Southwest cancellation question

[buzzgirls&dad]

I'll try and be brief. I purchased tickets for 6 last Dec. for a trip this July for my DD's 21st birthday and my DM's 80th. One of DD's friends can no longer go due to not having her job when the University shut down and my DM just got the "No Travel order from her doctor". Age and Medical related to Covid 19. In the basic reading of Southwest's policies it seems like I'm SOL on getting a refund for the tickets. I don't see my DM traveling anytime soon or honestly every again. Has anyone had any success with getting a refund or credit in my name instead of hers? I paid for the ticket if that matters. I guess I'll have to eat the friends ticket? Any help or thoughts would be great. TIA

 

[focusondisney]

I'll try and be brief. I purchased tickets for 6 last Dec. for a trip this July for my DD's 21st birthday and my DM's 80th. One of DD's friends can no longer go due to not having her job when the University shut down and my DM just got the "No Travel order from her doctor". Age and Medical related to Covid 19. In the basic reading of Southwest's policies it seems like I'm SOL on getting a refund for the tickets. I don't see my DM traveling anytime soon or honestly every again. Has anyone had any success with getting a refund or credit in my name instead of hers? I paid for the ticket if that matters. I guess I'll have to eat the friends ticket? Any help or thoughts would be great. TIA

Right now, you can cancel & get a credit which will be good until Sept 2022. It does still need to be the same person traveling however. Watch the flight schedule, if your flight gets cancelled, you can get a refund. Otherwise it is the credit. You can try calling & see if they will make an exception for your mother, due to her age. But I wouldn’t count on it. As for the friend, anyway she could reimburse you for the flight? She would then have the credit to use for the next 2 years.

 

[shoreward]

I would suggest getting a letter on your DM’s physician’s letterhead, which states that she will no longer be able to travel, due to her medical condition. I would then contact Southwest Airlines Customer Relations at:
855-234-4654
Explain your DM’s issue and tell them you have a letter from her doc, confirming her condition, and that you will greatly appreciate a refund for her ticket. As for the others, I would cancel to get the travel funds, first making sure that each person has their own Rapid Rewards account number associated with their ticket. Each person will get a travel fund posted to their account.

Southwest has advised that customers will be given the option (we don’t yet know when) to convert their travel funds ($$$) to Rapid Rewards points, which will never expire. Unlike travel funds, which only can be used by the person named on the ticket, Rapid Rewards points can be used for booking travel for anyone.

 

[nkereina]

I would wait to cancel the flight until a day or so before you were supposed to leave. As PP mentions, if they change the flight time (which they have been doing a lot lately), you may be able to request a refund in that case. I believe you'd need to cancel yourself up to 10 minutes before the scheduled flight time in order to receive the credit, so I would hold out as long as possible in hopes Southwest either cancels on you or changes your time.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

Our flight time has changed from the original time. Will that help with a refund???

 

[nkereina]

Our flight time has changed from the original time. Will that help with a refund???

Yes, generally speaking, your ticket will be refundable if the airline made a change causing a significant delay from the time you originally booked. I'm not sure what Southwest's definition of "significant" is though - hopefully someone else can confirm, or perhaps its up to their discretion. But I know some airlines say changes 30 minutes or more, and some are 60 or 90 minutes or more from your original departure time in order to be eligible. What was your time change?

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

Our flight time changed by 3+ hours if that makes a difference. Do you think that's enough to warrant a flight cancellation with a refund?

 

[nkereina]

Our flight time changed by 3+ hours if that makes a difference. Do you think that's enough to warrant a flight cancellation with a refund?

My guess would be yes, that would be considered significant. I believe in order to get a refund, you need to call and request one citing the time change as the reason. I've heard some airlines will pushback on this, but I believe its a law that they have to in these instances so stand your ground. Southwest is notorious for customer service, so hopefully they don't give much trouble over it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Three hours could be long enough. Some airlines are two, some are four.

 

[brockash]

Our flight time has changed from the original time. Will that help with a refund???

Yes...call them...they should refund.

 

[Chip_Dale]

Our flights have changed. Different flight #s. Times are different. Half hour going down and an hour coming back. I guess time difference would not warrent a refund instead of travel credit.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Won't know until you ask.

 

[sam_gordon]

How to cancel your flight and check if you're eligible for a refund


If you can still see your itinerary on Southwest.com or in the Southwest app

1. Go to Southwest.com/cancel or open the Southwest app and select "Look Up Reservation" in the menu. Or, if you booked your trip using your Rapid Rewards account and are logged in, you can look it up in your account.
2. Enter in your confirmation number and the Passenger's name on the reservation.
3. You'll see any available Travel Funds or refundable balances attached to the confirmation number you entered. If you have a refundable value remaining, you can choose to receive a refund to the original form of payment or convert the fare into Travel Funds.
4. Tap or click "Cancel Flight" to cancel the flight for all Passengers.
5. Refunds to credit cards may take up to two billing cycles to appear on your statement.
6. Travel Funds are available for use immediately. If you used your Rapid Rewards number when booking, your Travel Funds will be automatically added to your Southwest account.

For all other refund requests, including refund exceptions for nonrefundable travel:
You can write our Refunds Department:
Southwest Airlines
Refunds Department
P.O. Box 36649
Dallas, Texas 75235-1649

https://www.southwest.com/html/cust...time and Business,Travel Funds for future use.

 

[brockash]

Our flights have changed. Different flight #s. Times are different. Half hour going down and an hour coming back. I guess time difference would not warrent a refund instead of travel credit.

Honestly if you call and explain that the new times just won't work for you; in my experience you'll probably get a refund. You'll have to call and possibly "make your case" but I think you'd have a really good shot and getting a full refund instead of just credit.

 

[WickedMonarch75]

I am interested in this as we have a group of 7 going in December and I am worried someone will need to cancel .

 

[nkereina]

Our flights have changed. Different flight #s. Times are different. Half hour going down and an hour coming back. I guess time difference would not warrent a refund instead of travel credit.

I believe its an FAA regulation that they have to refund your fare if requested when there's a significant time change. Every airline will define differently what "significant" means though, and I don't believe SWA explicitly states it anywhere so it may be up to their discretion. Its best to call about it.

 

[puffkin]

I would call and see if they will flat out issue a refund.

Second option, hold on until the last minute. They may end up allowing you to cancel if something changes with travel schedules/restrictions with no a refund. If not, cancel then and get the travel funds that are extended until 9/22 and then convert them into Points once that functionality is up and running.

We have about $800 in travel funds currently sitting with the 9/22 expirate date right now. While we will probably use them by 9/22, I am still planning to convert them to points once that feature is turned on as I like the flexibility of points much better than travel funds.

 

[pooch]

Has there been any more information from SWA on the conversion to points?

 

[shoreward]

Has there been any more information from SWA on the conversion to points?

They say it’s still being worked on, but they will notify Rapid Rewards members when the conversion option is available.

 

[pooch]

Thanks, afraid I missed the announcement.