Originally Posted by
yonatan
Oh, that's actually a pretty good solution here (this was a very expensive round trip). I wouldn't even mind paying this fee and then donating the voucher to a charity for a tax writeoff. Is this a sure thing that any CSR would know about, or is there a particular place where this request should be directed to and any magic words I need to use to get this option?
Also, do I actually need to wait until the credit expires or can I do this right away? Given that it's an unwritten rule, and how much things have evolved at WN over the last year, I might just prefer to know that I had this set.
Thanks so much for offering me a ray of hope!
You need to speak to Customer Relations (not the phone reservation line). I recommend via direct message on Twitter or Facebook. You do have to wait until the travel fund has expired, and you have 6 months from that expiration in which to make the request. The fee is currently $100 per travel fund/person, which will be deducted from the funds balance. The voucher is valid for 6 months from the date of issue, and is good for use by anyone (unlike travel funds) but only for the airfare portion, not any taxes or fees. If you have multiple smaller travel funds (for the same person) consider combining them before they expire so you'll only be charged the $100 fee once.
Everything about this is subject to change -- including the fee, which has risen from $50 to $75 to now $100 over the years. While Southwest maintains that these are granted on a case-by-case basis, I've never heard of anyone being denied.