ponickka

I purchased "x" ticket from Southwest with credit card 2 months ago, how does the refund work if the credit card is now cancelled.

Does this become a Southwest "credit" or will they issue the refund in form of check or to other credit cards?


This is all assuming that I purchased REFUNDABLE TIX

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks

rickg523

Southwest doesn't generally refund fares. What they do is put the entire payment into a "Travel Funds" account, which you can apply to another Southwest purchase within one year from the date you PURCHASED the ticket. Note that's not the departure date nor the date you cancelled, it's one year from the day your originally paid for ticket.
You access the Travel Funds with the 5-letter confirmation number of the booking. Don't lose that, because it's not so easy to find your account without it.
In rare cases, I've heard of Southwest refunding the taxes and fees.
But, if you really need the money or extraordinary circumstances forced the cancellation, try calling Southwest. Customer Service staff is given wider leeway than most airlines allow, and have been known, sometimes famously, for going the extra mile when it's warranted.

Adam1222

There's also a forum dedicated to questions about Southwest Airlines. Not only is that the appropriate place for you to post questions, but you may find it helpful to look there as many questions you may have have already been answered. I've asked the moderators to move this to the correct forum.

ursine1

On a fully refundable ticket, it goes back to the original credit card. If that account no longer exists, the credit card issuer will move that amount over to an existing account, or if none is available, will cut and send a check to the customer upon request.

Credit card processing agreements require refunds to go back to the original card account.

ursine1

On a non-refundable ticket, the fare amount becomes ticketless travel funds. The customer can choose to have the taxes/fees become those funds as well, or be refunded to the credit card used to make the purchase.

Sadly, the empowerment of individual customer service reps is not what it used to be. For something like consideration of a special situation refund request, you would need to contact Customer Relations. And even then the chances for positive resolution aren't what they were a few years ago.

rickg523

Thanks for the clarification. It's been a couple of years since I was a regular Southwest flyer, making changes and canceling flights as business demanded.

ponickka

Thanks for all the input.

If i were to purchase tickets using points and pay taxes with CC, is it safe to assume that the points will be rewarded back to my account and not any travel funds account?

rsteinmetz70112

You have to make sure when you cancel that you have selected the refund option. You can also later request that the TTFs be refunded, if they were eligible for a refund.