DVC'rs...Heads up--Flights

[edk35]

The credit you receive is from the ORIGINAL PURCHASE DATE...to extend it past the 12 months of the original purchase date their is a 50.00 fee.
Still worth it- just don't forget the credit does not apply from when you changed it is from ORIGINAL PURCHASE...

always save your confirmation number this is what you add in the coupon section to get the credit from a booking that you will get this flight credit!

When did the 50 buck fee start. I had my dates extended via phone. They didn't charge me ....just sent me a voucher that was good for another 6 months??

 

[sharpes84]

They have always charged a fee to extend past expiration date,even applies to rapid rewards.
Southwest is great!sometimes their customer service on the phone does 1 time courtesy changes,,
if you read the southwest FAQ'S alot of the info is there...

 

[rlduvall]

When did the 50 buck fee start. I had my dates extended via phone. They didn't charge me ....just sent me a voucher that was good for another 6 months??

Not sure when it started, but it wasn't too long ago. I did this in September of 2006 and was not charged the $50, so I believe that policy started shortly over that. It's still a nice option.

 

[thepops]

One thing with Airtran is to make sure they have your e-mail address (and that their e-mail doesn't go into spam). We had tickets for October that we bought last Feb and they must have changed flights at least 6 times on us. If you don't like the flight they chose for you, you can call and switch to another flight at no charge. But better to get the e-mail and know ahead of time rather than go to check in on the day of your flight and find out it's leaving in a half hour.

 

[stopher1]

I love SWA for this very reason. I do it all the time. Just found that our tix for our 15th anniversary trip in Feb. had gone down about $80 each ($40 each way), so now we have $160 for something else. Gotta love it. Just remember that you have 12 months from the original purchase date, and you can only use 2 credits per purchase of a new ressie - so if you have multiples that you want to use, watch it carefully.

You can always combine credits together (several times if needed) to make one larger credit amount, (you do this by buying using 2 credits to buy a new fare, and so on until you are down to just 1 or 2 credits) but when you do that, they will automatically retain the OLDEST purchase date...so, if you have mutiple dates on your credits, you could lose some time there when you combine them together. I've had up to 6 credits to combine before (usually with $20 or $30 left over from a fare reduction to combine into one single new credit). It can be time consuimg if you have a bunch, but also well worth it to not have to cough up extra money to purchase a new ticket.

 

[justjudy]

Thanks so much for the heads up. We saved $120! Just this morning we were thinking about squeezing in a trip to AKL sometime next year. This will really help
us narrow down when we want to go -- got to use those credits!

 

[Jaaron2]

I have been checking flights daily for our trip in March waiting for the best deal. Last Thursday I was able to find rates for $99.00 per person (Philly to Orlando) through US Airways (first flight in the morning as well!) for the flight down. Still looking to find a flight home. SouthWest just opened up that time frame but prices are still high so I will keep checking!

 

[jpolak]

Customer service also said if you call before it expires, they will 99% of the time continue it, if you are flying in the distant future.....

But, considering our win, we will be using flights at least 2x a year

Yes, but SWA will charge you to extend it.

 

[Doug7856]

We also re-booked our SW flights for Thanksgiving and our three tickets are now a total of $450 cheaper!!! We plan a trip out west in June and the credit will come in handy!

 

[Luv4Disney]

We use Southwest out of Philly and they are still incredibly expensive for our time! We'll be doing Spirit out of AC...with only 1 checked bag.

 

[drummer1616]

So, we are all set to go in 22 days.....Ive been checking our Southwest Flights, prices, etc....WELL, this AM, I discovered our return flight is about $200 cheaper per person!!!!

I called Southwest, told the lady, and she said, oh, just change your flight, and you will get credit.

So, I did that, got the same flights, and save, on 4 people, $840!! Thats credited for future use!

So, if you have the time, keep checking your flights, you may save some serious money.

Have a Magical Day!!

Hi Mike,

Nice savings,I haven`t booked my June flight yet and thats great info,why dont you send your savings over to me,and I`ll spend it for you>LOL

Miss our hockey days, Randy

 

[edk35]

Actually - just this week we called up Airtrain - thanks to some advice from her on the DIS - and they gave us credit for the lowered fare. We have 20 tickets purchased for January and the fare had gone down over $80 a ticket. We now have a $800 credit to use sometime within the next 12 months. They did NOT charge us the fee.

Do you know I called them yesterday too and I also got a credit of 375 so I was quite happy too.

 

[edk35]

That must be a new policy to charge $75 if the price goes down?? That's pretty screwy (and steep). We booked on them for our flights last summer and a few days after we booked they went down so I called and got the lower price and they gave us a credit for the future. The only charge they gave me was $5 per ticket for CALLING as opposed to booking online. We still have a $112 credit left sitting out there that expires in early January but I'm not sure we'll be using it 'cuz their flight schedule for August may not be out yet and I don't know if they'll give me an extension on it. PLUS we were less than happy with how often they changed our flight schedule (5 times)! Anyway, that's interesting fee you mention.

Hey I called customer relations yesterday and they took off the one charge of 75 per ticket on my return. SO they credited my cc back 375. I was happy.

 

[cpdwiz]

Hi Mike,

Nice savings,I haven`t booked my June flight yet and thats great info,why dont you send your savings over to me,and I`ll spend it for you>LOL

Miss our hockey days, Randy

Those were good days.....Only 19 days left to go home! Already booked BWV in May, so those savings will be well spent long before June

Ttyl!

 

[mmmcq]

We made the same call to Southwest a couple of weeks ago and saved $500+. We are also using some free tickets on Jet blue for two of our teens for their trips down. So we this trip is only costing us around $500 for 5 people. It's amazing.

 

[TDC Nala]

All should be aware that you must use any credit you get as a result in change of flights toward a flight within 12 months after making the change or otherwise it will be lost. OP appears to be doing that for a trip next May

On Southwest, you do not have the credit to use within a year of changing the flight. It is within a year of the original ticket purchase. If you combine credits from several different ticket purchases, all that credit will assume the expiration date of the earliest ticket purchase.

 

[TK Brown]

I LOVE SOUTHWEST!!! I just checked our flights for next month. Now we have a $228 credit for next time!!! Awesome!! Why cant all airlines learn from Southwest??