Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[mfly]

Will Disney check us in for our departure flight with Southwest 24 hours before or should be do it ourselves?

Disney will not check you in. You’ll have to do it yourselves. If you want to be automatically checked in, I’d suggest purchasing EBCI.

 

[Moramoon]

I have a question. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to, but I thought I'd ask. When we booked out flights to MCO I didn't have enough points for a ticket. They were $73 at the time so I went ahead and paid for our 4 tickets. I've booked 2 of the tickets for our return flight and have been waiting on the last 2. Those tickets are now $106. Thanks to the summer shop promo and the dining promo for being a new sign up I have more point, but I'm still a little shy of being able to buy one of the last 2 we need. Am I able to change my payment method to points from one of the $73 tickets and use the credit from that towards one of the $106 tickets? Does this make sense?

 

[Lvsdisney]

I have a question. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to, but I thought I'd ask. When we booked out flights to MCO I didn't have enough points for a ticket. They were $73 at the time so I went ahead and paid for our 4 tickets. I've booked 2 of the tickets for our return flight and have been waiting on the last 2. Those tickets are now $106. Thanks to the summer shop promo and the dining promo for being a new sign up I have more point, but I'm still a little shy of being able to buy one of the last 2 we need. Am I able to change my payment method to points from one of the $73 tickets and use the credit from that towards one of the $106 tickets? Does this make sense?

I dont think you can combine points with another form of payment. It has to be all or nothing. Is that what you're asking?

Also, I know buying points isn't a good value, but I'm not sure how short you are and if it would make sense financially to purchase the remaining you need. It may be cheaper than paying for the seats.

 

[Moramoon]

No, I was hoping to use points to pay for a ticket I already bought (one of the $73 tickets) then use the credit from that towards one of the return tickets I still need. It's not too big of a deal if I can't. I'm about 600 points away from paying for one of them which with the holidays coming up I'm sure I could get to pretty quickly. I figure it's not possible, but thought I'd ask.

 

[Lvsdisney]

No, I was hoping to use points to pay for a ticket I already bought (one of the $73 tickets) then use the credit from that towards one of the return tickets I still need. It's not too big of a deal if I can't. I'm about 600 points away from paying for one of them which with the holidays coming up I'm sure I could get to pretty quickly. I figure it's not possible, but thought I'd ask.

I guess you could cancel your flights, and then get a credit to use to the other flight, but I believe the credit can only be used by the person whose name is on the original flight. Then you can take the chance to book with points that the flights are still there at the point level you want.

I would just wait to earn more points... maybe others have another idea.

 

[Moramoon]

I don't really want to do that. I doubt I'd be able to re-book at the same price. I'll just wait. I've been antsy about getting our last 2 tickets, but I'm so close.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I don't really want to do that. I doubt I'd be able to re-book at the same price. I'll just wait. I've been antsy about getting our last 2 tickets, but I'm so close.

I know what you mean! I've already booked our return flights but I'm waiting for American's price to drop before I book our flights there! (SW NS flights are not at ideal times...)

 

[linjohn]

If I book a refundable fare on Southwest and a wanna get away fare becomes available Can I change to the lesser fare and get a refund?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

If I book a refundable fare on Southwest and a wanna get away fare becomes available Can I change to the lesser fare and get a refund?

I'd book the wanna get away fare first separately then cancel your other ticket for a refund.

 

[Lvsdisney]

Just want to say thanks for all the useful info here on this thread! I have been checking the times for my flight home and my ideal flight has been sold out pretty much since it was released. Well, I persisted and finally found it available to book tonight. It cost me a few more RR points, but completely worth it since DH has to work the next morning and I didn't want to get home too late! Your info also assured me my EBCI would transfer (it did) and that all I had to do was change the flight instead of cancelling and booking a new one. Thanks again! I'm still 6 months away, but I'm feeling excited!!

ETA: A quick question though.... say I get even luckier and the points for the flight go down, can I rebook again? How many times can you change a flight using RR points?

 

[marymaya]

Just want to say thanks for all the useful info here on this thread! I have been checking the times for my flight home and my ideal flight has been sold out pretty much since it was released. Well, I persisted and finally found it available to book tonight. It cost me a few more RR points, but completely worth it since DH has to work the next morning and I didn't want to get home too late! Your info also assured me my EBCI would transfer (it did) and that all I had to do was change the flight instead of cancelling and booking a new one. Thanks again! I'm still 6 months away, but I'm feeling excited!!

