You get your money back! If you read this blog daily, you probably notice that I am writing about Southwest fare sales quite often! And while a fare sale is great for those looking to book future travel, it also comes in handy for those who already have booked reservations as you are able to get a credit back if the price of your flight goes down. Here are the detailed steps on how to go about this if a Southwest price decreases!
One thing to know, Southwest will NOT automatically credit your account if the fare goes down. You must take the initiative and go through the steps yourself. This is why I am on the Southwest site daily checking out current fare prices of already reserved flights. You can get a credit for the fare price multiple times up until the day of departure!
Step 1:
Sign into your Southwest account and access your upcoming trips. All future reservations will be listed. Click the “Change Reservation” link for the flight that has gone down in price.
**Note: If you booked your original reservation over the phone you will need to call Southwest and have them do this. Just remember though, Southwest agents are not able to see web-only fares.
Step 2:
Click the checkbox for the passenger that you want to change the reservation for and click “Continue”. If the reservation included multiple passengers, you can select all passengers. Just remember that sometimes the lower fare is only available for one ticket, so in that case just select one passengers name).
Step 3:
Your current flight itinerary will already be populated in the From, To, and Depart fields. Just click “Select New Flight”.
Step 4:
Select your flight time and click “Continue”. It will give you the current fare in cash or points based on how you originally booked your reservation.
Step 5:
You will the new and exchanged ticket total at the bottom of the page along with the difference. Make sure that the new ticket is less than the exchanged ticket! Assuming the information is correct, click “Continue”.
Step 6:
The new ticket price will be listed. If you paid with points and kept the itinerary exactly the same there will be no additional amount due. If the flight information is correct click the “I Want To Make These Changes” button.
The process is really simple and takes no more then a minute or two. Here are the two scenarios on how you will get the fare difference back:
- Paid Flight: If you paid for your flight you will receive a voucher for the difference in fare price to be used one year from the date the flight was originally purchased (NOT the date the change process took place). This voucher is non-transferable. The voucher will be tied to the confirmation number of the original flight. There is NO fee for this.
- Using Points: If you booked your flight using points, the difference in points will go back into your account immediately. Again, there is NO fee for this. This is why I love booking Southwest flights using points!
One thing to note: If you have a companion pass tacked onto your existing reservation it gets a little trickier. The system will not allow you to change a reservation if you have a companion pass added onto the reservation. Assuming the flight still has plenty of seats left, you must first cancel your companions reservation and then change your flight itinerary. You will then need to remember to add your companion back onto your reservation. The major downfall with this is the system takes a few minutes to recognize that the companion’s reservation has been cancelled. Here you can learn more about the Southwest Rapid Reward loyalty program and Southwest Companion Pass.
To learn more about the Southwest program:
- Southwest Credit Card 50,000 Point Offer
- Earning and Redeeming Southwest Rapid Reward Points
- Earning Status with Southwest and the Benefits
- Changing and Canceling a Southwest Ticket
- Earning the Southwest Companion Pass
- Converting Southwest Credits to Free Flights
- Transferring Points to Southwest
- Transferring Points/Credits between AirTran and Southwest
- Extending the Life of Free Flights from Rapid Reward 1.0 Program
- Booking Southwest Flights with Chase Ultimate Reward Points
- Canceling a Flight Booked with Points
- Changing a Flight if Booked as a Roundtrip
- Getting Money Back if the Flight Goes Down in Price
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Great tip. In the past I’ve cancelled and then rebooked the flight.
@eli – this will keep the same reservation number
Hi..I was wondering if you have an email…I would like to book a group vacation with southwest…I would want to know how to get best deal..I usually wait and book super saver with promo code.. but those usually are limited…so maybe you can help me…thank you
@Kelly – You can email me at dealswelike@gmail.com
Do you lose the $12.50 each way that you paid for early bird seating??
