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)
Jul 23, 2019, 3:55 pm
#2041
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 168
Intra-HI is a good use of the credit. Flights are mostly $39-$59 and I think there is a sale for some flights at $29. Most people would be flying one-way between the islands anyway.
Jul 23, 2019, 8:15 pm
#2042
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: EWR
Posts: 81
Lot of talk of using a gift card to knock a flight to sub-$100, in order to trigger a credit for the remaining balance. Also DPs of award fees, especially for intl tickets, counting. But I haven't seen anything from this calendar year of $100+ fees working. Looking specifically at the $112 Nassau departure fees. Anyone seen or remember anything more about award fees? Last positive mention was January.
Jul 23, 2019, 9:21 pm
#2043
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 41
Ok, so can someone sum up on how can we use the airline reimbursement for Southwest?
Jul 23, 2019, 9:24 pm
#2044
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,680
Jul 23, 2019, 9:29 pm
#2045
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 696
Can I book a refundable ticket that’s less than $100. Got reimbursed then cancel ticket to get a refund? Is that possible since southwest is great with refund.
Jul 23, 2019, 9:33 pm
#2046
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,680
I'm not sure, but that seems like it may result in a high risk of getting the credit clawed back. I used my credits on WN GCs back in January, when it still worked. One of my friends was not so lucky. I advised him to do what you're planning on doing (book a ticket less than $100), but to cancel and keep the credit with Southwest (as opposed to having it refunded). That way, Amex doesn't see the refund being processed and should be none the wiser. Then, use the credit on a flight in the future (I believe it expires in 1 year, so you have a full year to use it). I'd do this sooner rather than later just in case Amex makes additional changes to screw us over again (i.e. credits stop working on all flight purchases too).
Jul 23, 2019, 9:44 pm
#2047
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 68
That’s how I see, book a one way ticket under $100, get reimbursed, then cancel the ticket. The amount you pay will get deposit into your travel fund and you have a year to use it. Not ideal but it’s better than nothing.
Jul 23, 2019, 9:52 pm
#2048
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 696
hi if it goes to travel fund, then I can just buy the wanna get away instead of the anytime (refundable) then since wanna get away is cheapest and can be cancelled for travel fund one year as well?
Jul 23, 2019, 10:05 pm
#2049
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 41
Thank you. Also, it appears that Early Bird also can be reimbursed.
https://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/tra...r-part-of-fee/
https://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/tra...r-part-of-fee/
Jul 24, 2019, 10:21 am
#2050
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 36
Data point:
Purchased a $141 one-way ($45 gift card + $96 AMEX) on July 20. So far, no sign of reimbursement.
It seems really clear that AMEX knows it's a ticket. On my online AMEX statement, I'm seeing information included like:
Passenger Name: *****
Date of Departure: *****
Ticket Number: ********
Document Type: PASSENGER TICKET
Itinerary (there's even a fancy graphic showing my segments)
For others who got reimbursed, did your AMEX charge include this much detail? Not holding my breath on this one..
Purchased a $141 one-way ($45 gift card + $96 AMEX) on July 20. So far, no sign of reimbursement.
It seems really clear that AMEX knows it's a ticket. On my online AMEX statement, I'm seeing information included like:
Passenger Name: *****
Date of Departure: *****
Ticket Number: ********
Document Type: PASSENGER TICKET
Itinerary (there's even a fancy graphic showing my segments)
For others who got reimbursed, did your AMEX charge include this much detail? Not holding my breath on this one..
7/20 - $96 charge
7/23 - $96 refunded!!
Jul 24, 2019, 8:00 pm
#2051
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 68
Pretty sure you can buy wanna get away fare. Full refund fare you actually get refund back to your card, non refundable fare gets deposit into your travel fund.
Jul 24, 2019, 9:12 pm
#2052
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 93
i would think you want the Travel Fund since refund to credit card, Amex would know and ban you or claw back?!
Jul 24, 2019, 9:27 pm
#2053
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, AS MVP Gold, National EE, Hertz PC
Posts: 269
More DP:
Family has 2x Aspire and 1x Gold so total of $600 credit to dispense. We bought multiple one way SW tickets using GC split payment method for flights between NorCal and SoCal. GC portion was using same card to purchase if that matters.
7/19 - Purchased ticket
7/23 - Airline credit meter deducted
7/24 - Credit reimbursed
If this method still works for next calendar year, we will consider keeping it. If not, then likely cancel majority of the cards with airline credits.
Family has 2x Aspire and 1x Gold so total of $600 credit to dispense. We bought multiple one way SW tickets using GC split payment method for flights between NorCal and SoCal. GC portion was using same card to purchase if that matters.
7/19 - Purchased ticket
7/23 - Airline credit meter deducted
7/24 - Credit reimbursed
If this method still works for next calendar year, we will consider keeping it. If not, then likely cancel majority of the cards with airline credits.
Jul 24, 2019, 9:34 pm
#2054
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,680
I haven't bought a WN ticket for a long time, but I remember if you were canceling a fully refundable fare, you used to have a choice of either holding it as a credit or getting it paid back in the original form of payment.
Jul 25, 2019, 1:58 am
#2055
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 194
Okay I have tried multiple Houston-DAL one way flight combos as far as dates go, and the cheapest I see on the calendar going out from now until January 2020 are all $105!
What dates are you getting below $100? I'm bewildered at this point....
JAX-FLL, I do see $59 and $64 fares.
What dates are you getting below $100? I'm bewildered at this point....
JAX-FLL, I do see $59 and $64 fares.