[nmnunna32]

*** I also sent the following to DOT ***

I made a ROUND TRIP reservation online on 2/5/2012. The ticket cost is $279.60. I could have booked two one-way tickets and still paid the same amount for same travel dates. Remember southwest does not offer any monetary benefit for buying round trip tickets. It just saved me few mouse clicks but proved to be a stupid mistake on my part which Southwest is cashing now… Please read on how:

When I bought the ticket on 2/5/12, I paid $228.90 using my credit card and the reminder $50.70 using a travel fund voucher. The voucher I used has an expiry date of 7/31/2012.

So far so good. But I ended up cancelling the ticket recently . When I cancelled the ticket, Southwest returned the entire ticket amount of $279.60 in the form of a travel fund voucher. Guess what, the expiry date on this voucher is 7/31/2012. They have a stupid policy somewhere embedded in their website which says that the expiry date will be the one that will the earliest of all vouchers applied on the original purchase. Since I used $50.70 voucher that expires on 7/31/2012, I ended up with a $279.60 voucher that expires on 7/31/2012.

Their policy is unfair. I can agree to this policy if the voucher applied on the original purchase is higher amount than the cash amount paid on the day of the purchase. But in my case it is the opposite. I paid $228.90 in cash and $50.70 using voucher.

I explained my situation to the customer service rep and told her that I can use half the funds before 7/31 but the remaining amount I need couple more months to travel. And I also told her that it is a mistake on my part for not buying two one-way tickets. If I bought two one-way tickets I would not have to go through this misery since upon cancellation, I would have gotten two vouchers one with 7/31/2012 expiry and another with 2/5/2013 expiry which is perfectly fine with me. After my appeal the customer service rep directed me to customer relations department. A manager from customer relations called me today. They are so inflexible. It is like talking to a wall. They hear patiently and at the end they say they apologize and nothing can be done because of their policy. They say they can extend the expiry date if I am willing to forgo $75 as administrative fee.

Stupid Southwest. They make you save nickels and dimes when you find cheaper fare in terms of future travel vouchers but they take all that back and much more when they have an opportunity like this.

I am cancelling my Southwest rapid rewards credit card immediately. And I am not going to travel on their stupid flights. I have choice. That is their stupid slogan anyway!

[Chenomenka]

Worst airline ever! After a very frustrating conversation with a "supervisor" in your customer care department, my situation has come to this: After a suggestion from a SWA agent to voluntarily cancel our tickets due to a snowstorm back in January (no departure/cancellation info available the night before), I now have unused travel which expires in August. We are travelling in September. I called to extend our tickets to the end of September but was told I'd have to wait until our tickets expire. Great, now I have to book when the fares increase, and not only that, there will be a fee of $75 p/p deducted from our unused travel. So not only will I be paying more for booking closer to the date, I will also be losing $150 of my travel money and was told nothing could be done about that. Screw me once, screw me twice, screw me three times, Southwest! Shame on you and your horrible customer service and your complete lack of willingness to help!