Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[AussieFan8]

Thanks! So with my daughter (13 yo), do I need to book her alone as a separate transaction or can I have all of us on just one booking, paying for each of us with 3 forms of payment each?

Sorry I’m a mess lol!!

It's confusing! You'll need to book her separately, so you will each have a different confirmation code for check-in. I wish it was simpler!

 

[RedHead0186]

Thanks! So with my daughter (13 yo), do I need to book her alone as a separate transaction or can I have all of us on just one booking, paying for each of us with 3 forms of payment each?

Sorry I’m a mess lol!!

It's three forms of payment per transaction, regardless of how many people are on that transaction. If you book your daughter and you on the same reservation, you will be able to use 3 payment methods total.

As a related aside, I would not book her on a separate reservation. If you do that, then your reservation won't be 'connected' to hers in the system. If anything happens to your flight, it will make it much harder to deal with because the system doesn't know you're together.

An example: My brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, mom and dad, all booked the same flight to Orlando in June. My parents booked separately from the rest of the family, so it's two reservations. SW did some schedule shifting, so the flight they originally booked no longer existed. They moved my parents to another flight on the same day, and moved my brother's family to a different flight (still on the same day). My mom was able to call and get the last two seats so they're all on the same plane. But SW didn't know they were flying together because it was two separate reservations, so when they had to change schedules the system didn't 'know' to move them all together.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

It's three forms of payment per transaction, regardless of how many people are on that transaction. If you book your daughter and you on the same reservation, you will be able to use 3 payment methods total.

As a related aside, I would not book her on a separate reservation. If you do that, then your reservation won't be 'connected' to hers in the system. If anything happens to your flight, it will make it much harder to deal with because the system doesn't know you're together.

An example: My brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, mom and dad, all booked the same flight to Orlando in June. My parents booked separately from the rest of the family, so it's two reservations. SW did some schedule shifting, so the flight they originally booked no longer existed. They moved my parents to another flight on the same day, and moved my brother's family to a different flight (still on the same day). My mom was able to call and get the last two seats so they're all on the same plane. But SW didn't know they were flying together because it was two separate reservations, so when they had to change schedules the system didn't 'know' to move them all together.

Woah!! Thanks for the advice!!

 

[Cruzin’Sisters]

Woah!! Thanks for the advice!!

That’s not what I found. I just booked a one way flight for 3 people (I had more than 2 flight credits). All on same confirmation number. When it came to payment, select travel fund. Then enter the confirmation numbers and associated persons name. It allowed 2 per passenger then pay the remaining cost with a credit card. Good luck.

 

[AussieFan8]

That’s not what I found. I just booked a one way flight for 3 people (I had more than 2 flight credits). All on same confirmation number. When it came to payment, select travel fund. Then enter the confirmation numbers and associated persons name. It allowed 2 per passenger then pay the remaining cost with a credit card. Good luck.

I will have to try again next time. I have never seen a way to do this, but I’d love for it to be possible!

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

That’s not what I found. I just booked a one way flight for 3 people (I had more than 2 flight credits). All on same confirmation number. When it came to payment, select travel fund. Then enter the confirmation numbers and associated persons name. It allowed 2 per passenger then pay the remaining cost with a credit card. Good luck.

That. Is. FANTASTIC!!! I was hoping to hear this lol!! Thank you for writing in!!!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi I’m so sorry if this is a repeat question but I’m a newbie with this whole combining finds things and reading through this thread is making my head spin

I have 3 travelers, 2 adults and one child. We each have two flight credits (we each have 2 credits of $33 each, so $66 total for each, and not transferable since we did wanna get away fares)

It says on the SW website that when using credits, each “traveler” can use 3 forms of payment.

So does that mean for my next flight that I book for the 3 of us, I can pay with the 2 credits and a credit card for each traveler on one transaction?

Or will I be limited at the end and I will need to do the song and dance of combining credits by booking/cancelling?

Thanks expert friends!!

Were the original flights booked with the same reservation number for all 3 people? If so, you will be able to book for all 3 people again and use 2 credits per person plus one cc.

At one point my dd and I had different reservation numbers associated with our travel credits. I booked a fake flight using one of my res numbers and one of hers. I then cancelled this flight and we then had the same reservation number. I did this a few times as we each had many travel credits but I now have 1 travel credit with over $200 for each of us. It takes time and it’s a pain but, worth it to me to take the time to ease booking in the future.

Moving forward I will always book us together for ease of combining travel credits which historically we’ve got for every flight as flight prices fluctuate.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Were the original flights booked with the same reservation number for all 3 people? If so, you will be able to book for all 3 people again and use 2 credits per person plus one cc.

At one point my dd and I had different reservation numbers associated with our travel credits. I booked a fake flight using one of my res numbers and one of hers. I then cancelled this flight and we then had the same reservation number. I did this a few times as we each had many travel credits but I now have 1 travel credit with over $200 for each of us. It takes time and it’s a pain but, worth it to me to take the time to ease booking in the future.

