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Southwest LUV Vouchers: A Complete Guide

Categories: Southwest Airlines TipsBy Last Updated: April 20, 2023

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.

Southwest Airlines check LUV Voucher

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.

Southwest LUV vouchers expire

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.

Using a LUV voucher

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:

Using Southwest LUV voucher

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.

Using a Southwest LUV voucher

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.

Southwest Airlines Wanna Get Away Plus

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. 

Turning Southwest LUV voucher into travel credits

For instance, using the pricing example above, this is how you could do it with a a $100 LUV voucher from a delayed flight.

  1. Find a one way Wanna Get Away Plus fare for $149 and proceed to booking it. 
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Once I book it, I just immediately go back into my account to find the flight and cancel it.
  5. 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.
Turning Southwest LUV Voucher into travel credit

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:

Southwest transferable flight credit

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.”

  1. Look for a Wanna Get Away Plus fare around the same price as your voucher amount.
  2. Book the flight, then cancel it.
  3. Now you’ve got travel funds instead of a LUV voucher.
  4. 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.

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148 Comments
  1. Bill M November 6, 2022 at 3:47 pm - Reply

    Katie

    Quick question. I have about $1800 worth of LUV Vouchers. I want to use them for a trip for myself and two friends. They expire in March. If I use them for the 3 of us and then I have to cancel the trip due to Covid or something else do the vouchers go back to me or are they now in the name of the person I booked the flight for?
    Thanks in advance for your response.

    • anita December 6, 2022 at 2:34 am - Reply

      You will have 3 travel funds in the names of the 3 pax if you cancel, which will never expire. You can use the trick mentioned in 2.1 above to then transfer the travel funds back into your name or anyone else before using them.

  2. Cassandra November 10, 2022 at 7:50 pm - Reply

    Thank you for this. I am very annoyed with southwest as I have about $2,000 in LUV vouchers as well. They were going to expire, but I was advised that once they expire you have 6 months to request an extension of them. You will be issued new voucher numbers and will have an additional 6 months to use them. I’ve done this and it does work; however, they get reissued in increments of $100 each. So I have 20 $100 voucher emails. No problem until I’m trying to book a $900 flight and it will only let me apply 2 vouchers. This is awful and I cannot take my trip now. If they were reissued in the amount I originally got them in this wouldn’t be an issue. I’m so upset.

    • anita December 6, 2022 at 2:38 am - Reply

      If your voucher has not expired yet, then book a couple of $1000 tickets and then cancel them. You will get travel funds in that amount that will not expire.

      If you already have the 20 $100 vouchers, then you can recombine them by booking and canceling increasingly pricier tickets, until you are able to book the flight you need.

      • Elizabeth Frazier June 21, 2023 at 12:53 pm

        If I cx a flight using a voucher, do I get that voucher credit back or loose it ?

      • Katie Holden June 26, 2023 at 7:18 am

        You will get the credit back and can use it later.

  3. Rachel December 7, 2022 at 9:39 pm - Reply

    I am so happy to have found your post explaining how to do this! I had $200 in LUV vouchers that expire in a couple of weeks. I would have probably just let it go and lost that money, but we decided this week to go on a trip in March. I thought about how I wished I could use those vouchers for that future trip, and a google search brought me here with the explanation of how to do it. Thank you so much!

  4. Theresa December 13, 2022 at 4:50 pm - Reply

    Oh my goodness do you think they have caught on?
    This is what it says when I try to apply it now that I Went through all the steps
    Flight Credit XXXXXX
    Expiration: None
    Fund expires before travel is completed.

    • Theresa December 13, 2022 at 6:31 pm - Reply

      Well now I tried and it seemed to work. Maybe I moved too quickly to book my new flight. Thank you for this awesome post to help!!! You can delete my original post. Sorry!

      • Kristin December 28, 2022 at 6:32 pm

        Will you confirm this worked for you? I’m about to book flights that fly before my LUV voucher expires and then cancel and then book another flight for after they would’ve expired. My worst fear is that I’ll get into it and it won’t work!

