Got 12 of these e-mails overnight, trying to get pax to cancel and take travel funds instead of Southwest cancelling the flights and paying refunds:
We are proactively notifying you that your upcoming trip to, from, or connecting through San Jose, Costa Rica on May 17, 2020 will be affected by upcoming reductions we are making to our flight schedule.
We encourage you to rebook your trip for travel on or after June 6, 2020 and within 60 days of your original travel date by visiting Southwest.com/rebook*. Doing this online is your best option and will be available until Monday, March 30 at 5 p.m. CST.
You can change your travel to a date 60 days from the original date of travel without paying any difference in fare if you are traveling between the same origin and destination. Look for flights that display as "Available." Flights that show a price point are not eligible for a change without paying a fare difference. We recommend doing this online as call volumes are likely to be very high, so wait times to reach a Southwest® Representative may be long.
If you do not modify your travel by Monday, March 30 at 5 p.m. CST, a Southwest Representative will reach out to you in the coming weeks to discuss how you would like to handle your reservation. If you are unsure of your travel plans, you can also cancel your flight by visiting Southwest.com/rebook* and retain those funds for future travel. The funds used to pay for a nonrefundable ticket are normally valid for one year from the date of purchase. However, in recognition of the current travel environment, we are extending the expiration date of some travel funds:
• Customers' funds that have expired or will expire between March 1-May 31, 2020, will now expire June 30, 2021.
• Any travel funds created because of a flight cancellation between March 1-May 31, 2020, will have an expiration date of June 30, 2021.
It will take our Technology Teams a few weeks to make these changes. Once you're ready to use these funds, simply use XXXXXX as the way to access these funds in the future—similar to "store credit" at most retail establishments.*
Please know we are dedicated to giving Southwest® Customers our full support and heartfelt Hospitality as we respond to this disruption. Thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time.
Sincerely –
Your friends at Southwest Airlines®