ssalt

Anyone else having this problem? Throughout the day today, I've been able to view ticketless travel funds and initially apply them to a new reservation, but when I actually go to purchase the ticket, I get a system error saying that it cannot access the funds.

eastport

I had this happen to me about a week ago. I tried about a dozen times, with slight variations, and failed each time. I eventually gave up and used other funds.

I was able to use the funds later, so they aren't permanently gone. Just temporarily "broken".

I also had to call to cancel a flight last week when it couldn't be canceled using the web interface. Again, I tried many times. The agent had no problem, and hinted that the new system still had quirks. So I'm guessing that if you really need these funds immediately, you'll be able to over the phone (albeit you might not be able to get a web-only fare over the phone).

pitflyer

This has happened to me twice already. The first time, it was a regular fare so I just called reservations to book.. and it took them 30 minutes to book the ticket (never told me what was going on, just every ten minutes.. please hold.. please hold...)

Today, I'm trying to book a DING fare and bang, same issue again. Of course this one I can't call in so I guess I'm just not booking the ticket. I must say for all the 'new' features of the website, it can't seem to do the basic stuff right (and I know they're fixing the re-use award feature on Friday.. but they have a long list of things they need to fix)

SWAVictor

pitflyer - PM me with the confirmation number you are trying to use funds from and I'll see if I can find the issue (which always helps me to get issues resolved).

I'd love to get it resolved for you today so that you can buy that DING! fare - we need your BIS

pitflyer

thanks Victor, PM sent. We got till 9pm so it should be plenty of time, and maybe we can figure out what's wrong so others don't have the issue in the future

SWAVictor

Well I'm happy (yet also sad) to report that pitflyer and I were indeed able to figure out what the issue was here.

The reason that I'm a little sad is that its a known issue with the new ticketing system that we are trying to get resolved.

The TTF that he was attempting to use, was the leftover security fee from a cancelled award booking. When this type of ticket cancels, the award is returned to your account but the $10 is still on the ticket.

We have talked about the difference between a WUT (wholly unused ticket) and TTF (leftover funds). Well, now here is this $10 that obviously is no longer a "wholly unused ticket" but the security fee money also hasn't been transfered to the TTF "bank".

So - when you try to apply these funds to a new paid ticket, the system gets somewhat confused and returns the "unable to access award ticket funds" error. My understanding is that it would allow them to apply to a new award reservation - but I haven't seen it myself so I cannot verify that with certainty.

The good news is that IT is working through this issue and it has alread been resolved in the system that CS&S uses, and the system used at the airports. The website, however, is still in the process of coding the fix.

So, for now - you can try to apply this type of fund to a new award or companion booking (if you do let me know if it worked for you) - OR - you can contact CS&S and they can apply the funds for you.

Because you are unable to apply these funds yourself online, CS&S "should" honor a web-only or DING! fare over the phone - YMMV. If you are told that they can't, please ask for a Supervisor.

I wish I could instantly fix all of these for you - but at least working together we are getting the issues narrowed down and ultimately they will get resolved.

Thanks for your patience,
SWAVictor

pitflyer

thanks Victor. Hopefully the other posters will find the same root cause (ie that the TTF is from 9-11 fees on award or companion pass tix) and save themselves from trying to book online. Hopefully it gets fixed soon, but in the interim you'll have to convince an agent to book the fare even if its web-only or DING... I'd imagine if it doesn't work after a couple of tries posting here will get you some assistance.

Good luck all and thanks again Victor

ssalt

I m having the same problem again tonight. The system won't allow me to mix wholly unused ticket funds, and partial unused ticket funds (not just from an award ticket, but from any ticket.) This is a major problem tonight because I would like to book several $38 Dings.

pshuang

SWAVictor, I just wanted to say that your diligence in chasing down what happened and your willingness to share the details with us is greatly appreciated. I know not all customers are placated when they understand the details of what happened, but I certainly find it much easier to tolerate issues and problems if I know that the company I am doing business with is actively diagnosing, isolating, and fixing the root cause, even if only in multiple phases, some of which are not yet completed.

bryanw20

Until it's fixed, another option would be refund the $10, and book fresh, that is unless you used NR funds to pay the Sec Fee's.

boycruz

i have had this issue many times over past few weeks
if you call reservations for a Ding Fare they will say they cant
help you. Ask for a supervisor as they can usually do it
and at least hold the reservation and remark the correct ding fare
to be ticketed by customer relations

This issue is getting old (from a pax perspective)
as I have been dealing with this for a month now where
ticketless funds say one thing and applying them doesnt work

chris44

This happened to me last week, too. I was trying to use the $10 that had been for the security fee on an award ticket. I called SWA and the agent quickly refunded the $10 to my credit card, and I paid for my new ticket separately on line. It was much faster and easier than trying to apply the $10 to my new ticket (at least for me).

SWAVictor

Another update!

Happy to report that as of this morning you can now use the leftover funds from a cancelled award ticket as a payment toward a new reservation.

Today is a good day

-SWAVictor

Nevada1K

Not sure if this is related. Just tried to change two existing paid reservations, one to a different date at a lower fare, the other to the same flight/same date at a lower fare. In both cases, receive the error message the fare is no longer available and it tries to upsell me.

If I attempt to make a new booking through to but not click on purchase, the lower fare seems to be available and work fine.

SWAVictor

I don't think its related as the topic of the original post was specifically using leftover security fee funds from a canceled/unused award ticket.

At first glance, and based on the time of your post, I thought it might just be the "timing" of fare loads . . but then you indicated it appeared to allow the fare on a brand new booking - so, I'm not at all certain what is causing the problem.

I have only one guess . . is the "unchanged" portion of the reservation a Senior Fare by chance? If you try to combine a Senior Fare with a Web Only fare you would get this type of message, because they aren't combinable with each other.

If you can send me more specifics of what the error said (through PM), including the error reference number, or send me your confirmation number and what you were trying to change - I may be able to do some digging. Of course, availability and fares may have changed since yesterday afternoon - if so, I may not be able to recreate.