  5. Sarah J. Tipka December 21, 2022 at 5:02 am - Reply

    I have 2 $100 LUV vouchers which expire on 3/01/2023. I have already booked my flights, can I use the vouchers after booking?

    • Katie Holden April 4, 2023 at 6:31 am - Reply

      I know this is too late (sorry I missed your comment) but will answer for anyone else with the same question. You could rebook with your vouchers but you will incur any additional increase in price. You would have to cancel and rebook.

  6. Av January 1, 2023 at 12:31 pm - Reply

    This totally worked for me! Thanks for posting this!

  7. Adri January 4, 2023 at 2:37 pm - Reply

    If I have $120 in non transferable credit then can I buy a transferable flight ( wanna get away plus) then cancel will my credit be transferable at that time?

    • Ashley Paddock January 7, 2023 at 1:13 pm - Reply

      Yes!

  8. John Corwin January 13, 2023 at 7:27 pm - Reply

    Katie, I tried what you suggested but I don’t think it worked. I had a $200 LUV voucher from Southwest. I tried converting it to flight credit by purchasing a “wanna get away plus” flight for $274. It indicated that $135 was for the ticket and $139 was for taxes and fees. I then canceled that ticket and the fees were indeed refunded to my MasterCard. And I was left with a $135 travel credit. But when I went to book the travel that I really wanted, I only got credit for that $135, NOT the full $200 value of the voucher! Did I do something wrong?
    JOHN

    • Lindsey January 26, 2023 at 12:08 pm - Reply

      The remainder should be left on your original voucher.

    • Katie Holden February 2, 2023 at 3:35 pm - Reply

      It sounds like you never used the full $200 voucher since your ticket cost was only $135. So if you find another ticket that is $65+ you should be able to use the LUV voucher for that (same process) and convert that to travel fund as well.

  9. KC January 23, 2023 at 7:59 pm - Reply

    Katie, this worked for me. Really appreciate the post. My older parents had a LUV voucher that was going to expire for almost $600. They couldn’t use it before the expiration and it could not be extended when they called Southwest. I found this and was able to do everything online for them. They are ecstatic that they don’t lose their credit and now have the flexibility to book on their own timeline. Thank you so much!

    • Katie Holden February 2, 2023 at 3:34 pm - Reply

      I’m so glad it was helpful to them!

    • L Harff March 15, 2023 at 2:29 pm - Reply

      We had a similar situation as your parents. We had a flight credit (due to wedding plans canceling because of covid) for almost $500 that expired June 21, 2022, a month before SW changed their policy to make credits non expired. After many emails back and forth, SW wouldn’t extend our credit but gave us a LUV voucher in Sept. 2022 which expired Mar. 21, 2023. It was so difficult to use the voucher over the holidays, we stayed home and figured we were going to lose the funds. I tripped on Katie’s Travel Tricks this week and decided I didn’t have anything to lose so I booked a flight and then canceled. I booked an “anytime” flight to make sure out of pocket was refunded. It worked and now my LUV voucher has been turned into a non expiring flight credit and it also says it’s transferable to anyone who is a Rapid Rewards member. THANKS KATIE!!!

      • Katie Holden April 4, 2023 at 6:26 am

        So glad this helped you out!

  10. Lori January 28, 2023 at 12:36 pm - Reply

    I have $600 in LUV vouchers to use by 2/4/23. Can I book a one way Business Select flight instead and cancel to revert to Travel credit? It’s easier finding a BS flight that cost $600 than a Wanna Get Away plus flight.

    • Katie Holden February 2, 2023 at 3:33 pm - Reply

      Yes, that’s fine! You can book anything that is $600.

  11. Tonya February 3, 2023 at 12:03 pm - Reply

    Katie,
    Thank you so much for the tip! I was just able to follow your steps and save my vouchers until it’s convenient for me to use them.

