Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Travel Vouchers for Charity Case #09859742

gdeems
Explorer C

I bid in two round trip airline tickets at a charity auction last year. They expire October of this year. I was wondering if Southwest is giving any type of extension because of the COVID 19 situation? I would like to use them in January 2021, but don't know if they can be extended because of the current situation. I'm in one of the more at risk groups, so what to put off travel until things have settled down.

 

I received this from Judy at Southwest, but no way to ask another question.

 

Dear Gene (Case #09859742),

Thank you for contacting us. I’m sorry to learn that you will be unable to use your Southwest flight e-pass prior to the expiration date.. E-Passes are valid for 12 months from the issue date. Travel must be completed by the expiration date, which is included with the e-pass information. Once an e-pass has expired, it can no longer be redeemed for travel. We are unable to offer you additional time to use your e-pass.

Sincerely,
Judy
Southwest Airlines

 

So now my question is can I give the pair of tickets to a charity to use as a fundraiser? Since it was bid in at auction at a charity fundraiser, can I give them to another charity to do the same? I know I can't sell them, but giving them to a good nonprofit seems like a good thing to do.

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Travel Vouchers for Charity Case #09859742

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@gdeems wrote:

I bid in two round trip airline tickets at a charity auction last year. They expire October of this year. I was wondering if Southwest is giving any type of extension because of the COVID 19 situation? I would like to use them in January 2021, but don't know if they can be extended because of the current situation. I'm in one of the more at risk groups, so what to put off travel until things have settled down.

 

I received this from Judy at Southwest, but no way to ask another question.

 

Dear Gene (Case #09859742),

Thank you for contacting us. I’m sorry to learn that you will be unable to use your Southwest flight e-pass prior to the expiration date.. E-Passes are valid for 12 months from the issue date. Travel must be completed by the expiration date, which is included with the e-pass information. Once an e-pass has expired, it can no longer be redeemed for travel. We are unable to offer you additional time to use your e-pass.

Sincerely,
Judy
Southwest Airlines

 

So now my question is can I give the pair of tickets to a charity to use as a fundraiser? Since it was bid in at auction at a charity fundraiser, can I give them to another charity to do the same? I know I can't sell them, but giving them to a good nonprofit seems like a good thing to do.


 

I'm not positive that this would work, but here's a potential solution: Use the vouchers to purchase a flight, then cancel that flight (prior to September 7, 2020). Per the Southwest pandemic accommodations, your resultant travel funds should be extended (overnight) to expire on September 7, 2022.

 

Alternately, you should be able to give them to someone else to use, assuming you can find a charity that will be able to use them prior to expiration given the current circumstances.

 

[edited to add]

 

Looks like "e-passes" have their own special rules, and most likely cannot be used as I had suggested above.

 

They are transferrable however.

 

Here's a link to a sample e-pass I found online.

 

And a previous discussion regarding them.

 

In case you missed the responses to your original post here.

Re: Travel Vouchers for Charity Case #09859742

bec102896
Aviator A

Does your e-pass heave a name on it? If so then only that person can use the e-Pass. 

 

I don't believe that the e-pass will qualify for the 2 year extension after booking then canceling because the e-Pass has no travel fund value. 

 

Does your e-pass have a phone number on it that you could call? If so I would call that department. 

Re: Travel Vouchers for Charity Case #09859742

dfwskier
Aviator A

@bec102896 wrote:

 

I don't believe that the e-pass will qualify for the 2 year extension after booking then canceling because the e-Pass has no travel fund value. 

 

 Agree. e-passes are an entirely  different animal than vouchers.