Southwest is a flyer favorite for many reasons and one big one is that they never charge to cancel a reservation or change it. This is something that the other major US airlines are only doing (in bits and pieces) now because of the coronavirus pandemic. But, Southwest has always done it. Now, Southwest is refunding EarlyBird fees for flights the customer cancels – for 3 months worth of flights.
Southwest Refunding EarlyBird Fees as Credit
But, one thing that has not been great for customers lately is the Southwest police on the Early Bird fees. This is the fee that is paid to help ensure that you are not boarding in “C” group and sitting in the middle between two strangers. Before yesterday, Southwest’s policy was “All EarlyBird Check-In purchases are nonrefundable. Customers who cancel their flight will forfeit the previously purchased EarlyBird Check-In option for that particular flight. In the event that a flight is cancelled by Southwest, the EarlyBird Check-In purchased for the cancelled flight will be refunded.”
However, according to USA Today, they have now changed that policy – at least temporarily. Now, it is this (according to this article): passengers with travel dates between March 1 and May 31 who cancel their reservations can request a credit for EarlyBird fees paid. It will be a voucher good for one year that can be used for a future flight.
Even better is that this will apparently be retroactive for flights back to March 1 for those flights that people had already canceled.
This is certainly a positive for any customers who have canceled their flights due to the travel warnings or the desire to stay at home like so many states are saying. Now, you get the money back to use with Southwest again in the future – good news indeed!
Bottom Line
The EarlyBird fee is always great for things like an early morning flight so that you don’t have to wake up earlier than normal two days in a row – once to check-in and once to fly! But, it can always be a gamble if you are someone who cancels flights or have fluid travel plans. At least for now in this travel time, it is good to know that you have a credit for future use!
Why are you giving them positive credit for this? They only did it after significant pressure from customers and the media. Not the southwest air we knew from years ago
I said that it is good news – it certainly is since people can actually get this money to use for future Southwest travel. Pretty much every airline is having to make changes due to pressure. In my eyes, at least Southwest did this in regards to a fee that is always optional as opposed to airlines that were refusing to refund for actual tickets.
How do we locate these early bird fee credits so we can use them later?
[…] Southwest Is Refunding EarlyBird Fees as Credit for Future Flights by Running With Miles. […]
Any word on if Southwest has extended this for flight cancellations beyond May 31?