Any luck for me with SW Luv Vouchers?

[moesy4]

I posted on here about booking flights that were the perfect time at the perfect price for our trip to Disney in May. We had 2 LUV vouchers, enough points for 1 ticket, and was going to pay cash for the third. We rarely fly and haven't flown SW in years. I figured out that I had to book separate reservations because I couldn't combine the points with the LUV vouchers (and I didn't realize I didn't have enough points to do two tickets until after the fact, hence why I had three different reservations). I called and asked and she said she couldn't combine them under one reservation when they were in different payment types, but just to book how I needed to get the tickets. So that's what I did.
We ended up having to push the trip back to October because my husband got a fantastic job offer. We cancelled our flights, but since the LUV vouchers expire in middle of May I was going to use them for a trip to New York to visit a friend as originally planned.
Here is where the trouble is...I didn't realize the funds wouldn't go to their original form of payment (beyond the cash, I knew that would just go into travel funds and not back in my cards). I assumed the vouchers would go back on their vouchers since I knew the expiration stayed the same and the points would go back to my account. Now, the vouchers are stuck in my husband and son's name, and neither of them could travel before May!
I called SW last night and the lady was really nice...she said the department that could help was closed until Monday, but she put the flight on hold for me for a week, gave me the number to call, and she said when they fixed it to call back and pay for the flight at its current price.
Do you think I will have luck or is it just a gamble? I wasn't told when I originally called that it mattered who was paid for with what and I wanted to combine the reservations but couldn't...but in the end I guess it's still my fault for not researching more. I know I'll find out on Monday, but I'm really anxious in the meantime. I had an AWFUL experience with United on the phone in August when we got screwed out of the free baggage we were supposed to get with our credit card and so I'm just anxious having to call again.

 

[Disneytam]

Anytime I have talked to Southwest agents they have been wonderful, pleasant and easy to work with. Just last month I saw that the return flight for our trip had dropped by a nice amount so I went in and changed it for both myself and my husband. I've done it countless times over the years with no problems but this time mine went through ok but my husbands seemed to go through alright but then when I looked up our upcoming flights his had disappeared! Panic overload but I called Southwest and they went into the system, found him and added him back on. Still have no idea what happened but the agent I worked with was very calm and fixed everything with a sense of humor and got me calmed down quickly. So I don't know if they can fix your problem but I do know they will treat you politely and will try their best. Good luck!

 

[moesy4]

Thank you, that makes me feel a lot better! Our experience with United, both before and during our flight, was absolutely awful. We've had a good experience with SW in the past, but are certainly not frequent flyers!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

SWA will not be able to change the ticket. The ticket agreement you agreed to when you clicked the purchase button was that it was a non transferable ticket. So there is no way around it to get it refunded to use on a different person.

ALso remember if you used the Luv voucher and money to purchase a ticket. The money applied to the same flight that you used the voucher on also now expires in May. For example if the flight was $100 and the luv voucher was $25 and you had to pay $75 for this ticket, the $75 will now expire in May 2016.

 

[moesy4]

I am not wanting to reuse the ticket, just the voucher that the ticket was booked with. I would've been happy to book all under one reservation but Southwest's system doesn't allow that was what they told me on the phone, but they specifically said it didn't matter how I booked since we could all board together with family boarding. Hopefully they will have grace on us. That really stinks because the voucher was spread across 3 people, of course none of them me. If we lose that cash that was connected to the vouchers, the trip may be out completely. Hopefully Southwest will be able to help us, this was our big adoption trip for our foster son and we are on a tight budget so every dollar counts, which is why we booked the flight to begin with.

 

[keishashadow]

I am not wanting to reuse the ticket, just the voucher that the ticket was booked with. I would've been happy to book all under one reservation but Southwest's system doesn't allow that was what they told me on the phone, but they specifically said it didn't matter how I booked since we could all board together with family boarding. Hopefully they will have grace on us. That really stinks because the voucher was spread across 3 people, of course none of them me. If we lose that cash that was connected to the vouchers, the trip may be out completely. Hopefully Southwest will be able to help us, this was our big adoption trip for our foster son and we are on a tight budget so every dollar counts, which is why we booked the flight to begin with.

