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OVERBOOKED ERROR

MsJones
Explorer C

Southwest displaced my spouse and I due to overbooking. They had to change our flights however we did get a voucher. I used my voucher plus adding my own money to complete a flight. Due military mission I had to cancel my flight. Southwest told me that since my voucher expired so did my own funds that went towards the flight. That is pure unethical and unfair treatment to customers. The voucher was because if a southwest error of overbooking so why should my funds be penalized???

6 REPLIES 6

Re: OVERBOOKED ERROR

CareforNOLA
Frequent Flyer A

@MsJones,

That sounds highly unusual, so I would suggest writing in to Customer Service - either email or letter.  

Contact Customer Service

 

SWA tries not to overbook, but situations can arise with aircraft swaps because some 737s have more seats than others.

 

Give them the details, and Customer Service has more leeway to make things better than a gate agent in the heat of a busy moment.

 

 

Re: OVERBOOKED ERROR

rtbarron
Frequent Flyer A

If I'm understanding you correctly, you were given a flight voucher as compensation for being denied boarding on an oversold flight. You used the voucher plus cash to purchase another ticket, but had to cancel that ticket due to circumstances not within your control. Now Southwest is telling you that you've lost the value of the voucher and the cash since the voucher expired. Is this correct?

If so, something is missing here. Even if the voucher expired, wouldn't the travel funds for the cash portion still be available for a year from purchase of the new ticket @ChiFlyer?

When did you receive the voucher?
When did you purchase the new ticket with the voucher and cash?
When did you cancel the new ticket?

Re: OVERBOOKED ERROR

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@rtbarron wrote:

If I'm understanding you correctly, you were given a flight voucher as compensation for being denied boarding on an oversold flight. You used the voucher plus cash to purchase another ticket, but had to cancel that ticket due to circumstances not within your control. Now Southwest is telling you that you've lost the value of the voucher and the cash since the voucher expired. Is this correct?

If so, something is missing here. Even if the voucher expired, wouldn't the travel funds for the cash portion still be available for a year from purchase of the new ticket @ChiFlyer?

When did you receive the voucher?
When did you purchase the new ticket with the voucher and cash?
When did you cancel the new ticket?


 

Actually, no -- if your understanding is correct, then everything expired when the Voucher did.

 

Any time you use a Voucher or Travel Funds to book a flight, that new flight takes on the oldest expiration of the Voucher or Travel Funds. This includes any new money.

 

To the OP, I'd recommend reaching out to Customer Relations (via Twitter for the quickest response), to see if they can make any sort of exception here. (I suspect not, but it's worth a try.)

 

Good luck!

 

 

Re: OVERBOOKED ERROR

rtbarron
Frequent Flyer A
@chgoflyer wrote:

Any time you use a Voucher or Travel Funds to book a flight, that new flight takes on the oldest expiration of the Voucher or Travel Funds. This includes any new money.

Thanks for the clarification!

Re: OVERBOOKED ERROR

LAloha
Explorer C

I was called by Southwest a few days before my flight saying they had overbooked my flight and if I was willing to take a later flight.  They offered $500 for compensation, and I said I would take if, but did not know exactly when I could rearrange my plans for another flight.   They said to choose a date and if I needed to change it, I could.  So I accepted it and they rebooked me for August 30th. I emailed Southwest asking if I was able to cancel the current reservations and book it for later.  They emailed me saying that they cancelled my voucher and it is not longer valid, since I was not traveling.  I called in to see if my reservations had been cancelled, as I did not cancel, had only asked if I could and if I could rebook.  My reservations were still there.  They transferred to a lady in customer relations and she said it was too late to get my voucher back.  I told her that I had not even cancelled my booking but she said sorry.  I think this is illegal, if not unethical.  I asked to speak to someone higher, and she said there was no one. I have been advised by a lawyer friend to sue for the $500.   I hate to have to do this, but I have never seen any airlines do this, and I actually worked for the airlines for 15 years.  Suggestions?  I do want to eventually travel.

Re: OVERBOOKED ERROR

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@LAloha wrote:

I was called by Southwest a few days before my flight saying they had overbooked my flight and if I was willing to take a later flight.  They offered $500 for compensation, and I said I would take if, but did not know exactly when I could rearrange my plans for another flight.   They said to choose a date and if I needed to change it, I could.  So I accepted it and they rebooked me for August 30th. I emailed Southwest asking if I was able to cancel the current reservations and book it for later.  They emailed me saying that they cancelled my voucher and it is not longer valid, since I was not traveling.  I called in to see if my reservations had been cancelled, as I did not cancel, had only asked if I could and if I could rebook.  My reservations were still there.  They transferred to a lady in customer relations and she said it was too late to get my voucher back.  I told her that I had not even cancelled my booking but she said sorry.  I think this is illegal, if not unethical.  I asked to speak to someone higher, and she said there was no one. I have been advised by a lawyer friend to sue for the $500.   I hate to have to do this, but I have never seen any airlines do this, and I actually worked for the airlines for 15 years.  Suggestions?  I do want to eventually travel.


 

 

I'm not sure if I'm understanding everything correctly, but that doesn't make sense to me.

 

You can check the value of your voucher here: Check Travel Funds (just click on "+Check Southwest LUV Voucher")

 

I've never heard of a voucher being cancelled once given to a customer. Perhaps this is just a misunderstanding?