Questions and Answers

I’m a long time reader, first-time poster.

I recently discovered I had paid for a Southwest flight (already taken) that could have been paid using some forgotten Travel Funds. In retrospect, I thought these credits or funds would have shown up when I entered my frequent flier/Rapid Rewards number to purchase a new flight, but they didn’t. It wasn’t until several weeks later that I discovered several hundred dollars sitting in my “other” Travel Funds account.

Later that week, I was griping to a friend of mine about what happened, and he said the same thing happened to him. He said he’s pretty pissed at Southwest for their method of holding (or “hiding”) the funds. He thought it should, at a minimum, be associated with the Rapid Rewards number, for those of us who have them, so the online system or customer service person could remind you that you have money to spend. We agreed that it seemed a bit disingenuous for a company that claims to be customer-focused to force you to track the dollars yourself. If they can track mileage or segments, they can certainly track credited dollars or Travel Funds.

I KNOW they’re the only airline that allows for refunds, which is priced into their business model. It still feels like they’re playing a shell game or three-card monte … not a great analogy for Southwest’s reputation.

Does anyone else agree?

I’d really love to hear from Southwest on this!

I haven’t bought a ticket on Southwest in a couple years. But, do they make it easy to use the travel funds? Is that hidden when booking as well? That would be my bigger concern.

I also think it’s helpful in some situations to not have it tied to your account. I have a few hundred dollars in American gift cards (thanks Amex travel credits!), and I might want to use those to book travel for a family member. If it’s linked to my AA account, that might not be possible.