Southwest Airlines Community

Yes. This is the policy. Regardless of whether or not you purchased EBCI, groups wishing to board together are expected to board at the highest (worst) boarding position. An exception is for families with children age 6 and under, who may board during Family Boarding (after A and before B).   One solution would be to buy EBCI for both you and your son.     ... View more

Assuming you have a Southwest Visa Card by Chase:   Go to the Southwest website and log in.   In the upper right hand corner, click on Rapid Rewards, then, in the pop-up box, under Program, click on More Rewards. This will take you to the More Rewards website (operated by at 3rd party).   In the upper right hand corner, click on Travel and scroll down to Rental Cars or Hotels & Resorts. Select the desired option.     In either case, on the new screen you then click on Book Travel Now.     From the next page, select the appropriate option (either Hotel or Car) from the black bar at the top.     This will open the hotel or rental car search engine, which will allow you to search for options using your Rapid Rewards points.     ... View more

Unfortunately, many issues are being put on the back burner while Southwest completes the conversion to the new "next generation reservation system," and the associated issues that has created. Also, keep in mind that Southwest was one of the last carriers to adopt mobile boarding passes in the first place, so it's unlikely the bugs will be completely worked out and/or full functionality implemented anytime soon. 😞 ... View more

Understood.   Unfortunately, this is one of many issues that have been put on the back burner because of -- or worse yet, caused by -- the conversion to the new "next generation reservation system."   On a brighter note, multiple-passenger points bookings on the new system now generate only a single PRN (vs one per passenger, previously), which would suggest that the issue should be easy to resolve post-conversion.   Fingers crossed. 😉     ... View more

To check more, just re-load the page and enter more numbers.   Unfortunately, Southwest, unlike some other carriers, doesn't keep a "bank" of your travel funds easily viewable in your account. They require the passenger to keep track of their confirmation numbers / travel credits / expiration dates manually. People have long requested a "travel bank" feature, but there's no indication that will ever be added, so I suggest using a spreadsheet or writing them down. ... View more

Can you clarify what you mean? On the Southwest website, Points can only be used for booking airfare. You can't pay for rental cars using points, unless you're going through the "More Rewards" portal (only available to Southwest Visa cardholders.) ... View more

Yes, as long as all the new travel booked is completed by the expiration of the funds. ... View more

Chase posts the points on your monthly account closing date (generally a few days before your monthly statement is issued), then it generally take a few days (sometimes longer)  for them to show up in your Southwest account.   Sounds like Chase is saying they'll post to your Chase account on May 25 statement, so they should be in your Southwest account a few days after that. ... View more

Just checking back in to see if an answer will ever be coming? (It's been over a month now.) 😞 ... View more

Twitter is a great resource, and seems to be where Southwest is putting all their marbles for customer service these days. Facebook, not so much. Response times on FB are way way longer than 15 minutes. Often posts go several days without a reply. Some are never addressed. Direct messages can take hours for a reply. ... View more

Sadly, the days of Southwest having consistently lower fares are long gone. Southwest's lowest fares can still be a good deal, but once those 6-8 seats are sold and the prices start increasing, often they're not competitive with other carriers, even adding in bag fees. These days, it pays to always check against other options.  ... View more

Unfortunately, very long hold times are the norm these days. 😞 ... View more

Under the Payment section, there's an area where you apply vouchers or travel funds. ... View more

You can cancel within 24 hours of booking and receive a complete refund. Then rebook and apply the vouchers to the new reservations. ... View more

I literally began my comment with the phrase "with all due respect." 😉   I have to laugh. If you read some of my other posts here, it will become clear that I'm not at all "protective for Southwest." While they're a great carrier, they do some things very wrong, and increasingly have implemented more and more customer-unfriendly policies that I've called out frequently.   That said, the Companion Pass is one of the things they do absolutely right.   There's no other carrier that offers a benefit anything like it. And, as I said, I do think it's pretty clear how it's supposed to work. It's hard to imagine that someone wouldn't understand what a "Companion Pass" means.   I'm sorry that you didn't fully understand it before using it, and that you learned an expensive lesson. To avoid issues like this in the future, I'd suggest carefully reading the terms and conditions of any financial transaction ahead of time. ... View more

