willywilkes

WN cancelled my flight on 12/26 and within a couple days I was given a refund as a travel credit - I submitted a form online and got it refunded to my credit card on 1/5. I submitted a reimbursement request for a flight I booked on AA on 1/1 and received approval for reimbursement 1/28. So yes, I was both refunded and reimbursed.

rariya

FYI that Arlene has still not responded

dyyuan

Same, I have not got a reply back after DMing Arlene.
Initial request was sent in early January...
got a couple of "we are still working on it" email but nothing since...

LegalTender

CNBC: Anything under $4K was approved immediately.

@lesliejosephs

AllThePants

If by "approved immediately" you mean "positively ignored for six weeks as they figured out what the heck they were doing", then I'd agree.

I still haven't received any response, but I was also one of the folks who made a very reasonable submission for (1) a Lyft ride to an alternative co-terminal, (2) burning a bunch of Hyatt points on a hotel room while waiting for the flight, and (3) cancellation fees at the destination hotel for having been a no-show.

Now, I'm sure in the early days the above items were just out-of-there enough that they just didn't know how to deal with them -- but I've gotten ZERO response to-date.

Seriously, I didn't even count meals and stuff -- which was basically just a bunch of cheap Chik-Fil-A that I do have standard $ receipts for but don't want to own up to eating.

SoCaltravel

I am also still waiting on a response. Submitted a claim on 12/29 for airfare only when my 12/25 flight was cancelled. Also submitted a claim for the 25,000 points that were given to those stranded but I never received anything from Southwest. Did receive an email on 1/5 for my claim. No word since then.

dyyuan

Arlene got back to us and we were reimbursed the next day, thanks!!!

rariya

Arlene did respond on the 10th saying she'd look into it. Twitter said I would hear back in 7-10 days, on day 12 I finally got the email to redeem my hyperwallet code. So fully reimbursed 27 days after the initial 'reimbursement approved email'. They didn't make it easy, but I'm just happy it's over.

flyerCO

Ridiculous, like anybody that could afford a private jet was flying WN. People need to have a little common sense when trying to get money. It's junk like this that causes companies to scrutinize everyone's claims.

If it was Arby's then I'd know a lawyer who'd help you. He'd classify it as a Geneva Convention violation! Attorney Tom. (One of my favorite YouTube channels, along with LegalEagle)

hunter747

Curious, how did you value the Hyatt points? And was the claim honored?

AllThePants

In my original submission, I valued them at $216 -- which was exactly how much you could buy replacement points for directly from Hyatt / points.com .

I re-submitted the claim using the new UI -- which allows you discrete dollar and point amounts. The next day I received a confirmation from Southwest with approvals for the $ receipts (Lyft + hotel no-show), but no mention of the points. And that they considered the reimbursement request "complete".

But just yesterday, I noticed a conspicuous 12K increase in my RR account labeled "Customer Service Adjustment". So it seems they might've just decided that they'd trade points 1:1 with any that were used via some other loyalty program. Personally I think Hyatt points are much more valuable than WN points -- at least the way I typically redeem them -- but the total reimbursement is "close enough" that it's not worth raising a fuss about two months later.

Now - the fact that Southwest effectively ruined Christmas last year-- that's a whole other matter :shakingfist:

whiskeyplease

Followup in case it's useful to anyone: in late January, I got what looked like a form email from SW including "you should have already received a response about your claim." I had not, so called them. It took a little persistence, but eventually in early February they told me both my claims (two canceled trips) had been "inadvertently closed", and they would review why and get back to me within three weeks, and no, there was absolutely no way I could speak to the department handing it because they don't talk to customers (!!!).

Frustrating to say the least, but last week I was informed that both my claims were being paid in full, and the Hyperwallet transfer hit my bank acct this morning! I got back more than I expected, actually - didn't really expect one of the claims to be paid. So a long road but a good outcome eventually.

whiskeyplease

It appears Southwest (or CNBC) and I use the term "immediately" to mean very different things, but ~2 months is not surprising given the sheer number of stranded passengers.

papacheesy

I've been pretty impressed with how pretty much every person I know who got stranded by Southwest did indeed get their entire expenses reimbursed. I think we all were expecting to have to fight for every little charge.

Mikey

I did not get my entire expense report paid for. And my wife and son did not get the 25,000 point I'm sorry bonus. I have private messaged the Southwest rep in this forum twice and have not received any response. So it's fair to say that I personally am not impressed at all.