swa rapid reward certs

[mjp12831]

I have 2 that will be expired by travel time next August - one just by a few weeks.

I realize I can pay $50 to "extend" them an additional year. Has anyone had luck in having them waive this extension fee or is that generally not done?

 

[jlewisinsyr]

The general understanding is, no. Southwest already has one of the most generous programs (even with the change being implemented in January) and the fee is standard for all extensions (not extensions cannot be processed until the credit actually expires).

 

[Bobo912]

I let mine expire once and wasn't aware of it until I tried to use it. It had expired a week or two earlier. I called SWA and they let me use it without paying any fee. But that was 4 or 5 years ago, before they instituted the Freedom rewards, which in my experience has made it much harder to book a reward flight without having to convert two regular rewards to a Freedom reward. I doubt they would do that now, but you can always ask.

 

[dburg30]

yea, i found that out. i guess one time i used mine it wasnt a big deal as I must've booked right when the window opened. This time I tried to use them and found out that just because there are 'cheap seats' available on a flight, doesnt mean I can use my reward on them....