Odd that they would use that term, as tenured does have a specific meaning, as it relates to permanence.     Can you tell us what exactly the correspondence you received said? Or provide a scan?     ... View more

Setup Rapid Rewards accounts for each family member and add their numbers as well, and they'll each earn points. Later, the RR points can be used to book fligths for anyone. ... View more

With all due respect... it's called a Companion Pass. It allows a companion to fly with you for free, as your companion. What would ever make you think that the companion could fly for free alone?   Even without getting into the complete terms and conditions, it's pretty clearly stated on the website how it works.           ... View more

Understanding the rules of the Companion Pass could have saved you an expensive lesson. It's pretty obvious that the companion cannot fly without the member who earned the pass. ... View more

I believe that's just marketing language. There is currently no status above A-List Preferred.  ... View more

If it's under 24 hours since you booked, just cancel the flight for a refund and rebook with the correct name. ... View more

When you cancel, you'll be able to choose to have those refunded to your credit card, or held for future use. ... View more

They are generic -- no personalization, can be used by anyone.   Be aware though -- Southwest's system limits the number of forms of payment that can be used on a single booking to three. So someone wanting to use, say, 4 or 5 $25 gift cards for one flight won't be able to. And there's no way to combine separate cards, or add more value to one. Also, once they are used, if you cancel that flight, the refund won't be back to the gift card -- it will be in travel funds, locked to the name of the original passenger and valid for one year from the booking date. ... View more

No.   Travel funds aren't a gift card.   You bought a ticket, which was non-refundable, and is subject to the terms and conditions you agree to when you make the purchase. You've agreed to take a specific flight on a specific day and time. Your money is no longer yours once you make that transaction.   Southwest, unlike most carriers, lets you use the value of the funds you paid should you need to reschedule, without adding on a change fee. This is a courtesy, and is subject to restrictions (same passenger, one year expiration).   Not only would you not win a class action, no lawyer would even take such a case, as the terms and conditions are spelled out very clearly.   Going forward, if you need refundability, you should purchase a refundable ticket.           ... View more

There's been no policy change, you should have one year from the original purchase date. If you're sure you didn't apply and travel funds to the original booking, then your best bet to get this sorted out is to call Customer Relations at 1-855-234-4654. Good luck! ... View more

Actually, to cancel a reservation all someone really needs is the confirmation number and the name on the ticket. No credit card number is needed.     This may be related to the duplicate confirmation number issue Southwest is currently having as a result of the conversion to the new "next generation reservation system." Someone with a duplicate confirmation number may have cancelled your flight by mistake.   Your best bet to get this sorted out is to call Customer Relations at 1-855-234-4654 (not the regular number).   Good luck -- and please come back and let us know how this is resolved.     ... View more

Business Select tickets are fully refundable. You'll want to cancel that existing ticket and request a refund, and then rebook in the new passenger's name. Do not just change the name on the ticket. If you do, you'll lose the ability to get a refund if you need to do so in the future, due to a recent policy change. ... View more

You'll just need the confirmation number of the Southwest flight to check in online. ... View more

When you cancel, your funds will be held under the confirmation number of the cancelled flight. You can then use those funds towards another flight to any destination, but only for the original passenger. All travel must be completed (not just booked) within one year of the original purchase date (not travel date).   If the funds are more than the new flight cost, you'll still have some left over under that confirmation number. If they're less than the new flight cost you'll need to pay the difference.   When you apply those funds to a new flight, be aware that the new itinerary will take on the expiration date of the funds, including any new money if you have pay the difference. If you need to cancel the new flight you won't have a full year anymore, just until the expiration date of the travel funds. ... View more