Confused, you said in post #1 you had two LUV vouchers but above reference using proceeds among three people.

You can use family boarding with separate tickets without issue. Reward travel has to be booked on separate itineraries.

Appears you booked your ticket with points, if you cancel they will revert to your account

SWA is known to be strict in not permitting LUV vouchers to be reassigned, but it never hurts to ask.

Did you mingle cash with the LUV vouchers? If so, those funds now assume its expiry date. SWA used to allow people to extend the expiration date of each expired credit for a largeish fee ($100?) but you had to call in and request. Not sure if they still offer this accommodation or not.

Make sure to come back and post as to how this worked out for you, good luck.

 

[moesy4]

Yes, three reservations...i had planned to do two with the vouchers and two with points but I didn't realize the vouchers didn't cover taxes so I ended up with 25 left on the voucher so I just did the voucher with cash. It got super confusing when I booked. So two on one reservation with vouchers and cash, one with points, and one with voucher and cash again.

 

[Fire14]

I know our vouchers had to be used by person they were given for so I had to use mine and hubs had to use his.

 

[Disneytam]

Did you find out anything?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The vouchers are null and void because you applied the funds to a ticket. The funds are now assigned a ticket confirmation number. But when you cancel the ticket the voucher amount and the money paid toward the ticket will be held for you. You will have to keep track of the confirmation numbers and you will have to book a trip before the May expiration date in order to not loose any of the funds. The new tickets can only be in the same name that the tickets you want to cancel are in. ALL of the funds now have an expiration date that was listed on your LUV voucher -the middle of May that you stated. The only thing that will not expire are the points you used for the trip.

Yes SWA does still allow you to purchase a 6 month extension of the expiration date. But it is $100 per ticket. The fund must first expire and then you have to call to purchase the extension.

 

[moesy4]

Thank you everyone for your help and concern...I should've just come on here before we booked and I wouldn't be in this mess, the first agent we spoke to when we booked was not nearly that informative unfortunately. I didn't want to put it publicly until it was official...while my husband did get a great job offer, they were willing to work with us for the vacation since they knew it was our big celebratory trip. We have been saving for 18 months since they changed the goal to adoption. The real reason we ended up moving the trip back was they pushed the adoption back yet again and we now don't think it will be finalized until after May. Getting to travel out of state with a foster child in our state is dependent on the bio parents whim, and since the trip was to celebrate the adoption we didn't feel comfortable keeping it and then having mom decide at the last minute he can't go. It was really discouraging news after waiting so long and then to find out the flight funds we had set aside may be gone because of my lack of understanding of SW policies has really made for a discouraging week.

All that to say the lady at SW was very nice and although we are still working on it, it doesn't look like we will lose all the funds. Thanks again for filling in the details and hopefully things will be smoother from now on.

 

[moesy4]

Sorry, I just reread what I posted and I sounded like a total Debbie Downer...between dealing with this and replacing our furnace and water heater this week, I have been in a little bit of pity party mode. But we are very thankful for the job offer as it is a huge answer to prayer, and very thankful to even be able to consider a trip to disney as many can't. Whether or not the flights work out, the adoption will be a huge celebration. Thank you for letting me vent though!

 

[Disneytam]

Sorry, I just reread what I posted and I sounded like a total Debbie Downer...between dealing with this and replacing our furnace and water heater this week, I have been in a little bit of pity party mode. But we are very thankful for the job offer as it is a huge answer to prayer, and very thankful to even be able to consider a trip to disney as many can't. Whether or not the flights work out, the adoption will be a huge celebration. Thank you for letting me vent though!

We all have those days! Thank god for the Dis, sometimes just trying to help someone else with vacation problems makes me feel better when a day is not going right. I hope everything works out for you .