Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Surrender Travel Fund value

Mryflyguy
Explorer B

I need to cancel reservations due to a death in the family. Rather than accept the travel funds, I need to surrender the value so I can claim the ticket expense under my credit card’s Travel Insurance policy reimbursement. I could just be a no-show nut this runs afoul of my trip cancellation insurance policy (must be claimed prior to departure). 

I submitted several queries to SWA  ut have not received a single response. How does one surrender Travel Fund value? 

18 REPLIES 18

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

SWDigits
Aviator A
Solution

I am sorry to read about the death in your family.

 

Have you tried contacting them on Twitter?  That seems to get the fastest response times, their Twitter handle is listed in the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of forum pages.


Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

Mryflyguy
Explorer B

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't do social media. 

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

SWDigits
Aviator A

Contact the Customer Relations team by phone, they are not the same as the normal customer service line, their phone number is in this Knowledge Base article:

 

https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Submitting-a-Suggestion-and-or-Complaint/ta-...


Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@Mryflyguy wrote:

I need to cancel reservations due to a death in the family. Rather than accept the travel funds, I need to surrender the value so I can claim the ticket expense under my credit card’s Travel Insurance policy reimbursement. I could just be a no-show nut this runs afoul of my trip cancellation insurance policy (must be claimed prior to departure). 

I submitted several queries to SWA  ut have not received a single response. How does one surrender Travel Fund value? 


Did you end up resolving this @Mryflyguy ? I hadn't seen this particular issue come up o the forum before and it would be helpful to know what you did to surrender the travel fund.

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

Mryflyguy
Explorer B

I have still not heard back from them. I know they’re busy but I suspect they are ignoring me. 

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

dfwskier
Aviator A

I suspect the only way to surrender the value of your ticket would be to no show.

 

Your money is a liability on the airlines balance sheet, and I suspect that accounting rules do not allow the airline to simply "extinguish" a liability.

 

IMO, take the travel fund and move on.

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

Mryflyguy
Explorer B
Solution

dfwskier -Re: “I suspect the only way to surrender the value of your ticket would be to no show”... I hope you learn something today. 

After my last post, I received a message from customer service with a case number and telephone number to call. I spoke with a representative, explained there was a death in the family and he provided an email address to submit my supporting documentation. I submitted a copy the the ticket receipt, the bank statement showing my purchase, the SWA cancellation notification and a link to my mother-in-law’s obituary at the funeral home. I did not hear anything for a couple of weeks so I called again, spoke with someone else and was told the refund had been approved and it’s waiting to be processed. Today, almost 2 additional weeks later, the credits appeared on my bank account.

 

So the short answer to this question is, yes. If you are persistent, it is possible to surrender your travel funds and obtain a refund if you experience extenuating circumstances (as defined by SWA). 

Hope this helps, when we start flying again. 

 

 

 

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

dfwskier
Aviator A

Please explain how you "surrendered the value of your ticket"

 

 

Re: Surrender Travel Fund value

Mryflyguy
Explorer B

Read. the posts above.

 

When I cancelled my ticket, I was awarded Travel Funds for the purchase price.

By surrendering my Travel Funds, the purchase price was reimbursed to my credit. card.

I can either take a check from my bank or use. the credit to pay current charges.

Either way, Southwest has reimbursed me for the original ticket purchase, due to extenuating circumstances. Circuitous, but the money is back in your pocket.