Southwest is my favorite airline for domestic travel (including Hawaii) and Caribbean travel (including these lesser known international destinations that Southwest flies to).
I love how simple everything is with Southwest — it’s easy to earn points and use them for flights with no blackout dates!
However, one thing that can get a little confusing with Southwest is all the different forms of payment: Gift Cards, Travel Funds, and LUV Vouchers.
While these might all seem similar, they have very different rules. Specifically, Travel Funds and LUV Vouchers can get a little tricky to use if you aren’t sure how.
Since I fly Southwest a lot, I’ve come across all 3 of these and have figured out the ins and outs of each. Here is everything you need to know to use Southwest gift cards, Travel Funds, and LUV Vouchers successfully!
Buying Southwest Gift Cards
Where to Buy Southwest Gift Cards
Southwest gift cards can be purchased online and at many retailers including:
Hot Tip: Sam’s Club sells Southwest gift cards at a slight discount. This is a great opportunity to use your Chase Freedom 5x points bonus when warehouse stores are one of the bonus categories, otherwise use one of these credit cards for Sam’s Club purchases!
How to Purchase a Southwest Gift Card on Southwest.com
- Go to Southwest.com and scroll to the very bottom of the page. Under Southwest Products, click on Southwest gift card.
Image Credit: Southwest
- On the next page, click Get one now.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Fill in the amount and quantity you would like to purchase. Gift cards can be purchased in any amount from $10-$1,000. If you are purchasing multiple cards, they will all have the same value.
- Choose your delivery method. Your gift card can be emailed to you for free, or you can choose to have it delivered by UPS ($2.95, 4-7 business days) or FedEx ($9.95, overnight delivery). Any orders over $500 will be delivered by FedEx overnight free of charge.
- Fill in either the recipient’s email address or physical address, depending on your shipping method. You can add a gift message or leave this area blank.
- Click the yellow Continue button at the bottom right-hand side of the screen to continue to payment options.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Verify your details and enter your payment information.
- Click the yellow Purchase button to complete the transaction.
Image Credit: Southwest
Hot Tip: Buying a gift card through Southwest.com counts as a travel purchase, so be sure to use a credit card that offers bonus points on travel. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® earns 2x points on travel, while the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns 3x points! Any Southwest Rapid Rewards card will earn 2x points on gift cards purchased through Southwest Airlines.
Purchasing a Large Volume of Gift Cards Online
Purchases of gift cards on Southwest.com are limited to $1,000 per transaction. If you would like to purchase multiple gift cards and will exceed the $1,000 limit, you can use the Corporate & Volume Sales order form.
- Go to Southwest.com and scroll to the very bottom of the page. Under Southwest Products, click on Southwest gift card.
- Click on the Corporate & Volume Sales tab.
- Then click on Southwest gift card order form highlighted in blue. This will bring up the order form to fill out and send in.
Image Credit: Southwest
How to Earn Tons of Points Buying Gift Cards
Whether buying a gift card for yourself or as a gift for someone else, they can be a great way to rack up tons of Southwest Rapid Rewards points! The key is using the right credit card at the right retailer.
Here are a couple of strategies that will help you maximize your points-earning when purchasing Southwest gift cards.
Using Southwest Gift Cards
Southwest gift cards can only be used for flights (plus taxes and fees) purchased directly through Southwest Airlines — either online, by phone at 1-800-435-9792 (1-800-I-FLY-SWA), or at a Southwest ticket counter.
Hot Tip: There are no fees to purchase Southwest gift cards. They never expire and are fully transferable.
Flights purchased with Southwest gift cards are non-refundable. If your travel is not taken or the flight is canceled, the funds will be held as Travel Funds to use on a future flight. The earliest expiration date of all funds used will be applied.
For example, let’s say you paid for your flight with a gift card (with no expiration date) and travel funds that expire in 3 months. If you have to cancel your flight, the funds from both the gift card and travel funds will be held as Southwest Travel Funds with an expiration date 3 months in the future.
