Southwest Ticketless Travel Funds?

[Bowen9475]

I have about $75 in Ticketless Travel Funds I plan to use for a trip in October. These funds expire in January '06. If I book tickets for the October trip then the prices goes down and I rebook, earning new travel funds, when will these new funds expire? I believe I have read that these new funds would also expire in January, but it seems to me that any credit you have should be used first and then new payments applied, making the new credit good for a year from when I book the October trip. How would it work? Thanks!

 

[goldcupmom]

I just had a similar situation and unfortunately, it is the worst.

My original funds expired in Nov. 05. I used them for tickets for June flight to FL for DH and DS. A week later, the fares went down by $80/ticket and I rebooked. Even though I only used $40+ dollars in ticketless funds toward the original tickets for June, the ENTIRE $180 now expires in November.

I wasn't too happy as the new reduced fare obviously used all of the original $40 I applied.

 

[NHAnn]

huh? Sorry...my brain's not working today...maybe too much sugar

OK....last July 29 (04) I booked airfare for a January 2005 trip. In December I made a change and got a $70 Ticketless Travel credit with an expiration of July 29, 2005. (Now, to tell the truth, I'd have PAID $70 for the change, it was to make our outgoing trip non-stop instead of a change at BWI )

So I've got these funds that expire 7/29/05. I am now planning a trip for December 05. I was assuming that I could use these funds if I can do my booking by July 29. Is that correct? Or does my TRAVEL have to be within a year of the booking date?
TIA

 

[Chess]

Travel is supposed to be done by the date of expiration not booked by date of expiration.. If you call Southwest cutomer service # not the 1-800 number they will sometimes extend the date by sending you a travel voucher or by crediting it back to your credit card after you travel. I'm trying the second option. I have/had $160 in ticketless travel funds that are to expire on May 4, 2005. We are not traveling until May 20, 2005 so I called customer service. I was told with the vouchers that I would not have time or be able to get the internet price for the flight I wanted and also that I would need to go to the airport to pay for the ticket with the voucher. I was told to make new reservation and call after I made reservation or travelled. I called after I made the reservation and I believe she was going to credit my credit card but because I used different credit cards it can not be done until after the flights at the end of May. She said she put this on my reservation and to call after travel and it will be credited back so I will know at the end of May whether this is the case. The second rep. was able to look at the notes from the first person I spoke to so hopefully everything will go as planned. BTW I did try to book my May 20 flight with the funds expiring May 4 but it would not go through.

 

[disneyldwjr]

huh? Sorry...my brain's not working today...maybe too much sugar

OK....last July 29 (04) I booked airfare for a January 2005 trip. In December I made a change and got a $70 Ticketless Travel credit with an expiration of July 29, 2005. (Now, to tell the truth, I'd have PAID $70 for the change, it was to make our outgoing trip non-stop instead of a change at BWI )

So I've got these funds that expire 7/29/05. I am now planning a trip for December 05. I was assuming that I could use these funds if I can do my booking by July 29. Is that correct? Or does my TRAVEL have to be within a year of the booking date?
TIA

Sorry, but your ticketless credit has to be completed by July 29,05.

 

[NHAnn]

Thanks for the info!
Bummer...but as I said, I think I would have PAID $70 more for the change....it was a $10 credit on each of 7 seats (including seats for grandkids 3 yrs old and 18 months) that we got by switching from connecting to non-stop....so it was well worth it under the circumstances!

Does give me an excuse for some kind of little getaway before the end of July now, doesn't it??

 

[crazywig]

i have called after my travel and successfully gotten my tt funds credited back to my credit card. call the refund department number.

 

[CarolA]

When I have changed tickets booked with Ticketless travel it normally tells me what is going on. SO I might have $100 on a ticket and if I cancel it it will say I have $50 that expire O1/10/06 and $50 that expire 10/10/05. YOu might just call them to ask?

 

[antmaril]

I have $453 in ticketless travel funds that expire on May 7, 2005. I just called SW Customer Relations and was given a six month extension to use the funds. They will send me a voucher (similar to a gift certificate) for future travel.

Just thought I would share. I am very relieved to know that my funds will not be wasted, since I don't want to travel between now and May 7th!!

 

[NHAnn]

antmaril ~ can your voucher be used as credit toward an on-line ticketless booking of their special rates?

 

[antmaril]

antmaril ~ can your voucher be used as credit toward an on-line ticketless booking of their special rates?

