cancelling due to COVID19: wallet funds, certificate, or wait for possible refund?
Mar 18, 2020, 8:42 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,638
cancelling due to COVID19: wallet funds, certificate, or wait for possible refund?
my family has (had) a trip booked through costco from california to hawaii in early april, flying alaska. as of today, costco is offering full refunds of the non-airline portion of the booking, but directing everyone to contact airlines directly for the flight portion.
also as of today, alaska's COVID19 policy is as follows:
while i would expect flights booked through costco are likely "saver" fares, i don't have any fixed plans so i don't view changing my trip to be a viable option. plus, i don't see any benefit to changing the trip if i can get credit for the full amount to use later.
but my big questions are:
also as of today, alaska's COVID19 policy is as follows:
- Change your trip without a fee. New travel must be completed by February 28, 2021. A fare difference may apply to your new itinerary. (applies to saver fares only)
- Cancel your trip without a fee and deposit the funds into My Account wallet or receive a credit certificate for future travel. (applies to everything, including saver fares)
but my big questions are:
- is there any advantage to taking the "my account wallet" option over a "credit certificate"?
- is it realistic/plausible to wait and see whether alaska changes their policy further to allow refunds (as opposed to travel credits)?
- are there other options i'm missing or not aware of?
Mar 18, 2020, 3:17 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2017
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See my Post here.
James
Last edited by Flying for Fun; Mar 18, 2020 at 3:22 pm
Mar 18, 2020, 3:20 pm
#4
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For OP, credit vouchers and wallet has same value and expiration dates. Personally, I would prefer the amount in wallet as your credit stays in your frequent flyer account and less likeliness of loss if misplacement or accidentally deleted. The convenience of wallet funds is that you can use them when you are at its website to booking at Alaskaair.com. You will be prompted to using the wallet funds prior to completing the transaction. The extra reminder step help you in the booking process with no ticket. Umber to dig up. You will likely not be able to use these credits at Costco travel for either option however.
Jiburi
Jiburi
Mar 18, 2020, 4:29 pm
#5
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my family has (had) a trip booked through costco from california to hawaii in early april, flying alaska. as of today, costco is offering full refunds of the non-airline portion of the booking, but directing everyone to contact airlines directly for the flight portion.
also as of today, alaska's COVID19 policy is as follows:
while i would expect flights booked through costco are likely "saver" fares, i don't have any fixed plans so i don't view changing my trip to be a viable option. plus, i don't see any benefit to changing the trip if i can get credit for the full amount to use later.
but my big questions are:
also as of today, alaska's COVID19 policy is as follows:
while i would expect flights booked through costco are likely "saver" fares, i don't have any fixed plans so i don't view changing my trip to be a viable option. plus, i don't see any benefit to changing the trip if i can get credit for the full amount to use later.
but my big questions are:
- is there any advantage to taking the "my account wallet" option over a "credit certificate"?
- is it realistic/plausible to wait and see whether alaska changes their policy further to allow refunds (as opposed to travel credits)?
- are there other options i'm missing or not aware of?
I would defer to My Wallet just so I don't have to keep track of the email and PIN until I'm ready to use it. Also, the Wallet tracks the fund expiration dates in one place, which is nice if you have lots of wallet transactions
This may have been user error - but I have found that you can't combine credit certificate funds with my wallet funds.
You can use multiple credit certificates for a purchase
Your wallet funds combine automatically
But using both at the same time didn't work for me. YMMV
Mar 18, 2020, 7:55 pm
#6
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One question: is there a way to only use partial wallet funds (and apply credit card payment for rest) if the wallet funds exceed the ticket price? If you can’t, that would then eliminate the credit card insurance benefit of CSR and Amex Plat, and I have built up quite a chunk of wallet credit...
Mar 18, 2020, 9:33 pm
#8
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,638
thanks for the tip! i did check and my flight is still on their schedule, but i have to wait and see whether that changes.
Mar 18, 2020, 11:20 pm
#9
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I agree with using Wallet for simplicity sake and did just that.
One question: is there a way to only use partial wallet funds (and apply credit card payment for rest) if the wallet funds exceed the ticket price? If you can’t, that would then eliminate the credit card insurance benefit of CSR and Amex Plat, and I have built up quite a chunk of wallet credit...
One question: is there a way to only use partial wallet funds (and apply credit card payment for rest) if the wallet funds exceed the ticket price? If you can’t, that would then eliminate the credit card insurance benefit of CSR and Amex Plat, and I have built up quite a chunk of wallet credit...
Mar 19, 2020, 1:01 am
#10
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I agree with using Wallet for simplicity sake and did just that.
One question: is there a way to only use partial wallet funds (and apply credit card payment for rest) if the wallet funds exceed the ticket price? If you can’t, that would then eliminate the credit card insurance benefit of CSR and Amex Plat, and I have built up quite a chunk of wallet credit...
One question: is there a way to only use partial wallet funds (and apply credit card payment for rest) if the wallet funds exceed the ticket price? If you can’t, that would then eliminate the credit card insurance benefit of CSR and Amex Plat, and I have built up quite a chunk of wallet credit...
Last edited by beckoa; Mar 23, 2020 at 5:45 pm Reason: fix quote
Mar 19, 2020, 6:54 am
#11
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Not sure, but your suggestion gave me another idea: book a cheaper placeholder flight to temporarily consume part of the wallet, then book the real flight with partial wallet and credit card payment, and subsequently use 24 hour free cancellation to be rid of placeholder flight and put money back into wallet. Technically presumably a violation of the T&C/CoC (bookings flight one doesn’t intend to take).