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Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

ksoyini
Explorer A

@chgoflyer I was not told about a $100 fee. I did ask if there were any stipulations or anything else I needed to know, which is when I was told about the difference between requesting the extension before and after expiration

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@ksoyini wrote:

@chgoflyer I was not told about a $100 fee. I did ask if there were any stipulations or anything else I needed to know, which is when I was told about the difference between requesting the extension before and after expiration


 

 

Ok, reading in between the lines here --

 

I suspect you have a voucher that Southwest is willing to reissue. As I noted earlier, vouchers are generally not able to be reissued, and must be used before expiration. However, there are some cases in which Customer Relations will make an exception and reissue a voucher. (Unfortunately, I don't have any insight into what situations might allow for this special consideration, but I suspect it may have to do with the reason for the voucher issue in the first place. For example, if the voucher was received because of a customer service issue, rather than the voucher resulting from an expired travel funds reissue.)

 

In the rare cases where a voucher is reissued as a customer goodwill gesture, there is no fee collected. Hopefully this describes your particular situation.

 

 

For most vouchers, which are not able to be reissued, the "work-around" is as I said earlier: Apply the voucher to a flight booking before expiration, then cancel to obtain travel funds. Once those funds are expired, request reissue as a voucher within 6 months of expiration. If granted, $100 will be deducted from the total, and the voucher will be valid for 6 months from the date of issue.

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

ksoyini
Explorer A

Well I did receive them due to a customer service issue. And then covid hit. So maybe that's it.

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

NicoleAshley
Employee
Employee

@chgoflyer wrote:

@NicoleAshley 

 

Nicole, Are you able to verify that the info they were given is correct?

 

-- Vouchers can be reissued in the same way that Travel Funds can ($100 fee, 6 months)

-- You can make the request prior to expiration, and if so it's faster that waiting until after


@chgoflyer 

The Customer Relations Department can sometimes make exceptions on a case-by-case basis, so I can't verify what was specifically promised to any given individual. I know that  pre-COVID-19, those are exceptions we were able to make in the past depending on the circumstances. If that's what someone was promised, I'd just recommend grabbing the Agent's name and the Service Request number for peace of mind if anyone is concerned.

 

I also recommend being mindful of the new expiration date if you're requesting an exception earlier than expiration. For instance, if it's granted early, your "final six months" also gives you an earlier expiration date to complete travel by. Hope this helps!

 

 

Nicole
Community Manager

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

Drliusd
Explorer C

@chgoflyer @nicoleashley

 

I have a related issue to above. I received 4 sets of vouchers for 4 members of our family. They are definitely vouchers. 

 

We extended the expiration date to June 2021 because of covid.  We booked tickets for this month using them and have now canceled our flights due to covid. They were returned to our 4 respective accounts as travel vouchers expiring June 2021.

 

1. Can I be refunded for my taxes and fees to my credit card.

2. Is there a way to extend the current vouchers which are travel funds beyond the current June 2021 date? To further complicate things, I have some money left over in luv vouchers and the rest in travel funds from our canceled flights and they are all in 4 accounts..

3. Are my travel funds returnable to luv vouchers and transferable?

4. Essentially I just want to be able to use tthese vouchers and travel funds in the future but, or give them to someone but our family isn't comfortable flying and prob won't be until the fall or 2022!!

 

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@Drliusd wrote:

@chgoflyer @nicoleashley

 

I have a related issue to above. I received 4 sets of vouchers for 4 members of our family. They are definitely vouchers. 

 

We extended the expiration date to June 2021 because of covid.  We booked tickets for this month using them and have now canceled our flights due to covid. They were returned to our 4 respective accounts as travel vouchers expiring June 2021.

 

1. Can I be refunded for my taxes and fees to my credit card.

2. Is there a way to extend the current vouchers which are travel funds beyond the current June 2021 date? To further complicate things, I have some money left over in luv vouchers and the rest in travel funds from our canceled flights and they are all in 4 accounts..

3. Are my travel funds returnable to luv vouchers and transferable?

4. Essentially I just want to be able to use tthese vouchers and travel funds in the future but, or give them to someone but our family isn't comfortable flying and prob won't be until the fall or 2022!!

 


 

I'm not certain I completely understand your situation, but I'll try to help:

 

What is the value of each Travel Fund? That will help decide if your options are even feasible to begin with.

 

1. When you cancelled, there was an option to refund the taxes and fees back to your credit card. If that wasn't selected at that time, they're incorporated into your Travel Funds. Perhaps contacting Customer Relations may help -- but I'm not positive that's available if not selected originally.

 

2. Keep in mind that Vouchers and Travel Funds are two very different things, with different terms and conditions, so clarity is important.

 

For your Travel Funds, depending on their value, it might be worth asking Customer Relations if they can be reissued as Vouchers. (Some people refer to this as "extending" their funds.) However, there's a fee for this of $100 per person/fund, so their value will dictate if this is feasible or not. Again, however, I'm not certain you'll get any help here either, as these Travel Funds came from previously extended Vouchers.

 

For your Vouchers, it's unlikely they would receive a 2nd extension.

 

3. See 2 above.

 

4. If Customer Relations agrees to reissue your Travel Funds as Vouchers, the Vouchers will be valid for 6 months from the date of expiration. You have 6 months after expiration in which to make the request. So, if you wait until as late as possible to make the request, and it's granted, the vouchers should be good until June of 2022 at the latest.

 

It's might be worth reaching out to Customer Relations now, to ask if your Travel Funds are even able to be reissued at all. Be very clear that you're not asking for them to be reissued now, just clarifying that it's a possibility. If so, I'd recommend you keep a record of that conversation.

 

Good luck!

 

Contact Customer Relations 

(I recommend via Facebook or Twitter direct message)

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

1. When you cancel a flight booked with a voucher or travel credit you have the option to get a refund of the taxes back to your credit card, it's an option on the screen when you cancel.  If you did not choose this option then it may have gone back to you in the form of a travel fund.  Check the value of the travel fund you received when you cancelled and compare versus the total cost of the flight to see where the taxes went.

 

2. Probably not, but all requests would need to go through customer relations Contact Customer Relations 

 

3.  No, not until they expire and then they could be converted to a voucher with a reduction in value of $100 per travel fund.

 

4.  Fall of 2022 is cutting it close to the maximum extension that Southwest offered back in 2020 so it's doubtful you will be able to extend out to anything beyond fall of 2021 at this point.  I don't believe other airlines are going out much past spring 2022.  You can always ask, but don't be surprised if you don't get it.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

Minniehaha13
Explorer C

If you are willing to give them. I would take them. 

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

jrbesch
Explorer C

Thanks for posting this.  I just called today about extending a LUV voucher that is expiring 1/4/21.  I confirmed what you were told:  if I extend today, the new expiration date would be 6/30/21, and the extended voucher would be emailed to me within 24 hrs; if I wait up to 6 months after the expiration date (i.e. anytime before 7/4/21), the new expiration date would be 6 months from whatever date I call, but it would in fact take 2+ weeks to be re-issued, and I wouldn't be able to make any bookings during that time.  I also confirmed that the voucher can only be extended one time.  I had the distinct impression -- but didn't ask directly -- that this policy is due to COVID. 

Re: LUV VOUCHER EXIRATION AND EXTENSION

ksoyini
Explorer A

@jrbesch Thanks for posting this. Glad to hear that someone else was told the same thing.