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Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

bryongaskin
Explorer C

SOUTHWEST GET OFF OF YOUR ASSES.

If I have to enter in:

1. Confirmation Number (X)

2. First Name

3. Last Name

 In order to get my travel fund for a single flight, then, the reserve query will work as well:

1. First Name

2. Last Name

3. X (Confirmation Numbers)

 

The only reason not to do this is BECAUSE YOU DO NOT WANT TO HONNOR those travel funds.  This is such BULL **bleep**. I have been complaing about this for three years.

I mean holly **bleep**, SWA has set up a website just allow people to share wonderfull stories about SWA,  yet getting a report of all of your travel funds is beyond the scope of a publically traded airline......................

 

.

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

secondmac
Explorer C

I wholeheartedly agree. What other reason could there be?

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

malreja
Explorer C

I think SWA needs to focus on implementing this simple need - consolidate and display all unused travel funds. It is trivial to implement if SWA has the will make life easier for their customers.

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

dfwskier
Aviator A

"It is trivial to implement if SWA has the will make life easier for their customers."

 

First of all, you have no idea what the cost would be to implement the change. It might not be trivial.

 

Second, passengers need to be responsible for themselves. Southwest tells you via e-mail that you have a credit tied to a specific confirmation number. Be responsible and save that e-mail. Now that is a solution that requires virtually no effort.

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@dfwskier wrote:

"It is trivial to implement if SWA has the will make life easier for their customers."

 

First of all, you have no idea what the cost would be to implement the change. It might not be trivial.

 

Second, passengers need to be responsible for themselves. Southwest tells you via e-mail that you have a credit tied to a specific confirmation number. Be responsible and save that e-mail. Now that is a solution that requires virtually no effort.


 

Well, assuming you get the email. 😉

 

 

 

 

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

secondmac
Explorer C

If they can store and save my credit card information for me to use at a later date, when I don't have enough points, which is very easy to find, they can surely store and display my remaining travel funds. Its easy enough to understand that the my points don't gain interest when sitting idle in the coffers of SWA, but my travel funds, do indeed accrue interest along with probably millions of other dollars that SWA makes so difficult for its customers to find, track and manage.

 

Thanks a lot SWA!

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

chgoflyer
Aviator A

I'd suggest that it's not exactly trivial. Southwest -- never known for the best IT implementation -- would need to create and program systems for keeping funds in a bank tied to the customer's RR account, but also allow for those who don't have one. That would cost money. And take time. And IT prettty much has their hands full at the moment, still putting out fires from the booking system conversion.

 

All indications are that Southwest is moving in the opposite direction -- actually making funds more difficult to use. Confirmation numbers are no longer shown in emails when applied to a new booking, making it harder to track them. Balances are no longer shown when booking, making it harder to track the balances. And phone reps can no longer locate confirmation numbers with funds attached using the credit card number with which the purchase was made, meaning tracking must be done manually, by the customer.

 

I'd love to see, as suggested so many times here, Southwest set up a "travel bank" for customers' funds.

 

Unfortunately, I just don't see it happening. 😞

 

 

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

dfwskier
Aviator A

"Confirmation numbers are no longer shown in emails when applied to a new booking, making it harder to track them.     ???

 

The e-mails I received after making 4 reservations on 5/28 sure did.

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

chgoflyer
Aviator A
@dfwskier wrote:

"Confirmation numbers are no longer shown in emails when applied to a new booking, making it harder to track them.     ???

 

The e-mails I received after making 4 reservations on 5/28 sure did.

 

I think you may be confused. I'm talking about when you use travel funds.

 

When you apply travel funds to a new booking, the confirmation email no longer shows the confirmation number (as it used to), instead it now just says "Residual Travel Funds."

 

Example:

 

OLD:
Tkls funds applied from Conf# AAAAA ($0.00 remaining) $49.00
Tkls funds applied from Conf# BBBBB ($75.25 remaining) $10.00

NEW:
Tkls funds applied from Residual Travel Funds $39.00
Tkls funds applied from Residual Travel Funds $66.00

 

This is distressing because previously you could simply search your email for a specific confirmation number, and see all the messages where it was referenced. This would include not just the original booking (when the number was created) but all the times you applied those funds using that number.

 

This is no longer true, which makes it harder to track those funds. 😞

Re: Locating Unused Travel Funds

SWAwillTravel
Explorer C

I agree, the method to determine if you have any unused SWA miles is terrible.  I can see an accountant in a SWA back office, clapping his or her hands every time a customer's miles get errassed because a customer did not know how to access unsued miles.  This seems intentional. 

 

Other airlines know how to track unused miles, SWA could easily do so aswell.   The is a perfect example of the tricks that airlines pull to make it more diffecult for customers to get the full benefit of what they paid for the tickets. 

 

SWA, you can do better.