Travel funds and website don't get along
Jun 18, 2020, 4:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: DCA, TUL
Programs: Biscoff Medallion, A-Hole Preferred
Posts: 56
Travel funds and website don't get along
Hi friends. In February, i booked a May trip for my partner with USD, around $120. It ended up getting schedule-axed presumably because coronavirus. First funny thing - instead of learning about the cancellation from an email, i got a cold call in April from somebody working with Southwest letting me know that the flight was going to be cancelled and asking what i would like to do.
I did a stupid, because i should have immediately asked for cash refund and i did not. They sounded like it would be very flexible to move it around, so i said, "let me talk to her about it," and the phone agent told me i had time and i could go to the website and change it with the confirmation number whenever.
In May before the original trip date i tried to use the confirmation to change the booking to a trip in July. When i entered the confirmation number on the changes form the website presented an error that the ticket had been cancelled. Twitter support gave me instructions on how to use their website (rude), so i called, and the first agent i talked to said their travel funds system was down so she could _hold_ a reservation for me with a new confirmation number but she couldn't _complete_ it and i would have to call back later in the day to finish it. So i took that and called back later in the day to finish. This trip was around $100. The $20 difference still existed in travel funds under my partner's name.
Fast forward to this week, schedules change a little and now she needs to travel a day earlier (still in July). The new trip prices out at approx $170. I attempt to change the ticket through the website, and it gives me another error message, not even a real one but just a long alphanumeric code. I guess we are the owners of a confirmation number from hell. Twitter support took thirty minutes to tell me, yes, they see the existing flight and the new flight price, and the $20 travel funds still floating around in my partner's name, but they can't complete the reservation so i have to call phone support.
After around thirty minutes on hold, phone support tells me the flight is now priced at $210, and no, there's nothing they can do, regardless that i tried to give them my money earlier, regardless that the original ticket was cancelled by WN, regardless that i already got a different quote from Twitter support. I asked if they could just cancel and cash refund the whole thing, of course not, but she told me she could put in a refund request for the $20 in unused travel funds. (!) While this was going on i found a better-timed flight on AA for $150 so i just booked that and asked them to cancel the existing reservation and revert it to travel funds. This is probably my second big stupid but i believe that, worst case, the funds should exist in her name until September 2022 and she will have reason to use them by then.
I guess these are my questions:
(1) How likely am i to really see this $20 refund? It's not a real thing that they would ever partial-refund a ticket like that, right? At this point i'd be very happy with a complete cash refund but that got shot down. Invoking DOT is probably a dead end because i tried to rebook it in May and they used the travel funds for that.
(2) Is there something i can do on my end to remove the hex on this confirmation? Since it's under my partner's name, how can i be sure if the expiration even gets adjusted to Sep 2022?
(3) I normally have really good luck with phone support because i talk to the person i'm calling like a person that i'm calling, but clearly i didn't work the refs right on the last call. Can any level of phone or Twitter support "hold" ticket prices like the person i talked to in May did? Is it worth it to HUACA on Southwest?
I did a stupid, because i should have immediately asked for cash refund and i did not. They sounded like it would be very flexible to move it around, so i said, "let me talk to her about it," and the phone agent told me i had time and i could go to the website and change it with the confirmation number whenever.
In May before the original trip date i tried to use the confirmation to change the booking to a trip in July. When i entered the confirmation number on the changes form the website presented an error that the ticket had been cancelled. Twitter support gave me instructions on how to use their website (rude), so i called, and the first agent i talked to said their travel funds system was down so she could _hold_ a reservation for me with a new confirmation number but she couldn't _complete_ it and i would have to call back later in the day to finish it. So i took that and called back later in the day to finish. This trip was around $100. The $20 difference still existed in travel funds under my partner's name.
Fast forward to this week, schedules change a little and now she needs to travel a day earlier (still in July). The new trip prices out at approx $170. I attempt to change the ticket through the website, and it gives me another error message, not even a real one but just a long alphanumeric code. I guess we are the owners of a confirmation number from hell. Twitter support took thirty minutes to tell me, yes, they see the existing flight and the new flight price, and the $20 travel funds still floating around in my partner's name, but they can't complete the reservation so i have to call phone support.
After around thirty minutes on hold, phone support tells me the flight is now priced at $210, and no, there's nothing they can do, regardless that i tried to give them my money earlier, regardless that the original ticket was cancelled by WN, regardless that i already got a different quote from Twitter support. I asked if they could just cancel and cash refund the whole thing, of course not, but she told me she could put in a refund request for the $20 in unused travel funds. (!) While this was going on i found a better-timed flight on AA for $150 so i just booked that and asked them to cancel the existing reservation and revert it to travel funds. This is probably my second big stupid but i believe that, worst case, the funds should exist in her name until September 2022 and she will have reason to use them by then.
I guess these are my questions:
(1) How likely am i to really see this $20 refund? It's not a real thing that they would ever partial-refund a ticket like that, right? At this point i'd be very happy with a complete cash refund but that got shot down. Invoking DOT is probably a dead end because i tried to rebook it in May and they used the travel funds for that.
(2) Is there something i can do on my end to remove the hex on this confirmation? Since it's under my partner's name, how can i be sure if the expiration even gets adjusted to Sep 2022?
(3) I normally have really good luck with phone support because i talk to the person i'm calling like a person that i'm calling, but clearly i didn't work the refs right on the last call. Can any level of phone or Twitter support "hold" ticket prices like the person i talked to in May did? Is it worth it to HUACA on Southwest?
Jun 18, 2020, 9:17 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
Programs: DL-MM, AA, SW w/companion,HiltonDiamond, Hyatt PLat, IHF Plat, Miles and Points Seeker
Posts: 11,072
I am a little confused how much money you are dealing with. $20 or $120. If only $20 - I would just give up myself.
BUT - I will say I have had a few cancels that the ticket and number just went wacko. I did FB messengers and got it fixed okay.
As to the price not the best, you might want to check the other thread about booking a cheaper day and time, the switching it to one that works better for you.
This one > https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/sout...ays-later.html
BUT - I will say I have had a few cancels that the ticket and number just went wacko. I did FB messengers and got it fixed okay.
As to the price not the best, you might want to check the other thread about booking a cheaper day and time, the switching it to one that works better for you.
This one > https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/sout...ays-later.html