@rob – As long as you change your flight and do not cancel your flight, you will not lose the $12.50. Since the reservation number stays the same your early bird seating will stay in tack. They start assigning early board positions within 36 hours of the flight’s departure, so as long as you change your flight before this time you are good to go.
Thanks for the reminder. Just checked on a flight I’d booked in June and got about 5K returned to my account.
@Uri – That is great!
Any price drop alert options for SWA similar to Yapta? I’m guessing manual is still the only way to check.
@rob – I believe the EBS remains linked to the specific reservation, so it should remain if same #.
See Q&A: http://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/faqs.html?topic=earlybird_checkin
“If an EarlyBird Check-In Customer chooses to change a flight, will the EarlyBird Check-In options transfer to the new flight?
It depends. EarlyBird Check-In is tied to the Customer’s reservation for which the EarlyBird Check-In purchase was made and will be transferred to the Customer’s new flight if he/she changes the flight at least 25 hours prior to the original flight’s scheduled departure time and so long as the change is to a flight that will depart in more than 25 hours. Since EarlyBird Check-In is associated with a reservation, any changes must be made within the same reservation record (same confirmation number) in which the Customer purchased EarlyBird Check-In.”
@Mark – Unfortunately nothing that I know of.
MP,
In regards to canceling your companion booking and then rebooking. This was not my experience when I rebooked a flight at a lower rate about a month ago. Perhaps that is because I called in and handled the change of my original booking over the phone. I explained to the agent that the fare had dropped from what was on my original booking and that I wanted it changed to the new, lower fare. She handled that rather simply and it did not change my confirmation (record locator number) nor did it change anything about the companion booking. I was concerned about that latter part but the agent assured me several times that this change to my original booking would have no effect on the companion booking.
I have checked several times and both my booking, with the lower fare, and the companion booking are still there with the same locator numbers.
I expect that the difference is that I handled this by calling and getting a live agent.
The only minor issue had to do with the payment of the $ 10 fee (this was booked with points.) Basically, they had to refund the fee I had paid earlier and immediately charge a new (same)fee. Net effect…..no change.
Anyway, that was my experience and I thought this could be useful.
@James – When you change over the phone you are correct, the companion process is slightly easier. Online, you must cancel companion, change flight, then rebook companion.
this is why ALL airlines should be required to follow SW programs. No penalty to change reservations, no penalty to
change if fare goes down, etc., etc. Congress should mandate that ALL airlines follow SW consumer rules vs. thinking of them only.
THANK YOU!! Noticed this morning that one leg of my flight went down in price and I just got a $76 refund!
@jb 0 that is great!!!
Thanks for the instructions on how to do this!
Wow thanks. I just got a good refund.
If I paid in cash, and am selecting a flight that is now cheaper – how is the credit refunded? Back to my Visa card?
@Kellie – You will get a credit back that needs to be used within a year from when it was booked.
Just saved $5.00! This was so easy – I feared I had to get on the phone with someone!
I spent 30 seconds and got $5.
@BillyBob- Great!!!
Does it give you the option to “change” or “rebook” to the exact same flight? For example, if I see that my 10 am flight price goes down $30, can I “change” to this exact same 10 am flight to get the $30 credit, or do I have to select a different flight?
@staysha – you can rebook the same exact flight and get the difference back!
Thank you for the advice!!! I just did this for a Cancun trip next weekend and “saved” (got back in SW credit) $350 per person!!!!! Thank you!!!!! I’m premier on United and fairly loyal but this sort of benefit with SW is so great.
@dealswelike – I went to go re-book to save about $60 a ticket but when I go through re-booking it doesn’t show the lower price. I went through just to see if it would show up on the final page but it doesn’t.
Any suggestions?
@Cassie – Hmmm… did you check to see if the lower price was available for just one or all tickets?
We don’t fly much but have a family trip planned. Looking at southwest. If I book departing flight but not the return flight. And my departure flight goes down can I use it on the departure flight. Not sure we would travel again in the next year.
