Southwest Airlines Community

Unfortunately, the programming is a bit confusing.   You must first log in to the Southwest website.   Then, under Rapid Rewards, click on More Rewards. Near the upper right hand corner, under Travel click on Rental Cars. That will load a page with many rental car company gift card options, but the very first link should be Book Travel Now.  Select that, then choose Car from the top menu. ... View more

You cannot book a rental car using points on the Southwest website. You must use the More Rewards function.   You must be logged in to the Southwest website for either the steps I posted earlier or the link franktravel posted to work.   Log in to the Southwest website, and under Rapid Rewards, click on More Rewards. Near the upper right hand corner, under Travel click on Rental Cars. That will load a page with many rental car company gift card options, but the very first link should be Book Travel Now.  Select that, then choose Car from the top menu. ... View more

You can check in online or through the mobile app beginning 24 hours prior to departure.   EarlyBird Check-In is an additional fee product that automatically checks you in beginning 36 hours prior to departure. (Then you go online beginning 24 hours prior to departure to print your boarding pass, or at the airport.) The fee is $15 per person, each way. You can add EarlyBird Check-In here. ... View more

The 15,000 cap applies to A-List qualifying points, not Companion Pass.   All points earned from the RR credit card, including bonus points, are CP qualifying. ... View more

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing.   "Bonus" Rapid Rewards points from anything except the credit card do not count.   Can you clarify what you mean by, "Bonus Plus"? ... View more

Wanna Get Away tickets are non-refundable and non-transferrable. ... View more

To be clear, the wifi inside the plane isn't the issue. It's the satellite connection to the internet. Seat position has nothing to do with it.   Southwest's streaming live TV service generally works very well. I suppose there is a bandwidth limit that could be a factor if, say, an entire plane full of passengers was all accessing it at the same time. But I've found that, unless the whole system is down, which happens occasionally, the entertainment system is robust.   For the internet connection, satellite has some inherent issues with latency due to the distance the signal has to travel. And bandwidth is absolutely an issue here. Which is why Southwest's provider blocks streaming video and other high-bandwidth applications. But that said, I've found the internet connection to be generally unusable for even the simplest tasks.   There are reports that Southwest is beefing up it's internet service in the next year or so. Fingers crossed that this helps. ... View more

You mention two completely different things.   1) Southwest doesn't extend the expiration dates of travel funds. Ever. Reissue as a voucher (with the associated fee) is your only real option, short of using the funds before they expire (since you now travel frequently).   2) If you feel the compensation you received for the February incident is inadequate, you should contact Customer Relations.   Good luck. ... View more

Refunds from refundable tickets are credited back to the original form of purchase.   Exception: If you used a Southwest Gift Card you'll receive travel funds, linked to the original passenger, good for one year from the original date of purchase. (Summary: Never use a gift card to purchase refundable tickets.)   Note: A major recent policy change can affect refundability.   Limitations within the new "next generation reservation system" have apparently forced a significant policy change on "refundable" fares (Business Select, Anytime, Senior, etc.).     More info here. (Choose "Next Generation Reservation System" from the "Select Topic" menu on the left.)   Going forward, you should never change/modify a refundable fare. Always cancel and then rebook that fare. Otherwise you'll lose the refundability.   This means that you'll have funds tied up with Southwest (until the refund is issued), and you'll lose any EarlyBird Check-In fees you've paid should you need to cancel/rebook.   Most importantly, this is completely counter intuitive to how we've always managed reservations with Southwest. I suspect this new policy will trip up many. Beware.   ... View more

Assuming you bought a non-refundable ticket (Wanna Get Away) then you answered your own question: As I understand it, travel funds may only be used for booking travel for original traveler and they man NOT be transferred.  😉   In order to get a refund back to a credit card, you'd need to have bought a refundable ticket. ... View more

No, vouchers are only good for airfare -- not even taxes or fees.   I'm not sure what you mean by "Priority Check In." Southwest offers either EarlyBird Check-In or Priority Boarding, and the extra fees for both require a credit card only, since these are profit generators for the carrier.     ... View more

First, add your KTN to your Southwest profile. This should allow it to automatically populate whenever you make a new reservation.   Then, add it manually if necessary to each existing reservation.   More info here.   ... View more

I've tried many, many times and have never been able to do anything except perhaps check email (on a good day). I've had my $8 fee refunded so many times that I've just given up even trying anymore. I'm always surprised when someone reports that the wifi was working well. At best, I think it's a case of "your mileage may vary." 🙂 ... View more

If you've purchased a Military Fare, it's fully refundable. But since these fares are often much more expensive than non-refundable Wanna Get Away fares, I suspect that's not the case.   You could try contacting Customer Relations to see if they'll make an exception for you, but I suspect they'll just repeat the usual fare rules for non-refundable tickets.   Good luck!     ... View more

Phone reps used to be able to look up travel funds using the crredit card used to for the original booking, but this new notification seems to indicate that this is no longer the case:         I think it's probably a good idea to keep a manual record of all confirmation numbers going forward. ... View more

You don't need a membership card as long as you know your account number. I could be wrong, but I don't think Southwest supplies cards anymore, except to A-List and Companion Pass members. ... View more

Chase used to send drink coupons to cardholders once a year around their anniversary date, but they stopped that for 2107. If you think you've completed 10 paid one-way trips and haven't received any coupons, contact Customer Relations. ... View more

It's most likely a result of Southwest's antiquated booking systems. They are currently converting to a new "next generation reservation system," so hopefully suggestions like this one might be some of the touted benefits to come.     ... View more

If you cancel a flight, you'll have one year from the original date of purchase in which to complete travel.   An exception is if you've applied any Travel Funds or Vouchers to the booking. If so, the expiration will be the earliest expiration date of any funds or vouchers applied. ... View more

As a general rule, on Southwest it's always better to book one-way flights. This is another example why.  😉 ... View more

Travel Funds from a cancelled or re-fared flight can only be used towards future airfare, to be completed within one year of the original purchase date, by the originally named passenger. ... View more

Perhaps I've been lucky, but I've always received the EBCI confitmation/receipt message quickly -- usually before the confirmation for the actual flight. I usually add EBCI when I do the initial booking, fyi. ... View more

You might want to give it a try, but franktravel's advice is most likely a waste of time, unfortunately. Non-refundable tickets are non-refundable. You'll probably just receive a form reply stating that. Southwest is very "by-the-book" these days.   You do have one option to recover some of the fare, if it's greater than $100. After the funds expire, call Customer Relations and request they be reissued as a Voucher. You have 6 months from funds expiration in which to do this, and the voucher will be valid for 6 months from the date of issue. The fee for this is $100, but the voucher can be used by anyone (for airfare only, no taxes of fees). These requests are granted on a case-by-case basis, and this non-published policy is subject to change at any time, including the amount of the fee. Good luck! ... View more

FYI: Infant Fares are a discount off of the refundable Anytime fare, and as such are usually much more expensive than the online Wanna Get Away fare. ... View more

It never changed, it's never been available. You must have had two different confirmation numbers, or perhaps are misremembering. ... View more

Was it just you on the itinerary? If so, it's likely just another glitch.   If there was more than one person on the itinerary, it could be because Southwest doesn't offer mobile boarding passes on multiple-passenger itineraries. No idea why that should affect your notification preferences however. ... View more

Lindsey: Be aware that, since this has taken so long, the affected flights for which I sent the detailed information via private message have now been traveled, and are no longer viewable as Upcoming Flights in my account. ... View more