All content was accurate at the time of publication. Check issuer’s site for most up to date information.
Katiestraveltricks.com site has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Katiestraveltricks.com and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
Southwest LUV Vouchers: A Complete Guide
Southwest LUV Vouchers are one of the things that make Southwest Airlines the greatest airline. Just this year, I’ve acquired over $2000 worth of LUV vouchers as compensation from flight delays to use on future flights! That’s a lot of free trips.
If you were impacted by Southwest’s operational meltdown during the 2022 holidays, you may have received a LUV voucher from Southwest, in addition to any refunds and reimbursements. LUV vouchers have expiration dates – but you may not feel like flying Southwest anytime soon! Keep reading to learn how to turn your LUV voucher into a travel credit that won’t expire.
If you didn’t receive a LUV voucher after your delayed or cancelled flight, read our article on how to request delayed flight compensation.
LUV Voucher Basics
What is a LUV Voucher?
A LUV Voucher is a form of compensation that you receive from Southwest when you have an issue with your flight, luggage delays, etc. It’s basically Southwest Airlines’ way of saying “please come back and try us again.”
LUV Vouchers are different from flight credits/travel funds. You can find out more about how these two types of compensation differ here.
Often vouchers are emailed to the email address on file for the person who booked the flights. It can be sent to an email associated with the flight confirmation number. Every once in awhile a gate agent hands them out when a flight is several hours delayed. This has only happened to us once in the past 3 years so I wouldn’t count on it.
How do I get a LUV Voucher as compensation for a delayed flight?
I’m so glad you asked! I wrote comprehensive, step by step instructions to do just this! Check it out here.
How do I find my LUV Voucher balance?
The LUV Voucher you receive via email from Southwest Airlines will include the original balance of your LUV Voucher. Make sure you save that email. The voucher is not connected to your account in any way! I usually print the vouchers off and keep them somewhere safe so they can be easily found and redeemed when needed.
If you have used part of your voucher and aren’t sure what the remaining balance is, go to southwest.com. Click on “flight” which will bring up a whole window of options, and then “check travel funds”. On that page you will see a place to select “Southwest LUV Vouchers.” You can check your balance by typing the voucher number and security code.
When does my LUV Voucher expire?
A LUV Voucher expires one year after being issued. You cannot call to extend the expiration date. Your flight must be booked AND flown by the date included on the voucher.
What can I use a LUV Voucher for?
Southwest LUV Vouchers can be used to book any fare, but they cannot officially be used to pay for the taxes or fees. For instance, if I have $100 LUV voucher and want to use it for a flight with a total of $99, I will only be able to use it for the flight itself ($79) and not the taxes and fees ($20). The taxes and fees will need to be paid with a separate payment option, like a credit card.
Keep reading to the end to learn how to get around this.
Can I transfer my LUV Voucher?
One huge perk of a LUV Voucher is that it can be used to book a flight for ANYONE. Your LUV Voucher is issued with a name on the voucher, but it is not tied to that person. So the name might be “Joe Lovetofly,” but Joe can give it to his grandma and she can use it to book on the Southwest website as well. Or Joe can use it to book a flight for one of his children.
How do I book with my LUV Voucher?
It’s very easy to book with your voucher. Go through the steps to purchase a flight just like normal. Once you get to the payment page find the pull down menu that looks like this:
Then you will click on the Southwest LUV Voucher tab and type in both the voucher number and the security code from your voucher email.
Southwest only allows three forms of payment can be used in each transaction. Vouchers cannot be used to pay taxes or fees so you will be able to use up to two vouchers and then pay the remaining balance (including taxes and fees) with a credit or debit card.
Southwest LUV Vouchers 201: Beyond the Basics
Do you understand all of the Southwest LUV Voucher basics and want to take your knowledge to the next level? Here are two “beyond basics” tips and tricks for you.
Create a transferable credit that will never expire from your LUV Voucher
Recently Southwest Airlines announced that travel credits have no expiration date. Game changer! If you are not able to use your LUV Voucher by the expiration date you can easily turn it into travel credits or travel funds. These terms are used interchangeably on the Southwest Airlines website but mean the same thing.
You can easily turn a voucher into travel funds by booking a Wanna Get Away Plus fare (not the regular Wanna Get Away fares since they aren’t transferable) around the same price as the LUV Voucher and then canceling the flight.