If you cancel your flight within 24 hours of takeoff, you need to contact customer relations at 1-855-234-4654 to receive your Travel Funds.
How to Use a Southwest Gift Card Online
Using a gift card to purchase a flight online doesn’t really differ much from purchasing a flight with a credit card.
- Go to Southwest.com and search for a flight as you normally would.
- Once you get to the Passenger and Payment Info page, scroll to the middle of the page where you will find Payment Method.
- Here you will see a very small drop-down arrow at the top of the payment box that says Southwest gift card, Travel Funds, or Southwest LUV Voucher.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Once you click on the drop-down arrow, you will see the box where you can input your gift card information. According to the website, you can enter up to 3 gift cards per passenger per reservation. However, in the past I have only been able to use 3 gift cards per reservation, regardless of how many people were on the reservation. Since you can only use 3 forms of payment in total, if your gift cards won’t cover the whole cost of the ticket, you would need to use 2 gift cards and a separate method of payment to cover the remainder.
Image Credit: Southwest
What Can You Buy With a Southwest Gift Card?
Southwest gift cards are good toward the purchase of flights booked directly with Southwest. You can use gift cards online, over the phone, or in person at a Southwest ticket counter. Gift cards can also be applied to taxes and fees associated with your ticket.
The list of things you can’t use gift cards on is a little longer! The following are items you can NOT pay for with a Southwest gift card:
- Southwest Airlines vacation packages
- Southwest Airlines group desk purchases
- Partner hotel and rental cars
- Southwest Airlines merchandise
- Southwest Airlines group tickets
- EarlyBird Check-In
- Oversized and excess baggage fees
- Upgraded boarding at the airport
- Pet fare
- Cargo
- Unaccompanied minor service charge
- Additional Southwest gift cards
- Inflight purchases
- Purchases through a travel agent
Bottom Line: Southwest gift cards can be applied to your flight cost plus any taxes and fees associated with your flight.
How to Check Your Gift Card Balance
- Go to Southwest.com and scroll to the very bottom of the page. Under Southwest Products, click on Southwest gift card.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Then click on the Check Your Balance tab.
- Fill in your card number and security code. Click the reCAPTCHA and then the yellow Check Now box.
Image Credit: Southwest
Southwest Travel Funds
Southwest Travel Funds are what you get if you cancel a flight or change a flight to a lower priced itinerary. Travel Funds only exist digitally — you won’t get a card, certificate, or voucher for these funds.
They can be redeemed through Southwest.com, over the phone, and at Southwest Airlines Ticket Counter locations.
Bottom Line: Travel Funds are good for 1 year from the date you purchased the original ticket (not from the date of your flight) and are only available to the person who was on the original ticket. You cannot use your Travel Funds to purchase a ticket for someone else.
Travel Funds are tied to your original itinerary.
For example, let’s say you cancel flight #1212 and receive Travel Funds for the price you paid. When you go to book a new flight, you will need to pull up your Travel Funds credit using the confirmation number from flight #1212.
Hot Tip: Southwest Travel Funds expire 1 year from the date the original flight was purchased. You need to use them by the expiration date, not just book a flight by the expiration date! If you learned this the hard way (like me), have no fear: you can call to have your expired funds reinstated, but it will cost you $100. However, now through December 31, 2022, you can contact Southwest and they will transfer your travel funds to LUV Vouchers and extend the expiration date by 6 months without a fee.
How to Use Southwest Travel Funds on Southwest.com
- Go to Southwest.com and search for a flight as you normally would.
- Once you get to the Passenger and Payment Info page, scroll to the middle of the page, where you will find Payment Method.
- Here you will see a very small drop-down arrow at the top of the payment box that says Southwest gift card, Travel Funds, or Southwest LUV Voucher.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Click on the Travel funds tab, then enter the confirmation number from the original flight plus your first and last name, then click Apply funds.
Image Credit: Southwest
How to Check the Balance of Your Southwest Travel Funds
Southwest has recently added a fantastic feature that lets you easily keep track of your Travel Funds online. After logging into your Southwest account, click on My Account in the upper right hand corner.
