Originally Posted by
alggag
The credit can only be used by the person's whose name was on the ticket. This was put into effect about a year or two ago.
Southwest's official line is that non-transferability of travel credits was always Southwest's policy, but enforcement of that restriction was delayed for 14 years due to software limitations. So it's not a devaluation, just expiration of a very long grace period.
On the bright side, Southwest gave more than adequate notice that this change was coming. The exact timing was a surprise, perhaps as a trap for fraudsters.