ETA: A quick question though.... say I get even luckier and the points for the flight go down, can I rebook again? How many times can you change a flight using RR points?

I’ve rebooked at least 4 times and my flights are covered with points. I was refunded over 12000 points total.

 

[TNKim]

The price of my ticket changed 2 times before my trip, so each time I changed the ticket to the lower price, generating a refund to my account to be used in the next year. In looking at my account online, I can't find how much the credited refunds were. Can you direct me to where on the website I can see the amount of my credit?

 

[Shrfleen]

The price of my ticket changed 2 times before my trip, so each time I changed the ticket to the lower price, generating a refund to my account to be used in the next year. In looking at my account online, I can't find how much the credited refunds were. Can you direct me to where on the website I can see the amount of my credit?

This is what I use: https://www.southwest.com/flight/travel-funds-search.html

You will need the original confirmation #

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Points/refund/rebook question.

Hopefully I explain this correctly.
If I want to purchase flights with points but don't have enough so I purchase enough that I can then pay for the round trip flight with POINTS and then after booking have to cancel for some reason do I get the POINTS back?
If so do those points have to be used within 1 year of the date I originally booked the flight?
Say I book today for February and then I need to cancel due to a family member being sick and me having to stay home to assist them would I have to book and take a flight by October 29th 2018 or can the points be used later than that? Like December 2018?

(Background is my mom just found out she has lymphoma but they still need to do testing to decide for sure if its slow growing or aggressive but that likely won't be figured out for a month or two. Meanwhile i'd like to book some very cheap flights on SW for a February trip but if it turns out its aggressive cancer she'll need treatment right away and may need assistance when I'm wanting to go on vacation so I'd stay home. I am also taking a trip December 2018. I realize that if I pay with $$$ I only have 1 year from the original booking date which is why I considered buying points to pay for this trip and then if I need to cancel the flights I wanted to know if the points also expire after 1 year or if I could book for December 2018 with those points)

 

[PerfessorZ]

Points/refund/rebook question.

Hopefully I explain this correctly.
If I want to purchase flights with points but don't have enough so I purchase enough that I can then pay for the round trip flight with POINTS and then after booking have to cancel for some reason do I get the POINTS back?

Yes

If so do those points have to be used within 1 year of the date I originally booked the flight?

No

Say I book today for February and then I need to cancel due to a family member being sick and me having to stay home to assist them would I have to book and take a flight by October 29th 2018 or can the points be used later than that? Like December 2018?

No. The points can be used at any time in the future.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Yes



No



No. The points can be used at any time in the future.

Thank you for the clear and concise answer. I feel a lot better.

 

[mastermind307]

Will Southwest ever have a sale that goes past May 23? I keep waiting to book our return flights in hopes there will be a sale. But every time a sale is announced, the travel days are never later than May 23. I don't know if I should keep waiting or go ahead and book.

 

[richmo]

Will Southwest ever have a sale that goes past May 23? I keep waiting to book our return flights in hopes there will be a sale. But every time a sale is announced, the travel days are never later than May 23. I don't know if I should keep waiting or go ahead and book.

They will eventually, but your fare could also go up in the meantime, or even get sold out. If you're flying again within a year (from now), you could always book and take the credit if there's a fare drop.

 

[bwbuddy5]

Ok, just booked for a party of 9, and had to do it as 7 and 2. Different reservation numbers obviously, but made both while logged in under my rapid rewards account.

I got both email confirmations, and if I click My Itinerary in either email, it displays everything properly on the website. However, if I just go directly to the website (not from the email), it looks like it's only showing the one reservation that contained my name.

Is that something to be concerned about? Will it make checking in 24 prior cumbersome?

 

[jenseib]

Ok, just booked for a party of 9, and had to do it as 7 and 2. Different reservation numbers obviously, but made both while logged in under my rapid rewards account.

I got both email confirmations, and if I click My Itinerary in either email, it displays everything properly on the website. However, if I just go directly to the website (not from the email), it looks like it's only showing the one reservation that contained my name.

Is that something to be concerned about? Will it make checking in 24 prior cumbersome?

No because you will check in using conf. numbers