Often1

There is no such thing as "technically."

DOT rules require the refund if the flight is cancelled for any reason.

As noted above, don't give it a second's thought. If denied a refund, initiate a chargeback.

Zero reason to get into pseudo-legal arguments with phone agents regarding the fact that there is no "government mandate" and if there were it would not matter. Chargebacks are expensive for merchant vendors such as WN, but easy for consumers.

KHar

Same with my SJC-AUS flight in early May. I received a “This flight is cancelled” and an error message when clicking on the flight in the app. No points redeposited nor emails received. I noticed this a few days ago and am hoping it is a glitch to be worked out. I would rather change the flight online than call in...last time I had to call (unrelated matter) the wait was 80 minutes.

Samson7256

After being on hold for 45 minutes I was able to speak to a rep who deposited the points into my account after I confirmed that I did not wish to rebook the flight (since it was the only non stop flight of the day).

ursine1

Please cite the federal aviation regulation (FAR) that requires air carriers give refunds on non-refundable fares for flights they cancel due to reasons beyond their control.

I'll wait.

huge

Mrs Huge just got a text message that her 4/6 flight has been cancelled, but it still appears in her account online, and we can still click "cancel" or "change". I'm afraid that if I manually cancel the reservation she will receive Travel Funds expiring 6/15/2020. We would like to make sure that she gets TF expiring mid-2021 per the new policy. Should we (A) cancel the reservation and just hope SW deals with it properly, or (B) wait and let SW cancel the reservation. (Calling to get a refund is not a great option because the ticket was purchased with an Amex Plat with an airline reimbursement, so I'm worried it might get clawed back ... unless there's a way to convince SW to refund the amount to a different card, ie a debit card)

lougord99

They will not refund to a different card.

im not sure why you won’t believe them when they tell you the funds will be xtended. The funds will not initially show extended.

Often1

You are looking in the wrong place if you have not been able to find this in the FAR as that is an FAA resource and this issue is dealt with by the mothership, DOT.

DOT' treats the failure to issue a refund when the flight is cancelled as an unfair or deceptive act or practice under its Title 49 authority and describes it at (same way DOT does for refunds within 7 days or failure to pay for baggage damage):

DOT's Office of Enforcement issued a stern warning earlier today to make clear the existing policy and advise carriers that in light of the Covid-19 situation, it will forego enforcement actions if carriers which have wrongfully provided vouchers, reach out to passengers and offer a refund. The warning letter contains the references to existing rules and policies.

https://www.transportation.gov/sites...3%202020_0.pdf

synergistic

Count me in as someone whose flight has apparently been canceled, but with a glitch. It still shows up in my trips, but when I click in, it yields an error code and tells me that it has already been canceled. The points have not been returned yet. I'm not anxious to call in, hopefully it works itself out before the flight date approaches.

glitchy

I'd be cautiously optimistic about it working itself out.

On the 29th I noticed a flight rebooking and used the website "email us" feature to ask them to cancel and refund the flights. (I wasn't pushy about it; my wording was something like "I believe since Southwest cancelled the original flights I'm entitled to a refund; could you cancel the itinerary for both passengers on PNR ###### and refund the tickets to the card used?") Less than a day later I got a reply back saying "no problem, the card you used will be refunded", but they didn't finish processing it until today, five days later or so. In the meantime my account as reflected on southwest.com showed several different things as, I suspect, several different layers of processing and reconciliation took place.

Seems reasonable enough given the circumstances, and I'm happy to get a refund. I'm pretty sure I'm not flying anyway, but the itinerary they switched me to had a five hour DCA-BWI transfer in the middle of it. (Late April, MCI-BOS. Even before the schedule cuts I miss MCI being more of a hub with lots of BOS nonstops!)

BobOscar

I'm waiting on hold for Southwest (1-1/2 hours into estimated 2 hour wait time) after receiving an automated call saying my flight a week from today is cancelled (it actually has been removed from the schedule as they cut back on the number of flights). The automated call said that I can call for a refund. So that's what I am planning on getting...I'll report back after I have talked to someone..

BobOscar

Got through on the phone. Agent quickly charged it back to my credit card without giving me any crap about getting Travel Funds instead. Thank you for doing the right thing Southwest since you cancelled the flight (unlike earlier when others have mentioned having to cite the DOT rule before they got their funds credited back to their card). It was quick and painless in this instance so I guess they have changed their policy about refusing to refund.

ZonaFlyer

We have a trip for Memorial Day that each leg has been changed. We booked the trip as two one-ways on points and have been able to use sales recently to get the lowest price in each direction. I was really happy we had booked it as two one-ways because of that. Then the first schedule change email came in. I think that's a drawback of booking it that way. We are able to change within 60 days of the original date, but if only one leg changed, we'd need to pay the difference on the other. If we booked a round trip, we'd be able to move the whole trip for a change of one leg. We have since gotten a schedule change for the return so that concern is mitigated for now.

Then the email has this statement.
Is the 3 day window just for best availability? Can I wait until the day before the flight to rebook to new dates? Understanding availability could be lower for new dates. We aren't sure whether we will delay the trip yet but probably will decide later this month. We can always get a refund because we booked with points but it'd be nice to not pay extra for different dates.

dmbolp

I'm thinking the 3 days is the period of time in which you can make the changes online for free. After that maybe you lose the ability to change for free even via phone. My e-mail in post #43 didn't state 3 days, but the dates were: email sent on 3/27, had to make the changes by 3/30 or else I'd receive a call within 2 weeks to decide what to do with effected flight ("cancelled" flight never mentioned in email). I'm thinking this is also what's happening with the multiple posts here where folks are unable to pull up their itineraries after flights have been cancelled; maybe Southwest failed to send them a similar email (or pax didn't see the email) and now it has to be handled via phone.

LegalTender

FAR’s ensure safe aviation procedures and programs.

toomanybooks

I bought a ticket for April 21 at the end of December and got some reimbursement from the Amex Plat $200 airline credit.

Wondering if I should cancel and get TTFs or wait for WN to cancel, refund the CC, and risk Amex clawing back the money. Does Amex do that 3+ months later?

Decisions.