@Tamara – you can use the credit towards any new flight you’d like (just has to be under the same passengers name)
Woo-hoo! I just got a $70 voucher! Thank you so much for the step by step instructions! With most other airlines and their fees for everything I was nervous to change my reservation. But just like you said, it was a simple easy process, and who couldn’t use $70 off their next flight?! Thank you again!
@Angela – Great!!!
How do you receive the voucher? I have rebooked twice and just assumed it went back to my credit card. Now, I see the ticket says I have unused travel funds. Is the voucher emailed? Thanks.
@Mercy – It is tied to the confirmation number of the ticket that went down in price. You will not receive an email with the voucher.
The voucher number is essentially the confirmation number.
Cool, just made the change following your detailed instructions. 1000 points refunded. Thank you!
Great post. I just had 950 points refunded to me. The process took less than 2-minutes. Thank you.
[…] We Like provided a very detailed walkthrough for requesting this credit when a fare drops on Southwest Airlines. I think it’s a little cumbersome because Southwest’s process is designed for a general […]
Thank you for this posting! i booked a trip about a week ago and checked today to only see that prices had come way down! they gave me a refund which can be used on the next trip that i book! this is awesome!
This isn’t working for me. One leg of my flight went down $30 (I searched the flight for two tickets just to make sure that there are indeed two tickets available at that price – I even have it open on another browser to be sure I’m looking at the correct price), but when I follow your instructions to change the flight and get all the way to the “select new flight” page, that flight has the old higher price on it. So I could book new tickets at the lower price and cancel the other ones for credit (theoretically – I haven’t actually tried it because I’m not certain that I will travel again this year and that seems like a huge risk for a $60 savings), but it seems that I cannot actually adjust my current ticket price.
@Becky – Are you making sure to select just the one-way leg for the flight that has gone down in price? You can always call Southwest and see if they can adjust it also.
Nice, just did this, got to a closer city and saved 2k points! Thanks for the walkthru.
@Danny – Great!
I booked a flight for 3 people on a single reservation. I went on Southwest to check and the fare for a single person is less than what I paid per person. When I logged in to modify the reservation I did not see an option to select a change for an individual passenger. I also noticed in the image on Step 2 under “Please Note” that it says that “Changes apply to all passengers on the reservation.” I called a customer service agent and his only recommendation was to cancel and re-book the flights individually at the lower fare. Seems like a good idea, but I am concerned that the fares might jump with each additional booking, thus negating the initial savings of the lower fare. Do you have any advice concerning how to modify the reservation for an individual on a group reservation to get the lower individual fare?
@JSK – Did the price go down for all three passengers, or just one passenger? If all three, then you can change to a lower price for all three. If for less than that I believe you might need to cancel and rebook. I’ve done this before but cannot recall. I always book as a single passenger due to this exact reason. If you call Southwest they will pull the fares that they see in their system which are not typically the lowest web fare.
If you have the points in your account just rebook the passengers and then cancel. Then you won’t be in the dilemma of fares going up. Bit I am nt sure if you are using points or payin for the flights? I personally do not think the flights will change within a few minute timespan.
This post saved me almost $80. Thanks!!
Thank you Thank you, just saved me $300. AWESOME
@Jen – that is great!
Just did this today (Jan2015). Worked perfectly – thank you!
I took advantage of a lower price leg on a flight to Las Vegas in May 2015. The re-booking date was Jan 2, 2015.
When do I receive this voucher I have been reading about in this blog? Does it come in snail mail or is there a credit some where on my RR Account? I appreciate any information.
@Stan – The voucher number is your reservation number. You will not receive an email with the information. When you go to re-book you will use the Southwest reservation number to apply the credit.
One thing worth noting in the case of speculative bookings.
A few months ago I make a booking for this june using $60 of unused travel funds set to expire August 1st and $150 worth of gift certificates. I noticed the price had dropped, so I called and they credited me the difference, but that entire amount went toward the travel funds and will expire on August 1st.