Moving forward I will always book us together for ease of combining travel credits which historically we’ve got for every flight as flight prices fluctuate.

This is amazing advice, thank you!!! Yes all 3 of us are in the same reservation- our flight dropped in price twice so now we each have 2 travel credits (associated with the same flight reservation). We will book together in the future- great to know we can use those 2 credits each and a cc for the next flight.

And bravo you!! Well done! So glad I came here to ask this question- appreciate you sharing your SW expertise!!

 

[focusondisney]

Shocked no one has posted… the ability to use cash & points to book flights is live. I don’t know any other details, I’m not booking flights.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Shocked no one has posted… the ability to use cash & points to book flights is live. I don’t know any other details, I’m not booking flights.

I just checked, it's not the best deal. You buy the flight as you would with cash, and then, on the payment screen, it will offer you the ability to use points in multiples of 1000 pts = $10. But when using all points to buy a flight, 1000 points will usually get you about $14, so it's about a 40% loss on the value of the points by using a combination.

 

[Wiltony]

I just checked, it's not the best deal. You buy the flight as you would with cash, and then, on the payment screen, it will offer you the ability to use points in multiples of 1000 pts = $10. But when using all points to buy a flight, 1000 points will usually get you about $14, so it's about a 40% loss on the value of the points by using a combination.

Yep, not a good value. And 1.4 cents sounds low. I thought SW points used to be worth about 1.6 cents.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Yep, not a good value. And 1.4 cents sounds low. I thought SW points used to be worth about $1.6 cents.

I checked a random flight, Baltimore to Las Vegas on 8/14. It's $196 or 13966 points. $0.0140/point.
There's another one, with a layover. $185 or 12383 points, which is $0.01494/point.

So it looks like somewhere between 1.4 and 1.5 cents a point. But still better than the 1 cent a point you get for doing points+cash.

 

[EACarlson]

Yep, not a good value. And 1.4 cents sounds low. I thought SW points used to be worth about 1.6 cents.

Nailed it. "Used to." They were quietly devalued a year or two ago from 1.6 to 1.4.

 

[Wiltony]

Nailed it. "Used to." They were quietly devalued a year or two ago from 1.6 to 1.4.

Thanks. Thought I remembered 1.6 being the number. Darn. Inflation strikes again (12.5%)

 

[scrappinginontario]

Not really surprised by this as in the past, purchasing points was not a good value. Guessing they just reworked this process a bit to make it easier to ‘purchase points’ as we would in the past.

Will continue using one or the other, not choosing the combo option.

 

[EACarlson]

It works if you only have a few thousand points and don't fly often. I think just about everyone in this thread flies often enough to find some value in holding the points. And sometimes you're just broke and have to get somewhere and anything can help that. I won't plan on using it, but it's a nice feature to have.

 

[katallo]

The majority of our points are in DH account. I have a few throusand. Is it worth it to transfer the few thousand points into DH account since we always book together?

 

[nighttowll]

Guess I'm in the minority that I'm not happy about the speculation that SW might be charging to pick seats. Maybe it's because I usually travel alone, but I don't mind playing the pick a seat game. If I want to pay to get an assigned seat, I'll choose a different airline.

Nope, right here with you. Probably the biggest reason I like flying with them is that you don’t have to buy a seat.

I don’t agree with these families booking seats that aren’t together and then assuming someone will switch with them, but I get it. When you book a flight 6 months in advance and can’t find two seats together anywhere on it, it’s just ridiculous. They block out like 75% of seats as premium and leave nothing left to choose from.

In my experience, SW has the least amount of seat drama. Families board first. They aren’t begging you to switch because the airline rescheduled them away from their two year old. Everyone else walks in and sits down. You want something specific, you pay to be in the front. It’s simple. I love it.

Trying to book a seat on other airlines has been an expensive complicated mess. Whereas on SW, I always get my window seat, usually exit row with extra room. Much preferred.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I'm right there with both of you. I choose Southwest for their boarding process which allows me to pick my seat in the moment (and the 2 free checked bags because I am NOT a light packer.) If they go to having to pay to pick a seat/assigned seats, I might have to rethink what airline I use. Right now, I'm so loyal to Southwest, that I drive 3 hours to get to the nearest airport they fly out of, rather than use the small airport only 45 minutes from me that only flies America and United. Don't change what makes you unique Southwest. Because, given your penchant for meltdowns, if you become like every other airline, I will fly someone else.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I book based on overall price and itinerary. Sometimes it's SW and other times it's Delta or another carrier. Lately for RDU-MCO, I've been doing more Delta because it's been a lower price and I can pick our seats. As a solo parent, it's important for me to be able to keep us all together since there's no possibility of dividing up and my kids are too old for family boarding. So SW's WGA+ fares with EBCI has to beat Delta's main cabin price and that's hasn't been happening much lately.