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No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

MsPatterson
Explorer C

Very disappointed in SWA. I have to cancel two trips due to Covid-19, and obviously, don’t know when I will be able to travel. SWA refuses to refund my early bird fees - I must reschedule another trip in order to keep them. Ridiculous! 

27 REPLIES 27

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

bec102896
Aviator A

I wouldn’t cancel the flight now as the airline is canceling lots of flights and if your flight is cancelled then you should be able to get a refund. You can cancel up to 10min before the flight if you notice that your flight isn’t cancelled. 

 

The 2nd option is to change to a flight on a later date and once you know when you will need to fly next you can change the flight again that way you don’t lose the EB check in. If you cancel you will lose the EB money. Keep in mind the funds from this reservation must be used within one year of when you originally bought your ticket so if you change your flight to a later date it would have to be flown before the funds expire. 

 

-Blake 

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

rdb101xx
Explorer C

hey blake ,don't want to use an over used saying ,but,,been there done that and its the best way to get around it

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

JDY
Explorer C

We too are upset with the no refund of Early Bird Checkin prices. We have flown Southwest exclusively for years and because of the reason behind us cancelling our flight to Las Vegas this week due to the current COVID-19 and Las Vegas being shut down totally, we would not have cancelled our trip. We were not told anything about the rebooking with no penalty when we cancelled and therefore we have just paid and Southwest is keeping $100 of our money. This is totally unfair to your customers to profit in any way from what is going on when it is not our fault this is going on. In our opinion, this policy should be changed immediately and early bird fees refunded or kept on our account as we will certainly fly again when this is over and will continue to fly Southwest exclusively but again, THIS IS NOT OUR FAULT. The control tower at McCarran has also been shut down for 4 days so far, so it would have been an added danger for us to fly into Vegas. We have contacted corporate about this and also gotten nowhere. Southwest needs to do their loyal customers a favor and let us have ALL the monies we paid for a flight back into our account for future use. With the Early Bird we paid over $700 for the flight to begin with. And they are keeping $100 of that money? Not good customer service in our opinion.

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

warmond2360
Explorer C

It is so unfair to not refund the EarlyBird Checkin fee when a flight has been cancelled due to COVID19!  I did not cancel my flight because I changed my mind!  I was looking forward to my California vacation and cruise!  Unfortunately Princess Cruises cancelled my cruise, which was the best decision.  And not only did they give us our full amount paid back, but increased the amount by a large percent!

I really intended to continue with the SWest Flight to Long Beach and visit family, but they advised against that as well because the virus had started to really spread in the Long Beach & Los Angeles area!

Taking into consideration the health risk I decided to cancel my vacation.  West did give me a credit which expires in August!  Hopefully things will blow over by then and I will be able to use the cancelled flight funds! 

The really disappointing part of this is I purchased EB Checkin which is not inexpensive!  I just received a message to my complaint that S West is not going to refund or credit that charge!

Very unhappy S West customer!  Granted I am not a frequent flyer but whenever I fly S West has always been my first choice!

Please reconsider your decision and change the unhappy customers into continued loyal S West flyers!

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

SusanWG_1
Explorer C

Good customer service during this time of Covid-19 cancellations, shut downs, and shutter inside orders from state governments, would be for Southwest to refund the Early Bird Check-In fees.  Through no fault of our own are we having to cancel our flights. In my case, not only is our state asking us not to leave our homes, but the convention I was attending has been canceled. We all know the financial pressures on us to pay our bills, mortgages, credit cards, etc.  Would it be so difficult for a corporation like Southwest Airlines  to make an exception on their Early Bird Check-In policy for pre-booked travel during the months of March - June 2020 and refund us? $25 (per leg of trip) can buy a whole lot of groceries for families during a time when they may not have any income coming in...every penny matters. I urge Southwest to reconsider this policy and to do the right thing...make a one-time exception to this non-refundable perk.  Right now, keeping our Early Bird Check In fees feels a whole lot like outright theft.

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

NicoleAshley
Employee
Employee
Solution

We understand your frustration, @SusanWG_1. While EarlyBird is nonrefundable, we're recommending our Customers impacted by EarlyBird Check-In please contact Customer Relations for consideration by phone at 1-855-234-4654, or any of the options in the link below. Thank you!

 

Submitting a Suggestion and/or Complaint 

 

Nicole
Community Manager

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

gerogem129
Explorer C

Contacting that number as has been noted elsewhere in this forum leads to the statement "There's nothing we can do.  Policy dictates yada yada yada...

 

The policy sucks and the lack of identifying the potential loss of these funds at cancellation is the problem.

 

Again Customer Service in the matter is better named Enemy Relations.....

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

KYTransplant
Explorer C

This was my experience exactly.  I don't think the airline does a good enough job of making the customer aware that if they cancel their flight for any reason, you'll get your points back, but they will keep the early check-in fees.  It feels like theft to me and has left a bad taste in my mouth about Southwest.  It may be time to donate my miles and cancel my Southwest Rewards Visa.  I'm very disappointed in their customer service.  

Re: No Refund for Early Bird Checkin

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@KYTransplant As explained in replies to your other posts, EarlyBird refunds are now being issued as LUV Vouchers. 

 

 

 

--TheMiddleSeat