    • Heather March 13, 2023 at 10:10 am - Reply

      Thank you! Worked for me today and now I have a future credit rather than an expiring LUV voucher!

  12. Steven February 27, 2023 at 8:55 am - Reply

    Can I book an ANYTIME ticket with my LUV vouchers and refund it right away for cash/credit card?

    If no, per your 2.1 trick, do I need to wait for after 24 hours to cancel? Asking because per Southwest site. It doesn’t specifically say what happens if you cancel within 24 hours.

    “Southwest® gift card or Southwest LUV Vouchers®: If the reservation is canceled within 24 hours of booking, please contact us. If the reservation is canceled after 24 hours, the Southwest gift card or Southwest LUV Voucher will be refunded as a flight credit.”

    Thanks,
    Steven

    • Katie Holden February 28, 2023 at 8:33 am - Reply

      It will work if you cancel right away. I think technically, if you cancel within 24 hours you could call to get them to refund to the original payment account. But you also have the option if you do it online to just get a flight credit, which is what you want!

  13. Ashley March 6, 2023 at 5:31 pm - Reply

    Confirmed this worked today on 3/6/23! I was nervous about whether I’d be able to cancel online or if they had caught on, since their flight cancellation policy states “Southwest® gift card or Southwest LUV Vouchers®: If the reservation is canceled within 24 hours of booking, please contact us.”

    However, the online cancellation worked immediately with no issue! Love this.

  14. Val March 7, 2023 at 12:32 pm - Reply

    I was able to use the trick to turn my LUV vouchers into flight credits. However, I transferred my kids credits to me, without thinking that they’re now not eligible to use the flight credits, since they’re now attached to my name. Is there a way to fix this since they can’t be transferred again?

    • Katie Holden April 4, 2023 at 6:34 am - Reply

      Shoot! I don’t know a workaround right now. You did the process of transferring the flight credit from a wanna getaway plus fare?

  15. Joyful1 March 13, 2023 at 9:43 am - Reply

    Thanks so much for this amazing tip! I had been wondering for a while in my head if something like this could work but wasn’t up to arguing on phone again with SW if it didn’t. Your step-by-step directions gave me the confidence to try it and SCORE–easily & quickly converted my family’s old vouchers to funds for me to use at a later date which are even are transferable!

    • Katie Holden April 4, 2023 at 6:34 am - Reply

      You’re so welcome! So glad it could help!

  16. Walter K March 22, 2023 at 3:17 pm - Reply

    Hi Katie
    Does it have to be booked only under Wanna Get Away Plus for this to work or can you book it on Anytime Fare? I believe that ANYTIME FARES are fully refundable.
    We have two LUV vouchers $563.00 each, and it is hard to find any one way flights that cost over $500.00.

    • Katie Holden April 4, 2023 at 6:23 am - Reply

      Yes, any fare will work, even anytime fares!

  17. LM March 24, 2023 at 12:57 am - Reply

    Hi Katie,

    Just to confirm. Using your example above, if you book a Wanna Get Away Plus flight and cancel within 24 hours, you will get the taxes and additional fare amount refunded to your credit card and the LUV voucher in flight credits? I was reading somewhere that the refund only works when purchasing an Anytime or Business flight. Can you confirm?

    Thanks so much!

    • Katie Holden April 4, 2023 at 6:23 am - Reply

      Correct. Taxes always go back to your credit card. If it is within 24 hours, the additional fare will go back to your credit card to comply with the regulations where you can cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

  18. Mel April 5, 2023 at 9:36 pm - Reply

    I have 3 of 100 vouchers. I wanted to get flights for May but i just realized they expire this month! My plan was to find a flight before the vouchers expire and then cancel. But im not sure if im making the right decision. Honestly im new to this and i have no idea what i can do about it.

  19. Dave Boyd April 7, 2023 at 5:08 pm - Reply

    Thank you so much for this tip. I was able to convert five different LUV vouchers totaling $850 to the travel credits.

