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Changing flights w/o loosing flight credit

Smichel
Explorer C

I have a credit on my account from a previos flight that had to be canceled. I'm thinking about booking 2 flights right now for a trip my husband and I are taking this summer because the rates are pretty good right now and applying the credit. (The balance would be paid from my checking accnt) I just want to make sure I understand the policies correctly. If the rates go down between now and then I can change our flights and I would still get the full credit of the difference on my account right? They would just have the same expiration date as the original credit?

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Changing flights w/o loosing flight credit

dfwskier
Aviator A

You are   correct. If you buy a ticket paid for at least in part with a travel fund  ,  and later change the  flight  to one that is cheaper,   SW will give you a travel fund  for the delta between the two prices. It will have a expiration date that is the same as the travel fund used to buy the original ticket.                     

Re: Changing flights w/o loosing flight credit

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@Smichel wrote:

I have a credit on my account from a previos flight that had to be canceled. I'm thinking about booking 2 flights right now for a trip my husband and I are taking this summer because the rates are pretty good right now and applying the credit. (The balance would be paid from my checking accnt) I just want to make sure I understand the policies correctly. If the rates go down between now and then I can change our flights and I would still get the full credit of the difference on my account right? They would just have the same expiration date as the original credit?


 

[Deleted & reposted to fix typos]

 

 

Mostly. 😉

 

Just a few things to keep in mind:

 

Non-transferability: Travel Funds (credits from previous cancelled flights) are limited in use to the original passenger(s) only. So, if the credit you already have is only in your name, the system will only allow it to be applied to your portion of the new booking, assuming it's for 2 people (you and your husband). This shouldn't be an issue if the credit is smaller than your portion of the airfare. However, once you've made that booking, if you cancel or re-fare (because the fare decreases), you'll have credits in both your name & account, and also your husband's name & account. Those credits will only be usable by the person whose name is on the credit. This gets a bit complicated. The easiest way to reduce that complexity is by booking individual flights for each person. (The trade-off is you'll need to check in each person separately.)

 

Expiration of Travel Funds: Whenever you apply any Travel Funds to a new booking, that new booking takes on the earliest expiration date of any funds applied. That expiration will also apply to any new funds used (from a credit card). All travel must be completed (not just booked) by the expiration date, which would apply to any credits you receive from re-faring in case of a fare decrease.

 

One special consideration would be if your existing travel fund expires September 7, 2022. (Southwest extended some funds to this date last year as an accommodation due to the pandemic.) If the existing fund does expire 9-7-22, then when you apply it, the new booking will take on a new expiration that's one year from the date you make the new booking. Any eventual credits would also have this expiration.

 

Using travel funds for multiple people can be a little complicated. Let us know if you have any other questions. Hope this helps!