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 26, 2019, 2:23 pm
#2071
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 231
If you want to get technical, Amex is clearly violating their own terms by applying the $100 cap. Terms say its based solely on coding for automatic redemption (same as category %s) but they're adding arbitrary additional rules on top that are undisclosed. Buy several early bird on one itinerary and Amex won't approve it automatically because of these undisclosed additional constraints.
Last edited by B3nder; Jul 26, 2019 at 2:29 pm
Jul 26, 2019, 3:03 pm
#2072
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,672
while they can change the terms or even remove the feature entirely, I strongly disagree with this statement. The Amex terms clearly say they aren't responsible for coding of charges that qualify, that it's up to the airline to properly code charges. Yes, if the airline coded the charges not as incidentals, Then they would not qualify for manual credit. But we are clearly NOT violating any terms by making valid charges that are simply coded to satisfy the incidentals reimbursement.
If you want to get technical, Amex is clearly violating their own terms by applying the $100 cap. Terms say its based solely on coding for automatic redemption (same as category %s) but they're adding arbitrary additional rules on top that are undisclosed. Buy several early bird on one itinerary and Amex won't approve it automatically because of these undisclosed additional constraints.
If you want to get technical, Amex is clearly violating their own terms by applying the $100 cap. Terms say its based solely on coding for automatic redemption (same as category %s) but they're adding arbitrary additional rules on top that are undisclosed. Buy several early bird on one itinerary and Amex won't approve it automatically because of these undisclosed additional constraints.
American Express relies on accurate airline transaction data to identify incidental fee purchases. If you do not see a credit for a qualifying incidental purchase on your eligible Card after 4 weeks, simply call the number on the back of your Card. See terms & conditions for more details.
Jul 26, 2019, 5:22 pm
#2073
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 825
Hey! Thanks for the clarification. I had read previous DPs on EBC so hoped it would apply. If it helps, I actually already paid for the flights themselves earlier this year, so when I got the card I went in and added early bird to all of them. They all posted as their own individual charges (even if I got early bird both ways in a RT, it charged as $20 per early bird), so now I have a bunch of Southwest charges that range from $15-25 depending on how much it was for that specific flight.
Jul 26, 2019, 8:35 pm
#2074
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 231
Unrelated, (from username and join date, assuming you joined flyertalk researching to go and see the STS-134 launch? I must have done the same thing, similar join date) That launch was amazing! I was also there for it, on the causeway. Fortunately I also made 131, 132 and 135 all from the causeway. Flyertalk helped me really low-budget those trips. And those trips also cemented hilton as the chain I've mostly stuck with due to MVP and now Aspire.
Jul 26, 2019, 9:38 pm
#2075
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,672
Agreed, I didn't mean to imply otherwise.
Unrelated, (from username and join date, assuming you joined flyertalk researching to go and see the STS-134 launch? I must have done the same thing, similar join date) That launch was amazing! I was also there for it, on the causeway. Fortunately I also made 131, 132 and 135 all from the causeway. Flyertalk helped me really low-budget those trips. And those trips also cemented hilton as the chain I've mostly stuck with due to MVP and now Aspire.
Unrelated, (from username and join date, assuming you joined flyertalk researching to go and see the STS-134 launch? I must have done the same thing, similar join date) That launch was amazing! I was also there for it, on the causeway. Fortunately I also made 131, 132 and 135 all from the causeway. Flyertalk helped me really low-budget those trips. And those trips also cemented hilton as the chain I've mostly stuck with due to MVP and now Aspire.
In any case, the incident that triggered me to join FT was actually related to WN. WN had rolled out Rapid Rewards 2.0, and I was dissatisfied with the new terms, which basically meant that I wouldn't be able to fly 16 short intra-California hops and redeem for a cross-country trip. So, I decided to switch to UA and I've never been very loyal to WN ever since that time. But at the time, I realized I hardly knew anything about UA's FF program and this was a great resource to learn.
Jul 27, 2019, 7:56 am
#2076
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: IAD / DCA
Programs: AA EP, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, United Silver, Bonvoy Titanium.
Posts: 158
Adding a DP:
7/22 selected WN as airline
7/23 purchased two $99 tickets
7/26 counter went down
7/27 reimbursed
7/22 selected WN as airline
7/23 purchased two $99 tickets
7/26 counter went down
7/27 reimbursed
Jul 27, 2019, 10:31 am
#2077
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 194
Business Platinum card
7/25 selected WN as airline
7/25 bought 3 separate tickets under $100
7/27 airline credit counter went to 0
Expecting official refund tomorrow or Monday
7/25 selected WN as airline
7/25 bought 3 separate tickets under $100
7/27 airline credit counter went to 0
Expecting official refund tomorrow or Monday
Jul 27, 2019, 2:02 pm
#2078
Join Date: Jul 2019
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, Newbie
Posts: 5
Hilton Aspire
7/25 selected WN as airline
7/25 bought 1 ticket $61.98
Document Type: PASSENGER TICKET
Not holding my breath.
7/25 selected WN as airline
7/25 bought 1 ticket $61.98
Document Type: PASSENGER TICKET
Not holding my breath.
Jul 27, 2019, 7:05 pm
#2080
Join Date: May 2016
Location: In btw SJC & SFO
Programs: Marriott Titanium & LTP, Hilton Diamond (Aspire card), Hyatt Globalist, UA Gold (almost free agent)
Posts: 510
Jul 29, 2019, 6:13 am
#2081
Join Date: Jul 2019
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, Newbie
Posts: 5
Jul 29, 2019, 4:22 pm
#2082
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 6
I haven't seen any data points relating to a split payment where the remainder is over $100 so here we go
7/25 - $354 trip booked:
$150 - Gift Card that was reimbursed in January for the Aspire Card
$100 - Gift Card that was reimbursed in January for the Aspire Card
$104 - Paid with Gold card
I am hoping my $100 gold card credit will be applied and I will have just paid $4 but I am not holding my breath.
7/25 - $354 trip booked:
$150 - Gift Card that was reimbursed in January for the Aspire Card
$100 - Gift Card that was reimbursed in January for the Aspire Card
$104 - Paid with Gold card
I am hoping my $100 gold card credit will be applied and I will have just paid $4 but I am not holding my breath.
7/28 - Gold card reimbursed with the $100 airline credit
I don't know how much over $100 will work but my split fare with the remaining $104 was successful!
Jul 29, 2019, 6:43 pm
#2083
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: UA gold; WN A; PC plat; Marriott Gold
Posts: 425
Gold card had $70.02 of airline fee reimbursement left for the year. Needed to travel on a WN flight that cost $234.98. applied a $100 egiftcard purchased previously and a newly purchased $64.96 egiftcard. Then used Gold card to pay the $70.02 balance. $70.02 charge posted on 7/23. $70.02 credit posted to card on 7/25.
Jul 29, 2019, 10:19 pm
#2085
Join Date: Oct 2016
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards
Posts: 19
Bought two flights with credits plus $38 and $23 on the Plat credit card on 7/25/19. Reimbursed on 7/28/19. Meter says data not currently available.