  20. Joey April 20, 2023 at 6:09 pm - Reply

    I encountered an issue with this. My boyfriend, son and I each received $250 in Luv Vouchers (a $100 and a $150 voucher per person).

    I wanted to turn these into flight credits so I booked a one way Anytime fare which took every dollar of the Luv Vouchers ($750 total). I paid $299 in taxes. I bought them and immediately cancelled.

    However…when I was issued flight credits, my son received $300 in flight credits, I received $200 in flight credits, and my boyfriend received $250. Why weren’t the flight credits issued/split evenly among the 3 of us?

    If I want to transfer credits, I have to do all or none which is not ideal. Now, if we find a future flight for $250, I will have to pay the difference in cash while the others can use all the credits.

  21. whitney April 24, 2023 at 2:26 pm - Reply

    My LUV voucher doesn’t have a security code, is this normal? i cant book a flight without it. should I contact them?

    • Greg H. May 6, 2023 at 1:21 pm - Reply

      My vouchers say Confirmation# and that appears to be the security code.

  22. Bob May 2, 2023 at 12:19 pm - Reply

    I have Southwest Luv Vouchers that expire in 9 days, and my question is, assuming that Southwest is willing to renew/extend those for another 6 months, would I still, before those 6 months have passed, be able to use that “workaround” on the Southwest Website in order to change those vouchers into the no expiration date flight credits? Thx

    • Katie Holden May 25, 2023 at 4:43 pm - Reply

      Yes, you can change those LUV vouchers to flight credits at any time. And then they will have no expiration date.

      • Bob May 27, 2023 at 6:15 pm

        Thanks!

  23. Greg H May 6, 2023 at 1:50 pm - Reply

    I’ve a question, but I think I’m going to have to try it first.
    1) If I cancel a reservation for several passengers, do the travel credits go into their different accounts? 1a) What if they don’t have an account?
    2) When I rebook the reservation for everyone, does it look in my account for the credits, or in the different passengers’ accounts for them?
    Thanks!

    • Greg H May 9, 2023 at 9:08 pm - Reply

      I did it. The flight credits on the “dummy” reservation were split evenly to the respective travelers and the $$ went back to the card. The cancel button is right on the confirmation page (although I waited to verify I had the email).
      Since the credits are keyed to the reservation confirmation, even though they can show up in the RR account, you still need each cancelled or changed reservation # to claim them for that person.
      I was trying to get it to pay a small amount to attempt to attach certain credit card benefits, but the sneaky airline lowered the prices while I was thinking and I got some more non-transferable credits instead. It will otherwise attempt to use all the credits from one reservation confirmation to buy a person’s ticket, so there is some benefit to having the credits in multiple reservations (or the name of the person expected to travel next).
      On the first new reservation I had to add the reservation confirmation twice. The 2nd time, one add showed to both travelers, but there was an option to delete one or the other credit confirmation #.
      I’m not sure what started this, but searching on their website got to the community where I found very good info. However, this article is by far the best.

      • Katie Holden June 26, 2023 at 7:32 am

        so glad it worked well for you!

  24. Karen May 8, 2023 at 12:08 pm - Reply

    Thank you so much for this tip! We received some Southwest LUV vouchers ($1400!) and our plans to use them fell through. We thought about giving them to some friends and family but no one needed them. I then thought along the line of buying ticket(s) then keep changing the flights until we actually needed them. I did some research and found your website and tips. We can’t thank you enough!

    • Katie Holden June 26, 2023 at 7:33 am - Reply

      so glad you got to extend them!

  25. Dawn May 15, 2023 at 3:03 pm - Reply

    Katie,
    Desperately looking for help on this matter. I purchased 2 ‘wanna get away tickets” from SW for 2 different people and paid for them with my credit card. I canceled the tickets (they could not make the trip) and now the credits are in their names. I called and couldn’t get a refund to my credit card. The credits are still in their names (approx $200 each) and I have the information at hand. How can I get them back to my account/possession so I can use the credits to travel with?

