AirTran Airways A+ Rewards - Using AirTran VDB Voucher on Southwest

I know moving credits between FL and WN works, but haven't found anything if it is possible to use a FL issued VDB certificate on a WN flight. I'm assuming at this point no, but wanted to confirm.

A buddy has 3 FL VDBs and was looking to use them on WN.

Thanks.

Not possible.

Not possible.

Appreciate the quick response; thanks again.

Not possible.

Yet... at some point Southwest will have to honor that liability?

Simply put it seems just wrong to allow points and credits to swap for a free flight on either but a VDB not.

IMO They could have, and probably should have stepped in and made FLs VDB process just like WN's. That would have been easier to transfer or use.

If Air Tran has cancelled service out of your home city, there is going to be more cooperation getting to use your credits on Southwest. You need to call Southwest Customer Relations. A couple of months ago, they told me "not yet" but in the works.

I was planning on using FL VDB's for a Seattle flight next May.

Is this unrealistic?

I thought that this was going to be handled by code-sharing?

Just earned a VDB voucher from AirTran last week, but they pull out of ROC (my home city) in April, replaced by Southwest. Since the voucher won't expire until December 2013 and AirTran operations will be replaced by Southwest, I was curious if anyone had success in having Southwest honor these in a similar situation.

I'm not sure I'll be able to use it before April, but I know I'll be able to use it, should Southwest allow me, before it expires.

Thanks!

I dont have a clearer picture on what exactly will happen when codeshare arrives. Thats probably item #5671 on a list that includes 10000 codeshare scenarios..

That being said something will happen.

SO that'll have to wait until codesharing? I was hoping WN would just honor it. I guess that means that with just a few months before AirTran goes away the VDB compensation is essentially worthless.

I dont know...I dont live in the realm of VDBs/IDBs...if someone decides to do it earlier then it will be done.

OK... silly question but what are VDBs and IDBs?

OK... silly question but what are VDBs and IDBs?
Voluntary Denied Boarding
Involuntary Denied Boarding

See Section 9B (http://www.airtran.com/common/pdf/AirTran_Contract_of_Carriage.pdf)

News from the front....

If the systems are not combined by the expiration date of the VDB voucher, FL will issue a one time 90 day extension

If FL is unable to honor the voucher to your satisfaction, they will refund the cost of the original ticket.

henryf does not want a refund.....henryf wants to travel

News from the front....

If the systems are not combined by the expiration date of the VDB voucher, FL will issue a one time 90 day extension

If FL is unable to honor the voucher to your satisfaction, they will refund the cost of the original ticket.

henryf does not want a refund.....henryf wants to travel

Yeah, I want to travel too. I'd take a refund... but I'd rather not have to roll the dice and wait and see. I'll probably end up driving to BUF (about 90 minutes away) to fly AirTran somewhere.

FL will extend your expiration date while you wait. Now, the extension is a one time offer for 90 days. If the WN problems continue, who knows how long an extension will be offered?

My impression is that all parties are making a good faith effort to get things done. Lots of money is being spent. The issue is that the difficulty of the task has been continually underestimated.

I am still working on this....might have some more info later in the week

I can't imagine AirTran has many takers on bump vouchers these days out of ROC, CLT or other cities that are becoming Southwest-only stations soon. How ridiculous that the codeshare or any way to use these vouchers on Southwest hasn't come to fruition yet.

This is slightly OT but I have an AirTran gift certificate I puchased 2 years ago during a promo and still have funds left to use - since I fly both AirTran and Southwest - former mainly because of the GC and latter because of some pretty good last minute deals I've found, I was wondering if/when I can apply that certificate towards Southwest travel - well, the AirTran website clearly states they cannot be exchanged for Southwest gift cards:

•AirTran Gift Certificates are not exchangeable or redeemable for Southwest Airlines gift cards.

It also states they do not expire:

•Gift Certificates do not expire.

Now, that is clear, however, when AirTran seizes to exist in couple of years or so and I still have funds in that certificate, what do I do then?

I'm a little better off than most of you since your vouchers do expire - mine technically doesn't but I'm concerned because over the 2 years I've had it, I wasn't able to use all of it and still have money in it that I don't want to lose. I'd rather get a lot of these issues resolved sooner rather than later but given how slow Southwest has been about integrating everything, I'm not gonna hold my breath.

So does the new codeshare announcement mean I can use my AirTran VDB voucher on Southwest out of ROC after AirTran pulls out in April? Or are we still waiting on that capability?

So does the new codeshare announcement mean I can use my AirTran VDB voucher on Southwest out of ROC after AirTran pulls out in April? Or are we still waiting on that capability?

That should work except code-sharing is in its early stages and only few routes have been included so far. WN is saying they should have the majority added by April.

Awesome, thanks for the update. my voucher doesn't expire until December but I won't have a chance to use it before WN takes over in April anyway so this should work well for me.

Thanks again!

How about ATL-SEA? Wife and I have FL VDBs that we got last August. We go to Seattle every Labor Day weekend. Airtran pulled out of Seattle last Labor Day (we were on the very last flight out of SEA). Can we use the FL VDBs on ATL-SEA Southwest flights this Labor Day?

If you really want to use it for Seattle wait a bit more until codeshare is in full swing..

How about ATL-SEA? Wife and I have FL VDBs that we got last August. We go to Seattle every Labor Day weekend. Airtran pulled out of Seattle last Labor Day (we were on the very last flight out of SEA). Can we use the FL VDBs on ATL-SEA Southwest flights this Labor Day?

If you really want to use it for Seattle wait a bit more until codeshare is in full swing..

Okay, I've waited 2 months...how about now??? :)

And does the VDB need to be "completed travel" by the 1 year anniversary, or just "flight booked" bye the 1 year anniversary?

VBDs are from an early August flight; we want to fly ATL-SEA in late August

I just called AirTran to use an AirTran VDB credit on an ATL-SEA Southwest flight...no go. I was hoping that they might allow it since AirTran stopped servicing Seattle within the last year, but the Rep wasn't going to allow it. She did mention that an AirTran flight would just need to be booked before the deadline, travel didn't need to have been completed by then.