Southwest Airlines Community

First of all thank you for your service and continued willingness to serve! You may want to check Southwest Careers for any open positions. I don't believe they are hiring at the moment, but I am sure things will pick up soon. Here's a link:   https://careers.southwestair.com/   --Jessica ... View more

I've noticed the first week in May is higher too (coming from PHL). I am sure they are adjusting their schedule all the time based on when they think 'normal' business may return.   --Jessica ... View more

Wow! ... View more

Please refer to the latest information Southwest provides: You can cancel your flight any time between now and May 31 and your travel funds will be good until June 30, 2021. Plenty of time to reschedule a trip.   More: https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/Blog/Policy-Update-amp-Clarification-Extending-Travel-Credit/ba-p/103844   Thanks,   Jessica ... View more

My pure guess is that it's some sort of temporary / manual change for the affected travel funds for now. But, maybe in light of this situation they can work on the travel fund system and provide easier options systematically for extensions in the future.   --Jessica ... View more

Hello,   Travel funds can be used within 1 year of date of the purchase of a flight. Southwest charges no fees to change or cancel your flight, which is why you have travel funds to use in the first place. No other airline does this because they charge as much as $200 to change or cancel flights.    In addition, if you apply a travel fund from a previous reservation to a new reservation, the new reservation will take on the expiration date of the travel fund. This is current policy and has not changed, as well.   If Southwest decides to extend travel fund expiration past 1 year, we will hear of it when they make an announcement.   Let us know what other questions you have.  ... View more

It's safe to travel now, airports are open and planes are infinitely safer than cars. Good luck with your future travels 🙂    --Jessica ... View more

Hold off, especially if you just booked your flight. If it gets closer to that time and there are any flight restrictions or cancellations, Southwest may cancel your flight which would in turn give you a refund. In addition, if you decide to cancel yourself, the money you spent on your flight can be used towards future travel for a year, so if you booked last month you would have until February 2021 to book a flight with those funds.   --Jessica ... View more

Hello,   When did you book your flight? If you need to cancel, travel funds are good for one year since the day you booked your flight, so you may still have many months left to use them.   --Jessica ... View more

"They need to honor what they promised."   What is Southwest not honoring? No other airline offers travel funds like Southwest does, and no other airline lets you change your cancel your flight *completely for free* like Southwest does. Southwest has been ahead of the game for years and the other airlines are only following what Southwest already does thanks to this weeks-old pandemic.    Regarding travel funds use, they are good for one year from the date of ticket purchase (not when you fly). If your travel funds expire this month, this means you originally made your flight purchase in March of 2019. You have had a year to fly. That is their policy, it has not changed, so I fail to see what they are not honoring. They are doing exactly as promised. If Southwest decides to be even more flexible with their travel fund policies, an announcement will be made.   --Jessica ... View more

@megan86a wrote: I called in due to having to cancel my flights out of the country. I had SW credit that needed to be used by 3/30/2020. We booked this Spring Break vacation with our kids using the Travel Funds. The credit did not cover the entire flight cost, so we paid additional dollars to complete our reservation. Today I called in & asked about what would happen with my travel funds if i canceled. I was told that there was NOTHING that could be done except to call in the day after my travel funds originally expired & then they would extend the expiration date MINUS $200 (extension fee) for 6 months. If I don't remember to call in after credit has expired, then I lose it all. Our resort has refunded us our entire amount for our trip already, why can't Southwest work with us on these Travel Funds ???? I am extremely upset and disappointed! I was not asking for a refund for any of it ! We are going to rebook for this summer!!! I just wanted ALL of my travel funds to be extended without penalty since this is beyond our control! I mean this is a pandemic!    Hello,   Assuming your travel funds expired on 3/30/20, this means you purchased your flight on 3/20/19. You had up to a year to either go on your current flight or cancel and use the funds on a different flight prior to 3/30/20, which is standard policy for Southwest (no other airline does this, for the record). Currently there are no extensions to travel funds for more than 1 year, although you can pay $100 to extend your travel funds expiration, as you have found. Again, no other airline is as flexible as Southwest already is, and they don't charge fees to change or cancel your flight as well. Other airlines are now waiving their own fees to change/cancel, but Southwest doesn't have to do this because they don't charge fees.    If Southwest makes any changes to their travel funds policies, it will be announced on the web site. Thanks,   --Jessica ... View more

@chrishamilton23 wrote: I called to cancel my flights expecting Southwest to fully refund our purchase price.  I was shocked to find out all they would do was issue a credit for future flights.  We have nearly $1,000 that is now sitting on Southwest's books that we can not use to purchase groceries, pay our mortgage, etc... Southwest prides itself on being loyal to its customers and treating them well.  This is making me rethink my loyalty to this airline.  Most if not all domestic carriers have waved change fees and are fully refunding cancelled travel due to this pandemic. I expected Southwest to be the leader in this area and fully refund its customer's cancelled travel. Boy was I wrong!!!!  No, this is incorrect. No airline is offering refunds on non-refundable fares. All they are doing right now is waiving the fees to cancel flights - which Southwest already does. Other airlines are also issuing their own versions of travel vouchers to use towards a future flight - which again, Southwest already does. No one is issuing credit card refunds on non-refundable fares at this time.    Southwest's Wanna Get Away fares are always non-refundable. If you cancel your flight, what you paid for your flight is issued to you as a travel fund to use within 1 year from the date you purchased your flight. Other airlines charge up to $200 just to cancel your flight - Southwest does not charge any fee to cancel - so Southwest is by far the leader, and ahead of anyone else with their already-established practices.    --Jessica ... View more

