vpFREE2 Forums

XVP -- Southwest Airlines

#1

I’m a big Southwest Airlines fan for a lot of reasons. 2 free bags, no charge to cancel a flight ( must use the money or miles within a year), $5 drinks ( $8 on Delta) and they sometimes ‘forget’ to charge you.

My new favorite Southwest feature is being able to rebook a flight at a lower rate if the price drops. I have been flying on Southwest frequent flyer miles for the last 4 years and you can ever rebook at a lower rate if you paid with miles. The system was a little confusing so I would call the 800 number and rebook it that way. The extra miles are returned to your account in about 15 minutes.

This time I decided to try to do it on line. In the past I have had some issues with rebooking on line. Either I got smarter, or the system is now easier to use. Probably the latter. Anyway, I went to my flight on the My travel tab, selected my flight, clicked the change button, picked the same flight and hit update. I got rebooked at the new, lower rate and it detailed exactly how many miles were returned to my account.

For our March trip to Las Vegas, the original outbound flight was 19,500 miles. After 2 painless rebookings, it is now 10,500 miles. So, 9000 miles saved. I think SW RR miles are worth 1.8 cents so about $160 saved.

This feature, plus 2 checked bags free plus no fee rebooking saves a lot of money on every flight. I wish every airline had these perks.

#2

This is hardly a new feature :slight_smile:

Also you have to be careful with the leftover travel funds. If you combine two ticketless travel funds from previous tickets A and B to pay for a new ticket C, the funds from C now expire at the earlier expiration date of A or B.

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On Tue, 7 Feb 2017, greeklandjohnny@aol.com [vpFREE] wrote:

My new favorite Southwest feature is being able to rebook a flight at a lower rate if the price drops.

#3

“I’m a big Southwest Airlines fan for a lot of reasons. 2 free bags, no charge to cancel a flight ( must use the money or miles within a year…”

I don’t think the “must be used within year of ticket purchase date” pertains to miles returned to one’s account after a flight is canceled. So, it’s almost like a fully refundable fare.

Pat Roach

#4

Loner,

The new adjective referred to it being my new favorite, not that the feature is new. It is my new favorite because it is much easier to use than previously. New is a modifier for favorite, not for feature.

Interesting point about combining leftover travel funds. That shouldn’t be a big concern unless you frequently cancel or rebook flights.

—In vpF…@…com, <zorak@…> wrote :

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On Tue, 7 Feb 2017, greeklandjohnny@… [vpFREE] wrote:

My new favorite Southwest feature is being able to rebook a flight at a

lower rate if the price drops.

This is hardly a new feature :slight_smile:

Also you have to be careful with the leftover travel funds. If you

combine two ticketless travel funds from previous tickets A and B to pay

for a new ticket C, the funds from C now expire at the earlier expiration

date of A or B.

#5

Pat, my wife just did this on a Southwest flight and she had to use the miles within one year of the date the miles were returned to her account. I will check on the website for clarification and report back to the group.

—In vpF…@…com, <roaches@…> wrote :

“I’m a big Southwest Airlines fan for a lot of reasons. 2 free bags, no charge to cancel a flight ( must use the money or miles within a year…”

I don’t think the “must be used within year of ticket purchase date” pertains to miles returned to one’s account after a flight is canceled. So, it’s almost like a fully refundable fare.

Pat Roach

#6

Expiration date on miles is news to me.

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From: vpF…@…com [mailto:vpF…@…com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 8, 2017 7:37 AM
To: vpF…@…com
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: XVP – Southwest Airlines

Pat, my wife just did this on a Southwest flight and she had to use the miles within one year of the date the miles were returned to her account. I will check on the website for clarification and report back to the group.

—In vpF…@…com, <roaches@…> wrote :

“I’m a big Southwest Airlines fan for a lot of reasons. 2 free bags, no charge to cancel a flight ( must use the money or miles within a year…”

I don’t think the “must be used within year of ticket purchase date” pertains to miles returned to one’s account ! after a flight is canceled. So, it’s almost like a fully refundable fare.

Pat Roach