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

[hulagirl87]

So I have found out the hard way that travel funds expire. We had our Disney trip planned for last month but DD got mono and we had to reschedule. I had no idea that the day that you book your flight is the date they use and then give you a year to use your funds if you need to cancel or reschedule. They have always advertised that there are no change fees and things aren't a hassle with them, but they never mention expiration. It's that fine print that will get you! I've talked to them through email and phone, but they say there is nothing to be done until after the expiration date, then I can ask for an extension for a fee. Well my expiration date is in March and we are flying in May. I don't want to wait that long as there might be nothing left.

So my question is this.... has anyone ever had any luck trying to use travel funds that have expired/are expiring?

Also, I know that you can board with children between groups A and B. I was told on the phone that it was kids 5 and under, but the website says 6 and under. DD is 6 and DS is 3. Will we all be able to board together or will I have to get on with DS and DH wait to board with DD if the "rule" is 5. And will they "proof" her for her age?

 

[cmarsh31]

So I have found out the hard way that travel funds expire. We had our Disney trip planned for last month but DD got mono and we had to reschedule. I had no idea that the day that you book your flight is the date they use and then give you a year to use your funds if you need to cancel or reschedule. They have always advertised that there are no change fees and things aren't a hassle with them, but they never mention expiration. It's that fine print that will get you! I've talked to them through email and phone, but they say there is nothing to be done until after the expiration date, then I can ask for an extension for a fee. Well my expiration date is in March and we are flying in May. I don't want to wait that long as there might be nothing left.

Oooh, I need to figure this out too. Flights go on sale in Jan for our July 8th trip out west. DH has travel funds. The first expires in May the second not until July 9th. I suspect I'm going to have to call and beg. From what I'm reading, does this mean I won't be able to book flights for July until the day after the May expiration date (at which point it will cost me $100 of the travel funds and the May voucher is only worth $98). I wonder if I can book his flights with the other two confirmation numbers and not put in the May one in Jan? Ugg.

Anyone experience this?

 

[jenseib]

Oooh, I need to figure this out too. Flights go on sale in Jan for our July 8th trip out west. DH has travel funds. The first expires in May the second not until July 9th. I suspect I'm going to have to call and beg. From what I'm reading, does this mean I won't be able to book flights for July until the day after the May expiration date (at which point it will cost me $100 of the travel funds and the May voucher is only worth $98). I wonder if I can book his flights with the other two confirmation numbers and not put in the May one in Jan? Ugg.

Anyone experience this?

I am pretty confusedby your post, but if some expire in May they need to be used before the exp. date. You can use any of the conf.s you want. I use which ever has the bigest credit and or what is about to expire the soonest if I am using refunded credits

 

[cmarsh31]

I am pretty confusedby your post, but if some expire in May they need to be used before the exp. date. You can use any of the conf.s you want. I use which ever has the bigest credit and or what is about to expire the soonest if I am using refunded credits

Ok good. I kept reading that all travel funds were lumped together and expired with the earliest expiration date, so I was really confused by that. Only one out of 3 expires in May and the other 2 in July, the day after we fly, which a lot of stuff online made it sound like all 3 would then expire by May. So I'm just going to lose the May one, bc it's for $98, but can hopefully use the two July ones before they expire. If you call to extend them, the day after they expire, is it $100 per travel fund vouncher/confirmation number or $100 total?

 

[DisDadDVC]

Ok good. I kept reading that all travel funds were lumped together and expired with the earliest expiration date, so I was really confused by that. Only one out of 3 expires in May and the other 2 in July, the day after we fly, which a lot of stuff online made it sound like all 3 would then expire by May. So I'm just going to lose the May one, bc it's for $98, but can hopefully use the two July ones before they expire. If you call to extend them, the day after they expire, is it $100 per travel fund vouncher/confirmation number or $100 total?

$100 per voucher.

 

[DisDadDVC]

So I have found out the hard way that travel funds expire. We had our Disney trip planned for last month but DD got mono and we had to reschedule. I had no idea that the day that you book your flight is the date they use and then give you a year to use your funds if you need to cancel or reschedule. They have always advertised that there are no change fees and things aren't a hassle with them, but they never mention expiration. It's that fine print that will get you! I've talked to them through email and phone, but they say there is nothing to be done until after the expiration date, then I can ask for an extension for a fee. Well my expiration date is in March and we are flying in May. I don't want to wait that long as there might be nothing left.

So my question is this.... has anyone ever had any luck trying to use travel funds that have expired/are expiring?

Also, I know that you can board with children between groups A and B. I was told on the phone that it was kids 5 and under, but the website says 6 and under. DD is 6 and DS is 3. Will we all be able to board together or will I have to get on with DS and DH wait to board with DD if the "rule" is 5. And will they "proof" her for her age?

There is zero chance you can use expired travel funds.
You can not extend them until they have expired.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Ok off topic but this will be our first time flying Southwest. Checked in for flight and got A 18-21 boarding positions. How do the boarding positions work? Will we be able to sit together for certain? Thanks!

 

[DisDadDVC]

Ok off topic but this will be out first time flying Southwest. Checked in for flight and got A 18-21 boarding positions. How do the boarding positions work? Will we be able to sit together for certain? Thanks!

Uhh, yeah. You will have your choice of just about any seat on the plane. Positions A1-15 are reserved for Business Select and people who pay $40 at the gate to upgrade their seat. On flights to MCO, A1-15 is usually almost completely empty. A18-21 will put you in the first 10 people boarding most likely (other than medical pre-boards).

