Southwest allowing changes

Right. This is referencing flights we cancel ourselves. I cancelled for a flight in May that SW still has up and running (as of now). I was OK with getting a credit, but then saw it expired in October 2020 and was a lot less ok, since we are aiming for next May (2021) to try this trip again. This change in policy is a huge benefit for my family. I won’t lose anything now.

That’s awesome! I have a flight booked with a credit in April, hoping that if/when I cancel it will create a “new” credit. Otherwise it will expire in July :weary:.

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This is correct. I asked on twitter because I can see an argument either way. They said that it could take a couple of weeks for the new date to show correctly.

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Thank you for clarifying because my assumption was that Southwest had to cancel the flight for this June 2021 extension to come into play.

I went ahead and booked a new trip for October (my high school kids will only be missing 3.5 days of school) because I thought the value of my flights would be lost on 12/29/20. We’re excited about this new time frame - never been to MK with Halloween decorations up - but I wish this policy was in place sooner.

I called today. Southwest said that they will only extend your travel funds if Southwest cancels your flight.

Just got an email today. The verbiage is absolutely confusing:

With the unprecedented cancellations of events and foreign countries issuing travel restrictions, we understand your travel plans may change. So, we have made additional changes to our already very flexible policies.
• If you decide not to travel, as long as you cancel your flight before its departure, the funds used to pay for a nonrefundable ticket are normally valid for one year from the date of purchase. However, in recognition of the current travel environment, we are extending the expiration date of some travel funds:
o Customers’ funds that have expired or will expire between March 1-May 31, 2020, will now expire June 30, 2021.


o Any travel funds created because of a flight cancellation between March 1-May 31, 2020, will have an expiration date of June 30, 2021.

I was already confused and now we are getting 2 different answers by twitter vs. calling?

If I understand correctly… travel funds that my son had from last year that expired March 17th will be extended. AND my travel funds from my cancelled March 27 2020 flight will be extended.

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matt3846 - It sounds like your son’s travel funds will be extended. I am still not clear on the second part. Has Southwest already cancelled your March 27th flight? Or, did you cancel it? That’s the part that confuses me. I’m sure it has probably been clarified on Southwest’s FB page, but I’ve given up social media while all of this is occurring.

I cancelled, not Southwest. But now I see what you are saying… their wording could possibly mean only the flights that they totally cancelled. Further up in the email where it says “we understand your travel plans may change” implied to me that they are including flights that passengers cancelled. You are right that it is not crystal clear.

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I am calling again today. I hate when different people get mixed responses about something like this. So frustrating!

Any luck getting more clarification from Southwest about this?

Yes. I chatted with them this morning and they said that my travel funds will expire in June 2021. I cancelled the trip which was supposed to be March 23-31. Also, I have rebooked for a June but unsure if this will go through and they said that any travel funds created due to cancelled flights (either by Southwest or the customer) between March and May of 2020 will now expire in June of 2021.

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I received an email that travel funds have been have been extended again and the option to convert to points for rapid rewards members

Travel Funds:
• Previously, Customers’ travel funds that have expired or would have expired between March 1 - June 30, 2020, or travel funds that were created because of a cancellation between March 1 - June 30, 2020, had an expiration date of June 30, 2021. We are now expanding the window of funds eligible for extended expiration dates and extending the expiration date of these funds. Funds that are set to expire or funds that are created between March 1, 2020 and September 7, 2020 , will have an expiration date of September 7, 2022 . This gives Customers who had travel funds created in connection with this pandemic–or who won’t be comfortable traveling this summer–additional time to retake that same trip or explore a different destination. It will take our Technology Team a few days to make these changes and more details on this extension can be found at Southwest.com/RRcoronavirusupdates.


• Additionally, we have added a new benefit for our valued Rapid Rewards Members. Those Members who have travel funds that are set to expire or funds that are created between March 1, 2020 and September 7, 2020 will have the option to convert those travel funds into Rapid Rewards® points at the same rate you would be able to purchase a ticket with points today . We hope this provides our Members ultimate flexibility as Rapid Rewards points never expire, never have cancel or change fees (fare difference may apply), and you can redeem your points for anyone you choose. Our Technology Team is working to build this conversion capability, and we will be in touch when it is ready for you to use. In the meantime, you don’t need to take any action - your travel funds will be automatically extended for the two years mentioned above, and you will be able to make this conversion once we bring this new functionality to fruition.

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I was super happy to see this email this morning too… the way it is worded did make me wonder about future devaluation of rapid rewards points. Regardless, the amount of travel credits I was going to need to use for my family by next January (prior to the extensions) was going to take some seriously creative use of my remaining PTO.