For instance, using the pricing example above, this is how you could do it with a a $100 LUV voucher from a delayed flight.
- Find a one way Wanna Get Away Plus fare for $149 and proceed to booking it.
- Note the costs: $125 of it is the flight cost itself (so a voucher can be used to pay for it) and the $23.98 is for taxes and fees.
- When paying for the flight, I will use $100 LUV Voucher, and then use a credit card to pay for the $23.95 taxes and fees and the $25 of the flight cost that my LUV voucher doesn’t cover.
- Once I book it, I just immediately go back into my account to find the flight and cancel it.
- Be sure to go select “Refund to method of payment.” Now additional payment amounts are refunded back to my credit card. Since it is within 24 hours, all credit card portions can be refunded this way.
This final step creates travel funds associated with the confirmation number of the newly canceled flight. These funds will never expire and can be transferred to anyone else. I always write the confirmation number and the amount somewhere safe so that I can find it again.
If it is a travel credit for the person whose name is on the Southwest account it was booked and canceled from, the credit will automatically save in the account. If it’s in a different name, you’ll want to keep track of that information somewhere.
Your new flight credits will look like this in your account:
If you want to use these travel funds for a different person, you will need to transfer them to that person’s name FIRST and then book their ticket.
Use a Southwest LUV Voucher to pay for taxes and fees
Another trick with LUV Vouchers is that you can turn them into credits so they can be used to pay for taxes and fees too.
You won’t be able to use a LUV voucher to cover taxes and fees unless you do this first.
When you are flying internationally (to Mexico or Costa Rica for example), the taxes on the flights are a lot more than $5.60 each way! These can be closer to $70-$100 and it’s nice to be able to use vouchers to pay for those.
To do this, follow the same steps as above under “Create a transferable credit that will never expire.”
- Look for a Wanna Get Away Plus fare around the same price as your voucher amount.
- Book the flight, then cancel it.
- Now you’ve got travel funds instead of a LUV voucher.
- Since travel funds can be used to pay for your taxes and fees, you can use your travel fund number to pay for your taxes on a future reservation.
Related Posts
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Hello. I was given two printed LUV Vouchers for a canceled flight and my name is printed on them. Can my husband use the vouchers?
Yes! The name printed on the voucher doesn’t matter when booking. It’s like a gift card.
I have a SW voucher in my name expiring soon… I can’t use it, but would like to use it to purchase a ticket for my daughter, but when I look at the SW voucher rules they say this: “…Once the voucher is applied to a reservation, it can only be used by the ticketed Passenger.”
I’ve read conflicting information. So can I really purchase a ticket for her using a SW voucher that is in my name?
If it is a LUV voucher, it can be used for anyone. Travel funds can only be used for the named person unless it was a Wanna Getaway Plus in which case you can transfer ownership one time.
Yes. Names are not tied to SWA LUVVouchers.
Thank you SO much. Your instructions were perfect.
So glad it helped!
Thank you, Katie. Worked like a charm.
SW treated us well during & after the 2022 fiasco. Thankfully our surprise cancellation was homebound instead of outbound for Christmas. I’m happy we did, by your methods above, extend the time needed to use our vouchers.
Have you figured out how to use the LUV vouchers to pay for a hotel instead of flights?? We have $300 worth of LUV vouchers but use points and companion pass for those.
Hello! Can I use my luv vouchers to buy more points?
Thank you Katie for explaining this solution so clearly. Worked just as you said it would.
Hi. I contacted Southwest thru twitter and they responded by telling me I had to fill out a form. I filled out the form but there is no spot to write how the delay was inconvenient.
Unfortunately it looks like they have recently instituted a new policy and closed this option for most travelers
Hello,
I have some Luv Vouchers that I need to change to credits. Do you have to do a one way wanna get away plus in order for this solution to transfer to credits to work or can you do it on a round trip wanna get away plus? We have vouchers that exceed the one way charge. Thanks
I just received $50 LUV vouchers for each of the three people in my reservation. It’s the day before my flight and the flight seems to be on schedule. The schedule was changed a couple times after I booked, but not by more than an hour or so. I have no idea why they sent these vouchers. Do you?
I don’t , but lucky you!
Hi
How to avoid losing the tax and fees money when canceling flights ?