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Uhh, yeah. You will have your choice of just about any seat on the plane. Positions A1-15 are reserved for Business Select and people who pay $40 at the gate to upgrade their seat. On flights to MCO, A1-15 is usually almost completely empty. A18-21 will put you in the first 10 people boarding most likely (other than medical pre-boards).

Ok thanks for the good news. We're traveling with 8 and 2yo, so sitting together was important to us. One less thing to stress about now!

 

[StarlitNight05]

Mods please delete this - thanks!

 

[biochemgirl]

So nervous about check in and trying to sit with my son! I need to check in for an 8:30 am departure on a Wednesday on March 22 out of Portland, OR. If I'm 15 minutes late the previous day getting to a computer, will it bump us to group B?

 

[macraven]

So nervous about check in and trying to sit with my son! I need to check in for an 8:30 am departure on a Wednesday on March 22 out of Portland, OR. If I'm 15 minutes late the previous day getting to a computer, will it bump us to group B?

Set up and pay for EBCI and don't worry about issues for sitting with your son

 

[richmo]

So nervous about check in and trying to sit with my son! I need to check in for an 8:30 am departure on a Wednesday on March 22 out of Portland, OR. If I'm 15 minutes late the previous day getting to a computer, will it bump us to group B?

As mentioned in the last post, you could go for EBCI.

And if you do get bumped into an early B (like B1 thru about 20), you will still get to sit next to your son, pretty much no matter what. It just may be a little further back in the plane than if you boarded in A.

 

[mom2rtk]

So nervous about check in and trying to sit with my son! I need to check in for an 8:30 am departure on a Wednesday on March 22 out of Portland, OR. If I'm 15 minutes late the previous day getting to a computer, will it bump us to group B?

I'm a cheapskate but I always get EBCI. Just consider it part of the fare.

 

[biochemgirl]

As mentioned in the last post, you could go for EBCI.

And if you do get bumped into an early B (like B1 thru about 20), you will still get to sit next to your son, pretty much no matter what. It just may be a little further back in the plane than if you boarded in A.

Trying to balance saving money with also getting what I want! My inner cheapskate is alive and well I'm thinking I'll try checking in myself for the flight to Florida, but then have EBCI for the return leg since we'll be busy with activities and I don't want to accidently miss the window.

 

[mom2rtk]

Trying to balance saving money with also getting what I want! My inner cheapskate is alive and well I'm thinking I'll try checking in myself for the flight to Florida, but then have EBCI for the return leg since we'll be busy with activities and I don't want to accidently miss the window.

I used to do that too. Then a couple times I was so busy getting ready to leave on our trip, I still forgot to check in 24 hours out. That cured me.

 

[PerfessorZ]

Trying to balance saving money with also getting what I want! My inner cheapskate is alive and well I'm thinking I'll try checking in myself for the flight to Florida, but then have EBCI for the return leg since we'll be busy with activities and I don't want to accidently miss the window.

My last trip, I set alarms for 5 minutes before, 1 minute before, and for the precise time to check in. I had 2 phones ready and my wife had 2 phones ready so we could all check in together (the way I bought the tickets required separate check-ins for each family member). We ended up with single-digit Bs (I think a fair number of people on that flight sprang for EBCI), but that was plenty fine. We were able to set together and there were still plenty of unoccupied rows left. I felt it was worth it to save $60 each way. $120 - that's a nice TS dinner for the family!

 

[richmo]

Trying to balance saving money with also getting what I want! My inner cheapskate is alive and well I'm thinking I'll try checking in myself for the flight to Florida, but then have EBCI for the return leg since we'll be busy with activities and I don't want to accidently miss the window.

My inner cheapskate is the same way...and I take it a step further in that I haven't done EBCI returning either. For one, I have a smartphone, so I just use that to check-in and I've been pretty good about stopping and taking a minute to do that. The other thing to consider is, for the most part, people are flying into Orlando for a vacation, then flying home from Orlando. What I'm getting at is that there are a lot of people in the same situation that aren't sitting on their home computer waiting for the exact second to hit the check-in button...result being that the boarding spot competition returning from MCO doesn't seem quite as intense. I've had pretty good luck getting low A's or high B's checking in for the return flight in the first minute or two after the clock hits 24 hr.

 

[jenseib]

My inner cheapskate is the same way...and I take it a step further in that I haven't done EBCI returning either. For one, I have a smartphone, so I just use that to check-in and I've been pretty good about stopping and taking a minute to do that. The other thing to consider is, for the most part, people are flying into Orlando for a vacation, then flying home from Orlando. What I'm getting at is that there are a lot of people in the same situation that aren't sitting on their home computer waiting for the exact second to hit the check-in button...result being that the boarding spot competition returning from MCO doesn't seem quite as intense. I've had pretty good luck getting low A's or high B's checking in for the return flight in the first minute or two after the clock hits 24 hr.

I find the majority use the early bird coming home. Or they are a family that can board between A & B. For that reason alone I do the early bird coming home because getting a B in Orlando is not the greatest since so many families can board before B.

 

[biochemgirl]

I find the majority use the early bird coming home. Or they are a family that can board between A & B. For that reason alone I do the early bird coming home because getting a B in Orlando is not the greatest since so many families can board before B.

About family boarding: if a group has one qualifying child, they all board together after group a? I would think that has a huge effect on MCO given the number of families there just for vacation!