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 27, 2017, 10:57 am
#901
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 17
Received $100 back twice on 01/27 and 01/21. 3 days until reimbursement for each SWA gc.
Jan 27, 2017, 1:21 pm
#902
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 1
Purchased one $200 SW gc on 1/8/17, reimbursed $200 on 1/10.
Jan 28, 2017, 3:20 pm
#903
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 17
Had SWA as my annual selection in 2016 without issue. Kept SW as my selection in 2017. Purchased $100 gift card on 1/21. Seven days have passed, no credit. What gives?
Feb 1, 2017, 3:32 pm
#905
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 31
$100 GC purchased on 1/29 immediately after receiving my new card from the recent incognito 50K MR/$2K spend offer and setting my airline as WN. That was a Sunday. I saw the $100 credit on my account today, dated 1/31.
Feb 2, 2017, 5:43 pm
#906
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 4
My DP:
1/25 - Rec'd Amex Biz Platinum
1/30 - WN Airline Selection
1/30 - Purchased two $100 e-Gift cards in separate transactions
1/30 - Paid for WN award taxes/fees with e-gift cards and remainder ($44.62) on Amex
2/1 - Received credits for $100, $44.62, and $55.38
Note: They credited for both the gift card transactions and the taxes/fees transaction.
1/25 - Rec'd Amex Biz Platinum
1/30 - WN Airline Selection
1/30 - Purchased two $100 e-Gift cards in separate transactions
1/30 - Paid for WN award taxes/fees with e-gift cards and remainder ($44.62) on Amex
2/1 - Received credits for $100, $44.62, and $55.38
Note: They credited for both the gift card transactions and the taxes/fees transaction.
Feb 3, 2017, 11:15 am
#907
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 17
So, I may just buy up the rest of my $200 allotment in $50 increments going forward.
Feb 4, 2017, 9:59 am
#908
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 110
I purchased a $100 card on the 29th of Jan. As of 4th Feb, no credit. I only changed the airline selection, just before making the charge, so perhaps that could be a factor. I'll try again with a smaller GC purchase and see if I can get it to trigger.
Feb 4, 2017, 11:11 am
#909
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,938
Same problem for me but with AA. I may try $50 once to see if that goes through.
Feb 4, 2017, 6:56 pm
#910
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: SF
Programs: Elite status at local McDonalds, Carwash, and Post Office
Posts: 51
I just bought 2x $100 SW gift cards on Personal Platinum Amex (one transaction), charge posted on on Feb. 1st, fee was credited Feb. 3rd. I just did another one on my wife's PRG. Hope this works next year too!
Feb 7, 2017, 9:58 pm
#912
Join Date: Oct 2015
Programs: HH Dia, Marriott Titanium, AA Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 192
Just another DP--noticed today I got 5X bonus MR points for the 2 $100 GC's purchased--nice
Feb 9, 2017, 7:51 am
#914
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: BOS, PVD, HYA
Programs: MR, TYP, AA, B6, DL, WN, HH, MB, 2V
Posts: 658
Feb 9, 2017, 5:57 pm
#915
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 110
Spouse's purchase of a $25 card got reimbursed after 2 days. Purchased Feb 6, reimbursed Feb 8, but my $100 GC purchased still not.