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)
Jan 3, 2017, 10:47 pm
#796
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 250
Worldtraveler1508 seems extremely impatient to jump the bandwagon and call it dead and very smart to call amex about it.
Anyways, purchased $100 SW egift card on the 1st, and checked about 3 minutes ago and shows under the benefit section that I've saved $100 on airlines fees this year. Although the credit hasn't appeared yet, that itself is promising to see and credit should post sometime tomorrow on the 4th (I'm in Pacific time) Will report 2morrow.
Anyways, purchased $100 SW egift card on the 1st, and checked about 3 minutes ago and shows under the benefit section that I've saved $100 on airlines fees this year. Although the credit hasn't appeared yet, that itself is promising to see and credit should post sometime tomorrow on the 4th (I'm in Pacific time) Will report 2morrow.
Jan 4, 2017, 6:24 am
#797
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 8
I purchased $50 SW giftcard on 1/1 . My travel credit posted today . So no need to worry and call Amex.
Jan 4, 2017, 6:47 am
#798
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Los Angeles California
Posts: 1,391
Purchased $53 GC on 1/2 and credit showed up today.
Jan 4, 2017, 7:24 am
#801
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4
GC
Purchased on 1st January. Charges posted to my account this morning. No reimbursement triggered - unlike what happened with United MPX in the past (charge posts and reimbursement occurs at same time).
Called because I did not get reimbursed for it and wanted to see if calling may fix an error.
The real folks giving it away are those posting it in public on their blogs.
Called because I did not get reimbursed for it and wanted to see if calling may fix an error.
The real folks giving it away are those posting it in public on their blogs.
There is no error, and charges and credits can not post at the same time. The A/L needs to submit the authorization request, then the airline settles with the credit card association, then the charge posts to your account, and THEN Amex systems detect the charge and issue credit. This process takes a few days at minimum.
Signed...Someone that works for a credit card association for the past 30 years! And yes Virginia, the Associations have social media teams that periodically check the internet for posts like these, after they receive a call with a "tip", like you placed.
Jan 4, 2017, 7:32 am
#802
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 80
Purchased $200 gift card in single transaction on 1/1; credit posted with yesterday's date (although I didn't see it as of last night but I see it this morning).
Jan 4, 2017, 7:38 am
#804
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 4
Perhaps I'm the odd man out here, but I purchased 2 $100 SW GC's on 12/27 and they have yet to be reimbursed for 2016 or 2017. WN was selected as my airline ~10 minutes prior to the purchases. I'm not holding my breath for these to be credited at this point.
Jan 4, 2017, 8:58 am
#805
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 250
Worldtraveler1508 seems extremely impatient to jump the bandwagon and call it dead and very smart to call amex about it.
Anyways, purchased $100 SW egift card on the 1st, and checked about 3 minutes ago and shows under the benefit section that I've saved $100 on airlines fees this year. Although the credit hasn't appeared yet, that itself is promising to see and credit should post sometime tomorrow on the 4th (I'm in Pacific time) Will report 2morrow.
Anyways, purchased $100 SW egift card on the 1st, and checked about 3 minutes ago and shows under the benefit section that I've saved $100 on airlines fees this year. Although the credit hasn't appeared yet, that itself is promising to see and credit should post sometime tomorrow on the 4th (I'm in Pacific time) Will report 2morrow.
Jan 4, 2017, 2:55 pm
#806
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 64
FYI from their Twitter team
Okay, so I received word that specifically on January 2nd, all the gift cards ordered weren't processed correctly. There was an error in the system and the Team is working on the fix right now. I'm sorry about this. If you're trying to book a fight right now, I'd be more than happy to book it for you and put it on hold so you don't lose that fare.
Last edited by mia; Jan 4, 2017 at 3:03 pm Reason: Formatting
Jan 4, 2017, 8:32 pm
#809
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 20
Thanks. Bought mine on 1/1 - posted on 1/3, got reimbursed on 1/4. Agreed I should not have called Amex - that was a rookie mistake. I was not aware it was actually excluded under T&C. Thanks for those who replied with their own experiences.
Jan 5, 2017, 8:32 am
#810
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
I was hoping and expecting to see worldtraveler come back and post an update with positive news. It would be odd if he/she didn't get reimbursed when it appears everyone else has been. [Oops -- obviously I missed the post immediately above mine].
Last edited by LWT3; Jan 5, 2017 at 12:39 pm