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Travel Extention

SammieJ17
Explorer A

Long story short..

 

Had a trip planned for April 2020 - had to cancel for obvious reasons. Got my credit. Rebooked for Oct 2020...had to cancel again due to Covid restrictions. My October flight was cheaper than the April one so I had some credit left over. The left over expires in 2022 however, the October canceled flight expires October 29th 2020. 

 

So now I will be out almost 600 dollars? Why is the original left over cancelation extended to 2022, but the rebook isn't? 

 

Thanks a lot Southwest!! 

42 REPLIES 42

Re: Travel Extention

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@SammieJ17 wrote:

Long story short..

 

Had a trip planned for April 2020 - had to cancel for obvious reasons. Got my credit. Rebooked for Oct 2020...had to cancel again due to Covid restrictions. My October flight was cheaper than the April one so I had some credit left over. The left over expires in 2022 however, the October canceled flight expires October 29th 2020. 

 

So now I will be out almost 600 dollars? Why is the original left over cancelation extended to 2022, but the rebook isn't? 

 

Thanks a lot Southwest!! 


 

 

When did you first cancel? Presumably it was during the time frame (March 1, 2020 to September 7, 2020) when all new travel funds were extended through September 7, 2022.

 

Once you use any of those extended funds towards a new flight, if you later cancel, the funds then expire one year from the date you booked that new flight.

 

Your extended, rebooked then canceled funds should expire in 2021.

 

Double check their expiration, and if not, reach out to Customer Relations.

 

Contact Customer Relations 

 

 

Re: Travel Extention

SammieJ17
Explorer A

Yes. I canceled March 31, 2020 then rebooked April 7th, 2020 for travel in October 2020. 

 

It indeed says expiration October 2020. 

 

I just don't understand why my leftover credit that I used to rebook doesn't expire until 2022 but this flight I just canceled expires Oct 2020. Im beyond frustrated. Its from the same credit. 

Re: Travel Extention

dfwskier
Aviator A

@SammieJ17 wrote:

Yes. I canceled March 31, 2020 then rebooked April 7th, 2020 for travel in October 2020. 

 

It indeed says expiration October 2020. 

 

I just don't understand why my leftover credit that I used to rebook doesn't expire until 2022 but this flight I just canceled expires Oct 2020. Im beyond frustrated. Its from the same credit. 


Al travel funds created (flights cancelled)_ between 3/1/20 and 9/7/20 should have a 9/7/22 expiration date. If you cancelled between these dates and your expiration date is something other than 9/7/22, then you should do as chgoflyer suggested and contact customer relations.

 

Flights cancelled before 3/1/20 and after 9/7/20 follow the normal travel fund rules - the funds have an expiration date of one year from the purchase date of the tickets.

Re: Travel Extention

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@dfwskier wrote:

@SammieJ17 wrote:

Yes. I canceled March 31, 2020 then rebooked April 7th, 2020 for travel in October 2020. 

 

It indeed says expiration October 2020. 

 

I just don't understand why my leftover credit that I used to rebook doesn't expire until 2022 but this flight I just canceled expires Oct 2020. Im beyond frustrated. Its from the same credit. 


Al travel funds created (flights cancelled)_ between 3/1/20 and 9/7/20 should have a 9/7/22 expiration date. If you cancelled between these dates and your expiration date is something other than 9/7/22, then you should do as chgoflyer suggested and contact customer relations.

 

Flights cancelled before 3/1/20 and after 9/7/20 follow the normal travel fund rules - the funds have an expiration date of one year from the purchase date of the tickets.


 

 

It's unfortunate that Southwest is doing this in a very confusing way.

 

Sadly, it's not actually the "normal travel fund rules." If so, the new booking would take on the expiration date of the funds applied (September 7, 2022). Instead, Southwest has said (and given an example to illustrate) that the new expiration date will be one year from the date of the new booking. Effectively tossing out all prior expiration dates associated with the funds.

 

I'm concerned from this report (and others on social media) that it's possible that the way the system works may not actually be the way Southwest says it does.

 

Perhaps cancellations after September 7, 2020 are taking on the expiration date of the *originally* purchased flight, prior to COVID accommodation extension -- not the new booking.

 

Hopefully this report is just an anomaly, and my speculation above isn't actually true.

 

Edited to add: Another consideration, perhaps it takes overnight (or longer) for the expiration date to update, as it did with the September 7, 2022 one?

Re: Travel Extention

SammieJ17
Explorer A

That is exactly what they are telling me. They are using the original purchase date not the new booking date which is why I'm screwed. It has always been since the new purchase date. Which would have been in April. Im fine with that as we were going to try to rebook again before April. We had no choice but to cancel our October trip due to heavy travel restrictions to Puerto Rico. 

 

'Sorry there is nothing we can do for you at this point, but thank you for your feedback ' 

Re: Travel Extention

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@SammieJ17 wrote:

That is exactly what they are telling me. They are using the original purchase date not the new booking date which is why I'm screwed. It has always been since the new purchase date. Which would have been in April. Im fine with that as we were going to try to rebook again before April. We had no choice but to cancel our October trip due to heavy travel restrictions to Puerto Rico. 

 

'Sorry there is nothing we can do for you at this point, but thank you for your feedback ' 


 

 

Double checking: Have you reached out to Customer Relations (not the regular reservation number)? They are more empowered to help.

 

Contact Customer Relations 

 

Reference the information Southwest published here, specifically the example shown.

 

southwest post sept funds.png

 

While confusing, the policy clearly illustrates that your funds should now expire in April.

 

If you receive a negative reply, please post it here -- we may be able to help sort things out for you.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Re: Travel Extention

SammieJ17
Explorer A

This was the response to my first message to them explaining the whole situation. He says ORIGINAL booking date where as your post says new booking date. Im going to reach out to customer relations right now. I will let you know what they say. I appreciate your help! 

 

"We truly apologize for any disappointment with your travel funds, Samm. We try to be flexible for our Customers by providing them a year from the original booking to utilize their travel funds. Nevertheless, we are saddened to hear that you aren't able to utilize your funds, but your feedback has been taken to heart. -Gabriel"

Re: Travel Extention

SammieJ17
Explorer A

The office is closed 😡 I will try first thing in the morning. 

Re: Travel Extention

chgoflyer
Aviator A

You can try reaching out via Twitter or Facebook direct message -- both are staffed by Customer Relations.