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 25, 2015, 8:21 pm
#376
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 4
Enrolled on 7/20, both Plat and PRG at same time.
7/21 purchased $100 e-GC on Plat and PRG, buy another $100 on Plat one hour later.
Got all my credit back on 7/24, but actually posted on 7/25 9AM.
so total $300 back this year! Awesome!!
7/21 purchased $100 e-GC on Plat and PRG, buy another $100 on Plat one hour later.
Got all my credit back on 7/24, but actually posted on 7/25 9AM.
so total $300 back this year! Awesome!!
Aug 2, 2015, 10:03 am
#377
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 731
Enrolled my PRG on Saturday 8/1. Going to purchase on Monday 8/3. I'm paranoid that something may not get processed correctly over the weekend. Will update this post after I make a purchase / get a credit.
Edit:
Purchased $100 gift card on 8/3
Received $100 statement credit on 8/5
Everything went smoothly!
Edit:
Purchased $100 gift card on 8/3
Received $100 statement credit on 8/5
Everything went smoothly!
Last edited by yOyOYoo; Aug 6, 2015 at 8:03 am
Aug 4, 2015, 8:53 am
#378
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 127
just registered Southwest as my airline today. I need to purchase a flight pretty soon, so I'm wondering how long I need to wait to buy a $100 gift card. Could I do it today and be reimbursed? any data points for this?
EDIT: Looks like 24 hours should be good enough, 48 if I want to be extra careful?
EDIT: Looks like 24 hours should be good enough, 48 if I want to be extra careful?
Last edited by nonstopski; Aug 4, 2015 at 9:05 am
Aug 4, 2015, 3:59 pm
#379
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 169
just registered Southwest as my airline today. I need to purchase a flight pretty soon, so I'm wondering how long I need to wait to buy a $100 gift card. Could I do it today and be reimbursed? any data points for this?
EDIT: Looks like 24 hours should be good enough, 48 if I want to be extra careful?
EDIT: Looks like 24 hours should be good enough, 48 if I want to be extra careful?
Aug 5, 2015, 1:28 am
#380
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 714
I also selected SW on PRG about 30 mins ago and will buy a gift card in a few more hours. Hoping for the best!
$100 gift card purchased on 8/5
$100 reimbursement 8/7
$100 gift card purchased on 8/5
$100 reimbursement 8/7
Last edited by diseased; Aug 9, 2015 at 4:16 am
Aug 8, 2015, 3:03 pm
#381
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 84
Adding my data points to the thread:
Designated Southwest as my airline of choice a couple of months ago (wanted to wait a few days to purchase but then more or less forgot about it).
Purchased two $100 gift cards in the same order on 7/31 with my Ameriprise Amex Platinum.
Received $200 statement credit on 8/3.
Designated Southwest as my airline of choice a couple of months ago (wanted to wait a few days to purchase but then more or less forgot about it).
Purchased two $100 gift cards in the same order on 7/31 with my Ameriprise Amex Platinum.
Received $200 statement credit on 8/3.
Aug 12, 2015, 12:20 pm
#382
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Newport Beach, CA
Posts: 286
FYI, I originally selected Jet Blue but then switched it to WN over chat, not a problem. Bought $100 e-gc on 8/8 and the credit posted on 8/11 
Now I've gotta go cancel my PRG
Now I've gotta go cancel my PRG
Aug 15, 2015, 9:56 pm
#383
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 329
Sorry guys could be a dumb question:
getting my first amex plat card - i have a trip on southwest airlines at the end of next month. just to clarify i can enroll to southwest airlines and then buy e-gift card from southwest website to get the $$ reimbursed?
Thanks!
getting my first amex plat card - i have a trip on southwest airlines at the end of next month. just to clarify i can enroll to southwest airlines and then buy e-gift card from southwest website to get the $$ reimbursed?
Thanks!
Aug 17, 2015, 3:30 pm
#384
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 731
Yup. Up to $200 for your AMEX Platinum card
Aug 24, 2015, 6:53 pm
#387
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,953
Aug 25, 2015, 2:38 pm
#389
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 119
Has anyone had luck purchasing a gift card? I haven't been able to for the past few days. When I click purchase it immediately shows this:
Oops!
We were unable to process your request right now. Please try again or if you continue to have difficulties, please contact a Southwest Airlines Customer Service Representative at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) (SW104105)
Oops!
We were unable to process your request right now. Please try again or if you continue to have difficulties, please contact a Southwest Airlines Customer Service Representative at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) (SW104105)
Aug 26, 2015, 11:56 am
#390
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 329
Has anyone had luck purchasing a gift card? I haven't been able to for the past few days. When I click purchase it immediately shows this:
Oops!
We were unable to process your request right now. Please try again or if you continue to have difficulties, please contact a Southwest Airlines Customer Service Representative at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) (SW104105)
Oops!
We were unable to process your request right now. Please try again or if you continue to have difficulties, please contact a Southwest Airlines Customer Service Representative at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) (SW104105)