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 26, 2018, 10:28 pm
#1426
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 1
12/23 Bought 2 $100 GCs
12/23 Posted
12/25 Credited
Thanks for all the helpful posts.
12/23 Posted
12/25 Credited
Thanks for all the helpful posts.
Dec 27, 2018, 5:15 am
#1427
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 42
12/18... Received card
12/18... Selected SW as carrier
~30 min later... Purchased a $100 and $150 e-gift certificate (Was not logged into Rapid Rewards; Chrome Browser; Windows OS)
Charge shows SPD/AIR FREIGHT as document type with SW address and says will post as "Southwest Airlines - Dallas, TX"
12/20... Charges posted
12/21... Travel meter shows all travel credit used for 2018
12/22... Credit recieved
12/18... Selected SW as carrier
~30 min later... Purchased a $100 and $150 e-gift certificate (Was not logged into Rapid Rewards; Chrome Browser; Windows OS)
Charge shows SPD/AIR FREIGHT as document type with SW address and says will post as "Southwest Airlines - Dallas, TX"
12/20... Charges posted
12/21... Travel meter shows all travel credit used for 2018
12/22... Credit recieved
12/23 - purchased $100
12/25 - $100 credit posted
Just purchased $150 right now.
Dec 27, 2018, 7:00 am
#1428
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 394
We have some reports that the "unable to process your request" error can be corrected by changing to a different browser. Also try Incognito or Private browser window in case the failure is related to cookies (browser cookies, not Christmas cookies.) But first, check your American Express account to see if there is a Pending transaction from Southwest Airlines in the full amount of the purchase. If there is, the transaction may be processing, despite the error message.
Dec 27, 2018, 10:58 am
#1429
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 877
I think we are SOL. It has been 11 days now and credit shows unused.
I reached out to AMEX and I was told
"The charge date and airline selection dates are same. You can contact us to see if we can process a manual credit for you after 2 weeks"
Last edited by coltonatx; Dec 27, 2018 at 11:22 am
Dec 27, 2018, 10:54 pm
#1430
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 26
We have some reports that the "unable to process your request" error can be corrected by changing to a different browser. Also try Incognito or Private browser window in case the failure is related to cookies (browser cookies, not Christmas cookies.) But first, check your American Express account to see if there is a Pending transaction from Southwest Airlines in the full amount of the purchase. If there is, the transaction may be processing, despite the error message.
12/24/2018 - $200 egift card (x3)
12/26/2018 - $200 credit posted
NOTE: On the card that i kept on trying on 12/23 and getting errors, apparently i tried 6x on different browsers as well, as NOW I am showing 6 separate $200 SouthWest charges as PENDING. I hope they just stay as pending and drop off.
Dec 28, 2018, 2:00 am
#1431
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 3
WN e-Gift card
Purchased two $100 e-gc’s tonight on my platinum, i was using chrome and i was logged into my rewards account, but I was reading through and people mentioned they weren’t logged in. Will this have an effect on how the code of the charge appears or? Thanks in advance for any help.
Dec 28, 2018, 9:07 am
#1432
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Edison, NJ
Programs: Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 110
i was just approved but amex wont let me create a new login with credit card info they gave me. How do i go about picking an airline id like to buy my gift cards today. I have an amex everyday card should i try chatting through that?
P.S. cell phone is broken so i cant call for a few hours.
P.S. cell phone is broken so i cant call for a few hours.
Dec 28, 2018, 9:20 am
#1433
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Boston
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 272
You should check your approval email. There should be a link that says "click here to create an online account" or something like that. That will do it.
Dec 28, 2018, 11:28 am
#1434
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 12
My pending transactions that didn't go through cleared in 3 or 4 days.
Dec 28, 2018, 4:14 pm
#1435
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 8
Purchased two $100 e-gc’s tonight on my platinum, i was using chrome and i was logged into my rewards account, but I was reading through and people mentioned they weren’t logged in. Will this have an effect on how the code of the charge appears or? Thanks in advance for any help.
Last edited by pointsgaloreandmore; Dec 29, 2018 at 9:07 am
Dec 28, 2018, 4:23 pm
#1436
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 3
@ecomGuy Not sure if it makes a difference or not. I haven't seen enough datapoints to definitively say one way or the either. Would love to hear if yours goes through.
Dec 28, 2018, 5:47 pm
#1437
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 394
Thanks for the response. I used private window and did a $195 card and it sent an email from Southwest within 5 mins for the ecard. The original attempt hasn't prompted an email from SOuthwest so I am assuming it will drop off. Should see the second attempt charge post tomorrow and hopefully the credit.
Dec 29, 2018, 2:37 pm
#1439
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 3
@sorrywereclosed
Thats what my AmEx dashboard looks like. Still waiting for it to credit and show that i’ve utilized my $200 in credits but it’s looking good, thanks for the insight.
Thats what my AmEx dashboard looks like. Still waiting for it to credit and show that i’ve utilized my $200 in credits but it’s looking good, thanks for the insight.
Dec 29, 2018, 6:31 pm
#1440
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: CVG
Programs: Hyatt Giraffe
Posts: 1,664
Forgot completely about this. The early bird gets the worm but I'm hoping the late bird gets $200 credit 