Sep 17, 2014, 10:45 am
Last edit by: Tanic
Reminder: you must enroll and select Southwest as your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase.
Some have suggested the need to wait several hours or even a day before making the purchase, but there are also several DPs that worked without waiting that long.
(BTW, you will often hear people refer to Southwest as WN. WN is the IATA code for Southwest Airlines. SW is the IATA code for Air Namibia.)
Caution: As of late July 2019, reports are that direct gift card purchases are no longer being reimbursed.
To purchase click here: https://www.southwest.com/gift-card/create-card.html Caution: Do NOT login to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account when making the purchase.
What does appear to work is buying flight tickets less than $100, OR using gift cards to get the charged amount down to less than $100.
Always read the last few pages to get up-to-date DPs.
Some have suggested the need to wait several hours or even a day before making the purchase, but there are also several DPs that worked without waiting that long.
(BTW, you will often hear people refer to Southwest as WN. WN is the IATA code for Southwest Airlines. SW is the IATA code for Air Namibia.)
Caution: As of late July 2019, reports are that direct gift card purchases are no longer being reimbursed.
What does appear to work is buying flight tickets less than $100, OR using gift cards to get the charged amount down to less than $100.
Always read the last few pages to get up-to-date DPs.
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (2011-2019)
Dec 25, 2016, 9:14 am
#767
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 280
anyone reimbursed from purchases closed on 12/22?
Dec 26, 2016, 4:31 pm
#768
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: BOS, PVD, HYA
Programs: MR, TYP, AA, B6, DL, WN, HH, MB, 2V
Posts: 658
AmEx PRG
$30 left (after using MPX for most of the airline credit
)
Purchased $30 Southwest EGC on 12/20, posted same day
Reimbursed on 12/22
$30 left (after using MPX for most of the airline credit
)Purchased $30 Southwest EGC on 12/20, posted same day
Reimbursed on 12/22
Dec 27, 2016, 11:07 am
#769
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 7
Thanks
Dec 24 purchased gift card $100
Dec 26 reimbursed
Dec 24 purchased gift card $100
Dec 26 reimbursed
Dec 28, 2016, 7:29 am
#770
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: Chase UR, MR, RR
Posts: 22
With WN is it possible to just buy a $200 and be done with it.
Since you can only do 4 total payments for a purchase, I'd like to maximize my GC values (since I'll have 2 $300 from CSR credits)
Since you can only do 4 total payments for a purchase, I'd like to maximize my GC values (since I'll have 2 $300 from CSR credits)
Dec 28, 2016, 10:33 am
#771
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 53
12/25 Purchased $100 gift card
12/27 Credit posted
12/27 Credit posted
Dec 28, 2016, 1:45 pm
#772
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Los Angeles California
Posts: 1,391
As of today I am registered with UA . On Jan I would be changing my AMEX alliance to WN. Would I be able to buy GC on same day (Jan 1) and get reimbursed for 2017?
Dec 28, 2016, 3:06 pm
#773
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: STL
Posts: 22
DP Dec 2016
12/21/16 - $100 GC posted
12/23/16 - reimbursed
12/23/16 - $100 GC posted
12/25/16 - reimbursed
12/23/16 - reimbursed
12/23/16 - $100 GC posted
12/25/16 - reimbursed
Dec 28, 2016, 5:37 pm
#774
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 80
Also, in regards to the limit on the number of gift cards that can be applied to a purchase at once, there's a straightforward workaround once you know for whom you're going to make purchase. Suppose you have a bunch of $100 gift cards and want to make a $600 purchase for one person. Start by finding a just under $400 ticket, for example $390. It can be on some completely unrelated route than the one you actually want to purchase a ticket for. Use Gift Cards #1, #2, #3, and #4. Then cancel that ticket. You now have ticketless travel fund for a named person in the amount of $390. Now purchase the ticket you actually want. You can apply the canceled ticket's value, plus four additional gift card payments. This maneuver is possible and generates useful result because Southwest has no change fees. Be aware that the name of the passenger matters -- ticketless travel funds from a ticket for John Smith can only be used to purchase a new ticket for John Smith. Also, while in my experience the ticketless travel fund of a canceled ticket is often re-usable within a matter of seconds, sometimes it might take a few hours or overnight. Don't panic too quickly if an attempt to re-use fails. Only bother with calling customer support if the re-use still fails the next day.
I do not have any experience of trying to do something like the above if you for some reason want to put multiple people onto the same ticket purchase (same record locator). I'm not sure if the Web site can keep track of your purchasing travel for John Smith and Jane Doe and apply ticketless travel funds from a former John Smith ticket AND apply ticketless travel funds from a former Jane Doe ticket.
To avoid taking this thread too far off topic, please consult the Southwest specific forum for threads related to this maneuver.
Dec 28, 2016, 9:19 pm
#775
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve
Posts: 806
12/25 - Picked WN
12/25 - Bought GC (like an hour later)
12/27 - Credit posted
12/25 - Bought GC (like an hour later)
12/27 - Credit posted
Dec 29, 2016, 6:36 am
#776
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: Chase UR, MR, RR
Posts: 22
I have done so and been reimbursed but those $200 transactions were several months ago. However, I have no reason to believe that ability has changed. When the calendar rolls to 2017 I fully intend to purchase $200 gift cards again to use this benefit on the several AMEX Platinum cards that I manage.
