Sep 17, 2014, 10:45 am
Last edit by: Tanic
Reminder: you must enroll and select Southwest as your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase.
Some have suggested the need to wait several hours or even a day before making the purchase, but there are also several DPs that worked without waiting that long.
(BTW, you will often hear people refer to Southwest as WN. WN is the IATA code for Southwest Airlines. SW is the IATA code for Air Namibia.)
Caution: As of late July 2019, reports are that direct gift card purchases are no longer being reimbursed.
To purchase click here: https://www.southwest.com/gift-card/create-card.html Caution: Do NOT login to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account when making the purchase.
What does appear to work is buying flight tickets less than $100, OR using gift cards to get the charged amount down to less than $100.
Always read the last few pages to get up-to-date DPs.
Some have suggested the need to wait several hours or even a day before making the purchase, but there are also several DPs that worked without waiting that long.
(BTW, you will often hear people refer to Southwest as WN. WN is the IATA code for Southwest Airlines. SW is the IATA code for Air Namibia.)
Caution: As of late July 2019, reports are that direct gift card purchases are no longer being reimbursed.
What does appear to work is buying flight tickets less than $100, OR using gift cards to get the charged amount down to less than $100.
Always read the last few pages to get up-to-date DPs.
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (2011-2019)
Jan 13, 2019, 1:06 pm
#1531
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 17
What's the consensus for AMEX Hilton Aspire purchase 1x $250 WN GC? Will it credit or will I need to break it out into $100x2 and $50x1?
Jan 13, 2019, 1:32 pm
#1532
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 5
Data points for Personal Platinum and Gold:
Plat: $200 WN GC on 1/4, posted 1/6, credited 1/8
Gold: $100 WN GC on 1/9, posted 1/11, credited 1/13
Plat: $200 WN GC on 1/4, posted 1/6, credited 1/8
Gold: $100 WN GC on 1/9, posted 1/11, credited 1/13
Jan 14, 2019, 7:37 am
#1534
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 6
1-11 $100 EGC with Aspire Card
1-13 $100 Credit Posted
1-13 $100 Credit Posted
Jan 14, 2019, 8:26 am
#1535
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: DFW
Posts: 522
AMEX Gold
1/11/19 - $100 GC purchase
1/14/19 - AMEX AIRLINE FEE REIMBURSEMENT
1/11/19 - $100 GC purchase
1/14/19 - AMEX AIRLINE FEE REIMBURSEMENT
Jan 14, 2019, 10:38 am
#1537
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 29
AMEX Gold
1/10/19 - $100 GC purchase
1/13/19 - Purchase posted
1/14/19 - Credit Posted
1/10/19 - $100 GC purchase
1/13/19 - Purchase posted
1/14/19 - Credit Posted
Jan 14, 2019, 11:20 am
#1538
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 5
Most likely, both of you made the purchase too soon after choosing Southwest as your preferred airline. However, it's also possible that there was a technical problem identifying eligible transactions made that night. In that case the transactions could be picked up later this month.
Jan 14, 2019, 11:53 am
#1539
Join Date: May 2002
Location: PDX
Programs: AA LT Plat, Bonvoy LTTit
Posts: 295
Pretty fast as usual
Bought 200 gc Jan 10
credit on Jan 13
credit on Jan 13
Jan 14, 2019, 12:07 pm
#1540
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Jan 14, 2019, 1:52 pm
#1541
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Texas, USA
Programs: SPG Gold, Hilton Diamond, Club Carlson Gold, Hyatt Explorist, BA Bronze, BW Diamond Elite
Posts: 31
I used my Amex Platinum to pay the remaining amount on a flight of $54.99 on 1/4. Credited on 1/8.
Jan 14, 2019, 4:10 pm
#1542
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 88
Like others have said, if it's not picked up through their initial scan as a reimbursable fee, then it will take a month for the batch processing to occur. Wait 4 weeks, then see. Sometimes people that purchase a GC too soon after selecting their airline won't get picked up on the initial scan.
And remember, reimbursement for GC is specifically against their policy. Best to just use the GCs as cash equivalent anyway, nothing lost.
And remember, reimbursement for GC is specifically against their policy. Best to just use the GCs as cash equivalent anyway, nothing lost.
Jan 14, 2019, 4:45 pm
#1543
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve
Posts: 811
Amex personal platinum DP:
Southwest pre-selected from last year
01/07 Purchased $200 GC from link in this wiki
01/10 Credited
Southwest pre-selected from last year
01/07 Purchased $200 GC from link in this wiki
01/10 Credited
Jan 14, 2019, 5:33 pm
#1544
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
I appreciate the data point. There was a reference somewhere to a post saying the coding had been changed on the Aspire so that gift cards were not going to be credited. That appears to be false. I was holding off on using my airline credit on my aspire this year, but I'll go ahead now.
Jan 14, 2019, 8:33 pm
#1545
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 400
AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire
1/10/19 - $100, $100, and $50 GCs purchased (about 10 minutes apart)
1/13/19 - Credit Posted for all $250
1/10/19 - $100, $100, and $50 GCs purchased (about 10 minutes apart)
1/13/19 - Credit Posted for all $250