What are Southwest travel funds used for?

Southwest® gift cards, Southwest LUV Vouchers®, and Southwest® Travel Funds can only be used on the flight portion of your trip. Southwest Airlines accepts unused ticketless travel funds for Passenger travel purchased through Southwest Airlines, excluding the Southwest Airlines Group Desk.



Southwest Travel Funds are essentially a digital credit that can be used to pay for flight-related expenses on Southwest Airlines. These funds are typically generated when you cancel a "Wanna Get Away" fare or if the price of your flight drops after you book and you request a price adjustment. In a major "pro" policy shift that remains active in 2026, Southwest travel funds do not expire, meaning you can hold onto them for years until you are ready to book. You can use these funds to pay for the base fare, taxes, and government fees of a new flight for the original passenger. However, they cannot be used for "ancillary" costs like EarlyBird Check-In, pet fees, or unaccompanied minor charges. To use them, you simply enter your original confirmation number in the "Apply Travel Funds" section during the checkout process on the Southwest website or app. For "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares, these funds are also transferable, allowing you to move the credit to another person's Rapid Rewards account, providing a level of flexibility rarely seen with other major US carriers.

People Also Ask

Yes, you can choose either to a) receive a method-of-payment refund or b) hold the value of the ticket as a flight credit or Transferable Flight CreditTM (depending on the fare) to buy a future flight.

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A flight credit can only be used toward the purchase of another flight. It cannot be used for drinks or EarlyBird. Thanks for posing your question to the Southwest Airlines Community!

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Southwest® gift cards, Southwest LUV Vouchers®, and Southwest® Travel Funds can only be used on the flight portion of your trip. Southwest Airlines accepts unused ticketless travel funds for Passenger travel purchased through Southwest Airlines, excluding the Southwest Airlines Group Desk.

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You can also use 2 travel funds and a credit card. If you cancel or change a flight paid for with a travel fund or multiple travel funds, the credit is given back to you in the form of a single travel fund with the expiration date of the earliest expiration of the travel funds you used to make the original purchase.

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Normally, a future flight credit is non-transferrable and therefore must be used by the same traveler it was issued to.

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You can use travel funds to rebook and change a Wanna Get Away fare to an Anytime or Business Select one, but you can't use travel funds to pay for Upgraded Boarding or buy EarlyBird Check-In.

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How do I gift or transfer Rapid Rewards points to someone else? Log into your account and click on Rapid Rewards at the top of the screen. Under Manage, select Buy or Transfer Points. From there, you can select the appropriate transaction option on the Rapid Rewards Buy, Gift & Transfer page.

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In order to receive a flight credit, you have to cancel your flight before the departure of the first segment of your itinerary. If you don't cancel before the flight departs, you forfeit the total value of the ticket. Flight credits can only be used by the passenger who is named on the original ticket.

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Flight Credits – A maximum of three flight credits can be applied per Passenger on each reservation. If your purchase exceeds the amount available on the three flight credits, you will only be allowed to use two of the flight credits and another form of payment will be required for the difference.

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You ARE entitled to a full refund via your original method of payment EVEN if you booked a nonrefundable Wanna Get Away fare IF Southwest cancels the flight (and not you). You will likely have to be the one to ask them for it, but you are entitled.

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If you have Southwest flight credits, you'll have the option to convert travel funds into Southwest Rapid Rewards points. Depending on how you plan to use those funds, this may or may not be a good idea. If you plan to book a flight prior to your funds' expiration, converting might not make sense.

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Membership numbers are nontransferable. Only one person may be enrolled per SkyMiles account.

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If by flight credit you mean a mileage account or credit card points, then yes, you should be able to book for someone else. But if it is a ticket in your name that you did not use and the airline extended the value as a credit, it is not transferable to another person.

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This benefit varies from airline to airline. Family members may fly free when space is available or at discounted rates. Flying stand-by is a common benefit, but it can be challenging when there is a group. Some airlines provide “buddy passes” to pilots to share with friends and families.

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Membership in the Rapid Rewards program will be granted by Southwest Airlines and is for individual travelers only. Individuals must enroll separately and may not pool or combine points with other Members.

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If you want to know how many Southwest points you need for a free flight, the answer is that it depends on the cash cost of your flight. The lower the cash cost, the fewer points will be required and conversely, the higher the cash cost of the flight, the more Southwest points you'll need.

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The purchaser has the option to cancel any purchased ticket. However, not all tickets are refundable, so you may not get your money back. Many airlines (but not all) allow name changes on a ticket, so you could call and see if you could change it to someone else's name.

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