Also, in regards to the limit on the number of gift cards that can be applied to a purchase at once, there's a straightforward workaround once you know for whom you're going to make purchase. Suppose you have a bunch of $100 gift cards and want to make a $600 purchase for one person. Start by finding a just under $400 ticket, for example $390. It can be on some completely unrelated route than the one you actually want to purchase a ticket for. Use Gift Cards #1, #2, #3, and #4. Then cancel that ticket. You now have ticketless travel fund for a named person in the amount of $390. Now purchase the ticket you actually want. You can apply the canceled ticket's value, plus four additional gift card payments. This maneuver is possible and generates useful result because Southwest has no change fees. Be aware that the name of the passenger matters -- ticketless travel funds from a ticket for John Smith can only be used to purchase a new ticket for John Smith. Also, while in my experience the ticketless travel fund of a canceled ticket is often re-usable within a matter of seconds, sometimes it might take a few hours or overnight. Don't panic too quickly if an attempt to re-use fails. Only bother with calling customer support if the re-use still fails the next day.
I do not have any experience of trying to do something like the above if you for some reason want to put multiple people onto the same ticket purchase (same record locator). I'm not sure if the Web site can keep track of your purchasing travel for John Smith and Jane Doe and apply ticketless travel funds from a former John Smith ticket AND apply ticketless travel funds from a former Jane Doe ticket.
To avoid taking this thread too far off topic, please consult the Southwest specific forum for threads related to this maneuver.
Also, in regards to the limit on the number of gift cards that can be applied to a purchase at once, there's a straightforward workaround once you know for whom you're going to make purchase. Suppose you have a bunch of $100 gift cards and want to make a $600 purchase for one person. Start by finding a just under $400 ticket, for example $390. It can be on some completely unrelated route than the one you actually want to purchase a ticket for. Use Gift Cards #1, #2, #3, and #4. Then cancel that ticket. You now have ticketless travel fund for a named person in the amount of $390. Now purchase the ticket you actually want. You can apply the canceled ticket's value, plus four additional gift card payments. This maneuver is possible and generates useful result because Southwest has no change fees. Be aware that the name of the passenger matters -- ticketless travel funds from a ticket for John Smith can only be used to purchase a new ticket for John Smith. Also, while in my experience the ticketless travel fund of a canceled ticket is often re-usable within a matter of seconds, sometimes it might take a few hours or overnight. Don't panic too quickly if an attempt to re-use fails. Only bother with calling customer support if the re-use still fails the next day.
I do not have any experience of trying to do something like the above if you for some reason want to put multiple people onto the same ticket purchase (same record locator). I'm not sure if the Web site can keep track of your purchasing travel for John Smith and Jane Doe and apply ticketless travel funds from a former John Smith ticket AND apply ticketless travel funds from a former Jane Doe ticket.
To avoid taking this thread too far off topic, please consult the Southwest specific forum for threads related to this maneuver.
Dec 31, 2016, 7:41 am
#777
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: 747 Upper Deck QF J LAX-BNE; A380 SQ SuiteC+D SYD-SIN & SIN-HKG; 777 CX F HKG-JFK; Park Hyatt Sydney
Posts: 513
Business Platinum
11/16 - Picked United to use MPX like I did with my Personal Platinum.
12/28 - Called to change to Southwest because Amazon charges never credited.
12/28 - Bought $75 GC (like a minute later).
12/28 - Bought $63 GC (like two minutes later).
12/28 - Bought $62 GC (like three minutes later).
12/30 - All three credits posted.
11/16 - Picked United to use MPX like I did with my Personal Platinum.
12/28 - Called to change to Southwest because Amazon charges never credited.
12/28 - Bought $75 GC (like a minute later).
12/28 - Bought $63 GC (like two minutes later).
12/28 - Bought $62 GC (like three minutes later).
12/30 - All three credits posted.
Dec 31, 2016, 4:19 pm
#778
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Los Angeles California
Posts: 1,391
Business Platinum
11/16 - Picked United to use MPX like I did with my Personal Platinum.
12/28 - Called to change to Southwest because Amazon charges never credited.
12/28 - Bought $75 GC (like a minute later).
12/28 - Bought $63 GC (like two minutes later).
12/28 - Bought $62 GC (like three minutes later).
12/30 - All three credits posted.
11/16 - Picked United to use MPX like I did with my Personal Platinum.
12/28 - Called to change to Southwest because Amazon charges never credited.
12/28 - Bought $75 GC (like a minute later).
12/28 - Bought $63 GC (like two minutes later).
12/28 - Bought $62 GC (like three minutes later).
12/30 - All three credits posted.
Dec 31, 2016, 4:26 pm
#779
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
That's the rule, but if you have not used any of your benefit in a year Customer Service may agree to change it. It helps to have a plausible story about a change in your travel pattern.
Dec 31, 2016, 7:58 pm
#780
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: 747 Upper Deck QF J LAX-BNE; A380 SQ SuiteC+D SYD-SIN & SIN-HKG; 777 CX F HKG-JFK; Park Hyatt Sydney
Posts: 513
I'd even be willing to bet you could still get it all done in 2016 even at this late hour. The credit for 2016 will of course come in 2017 but...
Last edited by Ed Janowsky; Dec 31, 2016 at 8:12 pm
