Receipt Request for Past Flight

[TroyMitchell]

I am EXACERBATED by the fact that Southwest will not simplify the process of obtaining a receipt for a past flight. I’ll fly Southwest for business, and I am in need of receipts in order to submit expense reports. There is no simple way of doing this. Despite the fact that the Southwest help tool tells you to click on the trip name from your account to print a receipt. This does not work. The only link available is to rebook that flight. Every time I need a receipt I have to call Southwest and have an agent mail the receipt to me. This is a ridiculous waste of time. Every other platform in the world provides you the ability to view and print your receipt or to download as a PDF. Why is Southwest so  oblivious to this need and how do we escalate this simple feature request to someone who cares about Southwest customers. Yes, you can sense my frustration. Not only am I wasting time retrieving receipts on a regular basis, but I am having to spend 20 minutes on a Saturday afternoon sending this message in hopes that someone will care. 

[dfwskier]

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@TroyMitchell wrote:

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I don't know what you are doing wrong, but you are doing something wrong.

In my account, receipts are available for every flight I have taken in the last year.

1) Log on to your RR account

2) Under upcoming trips, click on view all trips

3) Scroll down to the past flights section

4) Find the flight you want - move to the right side of the page and click on "view receipt"

There is nothing arduous about the process.

Besides every one of those confirmation e-mails you get when booking a flight contain the exact receipt you need.

[TroyMitchell]

Thanks for your response. Two issues. I did not clearly state that my frustration was in relation to the Southwest Mobile App. Following the same procedure the only option given is to Rebook Flight, not View Receipt as is on the website. Also, the View Receipt function that is offered from their website is not really providing a receipt as it shows no date of purchase and no detail about the transaction other than the amount that was paid. This may be enough for some small companies, but most, including mine require a receipt that shows the transaction date and method of payment (even if only last 4 digits of cc for security purposes). The only way to get a legitimate receipt is to call and have them e-mail it to you.

Again, thanks for your kind response.

[dfwskier]

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@TroyMitchell wrote:

If you  need all that stuff, why aren't you simply saving the booking confirmation e-mails you get every time you book a flight. They have all that stuff.

Stick 'em all in a "travel receipts" e-mail folder so they are easy to find.

Beats the heck out of repeated phone calls

[TroyMitchell]

While I certainly appreciate the "creative thinking" it doesn't address the root of the problem which would be very easy for Southwest to fix. I do use a folder system but admit that I get a ton of mail, travel a lot, and inevitably end up missing receipts. You've done enough to help and I appreciate your effort. Have a nice weekend.

[DancingDavidE]

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@TroyMitchell wrote:

While I certainly appreciate the "creative thinking" it doesn't address the root of the problem which would be very easy for Southwest to fix. I do use a folder system but admit that I get a ton of mail, travel a lot, and inevitably end up missing receipts. You've done enough to help and I appreciate your effort. Have a nice weekend.

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If you are using Southwest credit cards then the statements include a recap of the flights showing how points were earned, and dates of purchase I believe.

[tappingmom1]

Do it exactly as @dfwskier wrote... 

No more phone calls.  Easy-peasy!!

[TroyMitchell]

See my response above. Btw, nice fish! Is that a flounder...hard to see.

[tappingmom1]

It was a very bright spring chinook salmon caught in the Columbia River! 😀

[SoCalFlyer97]

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@TroyMitchell wrote:

I am EXACERBATED by the fact that Southwest will not simplify the process of obtaining a receipt for a past flight. I’ll fly Southwest for business, and I am in need of receipts in order to submit expense reports. There is no simple way of doing this. Despite the fact that the Southwest help tool tells you to click on the trip name from your account to print a receipt. This does not work. The only link available is to rebook that flight. Every time I need a receipt I have to call Southwest and have an agent mail the receipt to me. This is a ridiculous waste of time. Every other platform in the world provides you the ability to view and print your receipt or to download as a PDF. Why is Southwest so  oblivious to this need and how do we escalate this simple feature request to someone who cares about Southwest customers. Yes, you can sense my frustration. Not only am I wasting time retrieving receipts on a regular basis, but I am having to spend 20 minutes on a Saturday afternoon sending this message in hopes that someone will care. 

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Hello-

As one who handles business expense reports for my job each month, I understand the original poster's needs. To be clear, the Southwest Phone App appears to not have the ability to retrieve receipts. The full version of Southwest's website does, but appears to have limitations in regards to past flights.

Are you able to locate and still have access to the original confirmation email that gets sent to you at the time of booking that reads "You're going to (City) on (Flight Date/Confirmation #)"?

The transaction details with the detailed line-item breakdown of the government taxes and airport fees should all be itemized there together with the transaction date, flight date(s) and the payment(s) used. This should comply as a standard financial receipt for a business expense report line item.

Upon trying to reproduce what you're looking for by logging into Southwest's website, this confirmation email appears that it can be resent to the email used for the original booking for upcoming flights. The subject of the resent email is the same: "You're going to...". Note that I used the full version of Southwest's website. 

However, this does not appear to be the case for a past flight. Upon trying retrieve the same receipt details for a past flight via the website, I get a summary of the flight when I select "View receipt" that shows the totals and abbreviated summary of the line items, but no documentation of the transaction date nor form of payment used. Expense report receipts should include these.

If you no longer have access to this confirmation email, it appears that a Southwest CSA will need to resend this. However, for business travel on Southwest going forward, I would save and safely file this confirmation email so you can properly expense it at the end of the month. I agree and also suggest that you make a formal suggestion to Southwest that this feature be available on their website for past flights and advise them that such line item details are standard for business expense reporting.