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)
Dec 17, 2018, 9:38 am
#1381
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 159
Purchased 250 on aspire on 12/12. Still showing no credit used either.
Dec 17, 2018, 9:42 am
#1382
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Ventura
Programs: Gov't Travel Aficionado, UA Plat
Posts: 288
12/2 Hilton Aspire applied for/approved/first purchase
12/12 Card arrived, selected WN, email confirmation received
12/13 (24+hrs) Purchased $250 e-GC
12/16 e-GC transaction cleared
Still no reimbursement.
12/12 Card arrived, selected WN, email confirmation received
12/13 (24+hrs) Purchased $250 e-GC
12/16 e-GC transaction cleared
Still no reimbursement.
Dec 17, 2018, 12:31 pm
#1383
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 4
12/13- Purchased $100 SW e-GC
12/15- Posted
Still not showing credit used or posting, so I'm a little worried. Though the benefits portion of the site was down for a while this weekend, so maybe it has something to do with that? It took a while for my Saks credit to post too. (Purchased 12/12, posted 12/14, credit posted 12/16.)
12/15- Posted
Still not showing credit used or posting, so I'm a little worried. Though the benefits portion of the site was down for a while this weekend, so maybe it has something to do with that? It took a while for my Saks credit to post too. (Purchased 12/12, posted 12/14, credit posted 12/16.)
Dec 17, 2018, 1:51 pm
#1384
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 1
southwest platinum can be used to buy gift cards
Can Amex platinum be used to buy southwest gift cards?
Dec 17, 2018, 2:18 pm
#1385
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: New York City
Posts: 130
If you have your Amex's Airline Fee Credits set to Southwest, yes. Many people report that it goes through successfully.
Dec 18, 2018, 1:44 am
#1386
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Ventura
Programs: Gov't Travel Aficionado, UA Plat
Posts: 288
12/17 Benefits page now shows the $250 airline credit as having been utilized
Still no reimbursement.
Dec 18, 2018, 8:54 am
#1387
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Cleveland, OH, USA
Programs: Etihad Platinum, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, United Silver
Posts: 45
Changed to Southwest via Amex Chat on 12/14 (Received e-mail at 5:57pm.)
Purchased $200 shortly after
Charge Posted 12/17
Benefit still shows as fully available.
No Reimbursement yet.
I noticed that the document type on the charge does not say "miscellaneous taxes/fees" but rather "SPD/AIR FREIGHT." Can those who've had the reimbursement come through confirm the document type on their charge?
Purchased $200 shortly after
Charge Posted 12/17
Benefit still shows as fully available.
No Reimbursement yet.
I noticed that the document type on the charge does not say "miscellaneous taxes/fees" but rather "SPD/AIR FREIGHT." Can those who've had the reimbursement come through confirm the document type on their charge?
Last edited by MusicMan216; Dec 18, 2018 at 9:03 am
Dec 18, 2018, 9:48 am
#1388
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 29
Schwab Platinum
12/13 Purchased $200 SW egift card
12/18 $200 credit posted
12/13 Purchased $200 SW egift card
12/18 $200 credit posted
Dec 18, 2018, 2:07 pm
#1389
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 1
Vanilla Plat
12/13 Received Card and selected Southwest, email immediately sent. Bought 200 SW Egift card
12/15 Posted to account
12/18 Credit Posted
12/13 Received Card and selected Southwest, email immediately sent. Bought 200 SW Egift card
12/15 Posted to account
12/18 Credit Posted
Dec 18, 2018, 2:49 pm
#1390
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Ventura
Programs: Gov't Travel Aficionado, UA Plat
Posts: 288
I also got a new platinum card I need to try this with. It’s weird that AMEX is changing the Benz Plat to regular Plat on Jan 9. If I apply for a new plat before that date, I get the 60,000 bonus plus get airline reimbursement for both calendar years for both platinum cards. Those who aren’t proactive get hosed!
Dec 18, 2018, 2:55 pm
#1391
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 100
A Negative data point on the Amex Gold Card. Selected Southwest as the airline for the $100 credit, got confirmation email, and immediately bought a $100 eGift Card on December 12th. No credit yet, and the Benefits page does not reflect the credit as used yet.
Dec 18, 2018, 11:24 pm
#1392
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 122
Why are some people making a $250 purchase when the fee credit is $200?
Dec 18, 2018, 11:30 pm
#1393
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Ventura
Programs: Gov't Travel Aficionado, UA Plat
Posts: 288
Dec 19, 2018, 5:16 am
#1394
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: BOS/MHT/PVD/BDL
Programs: Belong to Many but No Longer Loyal to Any
Posts: 880
Can confirm, the purchase posted as SPD/AIR FREIGHT and reimbursement was received.
Dec 19, 2018, 9:10 am
#1395
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Cleveland, OH, USA
Programs: Etihad Platinum, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, United Silver
Posts: 45
Changed to Southwest via Amex Chat on 12/14 (Received e-mail at 5:57pm.)
Purchased $200 shortly after
Charge Posted 12/17
Benefit still shows as fully available.
No Reimbursement yet.
I noticed that the document type on the charge does not say "miscellaneous taxes/fees" but rather "SPD/AIR FREIGHT." Can those who've had the reimbursement come through confirm the document type on their charge?
Purchased $200 shortly after
Charge Posted 12/17
Benefit still shows as fully available.
No Reimbursement yet.
I noticed that the document type on the charge does not say "miscellaneous taxes/fees" but rather "SPD/AIR FREIGHT." Can those who've had the reimbursement come through confirm the document type on their charge?