Travel Fund

[candie122472]

I purchased 5 tickets for my family June 4.  They went on sale and we have a travel fund of $40 each but I was told they expire May 31, 2019.  

My questions

1.  I read they expire 1 year after purchase so why are mine a few days before

2.  Do we have to travel before May 31 or just book and pay for our tickets before May 31.  

3.  If your answer is travel before May 31 and since we will be paying for the bulk of the ticket out of pocket - can departutre be before May 31 and return be after that (sometime in June 2019 ?)

[bec102896]

Hello

did you use a voucher or other travel fund to book the tickets originally? If so the tickets would take the expiration date of the voucher or fund you applied to the reservation.

did you book originally on the 31st and make the change to the lower fare on the 4th of June if so that would be why your tickets expire on the 31st since that was your original ticketed date.

with the travel fund the passenger(s) listed on the reservation must complete travel by the expiration date so If you were to book for may of 2019 with a return in June I would book the tickets as one ways As southwest may not let you book as a RT since the funds would expire before the return would be complete (I'm not too sure on that exactly though) just important to know that each person will have their own credit and they are the only ones able to use it meaning you can't say I'll go somewhere for a weekend getaway let me use the credits from the other 4 people southwest won't let you even if you are the one who paid. 

hope this helps

Blake 

[candie122472]

I booked on the 4th and paid with a credit card.  Made the change yesterday 

[chgoflyer]

That's very odd.

For future reference: If you need to make a change within 24 hours of booking, it's always best to cancel and then rebook. That would have given you the option for a refund of the difference to your credit card, instead of travel funds (that expire and are locked into the name(s) of the original passengers.)

Your original confirmation email and rebooking email should both show an expiration date. Do they both say the 31st? When did you receive the first email?

If you're certain you booked on the 4th and not the 31st, you should reach out to Customer Relations and ask for clarification. My recommendation for the quickest reply is via Twitter direct message. 

[dfwskier]

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@candie122472 wrote:

I purchased 5 tickets for my family June 4.  They went on sale and we have a travel fund of $40 each but I was told they expire May 31, 2019.  

My questions

1.  I read they expire 1 year after purchase so why are mine a few days before

2.  Do we have to travel before May 31 or just book and pay for our tickets before May 31.  

3.  If your answer is travel before May 31 and since we will be paying for the bulk of the ticket out of pocket - can departutre be before May 31 and return be after that (sometime in June 2019 ?)

1) If you used travel funds as partial payment, then your expiration date defaults to the purchase date of the ticket that gave you the travel funds. Other than that the expiration date should be one year from the date you paid for your tickets

2) Yes, although I think you have until May 31 to complete your flight. Anything after that won't work/

3) No. Would  purchase of your outbound flight use the entirety of your travel funds? If so, your option would be to use your travel funds for  a one way  outbound ticket by May 31. Then you could buy a separate one way ticket for your return and return any time you want to.

[chgoflyer]

In addition to the previous responses: Keep in mind that the expiration actually happens as soon as it technically becomes the expiration date (midnight, when it turns from "the day before" to the "expiration date"), and that all travel must be completed by then.

Example:

Expiration date: Friday, January 15  = Funds expire at midnight on Thursday, January 14.

[dfwskier]

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@chgoflyer wrote:

In addition to the previous responses: Keep in mind that the expiration actually happens as soon as it technically becomes the expiration date (midnight, when it turns from "the day before" to the "expiration date"), and that all travel must be completed by then.

Example:

Expiration date: Friday, January 15  = Funds expire at midnight on Thursday, January 14.

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Thanks. I was uncertain about that.