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)
Feb 13, 2017, 12:50 pm
#916
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 110
Looks like the $100 card not being reimbursed was an anomaly, possibly due to not waiting long enough after changing the airline selection, although I had received email confirmation of the change.
Feb 14, 2017, 4:20 pm
#917
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 26
I had an issue purchasing my WN gift cards. After hitting the submit button when ordering my first $100 GC, browser spun around for several minutes and eventually went to an error page. I erroneously assumed the transaction failed (I should have checked CC auths, I know), so I went ahead and ordered 2 more $100 GCs. Those two GCs arrived in my email right away, the first one that I didn't think worked ended up arriving a couple of days later.
My Plat credits have already posted. My question is, if I fight WN over this and ask them to take away one of the charges, how likely is AMEX to take away my travel credit?
My Plat credits have already posted. My question is, if I fight WN over this and ask them to take away one of the charges, how likely is AMEX to take away my travel credit?
Feb 15, 2017, 8:30 am
#918
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 14
2x purchases of $100 GC on 2/7
reimbursed 2/9
wife purchased a single $200 GC on 2/12
reimbursed 2/14
reimbursed 2/9
wife purchased a single $200 GC on 2/12
reimbursed 2/14
Feb 15, 2017, 8:53 am
#919
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 1
$100 WN GC charged to PRG 2/12 and reimbursed 2/14.
Feb 17, 2017, 9:38 am
#920
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Brentwood, Tennessee
Posts: 48
Similar situation here. New Business Platinum card. Set WN on 02/07, received confirmation by email same day that the selection of WN had been made. Then bought two $100 WN cards same day, still not reimbursed as of 02/17.
Feb 17, 2017, 9:01 pm
#921
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 110
I think the change hadn't worked into their system despite getting email confirmation before I bought the first card.
Feb 19, 2017, 8:41 am
#922
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5
$200 GC Reimbursements
I purchased a $200 on each of my Platinum cards (the Ameriprise and the Mercedez-Benz) on Feb. 16th. The charges posted a day later (dated 2/16) and the $200 "AMEX Airline Fee Reimbursement" just posted in the last couple of hours (dated 2/18) for both cards. It must be too early for the points to post, even as "Pending", so I can't contribute to the discussion of whether we get to keep the 5x points on the purchase (although other posters have said that we do).
Thanks to everyone who's posted with their success stories in getting single $200 GCs reimbursed...if it hadn't been for you, I'd still be trying to do this in $100 increments!
Oh, and for what it's worth, I had Southwest selected as my airline of choice since last year, which may have contributed to why I got reimbursed so quickly and smoothly!
Thanks to everyone who's posted with their success stories in getting single $200 GCs reimbursed...if it hadn't been for you, I'd still be trying to do this in $100 increments!
Oh, and for what it's worth, I had Southwest selected as my airline of choice since last year, which may have contributed to why I got reimbursed so quickly and smoothly!
Feb 19, 2017, 7:46 pm
#923
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: BOS, PVD, HYA
Programs: MR, TYP, AA, B6, DL, WN, HH, MB, 2V
Posts: 658
Mean to post on this a few days ago, but I kept forgetting, thanks jay75 for the reminder!
You do get the bonus points on the purchases. Kind of..
Membership Rewards are earned at the bonus rate for airfare, but you lose 1x of the points on the "negative" charge for the reimbursement. Basically, you're earning 4x (5x - 1x) on the Platinum, and 2x (3x - 1x) on the PRG.
You do get the bonus points on the purchases. Kind of..
Membership Rewards are earned at the bonus rate for airfare, but you lose 1x of the points on the "negative" charge for the reimbursement. Basically, you're earning 4x (5x - 1x) on the Platinum, and 2x (3x - 1x) on the PRG.
Feb 20, 2017, 6:51 pm
#924
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Oakland, CA USA
Programs: UA MM, Avis CHM
Posts: 118
$100 x 2 GC purchased 2/13, reimbursed 2/16 on a 1 week-old personal platinum card. Thanks to everyone on this thread!
Feb 21, 2017, 7:26 am
#925
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: WN A-List, AA, UA
Posts: 219
Mercedes Benz Business Plat:
Two $100 gift cards purchased on 2/18. Two $100 reimbursements posted on 2/20.
Two $100 gift cards purchased on 2/18. Two $100 reimbursements posted on 2/20.
Feb 23, 2017, 6:45 pm
#926
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Bay Area
Programs: M Life Gold, Hyatt Platinum, Hilton Gold, Southwest
Posts: 2
I bought a $100 SWA gift card on 2/20 and the credit posted today 2/23 but was backdated to 2/22.
Mar 1, 2017, 11:17 pm
#927
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: Rapid Rewards, United, AA, HHonors, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 21
Do in flight wi-fi or movie purchases ever get reimbursed? I found a few replies from 2012 that state they did not, but has anything changed? Are GC the best option for WN other than in flight booze/snacks?
Mar 4, 2017, 7:15 am
#928
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: AMEX MR, Southwest, HH Diamond, M Life, Hertz, Amtrak
Posts: 39
Confirming AMEX Airline Fee Reimbursements - hit $200 in January
- $15 early bird
- $95 gift card
- $65 gift card
- $5.60 junk fees on reward flight
- $5 onboard drink
- $14.40 early bird
Total credit
- $200
Last edited by awesomeness2; Mar 4, 2017 at 1:41 pm
Mar 4, 2017, 5:06 pm
#929
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: Rapid Rewards, United, AA, HHonors, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 21
I personally have had problems with WN wifi service & billing, as well as purchased movies, so I no longer bother with either. Free TV is available on WN too.
Confirming AMEX Airline Fee Reimbursements - hit $200 in January
- $15 early bird
- $95 gift card
- $65 gift card
- $5.60 junk fees on reward flight
- $5 onboard drink
- $14.40 early bird
Total credit
- $200
Confirming AMEX Airline Fee Reimbursements - hit $200 in January
- $15 early bird
- $95 gift card
- $65 gift card
- $5.60 junk fees on reward flight
- $5 onboard drink
- $14.40 early bird
Total credit
- $200
Mar 4, 2017, 6:37 pm
#930
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 1
Purchased $200 gift card with Amex Platinum on 3/2 and credit posted on 3/3.