Southwest Airlines LUV Vouchers

[MULTIZ321]

I had a mistaken notion of how Southwest Airlines LUV Vouchers worked until yesterday
when I made a reservation and attempted to pay for flights with some LUV Vouchers.

Didn't realize there is a maximum number of LUV Vouchers that you can Apply to help defray the cost of your trip - the number is 3.

Also did not realize that the LUV Voucher does not defray the entire cost of the ticket. So if your ticket cost is $600 and you have a $600 LUV Voucher, your ticket cost is not $0. The LUV Voucher will only subtract a partial amount of the fare and you have to pay for taxes & fees and usually this is done with a credit card.

Also if you have questions about your LUV Vouchers and want to extend the expiration date on a LUV Voucher, don't call the regular Southwest Airlines Customer Service Number. Instead, call
1-855-234-4654 and follow the prompts.

Still love Southwest LUV Vouchers.

Richard

 

[rickandcindy23]

So how do you get LUV vouchers?

 

[Luanne]

A LUV voucher is effectively a gift card that Southwest gives you under various circumstances (as an apology for something they did wrong, as compensation when you voluntarily take a bump, etc). It can't be redeemed for cash, and can only be used toward the cost of a future flight.

 

[canesfan]

To bypass the amount you can use per transaction I would've booked one way tickets. I'd expect that fees not be covered, you have to pay taxes on points too. That's a good amount of LUV vouchers! Were you able to extend them?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MULTIZ321]

To bypass the amount you can use per transaction I would've booked one way tickets. I'd expect that fees not be covered, you have to pay taxes on points too. That's a good amount of LUV vouchers! Were you able to extend them?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, some of the Vouchers have remaining time on them before expiration and a couple of others I was able to extend the expiration date.

Richard

 

[MULTIZ321]

I had a mistaken notion of how Southwest Airlines LUV Vouchers worked until yesterday
when I made a reservation and attempted to pay for flights with some LUV Vouchers.

Didn't realize there is a maximum number of LUV Vouchers that you can Apply to help defray the cost of your trip - the number is 3.

Also did not realize that the LUV Voucher does not defray the entire cost of the ticket. So if your ticket cost is $600 and you have a $600 LUV Voucher, your ticket cost is not $0. The LUV Voucher will only subtract a partial amount of the fare and you have to pay for taxes & fees and usually this is done with a credit card.

Also if you have questions about your LUV Vouchers and want to extend the expiration date on a LUV Voucher, don't call the regular Southwest Airlines Customer Service Number. Instead, call
1-855-234-4654 and follow the prompts.

Still love Southwest LUV Vouchers.

Richard

I forgot to mention that another nice feature of the LUV Voucher process is that after you enter the LUV Voucher number and Security Code and hit Apply a new screen will appear that displays how much the LUV Voucher subtracted from the fare; funds remaining on the LUV Voucher, if any; and it has a "Remove" hyperlink if you change your mind before hitting the "submit" button, you can remove the LUV Voucher from the transaction and use another voucher if you happen to have one to determine if that's a better option.


Richard

 

[silentg]

We fly Southwest as often as possible. Rapid Rewards Club is excellent.

 

[jwalk03]

We fly Southwest as often as possible. Rapid Rewards Club is excellent.

We do as well. I luv Rapid Rewards, I luv free baggage, I luv no change fees, and honestly I luv the whole Southwest experience. Every time I am forced to fly with one of the legacy carriers I miss Southwest.

 

[Thunder Up]

Although there is a limit to the number of luv vouchers that you may use to purchase a ticket (I thought the number was 2), there is an easy work around. Use the 2 (or 3) vouchers to purchase a ticket, with any remaining balance use a credit card (I always find a less expensive ticket than the ticket for my final destination). Then cancel the reservation and have the credit card portion of the ticket returned to your credit card, then one new luv voucher is created. Repeat as often as needed to use all of your luv vouchers or until you purchase your ticket.

One big caveat when combining luv vouchers and then cancelling the ticket, the expiration date on the new combined luv voucher is original luv voucher with the least number of days until the voucher expires.

Happy Travels

Thunder Up

 

[JackieD]

They used to allow 4 methods of payment but as of May 9th, that changed. I found this on "THE POINTS GUY WEBSITE" because I thought it had recently changed and tried to find it. "If you are purchasing an itinerary that only includes travel completed prior to May 9, 2017, you may use a maximum of four forms of payment per reservation to purchase domestic travel on Southwest. For tickets purchased for travel May 9, 2017 and later, you may use a maximum of three forms of payment per Passenger to purchase an itinerary, which includes one credit card or PayPal account per transaction.

Now their policy on their website is:

• You can combine up to three payment methods to pay for your purchase. Choose from the following combinations:

• Southwest gift cards – A maximum of three Southwest gift cards can be applied per passenger on each reservation. If your purchase exceeds the amount available on the three Southwest gift cards, you will only be allowed to use two Southwest gift cards and another form of payment will be required for the difference.
• Held Funds – A maximum of three Held Funds tickets can be applied per Passenger on each reservation. If your purchase exceeds the amount available on the three Held Funds tickets, you will only be allowed to use two Held Funds tickets and another form of payment will be required for the difference.
• Southwest LUV vouchers - A maximum of two Southwest LUV vouchers can be applied per passenger on each reservation. Another form of payment will be required to pay for taxes, fees, and other government/airport charges associated with each reservation.
• Credit Card – Only one credit card, including, without limitation, PayPal, can be applied per reservation.

I had a big problem around March when I tried to use only 3 methods (change had taken affect). I had travel funds from a flight that had gone down at least 3 times. I figured that was ONE method however, each time it went down, that amount was a NEW method. I called in and worked with an agent who couldn't get it to combine the same confirmation number. Took 30 minutes plus talking to a supervisor who couldn't get it to work either. New flights should have been covered but I had to pay an additional fee to purchase (even splitting into one ways). I learn something new everytime.....

 

[MULTIZ321]

I had a mistaken notion of how Southwest Airlines LUV Vouchers worked until yesterday
when I made a reservation and attempted to pay for flights with some LUV Vouchers.

Didn't realize there is a maximum number of LUV Vouchers that you can Apply to help defray the cost of your trip - the number is 3.

Also did not realize that the LUV Voucher does not defray the entire cost of the ticket. So if your ticket cost is $600 and you have a $600 LUV Voucher, your ticket cost is not $0. The LUV Voucher will only subtract a partial amount of the fare and you have to pay for taxes & fees and usually this is done with a credit card.

Also if you have questions about your LUV Vouchers and want to extend the expiration date on a LUV Voucher, don't call the regular Southwest Airlines Customer Service Number. Instead, call
1-855-234-4654 and follow the prompts.

Still love Southwest LUV Vouchers.

Richard

Correction: See JackieD's Post #10 for clarification

The maximum number of LUV Vouchers that you can use per passenger to pay for a ticket is 2.

The number 3 refers to the types of payment you can use - in this instance, 2 LUV Vouchers and 1 Credit Card.

Thanks JackieD for the update.

Richard