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Unused travel funds

Blosier
Explorer C

I booked a flight in August 2017 and southwest cancelled the flight. Not me. I was told that I could use the funds for a flight in the future and I tried to use it in October 2018. I wasn't able to because I was told it only lasted a year. I was never told this or I would have immediately picked the refund. Why is it only available for 1 year? Where does the money go? 

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Unused travel funds

dfwskier
Aviator A

Sorry to hear that you lost out on use of your travel funds.

 

Why is there a one year limit? I suppose it's because no airline wants to have a liability that can grow unconstrained over time - not knowing when ue would negatively impact the profitability of the airline. It is a liability to the airline because cash was received in the past and the airline receives no cash for flying people that use travel funds.

 

Note that every airline does the same thing that Southwest does from the standpoint of having a deadline for use of travel funds. The difference is that Southwest lets you use all of your travel funds, while other airlines charge you hundreds of dollars to use their's

 

Re: Unused travel funds

chgoflyer
Aviator A
Solution

@Blosier wrote:

I booked a flight in August 2017 and southwest cancelled the flight. Not me. I was told that I could use the funds for a flight in the future and I tried to use it in October 2018. I wasn't able to because I was told it only lasted a year. I was never told this or I would have immediately picked the refund. Why is it only available for 1 year? Where does the money go? 


 

If Southwest cancelled the flight then instead of Travel Funds you were due a full refund back to the original form of purchase. (With the exception that any Gift Card funds are converted into Travel Funds).

 

Do you have any record of the cancellation? Screenshots or emails from Southwest? If so, reach out to Customer Relations, provide that proof and ask if they can now issue the refund. It's possible that it's too late now, but they may be able to do so.

 

If not, they may be able to reissue your expired funds as a Voucher, usable by anyone. But the fee for this is $100, so explore the refund request first.

 

When a flight is cancelled, the funds are initially held as Travel Funds under the confirmation number, valid for one year from the original date of purchase, and locked in use by only the original passenger(s). But if Southwest cancelled the flight, the customer can request a full refund per the Contract of Carriage. In these situations, I recommend always requesting the refund (assuming you're not reaccommodated on another flight).

 

Hope this helps!