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)
Sep 25, 2012, 9:26 am
#91
Join Date: Nov 2009
Programs: United 1P; AA Gold; National EE; SPG Plat; HH Gold; Fairmont Plat
Posts: 194
Any recent data points - it is unclear from all the comments whether e-gift cards still work and if they require any proactive reaching out to Amex to be manually adhusted?
Thanks
Thanks
Sep 27, 2012, 2:15 pm
#92
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 171
I recently reached out to AMEX CSR and was able to get credit for a $100 physical card and several EB fees that were months old and had never credited. Don't know what is wrong with their automatic credit system. Used to be everything credited w/in a few days. YMMV
Oct 22, 2012, 2:10 pm
#93
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Plat. $200 credit
I was successful in getting the two $50 each gift cards from Southwest refunded on my statement, but the last one for $50 did not get credited. I don't want to call and wake them up.
Anyone have success recently getting the gift cards reimbursed? Instead of $50, should I do five $10 ones?
TIA
Anyone have success recently getting the gift cards reimbursed? Instead of $50, should I do five $10 ones?
TIA
Nov 17, 2012, 5:42 pm
#95
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: United, SPG
Posts: 294
Bump. These GCs could be really useful if you have a Companion Pass!
Nov 23, 2012, 8:25 pm
#96
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: California
Posts: 2,731
I tried for two e-gift cards ($100 each, pushing my luck, but one $100 worked last year, along with two 50s). The charges posted as "air freight," as they did last year. However, no reimbursement yet, and I made the purchases at the beginning of the month. I sent a secure message to see what was going onand got the following canned response. I was deliberately vague about what the charges were for.
Dear Fwoomp,
I am happy to assist you today.
According to the terms and conditions of the offer, it may take up to 2-4 weeks for the statement credits to post to your account. Please allow this timeframe for any eligible credit to post to your account.
For your reference, following is the list of eligible and ineligible charges:
Eligible Charges:
- checked baggage fees
- overweight / oversize baggage fees
- change fees
- phone reservation fees
- pet flight fees
- airport lounge day passes & annual memberships
- seat assignment fees
- in-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, etc)
- in-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet)
Ineligible Charges include:
- airline tickets
- charges processed by merchants other than the airline you are enrolled in (for example, inflight Internet services providers such as GoGo)
- charges made by airline partners (for example, you purchase tickets on enrolled airline Delta, but purchases food on an Air France flight)
- trip insurance / baggage insurance
- ticket upgrades (Including American Airlines Upgrade Stickers)
- travel agent fees
- point transfer fees
- duty free purchase
- award ticket fees
- gift cards issued by Airlines
I hope this information helps. Thank you for your Cardmembership.
Sincerely,
<rep>
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services
Has there always been an expectation that it will take 2-4 weeks to post? (Not in my experience.)
I am happy to assist you today.
According to the terms and conditions of the offer, it may take up to 2-4 weeks for the statement credits to post to your account. Please allow this timeframe for any eligible credit to post to your account.
For your reference, following is the list of eligible and ineligible charges:
Eligible Charges:
- checked baggage fees
- overweight / oversize baggage fees
- change fees
- phone reservation fees
- pet flight fees
- airport lounge day passes & annual memberships
- seat assignment fees
- in-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, etc)
- in-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet)
Ineligible Charges include:
- airline tickets
- charges processed by merchants other than the airline you are enrolled in (for example, inflight Internet services providers such as GoGo)
- charges made by airline partners (for example, you purchase tickets on enrolled airline Delta, but purchases food on an Air France flight)
- trip insurance / baggage insurance
- ticket upgrades (Including American Airlines Upgrade Stickers)
- travel agent fees
- point transfer fees
- duty free purchase
- award ticket fees
- gift cards issued by Airlines
I hope this information helps. Thank you for your Cardmembership.
Sincerely,
<rep>
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services
Nov 23, 2012, 9:03 pm
#97
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: OC, California
Posts: 59
I thought Early Bird Check In on Southwest would qualify but apparently it doesn't. Anyone else have success having it reimbursed?
Nov 28, 2012, 1:24 pm
#100
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 411
Interesting. I would try calling back and talking to someone else. It's also not on their "do not reimburse" list. And "seat assignment fees" are allowed, so I would explain that Early Bird Checkin is Southwest's way of assigning you a better seat.
Dec 15, 2012, 11:14 am
#101
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 1
made the mistake of choosing southwest for the 200 amex credit this year. sounds like the gift cards are not reliably working anymore. anything I can use it for besides buying the entire plane a drink on the next flight before the end of the year??
Dec 15, 2012, 11:29 am
#102
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 101
If you haven't yet used any of your credit, you may be able to call and change your airline. It worked for me... Changed it to Alaska Airlines and $50 gift cards have credited.
Jan 2, 2013, 3:54 pm
#103
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Programs: SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 363
Seems like WN gift cards are not being routinely reimbursed, at least last year, but are other things being reimbursed or is the issue affecting everything from WN?
I got $200 in GCs reimbursed early in 2012, would rather get WN GCs for this year as well. If nobody has reported back for 2013 I may try a $20 purchase to see if I get reimbursed before switching to another carrier for 2013.
I got $200 in GCs reimbursed early in 2012, would rather get WN GCs for this year as well. If nobody has reported back for 2013 I may try a $20 purchase to see if I get reimbursed before switching to another carrier for 2013.
Jan 4, 2013, 1:29 pm
#104
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Not sure that you can switch carriers once you've designated one and charged on it. The problem might be if they saw you charged on WN and didn't let you switch, even if they didn't reimburse. You might be able to argue that you should be able to switch because gift cards weren't eligible...
Jan 4, 2013, 1:34 pm
#105
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Programs: SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 363
I designated last year, and my understanding was that you can change within the first month of the year. I was thinking I could just charge one and, if I don't get reimbursed within a few days, ask to switch for the year.