Sep 17, 2014, 11:45 am
Last edit by: Tanic
Reminder: you must enroll and select Southwest as your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase.
Some have suggested the need to wait several hours or even a day before making the purchase, but there are also several DPs that worked without waiting that long.
(BTW, you will often hear people refer to Southwest as WN. WN is the IATA code for Southwest Airlines. SW is the IATA code for Air Namibia.)
Caution: As of late July 2019, reports are that direct gift card purchases are no longer being reimbursed.
To purchase click here: https://www.southwest.com/gift-card/create-card.html Caution: Do NOT login to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account when making the purchase.
What does appear to work is buying flight tickets less than $100, OR using gift cards to get the charged amount down to less than $100.
Always read the last few pages to get up-to-date DPs.
Some have suggested the need to wait several hours or even a day before making the purchase, but there are also several DPs that worked without waiting that long.
(BTW, you will often hear people refer to Southwest as WN. WN is the IATA code for Southwest Airlines. SW is the IATA code for Air Namibia.)
Caution: As of late July 2019, reports are that direct gift card purchases are no longer being reimbursed.
What does appear to work is buying flight tickets less than $100, OR using gift cards to get the charged amount down to less than $100.
Always read the last few pages to get up-to-date DPs.
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (2011-2019)
Mar 2, 2011 | 6:06 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: IND
Programs: SPG Plat, WN CP, Many Others
Posts: 538
Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (2011-2019)
I doubt many people chose Southwest like I did since bags are free and there are no change fees. However, for this year I will be on SW a lot and figured I would drink $200 in drinks anyway. Those credited back to my card even before I got back from my 3 day trip as well as the EarlyBird Checkin $10charges so I could get a better boarding position.
Mar 4, 2011 | 11:57 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AMEX Platinum, HHonors Silver, SPG Gold, Emerald Exec, DL Gold Medallion
Posts: 35
I doubt many people chose Southwest like I did since bags are free and there are no change fees. However, for this year I will be on SW a lot and figured I would drink $200 in drinks anyway. Those credited back to my card even before I got back from my 3 day trip as well as the EarlyBird Checkin $10charges so I could get a better boarding position.
May 9, 2011 | 9:38 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Programs: SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 363
Anyone used this on Southwest to buy gift certificates?
I fly a lot of Southwest but of course do not incur a lot of fees (either because there are no fees or because I have drink coupons). As such, I'd rather not spend the $200 on things I otherwise wouldn't spend money on if I can actually save money with it. Southwest gift certificates would be ideal, but of course with only one shot to select the airlines I wouldn't want to lock into Southwest only to find out the gift certificates aren't being reimbursed.
My other option is to either buy some AA or other gift certificates which are confirmed to work, but my future travel plans that won't be using Southwest are not set yet. Again, locking myself into AA or DL or what not would be suboptimal as then I might have to go with that airline even if flights are not the cheapest.
As a test, I did purchase a gift certificate from WN to see how it would be billed -- perhaps someone with more experience with the workings might be able to tell whether it would be reimbursed? This is from the "Pending Activity", not the final charge.
From what I can tell, an actual ticket purchase adds some info regarding the flight and says "DOCUMENT TYPE: PASSENGER TICKET".
I fly a lot of Southwest but of course do not incur a lot of fees (either because there are no fees or because I have drink coupons). As such, I'd rather not spend the $200 on things I otherwise wouldn't spend money on if I can actually save money with it. Southwest gift certificates would be ideal, but of course with only one shot to select the airlines I wouldn't want to lock into Southwest only to find out the gift certificates aren't being reimbursed.
My other option is to either buy some AA or other gift certificates which are confirmed to work, but my future travel plans that won't be using Southwest are not set yet. Again, locking myself into AA or DL or what not would be suboptimal as then I might have to go with that airline even if flights are not the cheapest.
As a test, I did purchase a gift certificate from WN to see how it would be billed -- perhaps someone with more experience with the workings might be able to tell whether it would be reimbursed? This is from the "Pending Activity", not the final charge.
Code:
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 10.00 . Doing Business As: SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Merchant Address: ATTN SUPVR CR CD BILLINGS MAIL STA 6AR/PO BOX 36611 DALLAS TX 75235 UNITED STATES Category: Travel - Airline
May 10, 2011 | 9:46 am
#4
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8
I can confirm that it works with Southwest gift cards. Got reimbursed for a $25 purchase of one. Yay.
May 10, 2011 | 8:59 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Programs: SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 363
May 11, 2011 | 7:14 pm
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Look up - On a ✈ DELTA ✈ jet NOW!
Programs: Blogger & Delta Diamond Medallion Million Miler
Posts: 4,174
@:-)..... Technically you can use 4 but then the ticket must be under the total amount of the gift cards as the 4th card must be your credit card to make up the rest of the cost. Clear?
https://www.southwest.com/html/help/...onditions.html
May 12, 2011 | 12:55 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Programs: SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 363
I am going to try 2 - $100 ones on two separate buys! Please note according to SWA you can ONLY use 3 gift certs per PNR so if you are 2 people on a trip and want to use 6 of them you will have to split into two PNR's!