So if that doesn’t make sense… If you have a booking you may cancel and have unused travel funds, don’t use them unless you’re comfortable potentially adding to the amount of those funds without extending the expiration.
@Brenton – Thanks for pointing this out. This is one of my biggest gripes with Southwest. With that being said, I suggest calling customer relations and asking if it can be extended to not expire when the original travel funds expired but instead a year from when the flight was booked. Many times they are able to accommodate special requests. I just had a situation that they handled with no issue at all. The number is: 214-932-0333. Hours are M-F 7am-8pm CT.
I would call, but I have until Aug. 1st, and just today I got my companion pass from the Ritz 140k “Marriott flight and hotel package” transfer into southwest, so I’ll definitely use it before then… 🙂
I just checked a flight I’ve booked, and it’s dropped $9. There’s a possibility I’ll need to change the departure date, but I haven’t made that decision yet. If I were to get this $9 credit now, and later decide to change to a different date, and if that flight ends up being higher, how would that affect this credit? Would I just pay the difference in fare from the original price, and lose the credit?
@Sherri – Essentially the credit is yours until you apply it to a further reservation. So if you have a flight booked that went down in price, you can claim the credit now. If you then need to change the flight and it ends up being a higher price you can either apply the credit to that booking or just pay the difference via credit card and still use the credit at a future time. You would never lose the credit.
Thank you!
Where can I see how many points I originally used to purchase a flight? Looking in my confirmation emails, I cannot find that information. Do they “hide” it until you push to change the flight? I would rather just know if I can get any points back before clicking to change. Thanks! This article is really helpful 🙂
@Kelly – I know exactly what you mean! So while you have to go through the change process to see how many points you used, it will show you before you actually confirm the change. In screen shot 5 it shows where you can see whether or not there was a price decrease or increase. If there was an increase then you just cancel the change and your original reservation will stay in tact. If there is a price decrease, which will be noted by brackets around the difference then you can go ahead and confirm the change. So let’s say the difference says 1,000 pts that would mean an increase but (1,000) pts would mean a decrease.
The only other way to know before you start the process is to call Southwest and they can tell you.
Does this work with International flights as well? Trying to change my Cancun flight and get 6k back in points and it keeps giving me an error. Thanks!
@Erica – Yes it does. What you might need to do is re-book a new reservation and then cancel the old one.
Erica- What did you end up doing? I have an international flight price that dropped that i would like to have the difference back to me as well. let me know if you HAD to rebook?
@Randall – Yes, you have to rebook to get the difference back, it is not done manually.
Erica- Did you have to rebook? I am in the same predicament. Let me know please!
Hi. Thank you for this information! Can the “voucher” funds be used for anything other than a future flight reservation? Early Bird, drinks, etc.?
@Susan – Unfortunately they can only be used for the fare (not even taxes).
How would this work for a situation where you have the companion booking and have paid for Early Bird? Since I have to cancel both reservations would I just lose the money I paid for EB on each? I have no option to just change the flights and keep the EB.
@devon – when you change a flight you will have to cancel the companion reservation and then rebook (which is very annoying). You’ll lose the money spent on early bird for your companion, but you should be fine with your reservation since you are just changing it and keeping the same confirmation number.
My mom purchased tickets for a future flight & just called yesterday to get the cheaper offer we saw online. She was able to get that but she is unsure how the credit will come back. She knows it will be of course to use only for a future flight, but since she booked all the flights & paid using her credit card, will she get 1 voucher to use or will each individual get a voucher for their part of the credit? Thanks!
@amanda – The voucher is tied to the confirmation number for where the ticket was booked. When you go to purchase your future flight, you’ll need to select “Apply Travel Funds” and then enter the confirmation number and first/last name in the first section.
Thank you, it worked perfectly!
Great tip! Just saved $36 (a day after booking) – but hey, it’s something!