    • Katie Holden May 23, 2023 at 8:57 am - Reply

      You can use those credits to book a ticket in their name but make sure you book a Wanna Getaway PLUS fare this time. Then when you cancel that, you can change it to anyone else’s name to use.

      • Bob May 23, 2023 at 3:33 pm

        Hi Katie – would you possibly have time to answer the inquiry that I posted on May 2nd? Bob

    • Katie Holden June 26, 2023 at 7:31 am - Reply

      You can use the credits to book another ticket for those people but purchase Wanna Getaway PLUS fares. Then you’ll want to cancel those and transfer those credits to you.

  26. Desiree Granstra June 4, 2023 at 9:16 am - Reply

    I have $700 worth of LUV vouchers in $100 increments. I am wanting to use them on two passengers for an upcoming trip but it only lets me use two for each passenger at a time still leaving me to owe $295. If I was able to use all of them it would cover everything. I am still quite confused on how I get these merged to use them together to cover it all.

    • Katie Holden June 26, 2023 at 7:26 am - Reply

      I think your best bet would be to break it into each one way flight. And then will that cover it all the way? Or you could buy a $200 ticket for each person with the vouchers and then cancel that (will turn it into flight credit) and then use that flight credit plus vouchers to book what you actually want

  27. Jeri July 2, 2023 at 4:46 pm - Reply

    I have 2 friends with luv vouchers. Can each one transfer them both to me

    • Katie Holden July 13, 2023 at 1:18 pm - Reply

      You don’t need to transfer them, you can just use the vouchers to book a ticket for yourself

  28. Jessica July 4, 2023 at 9:43 pm - Reply

    so if I do this, the credits I recieve can be used for hotels booked with southwest as well?

    • Katie Holden July 13, 2023 at 1:17 pm - Reply

      I don’t believe they could be used for hotels.

  29. B Badger July 10, 2023 at 7:27 pm - Reply

    If I use a voucher and cash to purchase a ticket and then the price drops, how is the lower fare savings applied. Back to the voucher, to the credit card, or as a travel credit? Thanks

    • Katie Holden July 13, 2023 at 1:17 pm - Reply

      Assuming you got a Wanna Getaway Fare, you would get it all back as a travel credit.

  30. Kelsey July 13, 2023 at 10:25 pm - Reply

    Just got off the phone with a Southwest rep and she said that you can actually ask for an extension on the expiration date 6 months AFTER the vouchers expire. Not sure I’d chance that, but interesting to know. She went ahead and extended my vouchers (that are expiring soon) no problem. Figured I’d use Katie’s tips if I couldn’t get it sorted out with Southwest but just wanted others to know what I found!

    • Katie Holden July 30, 2023 at 12:35 pm - Reply

      Good to know!

  31. F July 16, 2023 at 1:48 am - Reply

    You saved me from losing my voucher funds! Absolutely works to transfer a LUV voucher by booking and calling a PLUS flight!

    • Katie Holden July 30, 2023 at 12:34 pm - Reply

      So glad it helped!

  32. Lauren July 21, 2023 at 2:04 pm - Reply

    I followed your steps today (7/21/2023) for transferring a LUV voucher to the points that don’t expire and it worked!

    • Katie Holden July 30, 2023 at 12:31 pm - Reply

      so glad it helped!

  33. Steve K July 31, 2023 at 3:32 pm - Reply

    Thanks for this information. I was able to save $300 of Luv vouchers by following this method.

  34. TWest August 1, 2023 at 9:55 pm - Reply

    THANK YOU for this! I had $150 in vouchers expiring the day before our annual ski trip. They kept telling us we could get a one time extension on them for six months from the date we called, but we would have to wait even longer to be able to book our travel – and I think fares are going to keep going up, so the savings would be negated! This hack worked perfectly and is awesome!