You’ll see your Travel Funds listed right above your Rapid Rewards info.
You can now view your Southwest Travel Funds online! Image Credit: SouthwestYou can also still look up your Travel Funds manually by clicking here or following the instructions below.
- To check the balance of your Southwest Travel Funds, click on Flight in the top menu, then click Manage Reservations.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Click View Travel Funds.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Input your first and last name, plus the confirmation number for the flight that the Travel Funds are associated with. Click the reCAPTCHA box and then Check Now.
Image Credit: Southwest
Travel Funds Updates due to COVID-19
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions in regular travel, Southwest has implemented some updates to help you extend the life of your Travel Funds.
For Travel Funds that are set to expire or are created between March 1, 2020 and September 7, 2020, the new expiration date will be September 7, 2022.
If you use your Travel Funds to purchase a flight and then you need to cancel that flight, the Travel Funds will convert to the standard expiration policy (12 months from booking date).
In addition, you will soon have the option to convert those Travel Funds into Rapid Rewards points. If you choose this option, your Travel Funds will be converted into Rapid Rewards points at the same rate you that would be able to purchase a ticket with points.
For updates about Southwest’s COIVD-19 policies, click here.
Southwest LUV Vouchers
So now that you’re up to speed on Southwest gift cards and Travel Funds, let’s talk about LUV Vouchers!
What’s a LUV Voucher, you ask? It’s a voucher you will get if you re-instate expired Travel Funds or receive compensation for a delayed flight, missing baggage, or volunteering to get bumped from a flight.
Image Credit: Katie Seemann/ Zen Life and TravelSouthwest LUV Vouchers are valid at Southwest.com, by calling 1-800-I-FLY-SWA, or at any Southwest Airlines Ticket Counter. You will need the voucher number and security code (confirmation) to complete a purchase.
Your travel must be completed by the voucher’s expiration date (usually 6 months to 1 year from date of issue). The LUV Voucher can be applied toward your flight cost, but NOT any taxes or fees associated with your ticket.
Hot Tip: If you have a Southwest LUV Voucher, take a photo of it! This ensures you can still use it even if you lose the paper voucher.
How to Use a Southwest LUV Voucher on Southwest.com
- Go to Southwest.com and search for a flight as you normally would.
- Once you get to the Passenger and Payment Info page, scroll to the middle of the page where you will find Payment Method.
- Here you will see a very small drop-down arrow at the top of the payment box that says Southwest gift card, Travel Funds, or Southwest LUV Voucher.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Enter the voucher number and security code (sometimes referred to as the confirmation number), then select Apply vouchers to continue.
Image Credit: Southwest
Hot Tip: You can use up to 3 forms of payment for a single transaction. This can include any combination of credit card, gift card, travel funds, and/or LUV Vouchers.
How to Check the Balance of Your LUV Voucher
Checking your LUV Voucher balance on Soutwest.com is easy, but it’s a bit tricky to find. You can click here or follow the instructions below.
- To check the balance on your Southwest LUV Voucher, click on Flight in the top menu, then click Manage Reservations.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Click View Travel Funds.
Image Credit: Southwest
- This screen will default to the input for Travel Funds — just click on Check Southwest LUV Voucher right underneath to bring up the correct box.
Image Credit: Southwest
- Fill in the voucher number and security (or confirmation) number, then click Check Now.
Image Credit: Southwest
Final Thoughts
Southwest Airlines offers 3 distinct forms of payment that require a little know-how to use: gift cards, Travel Funds, and LUV Vouchers. All 3 can be used to purchase Southwest flights online, over the phone, or at a ticket counter. However, they all have different rules as far as expiration dates, what they can be applied to, and who can use them.
Luckily, these rules stem from Southwest’s customer-friendly policies — including holding Travel Funds from a canceled flight for future use, and even occasionally rewarding you with LUV Vouchers if something goes wrong. Thankfully, once you know the basics, you will be the master of your Rapid Rewards account in no time!