I hope so. The SW Rep said I had six months to use the voucher. Even if there are more restrictions on using the voucher, it sure beats losing the value of the ticketless funds.

 

[riu girl]

Does anyone know the SWA refund phone #?

Thanks
Suzy

 

[disneyldwjr]

The number is for customer relations and you can find it on the website under contact us.

 

[disneyldwjr]

antmaril ~ can your voucher be used as credit toward an on-line ticketless booking of their special rates?

Vouchers can be used for any flights at any rate.

 

[antmaril]

Vouchers can be used for any flights at any rate.

Good news!

Thank you.

 

[JandD Mom]

I am fairly new to SWA but I love it! But I have a question about ticketless travel funds. What are they? Are they the funds you get if you can't use a nonrefundable ticket?

Can you use them if the price of your flight goes down? Here is the scenario. Say I have a 1 way flight to MCO from PHL. Then I look and there is a sale and I can get a great rate on the r/t ticket. Can you use the funds for this?

(Presently I have a 1 way non-refundable ticket on SW, and a 1 way REFUNDABLE for the return. That was all that was available for the times I wanted. So I can cancel the refundable if the rates come down. Thanks!

 

[disneyldwjr]

I am fairly new to SWA but I love it! But I have a question about ticketless travel funds. What are they? Are they the funds you get if you can't use a nonrefundable ticket?

Can you use them if the price of your flight goes down? Here is the scenario. Say I have a 1 way flight to MCO from PHL. Then I look and there is a sale and I can get a great rate on the r/t ticket. Can you use the funds for this?

(Presently I have a 1 way non-refundable ticket on SW, and a 1 way REFUNDABLE for the return. That was all that was available for the times I wanted. So I can cancel the refundable if the rates come down. Thanks!

Ticketless travel funds are for cancelled flights on non refundable fares.
If the price of your flight goes down, why would you want to use them? They will be issued to you in case of a fare reduction. With your scenario, yes, you can use them for that. You would have to cancel the one way and rebook for the r/t.

 

[dcandmc]

You would have to cancel the one way and rebook for the r/t.

Not true. Southwest doesn't do "roundtrip" ticketing. If you are going there and back on Southwest, you are buying two separate tickets that are individually priced. JandD Mom, if you already have the first leg purchased with Southwest, just pick the return flight that you want based on day/time/price. If the price of your already-purchased nonrefundable outbound Southwest flight goes down, you can get a ticketless travel credit for the difference, and then apply that to the cost of a return flight on Southwest. Just make sure that you have the credit in the bank before purchasing the return flight. When purchasing the return flight, choose the option that lets you use ticketless travel funds. This can all be done online.

 

[disneyldwjr]

Not true. Southwest doesn't do "roundtrip" ticketing. If you are going there and back on Southwest, you are buying two separate tickets that are individually priced. JandD Mom, if you already have the first leg purchased with Southwest, just pick the return flight that you want based on day/time/price. If the price of your already-purchased nonrefundable outbound Southwest flight goes down, you can get a ticketless travel credit for the difference, and then apply that to the cost of a return flight on Southwest. Just make sure that you have the credit in the bank before purchasing the return flight. When purchasing the return flight, choose the option that lets you use ticketless travel funds. This can all be done online.

Silly me, I figured since they had the option of "depart city/round trip" that they indeed offered that option. All airlines have the same option of booking each flight separately. The cost, however, on SWA is the same for one way or r/t, but, a one way will flag you for extra security.

 

[dcandmc]

Silly me, I figured since they had the option of "depart city/round trip" that they indeed offered that option. All airlines have the same option of booking each flight separately. The cost, however, on SWA is the same for one way or r/t, but, a one way will flag you for extra security.

Allow me to clarify. Southwest doesn't offer "roundtrip" ticketing as the legacy carriers do, and as I think many (if not most) people understand the concept. With legacy carriers, buying a rountrip fare is almost always cheaper than buying the tickets on the same flights as individual segments. This is not the case with Southwest. The "depart city/round trip" selection option on Southwest's web site is a convenience feature that simply calls up the available outgoing and return flights from the two selected locations, and then allows booking those flights under the same confirmation number. The same total fare could be had by booking as two distinct one-way trips under separate confirmation numbers.

My main point of contention with your post was your statement that JandD Mom would have to "cancel the one way and rebook for the r/t." This is simply not true. And being ticketed one-way may flag you for extra security (the dreaded SSSSSS), it is not a given.