Advertiser Disclosure: We love living points life by using points and miles to elevate travel experiences. In the interest of being transparent with you, we may be compensated from an approved credit card's application, or from some of the products and services recommended on this site. This only happens when you click on our affiliate links. We also earn commissions from purchases made through Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Thank you for your support and especially for reading this blog! Please see our Advertiser Disclosure for more details!
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card
Earn 70,000 Bonus Miiles + Alaska's Famous Companion Fare!
Southwest Airlines recently introduced a new fare category called Wanna Get Away Plus. It is one step above the most restricted Wanna Get Away fare category for flight credits (a.k.a travel funds).
In this post, I’ll talk about the new Wanna Get Away Plus benefits and, more importantly, walk you through how to transfer your existing Southwest travel funds to another person using the Wanna Get Away Plus trick.
 |
| Photo Credit: Southwest Airlines |
| Table of Contents [show/hide] |
|
|
What are the restrictions on Southwest Wanna Get Away flights?
First, if you are not familiar with Southwest Wanna Get Away (WGA) fare, it helps to understand its restrictions and compare them to the Southwest Wanna Get Away Plus (WGA+) fare:
- Non-refundable.
- If you cancel the reservation at least 10 minutes before the scheduled flight departure, you’ll receive the flight credit (travel fund), valid for 12 months from the original booking date. Flight credit is not transferable to someone else.
- Same-day flight changes are subject to the fare difference.
- [NEW] Free same-day standby.
- You do not receive a priority lane, automatic check-in, and complimentary premium drinks.
Therefore, if you want a more flexible fare category on Southwest Airlines, consider paying slightly more and booking Southwest Wanna Get Away Plus instead.
Southwest Wanna Get Away Plus Benefits
Compared to Southwest Wanna Get Away fare, Southwest Wanna Get Away Plus costs a little more but offers more flexibility regarding travel funds.
Per Southwest Airlines, the Wanna Get Away Plus offers the following benefits:
- Earn 8x bonus Rapid Rewards points.
- Two bags fly free.
- No fees to change or cancel
- Flight credit for up to 12 months if you cancel
- Transferable flight credit for Rapid Rewards members
- Free same-day confirmed flight change
- Free same-day standby list
Go here to view the entire Fare Comparison on Southwest Airlines.
Is Southwest Wanna Get Away Plus Worth It?
The Wanna Get Away Plus fare offers flexibility when booking a Southwest flight ticket. The fare costs a little more (roughly 10-20%) than the non-plus Wanna Get Away fare. The main benefit of the fare is the flight credit (a.k.a travel fund) issued after you, a Rapid Rewards member, cancel the reservation. The flight credit becomes transferrable, meaning that you can use the flight credit for someone else. It does not tie to the original booked passenger’s name anymore.
From my experience, the free same-day confirmed flight change and same-day standby list benefits can be useful sometimes. Still, it is just icing on the cake type of benefit, especially now that Wanna Get Away fare also receives free same-day standby.
Please note that you still receive two checked bags free and no fees for changing or canceling, just like the regular Wanna Get Away fare. You also do not receive any priority lane and automatic check-in though there are some Tips on Getting a Better Boarding Group Order on Southwest Airlines.
Therefore, paying extra for the Wanna Get Away Plus fare may be worth it. This will give you flexibility for the flight credit after canceling your Southwest ticket, and you can use the flight credit for someone else.
Suppose you value the ability to transfer flight credit to somebody else. In that case, you will be delighted to know there’s a trick to transfer Southwest travel funds to another person when booking the Wanna Get Away Plus. See below.
How to Transfer Southwest Travel Funds to Another Person With Wanna Get Away Plus?
While there’s a last resort method to extend your expired Southwest travel funds with LUV Vouchers, there’s now a way to transfer Southwest travel funds to another person.
I followed an Instagram account, profitsandpoints, and he shared the genius trick. According to him, he saw the trick on the Southwest travel funds loophole on Reddit. Here’s how it works:
- Use your non-transferable flight credit travel fund to book a speculative Wanna Get Away Plus flight.
- Cancel the flight within 24 hours of purchase.
- During cancellation, choose the Refund to the method of payment option so that you’ll receive the following refunds:
- The original non-transferable flight credit becomes transferrable and can now be used to book a Southwest flight for someone else. See the screenshot below.
- The $5.60 flight credit used now can be transferred to another Rapid Rewards member.
- The expiration date of that flight credit remains unchanged.
- Any money you paid to cover the remaining balance after applying the non-transferable flight credit. You’ll get the money refunded to the original payment method because you canceled the flight within 24 hours. See the screenshot below.
- Log into your Southwest Rapid Rewards account.
- Find available travel funds on the top, and click the View Details link.
- You are presented with your available flight credit balance. At that point, simply click on the Transfer to someone else link.
- Please note that once the flight credit is successfully transferred, it ties to the recipient’s name and becomes non-transferable flight credit again.
- Provide the other person’s information, including their Rapid Rewards account, and finally, click on the Transfer flight credit button.
 |
| Transferable Southwest Travel Funds |
H.T. profitsandpoints
Just wanted to make a clarification: If you book a Wanna Get Away Plus fare to transfer nontransferrable funds to someone else, DO NOT WAIT 24 hrs after booking to cancel.
Cancel within 24 hours from booking and be sure your dummy WGAP flight is at least 7 days away. The extra money you paid to cover the full cost of the dummy flight will be refunded to cash!
Just cancelled a Wanna Get Away. I paid for the ticket for my daughter's boyfriend to accompany our vacation. He backed out. I understand no money refund- but they will only give the flight credit to him. He did not pay, he is under my confirmation / reservation. Extremely unethical. The credit should go to me, since I am the original payor. And the credits are not transferrable to make it right to me. Next time, I will not pay for anyone, but myself. Or better yet, choose a different airline.
I am trying to get the flight credit. I am the purchaser but another guest is getting the flight credit. Yes we had wanna get away tickets. The plus did not exist when we booked. How can I ensure getting the credit and not the guest that cancelled.
Comment #1: Thank you for the clarification. I've updated the post accordingly, and this definitely makes the trick even more useful!
Comment #2: Cancel his reservation and get the flight credit even if it is under his name. Make sure you can access the confirmation number to use the flight credit afterward. Then follow the steps in this post to make that flight credit transferrable with Wanna Get Away Plus, meaning you can use it for yourself or your daughter.
Comment #3: I had the same issue. Follow the steps in this post under the "How to Transfer Southwest Travel Funds to Another Person With Wanna Get Away Plus?" section. Make sure you have access to use that guest's flight credit to book a speculative flight and this time book the Wanna Get Away Plus fare.
FYI, still works as of today. I had thought about doing it but this post made me go ahead and try it.