alchemista

I purchased Airtran gift certificates with cash in early 2011 and the terms stated:

*Gift Certificates do not expire.

I still have almost $200 left in these gift certificates, but now with Airtran flights stopping and all becoming Southwest, I cannot use them.

I called Southwest customer service who first didn't know about these, and now are stating they can't be converted to Southwest gift cards. They would issue a LUV voucher, but that has a 1 year expiration date, which is much less value!

This can't be right - it was an Airtran liability and Southwest bought the company then merged the network and ran out their flights.

Do any of you experienced members know about this, or what to do in this case?

Thank you

rsteinmetz70112

You could try calling again or writing a letter, and including a copy of the certificate if you have it. Issuing a Southwest Gift Card seems eminently fair to me. You get the value you paid for and don't lose anything.

The person you spoke to was possibly totally unfamiliar with those Gift Certificates and since there are probably only a few left out there they may not have dealt with them. I've seen nothing official about existing vouchers either.

Phoenixtinct

I was in the same situation. However, you don't want to call Southwest, you have to get in touch with AirTran. There was a message on AirTran's website - not sure if it's still there - that AirTran's gift certificates will not convert to Southwest LUV vouchers, so that's not an option.

People on here have reported that they were successful in having AirTran deposit credits in their A+ Rewards account that are transferable to Southwest and can then be used to book awards. I didn't get the same offer, however, when I spoke to an AirTran agent back in April, they told me any outstanding gift certificates would be refunded. And that's what they did with mine. I was told it can take up to 2 weeks.

My gift certificate was issued in January 2011 and the remaining balance was $220+ So, my advice to you is to get in touch with AirTran and ask them to get it refunded, now that it's known that AirTran's last flight is 3 months from now. You can easily let them know you don't plan on traveling in the next 3 months and would like to get a refund. Good Luck!

alchemista

Thanks - do you recall the phone number or names of anyone you worked with (you can PM me if you'd rather not have it public)? I tried AirTran's main # before and they redirected me to Southwest's customer service #, which rep then said he talked to an AirTran manager in their office. He kept trying to point back to it being AirTran's issue - it's pretty poor to pass the buck between the companies when they purchased the company!

I actually would like a refund because Southwest is much more expensive than AirTran ever was so the gift certificates would probably only cover the extra cost of Southwest!

If there were more of these, this is the typical type of class action lawsuit material you see.

Thanks

Phoenixtinct

I have no problem posting publicly, so here's what I was able to find out - I apparently called the main number - 1-800-AIR-TRAN or 1-800-247-8726

Beyond that, I'm not sure which prompt I selected but I do recall that I was transferred and I think I spoke to a supervisor who had to facilitate the refund request. I was put on hold while that was taking place. I don't recall being transferred to Southwest at all but that was back in March. Considering that there may be less and less AirTran staff, that may have changed.

One thing I clearly remember though is that when I got the refund check in the mail, it was issued by Southwest and not AirTran.

So, this is all I remember and I hope it's useful to you in getting your certificate issue resolved. My recommendation is if whoever you end up talking to doesn't seem to be willing to resolve it for you to ask to be escalated to a supervisor.

And keep in mind one thing - Southwest has been known to reneg on their promises. Some time ago, apparently they had drink coupons that never expired and at some point, Southwest said they are expiring them and people had a year, I believe, to use them. After that, WN refused to honor them. So, I would try to get this taken care of sooner rather than later.

I was told few months ago by a Southwest agent that all RR 1.0 credits in ones' RR account will be expired after November 2nd. I found that odd because AirTran's credits are converted to points and transferred to RR but apparently, the remaining credits already in RR are expiring regardless of the expiration date of the credit. So, Southwest doesn't always bother with dates - they do what works for them.

rsteinmetz70112

By all means try it. But, I think you'll find that all phone calls (except possibly reservations) now lead to Southwest. They have closed the A+ Rewards Dept, the Business Desk and the Elite Desk.

You could also try Southwest Customer Relations 214-932-0333 Mon-Fri, 7am-8pm CT. They have more experienced people and more latitude to deal with things.

traveller001

All Ground Ops and Customer Service agents are converted. It's IMO sort of a mess between training and those willing to grasp different systems.

Your suggestion is IMO the best first option.

If that fails push it way up... send a snail mail letter to Gary Kelly c/o Southwest Airlines P.O. Box 36647 Dallas, Texas 75235

traveller001

Deleted

rsteinmetz70112

I seriously doubt Southwest would do that without notice. So far no notice has been given.

ryanpass

Hey guys,

Call 1-800-247-8726 no option to press, just be ready to wait a while...

I talked to the Airtran agent, and all they needed was my name, and they transferred 2 of my Airtran gift cards ($400 total) to southwest gift cards without any issue or speaking to a manager... it was nice and easy.

One $200 card was purchased in 2010 and the other $200 card was bought in 2011 all she needed was my name, and she was able to find both cards and transfer them over....

I was told it takes up to 3 weeks and that the Southwest cards don't expire, and I would get the email confirmation from southwest with the new southwest certificate number (which I'm a bit worried about, why so long...) but at least the agent found both of my certificates and said they were transferred...

hope this helps someone.....

rsteinmetz70112

That's how it should work.