I made changes and saved $10 & $9 in 2 bookings. Now I have credit in 2 confirmations, can these be used against a single booking.
@Pankaj – Yes they can.
If my fare just changed to lower price and I use the “change” reservation, will my credit card be credited the difference? We don’t fly often so it doesn’t pay to have a credit for future flight, or will I have to re-book with my credit card?
@april – if you “change” or “cancel and rebook” you will still get a credit. Nothing, unfortunately, will go back to your credit card unless you booked a fully refundable fare OR booked within the past 24 hours.
Does the credit need to be rebooked within a year or do the flights need to be completed within a year? Also can funds with one confirmation # but with two passenger names be used for a future ticket for just one passenger?
@debbie – flights need to be completed within the year.
regarding one reservation for two passengers, I personally have never tried it, but I believe they might allocate the funds per passengers name and then those funds can only be used for that particular passenger.
Thanks for this tip, i followed ur instructions and $54 difference, my question is how long it take to receive credit. Thanks in advance.
@Pradnya – Immediately. You just use your reservation number in the Travel Funds field during checkout.
If I wanted to changed my roundtrip to a earlier date do I have to pay money?
@Mia – If there is a price difference, yes.
What happens if I book a round trip flight using points – and I selected the lowest points/fare available but I’m not too happy with the departure times. Can I go online and change my reservation for one leg of the trip at a more convienient time which happens to be more points, will I be charged the extra points? I assume so but wanted to ask just to be sure
@Gail – Yes. Even when you book a roundtrip you are able to change just one-way of the flight without affecting the other flight.
Thank you for this great tip! Followed your instructions – so easy and so quick. I saved $45 for a Christmas flight reservations to/from Florida made a couple months ago. Does it matter when you book the Early Bird on Southwest? Should it always be done at the time of reservation? I hate to take the risk of losing that money if a change is made, so I always wait until a couple weeks before the flight. Suggestions for best time to add Early Bird?
@Mary – Glad you saved some money! I suggest not doing the early bird until a week prior to your flight to ensure you are not canceling it. If you cancel or change your flight you you do not get the money back.
Do you have to actually have to “use” the credit within one year or can you book another flight within that year for a later time?
$30 credit. Disney here we come! Thank for the directions and advice
If I book a flight using points and later find a different flight for less (or more) as well as on a different date, can I change without a penalty? If more pay difference, if less get points back? Question basically is what if flight and date is not like for like?
@Irene – Exactly!
I went through the process and received $200 back, however when I try to click on my reservation under my upcoming trips, it says “The page you requested cannot be found. It may have expired or been removed. You may wish to return to My Account.”
I also see where it says I have an upcoming flight that’s not listed. When I enter in the information to find it, I get a message that says Oops! We were unable to retrieve your reservation from our database. Verify the following: The confirmation number is entered correctly. The passenger name on the reservation is entered correctly. The reservation was purchased online via southwest.com or swabiz.com or mobile.southwest.com or Southwest Vacations. Purchases made through Southwest Groups, Southwest ticket counters, or other Travel Agencies cannot be accessed on southwest.com.
I am now very nervous that I do not have a reservation. Does it take a while to update?
@Daley – I’d call Southwest to confirm your flight is still in tact.
Saved $10 on my flights for next month. Thanks for this tip!!
Does this also apply with the “I Wanna Get Away” flights/fares? I want to book but wasn’t sure if it would apply to those.
I have same question, can you change to get refunded points on a wanna get away flight without penalty?
@Bridget – If you used points for a flight, you will always get the points back into your account with no penalty.
Thanks to this post I just saved $312 on a round trip for 4 by rebooking – which for us Canadians is $436 due to crappy exchange rate! However I looked again and 1 seat is available at an even lower rate, I looked to change just 1 passenger to grab the rate but it doesn’t seem to allow you to do this any more?!
@john – you can always re-book that one passenger and then cancel the previously booked flight. however, if you didnt use points you’ll end up with a credit.