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If you use $1 worth of travel funds to purchase a $300 ticket and cancel...

pherm1
Explorer C

So I bought a ticket for $182, which was purchased partially with travel funds ($27) that expire on April 1, 2022. I eventually cancelled that flight. Not only does the $27 of travel funds expire on April 1, 2022, but so does the remaining $155 that I purchased using my card!!!! Somebody please explain how this policy makes sense??? 

6 REPLIES 6

Re: If you use $1 worth of travel funds to purchase a $300 ticket and cancel...

ZevSupport
Frequent Flyer A

Try reaching out to customer service to see if they can assist with this. Only the funds set to expire on April 1 will, not any combined (and later expiring) funds.


Community Champion | PHL based | ex-Companion Pass Holder | Southwest Passenger

Re: If you use $1 worth of travel funds to purchase a $300 ticket and cancel...

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@ZevSupport wrote:

Try reaching out to customer service to see if they can assist with this. Only the funds set to expire on April 1 will, not any combined (and later expiring) funds.


 

This is 100% incorrect. It might be a good idea to edit your post so that misinformation isn't spread.

 

As noted by others, when you co-mingle funds the earliest expiration date applies to all funds on the reservation. This may change someday, but this is how Southwest has always done it to-date.

Re: If you use $1 worth of travel funds to purchase a $300 ticket and cancel...

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A
Solution
Pay attention to the last sentence in this FAQ:
 
https://www.southwest.com/faq/travel-funds
 
When will my travel funds expire?

Think of a travel fund like a store credit that expires. The expiration date depends on the payment you used to book the original ticket. Note that all travel must be booked and completed by the travel fund’s expiration date.

  • Booked with a credit card or gift card:
    The travel fund will expire 12 months from the date you booked the ticket.
  • Booked with a Southwest LUV Voucher:
    The travel fund will adopt the expiration date of the voucher used to book the ticket.
  • Booked with travel funds:
    The travel fund will keep the expiration date of the original travel fund used to book the ticket. For example, on March 1, you use a travel fund that expires May 20 to book a ticket. Later, you cancel that ticket. The expiration date for these funds is still May 20.


    If you book with a combination of these payments, the travel fund adopts the expiration date of the fund that expires soonest.

     

    --TheMiddleSeat

Re: If you use $1 worth of travel funds to purchase a $300 ticket and cancel...

dfwskier
Aviator A

@pherm1 wrote:

  Somebody please explain how this policy makes sense??? 


I would presume the problem is that Southwest's computer system is not able to process multiple   expiration dates on one reservation.

Re: If you use $1 worth of travel funds to purchase a $300 ticket and cancel...

bec102896
Aviator A

Unfortunately once the funds are combined (travel fund plus new money) they can't be split apart. 

 

It's like if you put chocolate syrup in your milk because you want chocolate milk then decide later that you want just plain milk you can't take the chocolate out of the milk. Once combined your stuck it's unfortunate but as of now that's the way it works with travel funds or travel funds with new money 

Re: If you use $1 worth of travel funds to purchase a $300 ticket and cancel...

dfwskier
Aviator A

@bec102896 wrote:

 

 

It's like if you put chocolate syrup in your milk because you want chocolate milk then decide later that you want just plain milk you can't take the chocolate out of the milk. Once combined your stuck   

 

I need to remember that one