Crediting CC after rebooking Southwest

[Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo]

I'm confused about something. I booked my airfares for Nov. the day they came out, and a week later jumped on the bandwagon when I noticed my return flight had lowered, saving me $80 total on the 4 tickets. I called Southwest, and the clerk very nicely walked me through the whole process for rebooking my flights, and asked me if I wanted the credit for future Southwest flight, or have my credit card refunded the difference. I told her I didn't know when we'd be traveling again, so would prefer the credit to my Visa. She instructed me to print out the confirmation slips and annotate on the new one that I rebooked due to a lower internet fare, and gave me the address to mail them to. Yesterday, I got a call from a very nice gentleman from Southwest, Chet, who said he got my request, and asked me again if I wanted the airline credit or the refund. I told him the same thing, and he said he'd be happy to do it for me, but then went on to explain how normally I would only get an airline credit. I expressed surprise, since I was offered the option, and he explained how if it was changing from one category ticket to another you can get the refund, but when just catching a lower fare in the same category, you're supposed to get the airline credit. I commented that it seemed more reasonable the opposite way, but thanked him for doing it for me.

Now my dilemma- I was planning on watching the website in the hopes of catching a lower fare on my flight down ( I currently have the $141 fare down), and rebooking again, but now I'm wondering if I just got "lucky" in being able to get the refund instead of the credit. What's been everyone's experience in this? I suppose if it drops again, it would still be worth the time to get the airline credit, even if they won't refund my credit card again, in case there's a slim chance we COULD travel in time to use it.
Opinions/experiences anyone?

 

[sweet maxine]

That's very interesting. I have only been offered the credit for a future flight, so I'm waiting right now to see if the fares drop for November. I'm hoping for a really nice price drop, but it's always a gamble doing that. I would much rather have the amount credited back to my credit card too.