Often1

To answer OP's question, it is neither duplicitous nor innocent. It is an intentional business practice which prices tickets based on certain assumptions regarding cancellations and then breakage, e.g., customer seeks a credit but never uses it.

AA does this with paper vouchers?. Why do that in an era when it probably costs more to print and mail or hand over the voucher than it does to create an electronic record (which is done anyway).? Because some percentage of passengers lose or toss or spill coffee on the vouchers.

I have no idea what WN's breakage rate is, but I have been told that industry-wide, funny money credits which typically expire in a year or thereabouts, have a breakage rate of approximately 35%. Thus, on an average $100 credit from WN, the cost is $65.

The solution is simple. One can jot this down on a piece of paper, keep a fancy spreadsheet, or purchase a massive database. All work well, but all require some work.

NoStressHere

Even if they had a list of travel funds, some people would not look at it, and STILL BLAME SOMEBODY ELSE.

Sorry. You cancel a flight. They email you the cancel. YOU now have the credit available and YOU need to keep track of it.

mxd

Yep, Nordstrom had a good run and they're "not dead yet." If you want to compare to a company or two that are growing, look at Amazon and Zappos. Zappos was acquired by Amazon for many reasons, one of which was their stellar customer support and free shipping on deliveries and returns ... uhhhh, let's see, who did that before Zappos? No one. Both hire and promote customer-first policies. They look for ways to make customers happier. When is the last time you received a paper voucher from them to keep track of recent purchases and refunds. Walmart, too. And yep, they're growing.

You guys who are against this are focused on what Southwest is rather than what it can be. It's almost as though you've been lulled to sleep with all the crappy service of other airlines and don't see them improving any further.

Dream a little! In fact, dream big!! Hell, if we all push for it, maybe it'll happen, and don't settle for mediocre.

Do you agree that it's something we want and would be helpful?

I suppose some are gluttons for punishment, but seriously ... because that's the way it's always been done is good enough?? If that were the case, Zappos and Amazon wouldn't even exist. I think someone in Southwest will eventually look at this and think "how would I want to be treated" and will provide for easier tracking of Travel Funds. Time will tell.

mxd

Always an easy cop out. If you don't like it here, get out. Good luck finding something better. America, love it or leave it. Let's not improve.

lougord99

roundtree

Perhaps. But you have choices as a airline consumer, none of which seemingly line up with your desired level of service. The point was layered in snark, for sure, but still remains: there really isn't a better option, IMO, and one condition of flying WN is the need to track your travel funds.

Or, do your homework and find an airline that does track your travel funds, but see how they stack up otherwise.

Or, raise the capital, start your own airline, and put them all out of business. #alwaysanoption

mxd

Fair enough!

NoStressHere

Yes they will. And then someone will do a cost analysis, which any smart business will do. There will be an estimate cost. Somebody will say it is the right thing to do, so they do it.

Meanwhile, in revenue management, somebody realizes they may need to move all fares up a dollar here and dollar there to remain profitable.

And, so it goes.

(all because some people can not keep track of their money - LOL)

Cledaybuck

mxd

Interesting idea to start your own airline. I don't have the capital, but there's someone who might.

Maybe Amazon will start an airline and you'll be able track everything through your Prime account. They're already getting into package delivery and long haul trucking, so why not air transport? Competition comes from the unexpected.

I'd be up for taking six-pack beer wagers on this -- the timeline for the bet is 7 years. Damn near impossible to collect, but could be fun to track ( ).

kennycrudup

You're kinda funny thinking a business isn't first and foremost in the "making shareholders money" game, but going back to your question, and in no particular order:

- Free SDC for elites
- Two checked bags w/o a separate charge
- T-10-minute cancellation with all funds returned to you
- A-"61" boarding for elites
- Four drink coupons per 10 segments
- Free Wifi for A-List Preferred
- CP
- Ridiculous routing frequency, depending on markets (there was a SAN-SJC on average every 45 mins yesterday evening)
- Decent RR point earning and redemption thresholds
- Frequent cheap-AF fare sales intra-CA
- Probably something else I've forgotten

And I acknowledge some of these may be useless to some, but this is how WN treats me- and as they're the US' most profitable airline of late I doubt I'm alone- and part of why I haven't stepped on another carrier in years. I have a text file with my TTFs and residual values that takes all of two minutes to update, BTW. I'd rather do that then have something materially change in WN's policies, which will certainly be for the worse.

nsx

Sure. I would also like free ice cream on board.

If Southwest ever tracked funds for us, I would bet you $100 that the no change fee policy would be diminished or eliminated. That would be a favorable change for us, the customers who are willing and able to track our travel funds.

If we thought we could get this with no takeaways attached, we'd be all over that. Businesses don't tend to operate that way.

mxd

Hmmm, don't remember saying they shouldn't make money for shareholders. Why do they offer "free" drinks? Are you on for the six-pack wager?

G702TT

Insulator-King

I'll probably lose TTF because I fly so rarely. Just the way it is.

If you really want some muscle behind your request, buy 1000 shares of LUV. Better yet, 100,000,000 shares. Then you can change it.

WN is very upfront about the TTF. It is in every email after purchase.