I had booked Southwest for my tickets to the Charleston Sessions for this past weekend. I had a layover at MDW on my way back home to DTW, but I had been planning on driving back to Chicago with a friend the following day. I decided that it made more sense to have my friend meet me in Chicago and I just wouldn’t fly the second segment of my ticket back to Michigan. Normally, I would have changed my ticket since there are free changes on Southwest tickets, but by the time I decided to stay in Chicago, tickets cost about $100 more than what I had already purchased. I was curious to see what this would do in terms of my points posting, since most airlines will give you the miles based on the segments you did fly, but with Southwest all miles are based on the cost of the fare. I think it turned out just about worst case scenario… See update at bottom!

CHS to MDW

“This ticket was not completely flown. Rapid Rewards Points will not be deposited until the entire ticket has been flown, exchanged, or refunded (if applicable).”

 

Well, boo. But in reality, it still made more sense to lose the points than any other option… which were pay $100 more to change my ticket (no thanks, points weren’t worth that much), or go back to Michigan, come back to Chicago, and then take an extra day off before I start my full time job (which would mean not making money that is worth more than those points). So even with hindsight, I would still do the same thing… but I also want my points!

 

Update: I was informed by Jason, via the comments, that if you call Southwest (1-800-435-9792) and ask them to “close the ticket” they can cancel the portion that was not flown… for me this will result in my miles posting AND I got $10 back in Southwest credit for future flights. NOTE: As of September 13, 2013 this can no longer be done retroactively!! So I just barely made it. For the rest of you (and in the future) make sure that if you are not planning on flying part of your flight, but prices have gone up, that you call Southwest ahead of time and have them cancel that portion of your ticket.