If you have any flight credits with Southwest Airlines which have not expired or were created on or after Thursday, July 28, 2022, the good news is that they will not expire, as flight credits no longer have expiration dates — even if they show an expiration date, which may be December 31, 2040 — until the systems at the airline are updated…
Flight Credits No Longer Expire With Southwest Airlines
…and the best part is that no action is required on your part, as flight credits are available for you to use.
A flight credit is a credit from either a canceled flight or a downgrade in fare that can be used to purchase a future flight. Flight credits can be accessed by the six-digit confirmation number of the reservation.
A flight credit with an expiration date on or before Wednesday, July 27, 2022, is expired and no longer available for use.
You can check your flight credit balance in two ways. To see if you have available flight credits, either:
- Go to the Payment section in My Account. Log in to My Account.
- Visit the Check Travel Funds site and use your six-digit confirmation number, which is found in green at the top of your e-mail message for changes or cancelations.
All confirmation numbers consist of unique six-digit code and do not include the number 0 or the number 1.
Although a Southwest LUV Voucher is issued by Southwest Airlines and can be applied toward a future flight, it is not a flight credit. Southwest LUV Vouchers have an expiration date by which travel must be booked and flown. Additionally, Southwest LUV Vouchers cannot be applied toward government-imposed charges and fees.
Some reasons why you may not see your flight credit in your account:
- You may not have included your Rapid Rewards membership number when booking, changing, or canceling the flight. If this is the case, use your six-digit confirmation number to check your flight credits here.
- They are not in your name. Flight credits associated with another passenger will not display in your account.
- They expired prior to Thursday, July 28, 2022.
When booking a flight, you will see an option to apply a flight credit on the payment screen. Each passenger can use a total of three forms of payment per booking; and each flight credit counts as a form of payment.
Business Select, Anytime, and Wanna Get Away Plus fares are eligible for a Transferable Flight Credit, which allows you to transfer your flight credit to someone else. Both parties must be members of the Rapid Rewards frequent flier loyalty program; and only one transfer is permitted. For tickets which are booked through a Southwest Airlines Business channel, only transfers between employees within the organization are permitted. Wanna Get Away fares receive a flight credit, which cannot be transferred to someone else.
Final Boarding Call
Other airlines will hopefully follow the lead of Southwest Airlines by enacting similar policies, as I have long believed that if you paid for a flight and it has not occurred for whatever reason — especially if that reason is not within your control — you should not be forced to use a credit or a voucher by an expiration date, which is typically one year from the date of issue and the value suddenly vanishes…
…but I doubt that other airlines will do so — at least, not for the foreseeable future…
Photograph ©2018 by Brian Cohen.
