare a points reservation" error is a known issue, that sadly continues (despite assurances that they are "working on it"). Did you save a screenshot? How do you know that you were charged a different amount? What did the confirmation you received right after booking say?
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The two questions the gate agent will ask are 1) do you have a disability that requires a need for a specific seat, and 2) do you need assistance boarding the plane. If the answer is yes, you will be given a pre-boarding pass. Southwest also allows those who have a disability and "need extra time" boarding to board between the A and B groups.
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05-21-2018
04:55 PM
05-21-2018
04:55 PM
You have to call for Infant/Child fares too. There are some others as well -- Government, Pet, Unacompanied Minor -- that require a call. The only special fares that I know of that can be booked online are Senior.
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