Can I combine my 3 travel funds from 1 confirmation so I can use it on 1 flight

[flight49]

So I had a flight that kept going cheaper and I got 3 separate travel funds, all on the same confirmation #. Is there a way to combine all 3 onto one travel fund since their all from the same confirmation #? I can't use all 3 on 1 flight b/c it only accepts 3 forms of payment and travel funds don't quite cover the flight. Also, I can't use the 3rd travel fund on my return flight b/c that's after the expiration date. Funds are 40/40/30 and this applies to 4 people. Any help with this?

[DancingDavidE · Accepted solution]

I have heard of a workaround where you could book multiple travel funds into a different ticket, then cancel that flight and use the consolidated travel fund for booking. (or in some cases after expiration to puchase a LUV voucher for multiple smaller travel funds that wouldn't make sense individually).

At the same time that the airline doesn't want people booking random tickets that they don't intend to fly, this also is the best self-service way to combine travel funds and avoid tieing up the phone lines - pick a date far enough out and it seems like the harm in temporarily holding a few seats would be minimal.

[TheMiddleSeat]

Unless I've been doing it wrong this whole time, if you repriced the same reservation, same confirmation number, all those funds are actually on one travel fund. I assume you know what fund value you expect to have, what happens when you try to apply it towards a purchase? You should see the total value applied and there's no need to enter the same confirmation number multiple times.

What @DancingDavidE is referring to is combining multiple travel funds with different confirmation numbers. In that case, yes, you can book a flight with two funds, then cancel it to create a new combined fund on a new confirmation number. Then use that and another old confirmation number to book another reservation, cancel that one, then you have a single new travel fund. Be aware, any money you may add during this process obtains the travel fund expiration date which will be the earliest of all the funds you combined.

Report back and either clarify or let us know how things work out for you.

--TheMiddleSeat

[flight49]

I've already tried booking it but each travel fund is listed as a separate payment. Each travel fund has the confirmation # listed with a "-1234" and those numbers are different for each travel fund. So even tho they're from the same confirmation, the system knows there's 3 separate funds.

I will try this other method but only combine the first 2 travel funds. 1 & 2 funds will turn into 1st method, 3rd fund would then be the 2nd method and credit card for 3rd method...

[dfwskier]

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@TheMiddleSeat wrote:

Unless I've been doing it wrong this whole time, if you repriced the same reservation, same confirmation number, all those funds are actually on one travel fund.   

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That has also been my experience.

[chgoflyer · Accepted solution]

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@flight49 wrote:

So I had a flight that kept going cheaper and I got 3 separate travel funds, all on the same confirmation #. Is there a way to combine all 3 onto one travel fund since their all from the same confirmation #? I can't use all 3 on 1 flight b/c it only accepts 3 forms of payment and travel funds don't quite cover the flight. Also, I can't use the 3rd travel fund on my return flight b/c that's after the expiration date. Funds are 40/40/30 and this applies to 4 people. Any help with this?

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Unless Southwest has made a recent change, Travel Funds are held under the confirmation number of the flight you rebooked/canceled/etc. You don't need to enter anything except the confirmation number to use the funds when booking (no extra digits).

You can verify how much is left on Travel Fund here: View Travel Funds

Unfortunately, things get more complicated when dealing with multi-passenger itineraries. My best guess would be that those extra digits are reference to each of the 4 different passengers, who (if everything is correct in the system) each now "own" 1/4 of the total amount of the funds. Travel Funds can only be used by the originally named passenger(s). Assuming you're now trying to book for just yourself, it will only allow you to use your 1/4 of the total funds.

[flight49]

Your solution worked, thanks! I was able to combine the 2 $40 travel funds for each of us by buying an $87 flight for each of us with those funds and then canceling that flight. So now I have a 4 travel funds for $87 each and still have 4 travel funds of $30 each (I did this for all 4 original passengers).

So I guess Southwest must've made a change recently. I guess I should've screeen shot it to show. But I didn't have to enter the 4 extra digits to use the funds. I only entered the confirmation #. But then on the next screen it listed all those funds, all 12 of them, with the confirmation # ending with completely random 4 digit numbers, for all 12 of them. They were not numerical or related in any way. They did not reference any of us. I know the funds can only be used by original passenger and I was able to get this done for all 4 of us.

[DancingDavidE]

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@flight49 wrote:

Your solution worked, thanks! I was able to combine the 2 $40 travel funds for each of us by buying an $87 flight for each of us with those funds and then canceling that flight. So now I have a 4 travel funds for $87 each and still have 4 travel funds of $30 each (I did this for all 4 original passengers).

