Traveler's Aide: Student is stifled by Southwest's college rewards program
— -- Question:I recently traveled on Southwest, and was supposed to earn two credits under the airline's Rapid Rewards program for college students, rather than just one. Southwest is refusing to give me the double credits because it says I made booking over the phone, rather than doing it online.
I had originally booked my flight online, however, I needed to change my travel date. I tried to make the change online, but Southwest's website wouldn't allow me to, and prompted me to call customer service. The telephone representative gladly changed my flight, but she did not warn me that I would lose a Rapid Rewards credit by doing so.
I have called Southwest a number of times about this issue and have written the airline a letter. They keep referring me to another phone number that is always busy. Clearly, calling the hotline to change my ticket was not a decision I made by choice. Because Southwest won't give me that second credit, I am one credit shy of an award, and must earn it within two weeks. Please help!
— Michael Lin, Los Angeles
Answer:Lin couldn't change his flight date online because of a computer glitch, apparently due to the fact that Southwest discontinued its College Rapid Rewards Program early this summer.
The popular student program granted two credits for each one-way flight, rather than the standard single credit per flight. College students must accumulate 16 credits within 24 months to earn an award. Since the program has been canceled, students have until October 15 to earn credits. But after hassling with Southwest for almost a month, Lin's own earnings cutoff date was just two weeks away.
In order to qualify for double credits, though, all College Rapid Rewards bookings have to be made online. Although Lin booked his original trip via Southwest's website, he had to change his ticket over the telephone. That caused his trip to be reclassified as a telephone booking, rather than an online booking—thus eligible for just one credit, not two.
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