Using AirTran VDB Voucher on Southwest

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?

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..

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.

Tried to redeem my AirTran VDB yesteday and had a great outcome, so I thought I'd share.

I wanted to book a RT on Southwest from ROC, which took over all AirTran operations here in April. First I called Southwest who immediately told me to call AirTran. So I called the 800-number on the AirTran VDB certificate and explained what I wanted to do.

Their first response was that I could only book on AirTran, but then she put me on hold and after talking with her supervisor offered to convert the VDB certificate to 16 A+ credits which I can convert to a RT on Southwest. I happily accepted the offer and she told me she would send the request to processing, and that I'd be contacted in about 48-hours by a customer service representative who would confirm the conversion and explain expiration dates, etc.

Nice! Something they appear to actually have gotten right in terms of how they treat customers relative to conversion/merger. Obviously they haven't all been flubs but this definitely appears to be a win.

Not necessarily... she referred to it as a "courtesy" a couple of time, maybe to make sure I didn't get the impression that this was a new policy but a one-off. Still, if others can actually use their VDBs this way as a "courtesy" that would greatly increase the value of a VDB.

Well, I never got any kind of follow up phone call, but the 16 credits are in my account and they show an expiration of 2 years from today (standard expiration for A+ members) rather than the December 2013 of my original VDB voucher. A great resolution!

I just got back from a JAX - SEA RT that was booked using Airtran VDB's. WN metal.

The process went as you described...a FL supervisor will retire the VDB and put an equivalent amount of credits in your A+ account. You are then responsible for converting the A+ credits into RR miles and booking your flight on WN.

This was an ongoing process for me...by the time the conversion was authorized, there was no space for reward travel on WN. One of the WN customer service supervisors was very generous in opening up space for us on the needed flight. We booked approximately 3-4 months before our travel date.

This was my first WN transcon. It was OK. We paid the $12.50/seat for early boarding which was worth it. Got to sit where we wanted and luggage arrived OK.

WN allows 2 bags free. This is 2 bags per passenger..not 2 bags/ticket. If you are travelling with a companion, you can check 4 bags. It was nice being able to check the rollaboards.

The new WN cabin scheme is of dubious value. The most charitable observation is that the overhead bins appear to have more space.

When we arrived in SEA, it was raining and our luggage was quite wet. The WN service rep told us that there was nothing that she could do since it rains alot in SEA. She also invited us to check the bag interior to see if anything was damaged. Gimme a break.

Sunday departures on WN from SEA are a mess. Full of cruise ship passengers. It took us 1:40 from arriving at the check-in line until arriving at the departure gate. Leave lots of time or find another day to fly. The check-in line wraps around the terminal (counters not visible from the line) and, at one point, is adjacent to the security line. When we were there, there was no one from WN directing traffic and many WN passengers inadvertently returned to the check in line while thinking that they were going to security. WN eventually sent someone back to clear this up.

Would I do it again? It wasn't terrible but I would still rather be flying FL metal.

I just called airtran and the rep agreed to change my 2 vouchers to A+ rewards with no hesitation. They said 7-10 days for them to show up in my account. Thanks for Info!!