It will give you an option to just get a refund back to the credit card that you paid with!
Is this loophole still working ? Id hate to loose 400 dollars in vouchers.
Yep, it will always convert because Southwest has free changes/cancellations. You could book a fully refundable fare if you want to be extra cautious — like business select.
Southwest has announced that flight credits will no longer have no expiration dates, effective May 28, 2025. They will expire after either 6 mos or 12 mos, depending on the flight purchased. Any flight credits created May 27 or before will continue to have no expiration.
Do I have to book a round trip to convert LUVs to credit or just a 1 way the value of the LUV will do ?
Just one way is fine!
Thank you so much. I now have 400 dollars in credit between my my wife and I in my acct. Now I can travel in comfort with the extra credits.
so glad it worked for you!
Hi Katie,
Thanks so much for the valuable information. I’m just confirming that SW hasn’t changed any rules with LUV. They destroyed my bag and are offering me reimbursement for contents or taking $4000 in LUV vouchers. I don’t think my family can use in a year, but I like the way to keep in the future. Just wanted to confirm it still works.
Yes this still works!
If I use a LUV voucher for a friend and the price of the flight drops, I’m assuming the person I gave the voucher to gets the credit. If so, is there any way to get that credit back for myself?
they would have to rebook a fare with the credit that is wanna getaway plus and then cancel that to create a transferrable credit
I have several vouchers in each of my children’s names. Can I use this method to get travel credit? Can the credit then be used for anyone, or will it be specific to each child?
Yes, you can use this method to get travel credit with those vouchers! LUV vouchers can be used for anyone, they don’t have to be used for the person they were assigned to. So you can use the children’s vouchers to book a ticket for anyone. Once you use the LUV vouchers to purchase a Wanna Get Away Plus Fare, and then cancel, that travel credit will be tied to the person you booked it for. BUT, since it’s a transferrable credit, you can transfer the credit to anyone.
Yep! LUV vouchers can be used to pay for anyone’s ticket. If you use this method, just pay attention to the person you are booking for — the credits will be locked into their name unless you are buying the Wanna Getaway Plus fare (which makes them transferrable).
I booked a flight using my voucher but I have a little more than $100 left on the voucher. Can I use part of that leftover money to book early checkin? Thanks
I don’t believe you can but one workaround would be to book a higher fare class that includes early bird check in.
Should we accept the $300 LUV voucher or push back for more? Our flight was cancelled after being delayed for 3 hours and after boarding the plane. It was rescheduled for 1:00 pm the next day. This flight was delayed and delayed and finally took off at 8:20. $300 does not seem like enough to cover the misery. We missed family events for which we purchased tickets. I have requested reimbursement for those but this was an extreme delay with little communication.
Were you given $300 per person? You could ask for more but I don’t think they are required to provide more than that, unfortunately.
Your trick worked with the LUV Voucher
Thank you for your help!
glad to hear it!
Can my voucher be used for the $15 flight upgrades moving boarding position
to A1-A15.
I haven’t been able to find a workaround to pay for upgraded boarding with a LUV voucher
Hello, I have LUV voucher’s for myself, my husband and two small children. Am I able to convert all the LUV vouchers to credits (using the buy ticket and then refund method) in my account? Once the LUV vouchers are converted, can I use credits and RR points to pay for flights?
Yes you can convert all of them but just aware that whoever you book the ticket for (when converting) — the new credits will be tied to that person’s name. Once converted you could use them for taxes and fees or flights. The only way to combine with RR points and credits is use RR points and then use credits to pay for taxes (which is a great option if you’re flying internationally on SW!)
Let me verify if I got the LUV voucher process down correctly. If my wife name and voucher # and code is currently assigned to her. She can just give me the v # and code. I can purchase a Wanna Get Away Plus fare with v # and code with my name and cancel it. The system will then auto assign the LUV voucher credit to my name, which won’t expire? If so, Is there a limit to how many times you can cancel? Thank you.
Correct. And no limit to how many times you can cancel a flight credit with Southwest
Katie, anyway to use the voucher to pay for inflight drinks? Since I mostly use points, I’ll have to use the credits to pay for the taxes and fees. But for a $50 voucher, that’s 9 one way trips.
I have not figured out a workaround to pay for drinks. It can take a while to use the vouchers — they are helpful though if you book an international trip since those taxes cost more!