@golfeddy1 wrote: Jessica,    I can appreciate you have an opinion to the situation and obviously spend a lot of time on this forum, but people really don't want to be corrected from your opinionated point of view right now.  They want solutions, everyone has their own perspective,  believe me this is my first time a forum.  I don't enjoy this type of communication and don't live through drama.  If I'm incorrect about other Airlines, I apologize but that doesn't solve the problem to the extent of my complaint.   I have given you solutions, which include explaining Southwest's policies on travel funds and no their no fees policy to change or cancel flights (which has always been the case since before the coronavirus). Let me know what other questions you have.   --Jessica ... View more

Great to hear that you were able to get your trip sorted out! Were you given a credit card refund, or are your funds available to use as travel funds? (That's typically what happens when you cancel a Wanna Get Away flight).   Thanks!   --Jessica ... View more

Hello,   Travel funds can be used up to one year from the date they are purchased (not the date you fly). If you apply a travel fund to a new reservation, and that reservation is cancelled, the travel funds for that reservation take on the earliest expiration date, which would be from the travel funds applied. This has always been Southwest's policy on using travel funds, which is very unique to the industry since no other airline has this practice. In addition, Southwest does not charge any fees to change flights (you can pretty much change a flight as many times as you want) or to cancel flights, which no other airline does - until now. Now airlines are waiving fees, but Southwest has never had to since they have never charged fees.   If Southwest makes any further changes to their travel fund policies, an announcement will be made. Let us know if you have any further questions about the current policy.  Thanks!   --Jessica ... View more

Hello,   No airline is currently offering refunds on non-refundable fares at this time. The Wanna Get Away fare is a non-refundable fare type. You can cancel the fare online instead of calling, for future reference. Once your flight is cancelled, the fare is available to use for up to one year from the date you purchased your ticket. Southwest also has never charged any fees to cancel a flight. All other airlines charge fees to cancel flights, and they have recently adopted Southwest's policies to not charge fees to cancel fights.    Hopefully this answers your questions.  Thanks!   --Jessica ... View more

@MonicaSW wrote: Jessica, its good to know that Southwest has a generous cancellation policy. But, this is an economic hardship situation for most of us. For people like us you have contract jobs, no job, no money! We are worried about our future. In this dire circumstances, do you think a travel fund would help?  We expect South West to empathize with his customers and not hide behind policy. Monica - believe me, I know all about contracts! I am a contractor and my current end date at my company is 3/31. I've been told since the start of the contract that it was always likely my contract would be extended (or even better, a permanent position!) but I have yet to receive an update, and I have 2 weeks left. I am trying not to worry too much about it and just let the dominos fall one way or another. Worse case scenario, I'll be unemployed for awhile. I should still be able to collect unemployment while I look for another job 🙂    Regarding Southwest, if they make any updates to any of their policies, I am sure that an announcement will be made.    --Jessica ... View more

@AnnaSF wrote: So I requested a refund and was sent an email stating that only the ticketed person can use the travel funds. I am a Rapid Rewards member and was always under the impression that if you canceled up to 24 hours prior to flying that you could get your full refund. All the TV ads lead us to believe this yet, I am reading that only he can use the travel funds. Heck, I understand the airlines losing big but, even if I don't get a refund then at least let me convert the paid ticket to Rapid Reward points so I can use at a later date as I am always flying Southwest. If you purchased a Wanna Get Away fare they are non-refundable. If you cancel, the funds are given to you as a travel credit which can be used with 1 year of date of booking (not date of travel). If you cancel your reservation 24 hours before you fly, you do not get a refund. You might be confused with the policy that you -can- get a full refund within 24 hours of initially booking your flight. It is not 24 hours before you fly.  Hopefully that is clear.  Also, only the ticketed passenger can use the travel funds if you cancel the flight.    —Jessica  ... View more

Excellent advice!   —Jessica ... View more

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble changing your flight. You may want to try reaching out to Southwest through their social media channels, Facebook and Twitter normally have fast response times. Understandably now, they may take longer to respond, but it is definitely worth a shot.   Thanks,   —Jessica   ... View more

Delta is also cutting flights by 40% - so - best of luck 😉    —Jessica  ... View more

I have to disagree that Southwest is not a leader in the face of a pandemic. They are leading the charge, because other airlines are adopting Southwest's policies that they have had in place for years, namely, no change fees when you change or cancel your flight. Every other airline in the industry charges fees to change or cancel your flight. Southwest never has. I am not sure what you want them to do - their policies are already very generous. 1 year from original purchase date to use your travel funds is plenty of time.    Also not sure what this means:   1) travel into one of the highest effective areas in the country with my family   Southwest flies to dozens and dozens of destinations. Not sure why you are limited to traveling to one of the "highest effective areas in the country." If flying into CA is still that concerning 6 months from now, maybe change your trip plans and fly to a different destination. Hawaii might be an option for you.    --Jessica ... View more

I've never heard of this error before! Please report back with the outcome. Southwest has a great social media presence so contacting them on Facebook or Twitter via Direct Message might be your best bet.   --Jessica ... View more

Personally, banning for life is a little bit harsh. But I do agree that this person should not have gone on an airplane -knowing- that he recently took a coronavirus test with pending results. Pretty sure the CDC / everyone says that if you think you might have the virus you should not even attempt to get on a plane.   --Jessica ... View more