So I guess Southwest must've made a change recently. I guess I should've screeen shot it to show. But I didn't have to enter the 4 extra digits to use the funds. I only entered the confirmation #. But then on the next screen it listed all those funds, all 12 of them, with the confirmation # ending with completely random 4 digit numbers, for all 12 of them. They were not numerical or related in any way. They did not reference any of us. I know the funds can only be used by original passenger and I was able to get this done for all 4 of us.

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Great, I'm glad this worked out for you to consolidate a little bit!

[VG726]

Hi everyone. I'm rekindling this topic because I'm in a similar situation. My son flies to and from college 8 times a year. The majority of those flights are with Southwest. 

I have the following credits:

Flight # 1 - $5

Flight # 1 - $10

Flight # 1 - $25

Flight # 1 - $10

Flight # 1 - $15.99

Flight # 1 - $4

Flight #2 - $17

Flight #3 - $15

They expire on 7/9 and 8/29. After Spring Break, he won't fly again until October, at which point the credits will have expired.

I want to book him a flight home for SB and it's $177. Based on what I've read here, I can book 3 flights for $59 each to consolidate two travel funds for each flight. I'm leaving the $5 and $4 out of the equation as it's just too much trouble to try to incorporate those at this point.

So my plan is:

Ghost Flight # 1  $59 - $25 Travel Funds - $17 Travel Funds = $17 Difference I pay

Ghost Flight # 2  $59 - $15 Travel Funds - $15.99 Travel Funds = $28.01 Difference I pay

Ghost Flight # 3  $59 - $10 Travel Funds - $10 Travel Funds = $39 Difference I pay

$59  * 3 = $177...which is exactly how much the flight I need to book for him costs.

So here's my question....I'll cancel Ghost Flight # 1 and #2 to have two $59 credits. I DON'T cancel flight #3, so I can exchange it using the credit for that same transaction to then apply the funds for Flights #1 and #2. Is that possible?

I had no idea the travel credits worked this way, which makes it very hard to use now, of course. My boss flies JetBlue Mosaic and they use a Travel Bank which is SPECTACULAR. I'm hoping Southwest applies something similar in the future. 

Thanks so much in advance for your help! This is the first of my children to attend college out of state so I'm new to the air travel scene. Learning along the way!

[dfwskier]

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@VG726 wrote:

Hi everyone. I'm rekindling this topic because I'm in a similar situation. My son flies to and from college 8 times a year. The majority of those flights are with Southwest. 

I have the following credits:

Flight # 1 - $5

Flight # 1 - $10

Flight # 1 - $25

Flight # 1 - $10

Flight # 1 - $15.99

Flight # 1 - $4

Flight #2 - $17

Flight #3 - $15

They expire on 7/9 and 8/29. After Spring Break, he won't fly again until October, at which point the credits will have expired.

I want to book him a flight home for SB and it's $177. Based on what I've read here, I can book 3 flights for $59 each to consolidate two travel funds for each flight. I'm leaving the $5 and $4 out of the equation as it's just too much trouble to try to incorporate those at this point.

So my plan is:

Ghost Flight # 1  $59 - $25 Travel Funds - $17 Travel Funds = $17 Difference I pay

Ghost Flight # 2  $59 - $15 Travel Funds - $15.99 Travel Funds = $28.01 Difference I pay

Ghost Flight # 3  $59 - $10 Travel Funds - $10 Travel Funds = $39 Difference I pay

$59  * 3 = $177...which is exactly how much the flight I need to book for him costs.

So here's my question....I'll cancel Ghost Flight # 1 and #2 to have two $59 credits. I DON'T cancel flight #3, so I can exchange it using the credit for that same transaction to then apply the funds for Flights #1 and #2. Is that possible?

I had no idea the travel credits worked this way, which makes it very hard to use now, of course. My boss flies JetBlue Mosaic and they use a Travel Bank which is SPECTACULAR. I'm hoping Southwest applies something similar in the future. 

Thanks so much in advance for your help! This is the first of my children to attend college out of state so I'm new to the air travel scene. Learning along the way!

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I bolded the specific part of your post that I am responding to. Yes you can do that.

Question, you listed flight 1 six times. Did the price for the flight drop six times resulting in these six amounts -(ie only one confirmation number)? If so that's really one travel credit, not six.

Reminder, travel credits must be used by the person whose name was on the tickets that resulted in the credits. I mention that because you said "I have the following credits." I presume you meant that your son does.

As far as JetBlue's travel bank goes, yes it's a great program -- with a cost. You get charged a per ticket fee to use every travel fund in the travel bank. So the almost   t $100  your son has in travel funds with Southwest would be worth exactly $ZERO at Jet Blue.

There are pros and cons to both programs.