  35. Rachel August 8, 2023 at 10:09 pm - Reply

    Thank you so much! You just saved my holiday trip home! I was able to book and cancel a flight and then use the travel funds within minutes for the flight I actually wanted to book. Much appreciated! Praying they don’t change any policies any time soon lol.

    • Katie Holden August 21, 2023 at 6:37 am - Reply

      So glad it was helpful!

  36. Ellen August 14, 2023 at 1:12 pm - Reply

    That totally worked!! Instead of a being stuck with an $85 partial
    southwest luv voucher that expires in Feb 2024, I now have an $85 flight credit that NEVER expires!! What an excellent tip!!! Thank you!

    • Katie Holden August 21, 2023 at 6:35 am - Reply

      So glad it was helpful!

  37. Terry August 14, 2023 at 4:31 pm - Reply

    Are you able to use a LUV voucher for anything other than booking a flight? For instance, can you use a voucher to pay for early bird boarding or a cocktail on the flight? I have about $15.00 left over after booking my flight.

    • Katie Holden August 21, 2023 at 6:35 am - Reply

      Unfortunately, I believe they can only be used to cover fare purchases. If you use the trick outlined in this article, you can at least convert it into a travel fund and use that for taxes or fare.

  38. Cyndi August 22, 2023 at 2:00 pm - Reply

    Thank you so, so much for this! Had a LUV voucher for $600 but went to book a trip that had $140ish in taxes & fees I would’ve had to pay out of pocket. Followed your advice & booked two one-way trips for $299 and change each. Canceled as soon as I got the confirmation email & immediately got that tax/fee payment refunded to my credit card and the $598.66 flight costs in credit. Turned around and booked the original trip, which the credit now covered completely — flight, taxes and fees! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

    • Katie Holden August 24, 2023 at 7:42 am - Reply

      Yay so glad it helped you out!

  39. Charles Stinger August 27, 2023 at 2:48 pm - Reply

    Can you use the credit to pay for first ticket and use your companion pass for second passenger?

    • Katie Holden September 6, 2023 at 1:27 pm - Reply

      Yes, no matter how you pay for the first ticket (LUV voucher, points, cash, etc) — you can add their Companion on afterwards.

  40. Pam August 31, 2023 at 4:16 am - Reply

    I was told they don’t do this with luv vouchers to credit before I was told
    They do so
    Confused
    Should I just do it online and hope for the best not able
    To travel before oct when they expire

    • Katie Holden September 6, 2023 at 1:30 pm - Reply

      Yes, if you use this strategy, it will work. This is a workaround, it is not Southwest’s official policy for it to work like this but it currently does.

  41. Heather September 17, 2023 at 12:19 am - Reply

    Thank you!!! I had a $150 credit literally expiring by EOD tomorrow. Found 1 ticket available for 7am tomorrow morning. Booked it with a combo of my $150 LUV voucher and my CC. Waited 10 minutes and canceled it and voila! The $150 is now a flight credit and the other money from the ticket will go back onto my card. THANK YOU!!!

    • Katie Holden September 21, 2023 at 7:52 am - Reply

      Yay! So glad it helped!

  42. Ray Bigelow September 20, 2023 at 10:16 am - Reply

    Hello Katie Holden, It seems that Southwest is playing a word game with me. I received 4 LUV Vouchers for travel issues we had on a couple of 2021 flights that my Spouse I took. These had a expiration date of 10/20/2022 for two of the vouchers and 12/11/2022 for the other two vouchers. I the mean time I saw this https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/southwest-airlines-says-flight-vouchers-no-longer-have-an-expiration-date-072822.html and thought we were golden to use them past the expiration date – it sure seemed to me an admitted novice, that the term Flight Credit and Voucher was used interchangeably, now when I have attempted to use them – Southwest Airlines seem to be reneging on their promise. Not exactly how as Veteran that I believe any Company should be treating their customers. Is there anything I can do now?