@:-)
..... Technically you can use 4 but then the ticket must be under the total amount of the gift cards as the 4th card must be your credit card to make up the rest of the cost. Clear?
https://www.southwest.com/html/help/...onditions.html
@:-)..... Technically you can use 4 but then the ticket must be under the total amount of the gift cards as the 4th card must be your credit card to make up the rest of the cost. Clear?
https://www.southwest.com/html/help/...onditions.html
May 14, 2011 | 2:59 pm
#8
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Look up - On a ✈ DELTA ✈ jet NOW!
Programs: Blogger & Delta Diamond Medallion Million Miler
Posts: 4,174
Haha well let me know how the $100 goes. I put in a trial $50 gift card. Obviously it would be nice to have it on less cards but it doesn't matter too much because I make short trips on Southwest quite often. I actually already have quite a lot of money tied up in cancelled trip funds...
May 15, 2011 | 1:33 am
#9
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Programs: SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 363
Nice, after I got my $50 credit I went ahead and ordered two more $75. Glad I don't have to adjust my flying now based on the credit and what airline I chose.
May 18, 2011 | 6:02 am
#10
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Look up - On a ✈ DELTA ✈ jet NOW!
Programs: Blogger & Delta Diamond Medallion Million Miler
Posts: 4,174
^^^
Jun 23, 2011 | 8:34 am
#11
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: IND
Programs: HHonors Dia, IHG Plat, Wyndham Dia, Southwest Companion Pass, Raddison Gold, Frontier 100K
Posts: 79
Just bought 2 $99 Airtran gift certificates in seperate transactions. I will advise whether they are reimbursed via the $200 Platinum Amex credit.
Jun 27, 2011 | 5:57 am
#12
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: IND
Programs: HHonors Dia, IHG Plat, Wyndham Dia, Southwest Companion Pass, Raddison Gold, Frontier 100K
Posts: 79
Aug 25, 2011 | 11:30 am
#13
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: DL 1MM Diamond, UA Silver, AA Gold, Marriott Titanium, IHG Spire, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 595
Noticed something interesting
After reading that Southwest gift cards would work, I designated Southwest as my airline choice for the benefit, waited 3 days, then bought a $100 e-gift card to test it out. I noticed the charge in my "pending charges" area and thought nothing of it. It remained in "pending" for about a week then just dropped off. When I review the other charges on my account, I don't see the southwest charge anywhere...neither the initial $100 charge, nor the $100 credit back. I repeated the same thing again more recently, bought another $100 e-gift card and experienced the same thing again (in "pending" for about a week, then it dropped off, actual charge nowhere to be seen).
I just made a dummy booking on southwest.com to make sure the e-gift card numbers that were sent my way were valid, and indeed, each one is loaded with $100 of value.
Has anyone experienced this? Seems very strange...
I just made a dummy booking on southwest.com to make sure the e-gift card numbers that were sent my way were valid, and indeed, each one is loaded with $100 of value.
Has anyone experienced this? Seems very strange...
Aug 25, 2011 | 11:42 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 6,769
After reading that Southwest gift cards would work, I designated Southwest as my airline choice for the benefit, waited 3 days, then bought a $100 e-gift card to test it out. I noticed the charge in my "pending charges" area and thought nothing of it. It remained in "pending" for about a week then just dropped off. When I review the other charges on my account, I don't see the southwest charge anywhere...neither the initial $100 charge, nor the $100 credit back. I repeated the same thing again more recently, bought another $100 e-gift card and experienced the same thing again (in "pending" for about a week, then it dropped off, actual charge nowhere to be seen).
I just made a dummy booking on southwest.com to make sure the e-gift card numbers that were sent my way were valid, and indeed, each one is loaded with $100 of value.
Has anyone experienced this? Seems very strange...
I just made a dummy booking on southwest.com to make sure the e-gift card numbers that were sent my way were valid, and indeed, each one is loaded with $100 of value.
Has anyone experienced this? Seems very strange...
Aug 25, 2011 | 1:48 pm
#15
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Berkeley, California
Posts: 561
After reading that Southwest gift cards would work, I designated Southwest as my airline choice for the benefit, waited 3 days, then bought a $100 e-gift card to test it out. I noticed the charge in my "pending charges" area and thought nothing of it. It remained in "pending" for about a week then just dropped off. When I review the other charges on my account, I don't see the southwest charge anywhere...neither the initial $100 charge, nor the $100 credit back. I repeated the same thing again more recently, bought another $100 e-gift card and experienced the same thing again (in "pending" for about a week, then it dropped off, actual charge nowhere to be seen).
I just made a dummy booking on southwest.com to make sure the e-gift card numbers that were sent my way were valid, and indeed, each one is loaded with $100 of value.
Has anyone experienced this? Seems very strange...
I just made a dummy booking on southwest.com to make sure the e-gift card numbers that were sent my way were valid, and indeed, each one is loaded with $100 of value.
Has anyone experienced this? Seems very strange...
I've been waiting for the charge to clear pending state to see if it'll get reimbursed before I purchase more gift certificates.
How long before making your purchase did you designate Southwest as your airline? I designated Southwest on Sunday, 8/14 and then made my purchase on 8/19. I had assumed it was held up because they were processing my selection of airline and when the Southwest charge came in, the system got a bit confused. I dunno.