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Expired Drink Coupons

RobertL
Explorer C

Hi, I have four dirnk coupons which expired 12/31/2015. Is there a way to have these reissued?

 

I've heard that you can send in old drink coupons and have Soutwest reissue them.  

 

Is this true?  If so, what is the process?

 

Thanks!

26 REPLIES 26

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

LindseyD
Retired Community Manager
Solution

Hi @RobertL,

 

Currently, there is not a way to reissue expired drink coupons. If they are not used by the expiration date, they are no longer valid. 

 

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

MikeHatz
Explorer C

Renewing expired drink coupons might be a trivial thing for a behemoth like Southwest, but means a lot to a typical customer who may only fly once or twice a year, forget to bring the coupon, and then watch it expire.

Is there a way for this board to launch this idea of coupon renewal up the corporate ladder?

I use mine up before expiration, but a renewal process would seem to be in line with Southwest's customer friendly ways. It may also show that this forum has the backing of Southwest and is not just a social media experiment for millenials. That kind of responsiveness would be AMAZING.

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

ktuley
Explorer C

have to agree here.... I've had my drink tickets expire when drink service was suspended, or I manage to fly on a free drink day.  I also fly a lot of short hops, 55 minutes, which is tough for service to take place anyway, but then to guzzle a drink on top of it.... would prefer to save my tickets for the longer flights...

 

Thanks and I hope you're listening.

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

LizaB
Explorer C

Yes, I agree with others. Short flights or bad flying conditions can make it difficult to use tickets. There should be a way to renew. Or really, why do they have to expire?

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@LizaB wrote:

Yes, I agree with others. Short flights or bad flying conditions can make it difficult to use tickets. There should be a way to renew. Or really, why do they have to expire?


Here's why:

 

For many, many years Southwest issued drink coupons with no expiration date. And at a greater frequency than they do now. It wasn't uncommon for someone to acquire over time a huge stack of them.

 

Eventually, Southwest's accountants began getting nervious, as unredeemed drink coupons were being carried as a liability on their financials. So Southwest decided to unilaterally "expire" at a future date all existing coupons that were printed without an expiration.

 

This, unsuprisingly, angered many long-time customers. Lawsuits were filed, but since most consumer protections are under state law, not federal, they were denied. (The federal Airline Deregulation Act pre-empts state laws that purport to regulate airline "prices, routes, or services.")

 

One related lawsuit was successful. It concerned only those drink coupons Business Select passengers receive with their fare, but even so, Southwest eventually paid an out-of-court settlement of over $29 million in lawyer's fees and replacement coupons.

 

Printing an expiration date on each coupon allows them to now "expire" the liability using a rolling monthly method, and most importantly avoid another situation like the mess I described above.

 

😉

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

dwisch1
Explorer C

Exactly! 1 year Exp date makes no sense

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

Kingsbayrealtor
Explorer C

I've been getting drink tickets when I renewed my RR credit card every year.  HAven't seen any this year.   Was hoping to have them before I travel this weekend to the West Coast.   

How do I check on the status of the coupons?

Scott

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

DSayre44
Explorer C

I recently recieved some drink coupons from Southwest.  The letter was dated May 12, 2018 and recieved the coupons on the 15th; the expiration date was May 30th.  Why is does Southwest only give you an 2 week window to actually use the drink coupon.  I think this is pointless if you want to reward someone.  Why not give us a chance to enjoy them.

 

Has anyone else run into this problem?

Re: Expired Drink Coupons

dfwskier
Aviator A

I've been receiving drink coupons for a very, very long time and never had anything like this happen.

 

I suspect that it is a simple screw up

 

I'd suggest that you call cutome service to get the situation resolved.