    • Katie Holden September 21, 2023 at 7:52 am - Reply

      I think you can reach out and ask them to extend it explaining the situation but they may not. You’re right — it seems like a semantic issue though officially a LUV voucher and a flight credit are two different entities from their perspective. LUV vouchers, for instance, cannot be used on taxes and fees while a flight credit can. There is a way to turn a LUV voucher into a flight credit (outlined here) but they are not the same.

  43. Melissa November 11, 2023 at 2:52 pm - Reply

    This step by step helped so much thank you use my LUV voucher that was expire in two weeks and create a travel credit that does notes expire.

    • Katie Holden November 21, 2023 at 5:01 pm - Reply

      So glad it helped!

  44. Lee November 19, 2023 at 12:07 pm - Reply

    Katie, my vouchers are $200 apiece. I have two of them. do I need to do separate transactions or can I use them both at the same time? Also, with them being $200 instead of the $100 you used, do I have to schedule slightly above the credited voucher amount in order to make myself have to pay the remaining amount and taxes in order to be able to get the return back to my card?

    • Katie Holden November 21, 2023 at 5:01 pm - Reply

      You can use them together. And yes, they will have to be slightly higher than $400 total so you can convert it all to a travel credit and get a refund for any overage.

  45. Gary November 21, 2023 at 11:50 am - Reply

    Great post! Thank you!

    Before I found this post, I actually e-mailed Southwest about my vouchers expiring in December 2023 and they graciously did a ONE-TIME six month extension of my vouchers, so that might help someone. :)

  46. EM Bounds December 11, 2023 at 10:24 pm - Reply

    Rockstar and lifesaver. Thank you so much!!

    • Katie Holden December 21, 2023 at 6:11 pm - Reply

      So glad it helped!

  47. Monica January 13, 2024 at 9:33 am - Reply

    Hello, I want to use your strategy to make my vouchers into flight credits, however I’m booking a flight for my son and brother. Should I book the flights under their names so I don’t have to spend money transferring the credits after? Is there a way to avoid the transfer credit fee? They are not rapid reward members so will the credits come to my account?

    • Katie Holden February 6, 2024 at 5:32 pm - Reply

      Yes you should book for whoever you want to buy the tickets for. You just need the flight credit number to apply them, even if they aren’t rapid rewards members (but I suggest you sign them up for Rapid Rewards while you’re at it)

  48. Joe January 18, 2024 at 2:28 pm - Reply

    If you turn the LUV voucher into travel funds using the cancel hack, can they be used to book hotels/vacation packages through Southwest?

    • Katie Holden February 6, 2024 at 5:28 pm - Reply

      As far as I understand, Flight credits can only be used for flights, not other packages

  49. Bree January 25, 2024 at 11:01 am - Reply

    Hey Katie, I am trying to use my LUV voucher and my southwest rapid rewards points together to purchase a ticket. I was informed I cannot use both together. Do you know if I can use this strategy of buying a ticket with the LUV voucher and getting it refunded to turn it into flight credits. Then using those credits and points together to purchase the ticket?

    • Katie Holden February 6, 2024 at 5:25 pm - Reply

      The only real way to do this would be to purchase one way with LUV voucher and one way with points. Or if you’re traveling internationally you could first convert your LUV voucher to a travel credit…then buy your ticket with points and use the flight credit to pay for taxes.

  50. Kiren February 3, 2024 at 1:36 am - Reply

    i used 2 Luv vouchers and booked 2 tickets. One for me and another for my kid. I was able to successfully cancel the flight and got confirmation on refunds and travel funds. However since one of the fund was tied to Kid I cant see them in my account. It only shows my funds associated to my name. How to get my kids travel funds ? is there a way to transfer to my name?

    • Kiren February 3, 2024 at 1:59 am - Reply

      Please disregard. I successfully created an RR account for my child, checked funds by logging in, and transferred them to my account using the confirmation number. Note: After the transfer, the funds are no longer eligible for further transfers to others.

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