Southwest RR disapointment
Apr 15, 2017, 7:19 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 1
Southwest RR disapointment
After countless flights gaining and saving my Southwest Rapid Rewards points I had enough to fly my Daughters family down from Seattle for Easter. When I went to the site I could see options Use points, Gift points, Donate points, buy points. Knowing my daughter had an account as well, I decided to gift her Over 45,000 points to make there flight . For all transactions it states that you need your credit card to complete the transaction. I completed the online transaction unaware that I just bought my own points to give to my daughter. A month later the credit card bill arrives showing a $450.00 charge for buying the points that I owned and gifted. IT is a total SCAM I contacted Southwest Coustomer service and was told Nothing could be done or reversed FLAT NO, I wrote a letter and recieved the same response. Flyers be aware< why would you buy your own points to give away? Why does Southwest need to have different options listed to use your points if you have to buy points for all the options? Southwest shame on your self !!!!! Poor Buisness Practice!
Apr 15, 2017, 7:24 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Chicagoland, IL, USA
Programs: WN CP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,173
After countless flights gaining and saving my Southwest Rapid Rewards points I had enough to fly my Daughters family down from Seattle for Easter. When I went to the site I could see options Use points, Gift points, Donate points, buy points. Knowing my daughter had an account as well, I decided to gift her Over 45,000 points to make there flight . For all transactions it states that you need your credit card to complete the transaction. I completed the online transaction unaware that I just bought my own points to give to my daughter. A month later the credit card bill arrives showing a $450.00 charge for buying the points that I owned and gifted. IT is a total SCAM I contacted Southwest Coustomer service and was told Nothing could be done or reversed FLAT NO, I wrote a letter and recieved the same response. Flyers be aware< why would you buy your own points to give away? Why does Southwest need to have different options listed to use your points if you have to buy points for all the options? Southwest shame on your self !!!!! Poor Buisness Practice!
Sorry you got caught in this, but it is standard practice for Southwest, described online. All of us here are aware of it.
Anyone can use his/her points to book for anyone without restriction. There should be almost no reason to transfer/gift points except a very few to achieve a specific redemption when time is critical.
Apr 15, 2017, 7:34 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2001
Programs: LTP, PP
Posts: 8,698
Well said TMB and my sympathies OP. While this options exists it rarely makes sense, maybe to top off an account close to an award. But you somehow authorized a $450 charge to your credit card so you have to share some of the blame. If the charge wasn't disclosed then you have a complaint of another nature...
Last edited by joshua362; Apr 15, 2017 at 10:12 am
Apr 15, 2017, 7:42 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 1,411
Very sorry to read about this. Unfortunately, this is a common feature of airline loyalty programs, not just Southwest.
The answer was to book tickets for your family member from your account. You can book tickets from your account for anyone.
I had never even looked at the transfer points section of the Southwest website, but I just did and it is very clear that you are paying a fee when you do so. I suspect that this why Southwest is saying that cannot issue you a refund. Your only hope is to write another letter and explain that you didn't know that you could buy tickets for your family members using your points and that you would be happy to have them deduct the points from your account. I think calling it a scam would be counterproductive -- the fee seems to be clearly disclosed. I doubt that Southwest will reverse the transaction, but you can certainly try.
I encourage you to poke around this website and learn from the people here (as I have done repeatedly). You'll find lots of good information that will let you make good use of the points that you do have.
The answer was to book tickets for your family member from your account. You can book tickets from your account for anyone.
I had never even looked at the transfer points section of the Southwest website, but I just did and it is very clear that you are paying a fee when you do so. I suspect that this why Southwest is saying that cannot issue you a refund. Your only hope is to write another letter and explain that you didn't know that you could buy tickets for your family members using your points and that you would be happy to have them deduct the points from your account. I think calling it a scam would be counterproductive -- the fee seems to be clearly disclosed. I doubt that Southwest will reverse the transaction, but you can certainly try.
I encourage you to poke around this website and learn from the people here (as I have done repeatedly). You'll find lots of good information that will let you make good use of the points that you do have.
Apr 15, 2017, 1:59 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
The points transfer/sale/gift etc. function is operated by Points.com as a profit center for Southwest. Because they use a 3rd party, it also allows them to deny refunds as a policy of that 3rd party.
Gifting points = Purchasing them for someone else. I think the OP likely means they transferred points. As has been stated already, it's generally not needed to transfer more than a small amount of points, as the cost devalues them significantly, and anyone's points can be used to book a flight for anyone else.
That said, it's pretty clear when making a transfer that there is an associated fee. It would be hard to understand how someone could miss that fact.
Gifting points = Purchasing them for someone else. I think the OP likely means they transferred points. As has been stated already, it's generally not needed to transfer more than a small amount of points, as the cost devalues them significantly, and anyone's points can be used to book a flight for anyone else.
That said, it's pretty clear when making a transfer that there is an associated fee. It would be hard to understand how someone could miss that fact.
Apr 17, 2017, 8:46 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Programs: UA 1K, AA Lifetime Platinum, DL Platinum, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 7,969
I can understand how one would be mistaken about how points transfers work. Even though the service charge to move them between accounts is industry practice, and even though many people don't realize that it's not necessary in order to book a ticket for someone else, none of us are born with this knowledge, and had to learn it for the first time at some point.
But, given the above screenshot, it's hard to understand how the OP completed the transaction without knowing that there would be a charge. If the OP wants any help from us here, I think they need to explain further. The wording and presentation seem clear and unambiguous to me. It's definitely not a "SCAM."
But, given the above screenshot, it's hard to understand how the OP completed the transaction without knowing that there would be a charge. If the OP wants any help from us here, I think they need to explain further. The wording and presentation seem clear and unambiguous to me. It's definitely not a "SCAM."
