gbongc

... Literally couldn't be more true. Was in the middle of using this change scheme since my flights in mid Jan still showed change banner this morning. Just planned a trip for Feb and the change banner is gone now. Drats!

ursine1

Generally it lasts 3-4 days.

m907

What is Southwest's plan with these changes? Why open flights to changes but not tell anyone and then close the system with no notice? Is it because all those affected were notified of the schedule change, and everyone else gets to benefit?

ursine1

Yes.

stallion114

Any way to extend travel vouchers?
I have about $300 expiring 12/23. I don't think ill be able to use.

m907

Has anyone tried this in the last couple days? 1/12 isn't working at the moment.

flyer4512

Not sure if this helpsBeginning September 8, 2020, any travel funds created from a nonrefundable, Wanna Get Away® ticket can be used for up to one year from the original purchase date.

Travel funds with an expiration date of September 7, 2022, can be converted into Rapid Rewards points at the same rate you would be able to purchase a ticket with points today.

To qualify, your travel fund a) must expire on September 7, 2022, b) name must match the name on your Rapid Rewards account, and c) must have originated from a ticket purchased on Southwest.com®, booked by a Southwest Airlines Customer Representative, or approved by your employer. You must request to convert your travel fund by December 15, 2020. Conversion is non-reversible. When travel funds are converted to Rapid Rewards points, these points will not count toward earning tier status nor earning Companion Pass®. Rapid Rewards points cannot be used to pay taxes or fees.

Since Rapid Rewards points never expire, you can use your new points whenever you want. Check if you have qualified travel funds soon — you can only convert your qualified travel funds through December 15, 2020.
It’s important to note, while these unused travel funds will be available until September 7, 2022, once the funds are used to make a purchase, the expiration date of the travel funds will then follow our normal ticketing rules and will expire 12 months from the original purchase date.

For example:

• Your original unused travel funds with confirmation number OLD111 expired on March 19, 2020.
• These unused travel funds were extended to an expiration date of September 7, 2022.
• You use some of those funds on August 1, 2020 to book new travel in September under confirmation number NEW111.
• If for some reason you need to cancel this new flight, your unused travel funds associated with confirmation number NEW111 will be valid for 12 months from the booking date which means they will expire August 1, 2021.
• Any remaining unused travel funds tied to OLD111 will be available through September 7, 2022.

ursine1

First: Travel Funds or Vouchers? Those are two different things. Unfortunately, the answer for both is essentially, no. The option to extend Travel Funds ended on September 7, 2020.

However you may have some options:

Travel Funds: After they expire, reach out to Customer Relations and request reissue as a Voucher. You have 6 months from the date of expiration in which to do this, and the voucher, if granted, will be valid for use by anyone for 6 months from the date of issue. The fee for this is currently $100 per fund/passenger, which is deducted from the funds balance. If you have multiple smaller funds consider combining them via dummy bookings to reduce the number of $100 fees incurred.

Vouchers: You'd first need to convert them into Travel Funds, by applying them to a booking, then cancelling that itinerary. Then follow the above.

sggolf

Does anyone think there will be another free change window coming up really soon? If so, any estimate on the possible date window from data from last week? There are some great fares out today to book! Thanks.

Boraxo

A bit late to the game and confused on how this works, so I have a couple of questions:

(1) Does this mean I can buy a ticket for $39 and then (when window opens) switch to a flight on the prior day with a $94 fare?

(2) Has the window closed for flights at the end of December (as the most recent window covered mid-January to February?

Agreed, would like to buy some of those $39 tickets, but only if I can change the dates...

Franklin7777

They tend to pop up in the mid-late week (think Weds-Thurs) and disappear over the weekend. No promises, YMMV, etc.

spongenotbob

A bit surprised they haven't pushed out schedule updates for post-3/10 yet, but perhaps they are waiting to do this all at once with the schedule extension next week... (12/10).

sggolf

Data points for free change window: Dec 19, Jan 4. Jan 8 was not open.

nsx

Was that by any chance a flight to Hawaii? A travel policy change on very short notice affected LIH.

sggolf

Sorry, yes, it was for Hawaii.