Effective January 28, 2011, unused travel funds may only be applied toward the purchase of future travel for the individual named on the ticket. Southwest Airlines will “not allow unused travel funds to be applied toward travel for anyone other than the original passenger.”
this will certainly change how Ticketless Travel funds can be used. one comes to mind that you could no longer sell unused funds to another person or gift them to each other.
The first reports of the new policy appeared last week on the online frequent
flyer forum FlyerTalk. It drew numerous responses, ranging in tone from disappointment to hostility.
Last March, when asked about name-change policies, a Southwest spokeswoman told Management.travel, “We do reserve the funds for unused nonrefundable tickets. These funds can be transferred to other accounts.This would be the same for corporate accounts.” But now, according to the spokeswoman, the new rule will be applied “consistently across all customers who seek to re-book unused funds. We expect this decision to affect a relatively small percentage of passengers.”Why is Southwest making the change? According to the official, the newly stated policy has “been in the Contract of Carriage for years,
but it became common practice to make exceptions.” Southwest is communicating the change in a note on southwest.com and swabiz.com when customers make bookings; on emailed and faxed itineraries; and on ticket receipts at the airport by including the word “nontransferable.”
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