Southwest - New Rules for Ticketless Travel Funds Coming January 28, 2011

[lawgs]

did anyone else notice the following on their Southwest Confirmations:

Effective January 28, 2011, unused travel funds may only be applied toward the purchase of future travel for the individual named on the ticket.

this will certainly change the complexion of how Ticketless Travel funds can be used....

one comes to mind that you could no longer sell unused funds to another person


also see this url

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/southwest-rapid-rewards/1106134-unfriendly-change-ttfs.html

 

[CarrieR]

Well, that's a pain in the butt. One less advantage to being as WN-loyal as I am. My friends and I often "pool" our leftover bits of funds for future vacations... or, just as often, gift them to each other. Sigh.

 

[SDSorority]

Well shoot.

 

[jjan]

Boo!

 

[Tara]

Honestly, I can't believe it took them this long to do this. I'm not thrilled about the change, but I understand why they're doing it. Oh well!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Like Tara, I'm shocked it took this long. I'm also shocked more drastic changes were not done, maybe they're going to do them in phases.

 

[Lewisc]

Agree with the previous posters. Non-refundable wasn't intended to mean refundable at 80%-90% of value via ebay (or craigslist or "internet friend") sale.

 

[Brian Noble]

maybe they're going to do them in phases.

I'm guessing "boil a frog." There's just too much money on the table to leave it there.

 

[bumbershoot]

Agree with the previous posters. Non-refundable wasn't intended to mean refundable at 80%-90% of value via ebay (or craigslist or "internet friend") sale.

But it's also taking away the value of allowing actual *family* to use them.

 

[Lewisc]

But it's also taking away the value of allowing actual *family* to use them.

Absolutely. People abuse (or use to their advantage) a system. The methods used to stop the abuse can have other consequences.

I think a fair compromise would be to let any passenger on the original reservation use the credits. That would avoid requests to let their (newly found on craigslist) cousin use the credits. SW is looking to create new revenue. Letting more credits expire, unused may be a source.

This may reduce some speculative reservations.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

thanks for the info...it hurts us since we book trips for my son to fly home from college and for us to visit him..it was always nice when the price of flights came down or something came up and I had to cancel his trip that the credits could be used by any of us

 

[smacky1]

For our tickets in September when the price dropped from $109 to $99....I have a $40 credit for each way (family of 4). Does this mean instead of it being a $40 credit, its really $10 for each person listed on the confirmation number? Hope that didnt sound confusing!

 

[Taja]

For our tickets in September when the price dropped from $109 to $99....I have a $40 credit for each way (family of 4). Does this mean instead of it being a $40 credit, its really $10 for each person listed on the confirmation number? Hope that didnt sound confusing!

Not confusing at all!

And I'm guessing that it is $10 for each person, since the airfare is per person. I'm sure it will be clarified soon.

 

[warpdarkmatter]

well we could all start calling southwest to complain about the policy change if enuff folks call and threaten to fly jet blu or airtran from now on the sqeeky wheel just might get oiled

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

You first.

well we could all start calling southwest to complain about the policy change if enuff folks call and threaten to fly jet blu or airtran from now on the sqeeky wheel just might get oiled

 

[kaytieeldr]

For our tickets in September when the price dropped from $109 to $99....I have a $40 credit for each way (family of 4). Does this mean instead of it being a $40 credit, its really $10 for each person listed on the confirmation number? Hope that didnt sound confusing!

Not exactly. It WILL be that way - as of the date in the title of this thread. Right now, one person could use the entire $80 credit, and it wouldn't even have to be one of the passengers on the upcoming trip.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

well we could all start calling southwest to complain about the policy change if enuff folks call and threaten to fly jet blu or airtran from now on the sqeeky wheel just might get oiled

Since Southwest's policy is still far more liberal than JetBlue or AirTran, I doubt it.

BobK/Orlando

 

[alwaysmom]

When I called a week or 2 ago inquiring about extending $700 + travel credits that expire in Jan, they made it a point to tell me that they could not guarantee that they will be offering extensions in the future. Basically, call when they expire and see. I'm not waiting to see and taking a chance of losing it. Our plan was to extend until April, certainly put a damper on things. I got a sick feeling in my stomach and sensed changes were going to be made.

 

[Brian Noble]

well we could all start calling southwest to complain about the policy change if enuff folks call and threaten to fly jet blu or airtran from now on the sqeeky wheel just might get oiled

I doubt it---that's why I'm betting on "boil the frog". There was a hue and cry when ECBI was instituted, but it hasn't seemed to drive anyone away. As long as SW still is providing value to customers, they'll keep flying.