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Refund or transfer of funds for 5 family member?. I paid for the tickets.

t0066jh
Explorer C

In November 2019, I bought 5 tickets for my daughter and 4 sons for flights in March 2020.  In March, when Phoenix, AZ shut down, we cancelled the flights because all activities for the kids were cancelled (baseball games, water park, etc) and asked for refund.  Not only were the tickets non refundable to me, the credits  were not transferable back to me. Really?  They can only be used for the 5 people I bought tickets for.  The kids don't travel much and I do.

Southwest is holding my funds and I can't use them.  Meanwhile, the have received $2.5 Billion Taxapayer funds in Stimulus money and qualify for millions in low interest loans.  To me this is BS.  Is there a consumer advocate anywhere that can help?

I resent being a Banker for Southwest's working capital.

 

 

1 REPLY 1

Re: Refund or transfer of funds for 5 family member?. I paid for the tickets.

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

As this is a customer to customer forum I suggest you remove your personal contact information.  You are correct that credit for non-refundable tickets is held in a travel fund associated with the individuals booked on the original reservation.  Southwest has extended the expiration dates of travel funds created at this time to expire September 2022 so you have plenty of time to use the funds.  Southwest has also announced the ability to convert travel funds to Rapid Rewards points which could be used to book tickets for other people, but this functionality is not yet available (stay tuned).

 

Any government funds Southwest and other airlines received was solely used to pay employees and prevented mass layoffs of airline employees. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat