Ouch: Southwest Flight Credits Will Start Expiring Again

Southwest Airlines seems to be doing everything it can to be like other carriers. I just wrote about how Southwest will soon start charging for checked bags, but that’s not the only significant change that’s happening.

Southwest flight credits will no longer be valid forever

Southwest has long been known for its customer friendly policies. Back in the day, Southwest had no change fees on tickets, even when the competition did. That meant you could book a Southwest ticket without worry, and if you couldn’t take the trip, you’d be issued a flight credit for a future trip.

However, at the start of the pandemic, we saw many other airlines introduce a similar policy, to reflect the situation, and evolving consumer behavior.

So in 2022, Southwest one-upped the competition. The airline changed its policy so that flight credits would no longer expire. Up until that point, Southwest flight credits expired one year after they were issued, but Southwest once again wanted to find a way to differentiate itself.

Well, that will soon no longer be the case. For tickets issued as of May 28, 2025, Southwest flight credits will once again expire. They’ll expire one year after a ticket is issued, except on basic fares, where they’ll expire six months after they’re issued (that’s a whole different topic, as Southwest is also introducing basic economy).

This policy shift will align Southwest with the competition

For so long, Southwest did its own thing, regardless of what the competition was doing. However, with Southwest having activist investors in the form of Elliott Investment Management, the mandate is clear — be just like all the other guys, and somehow that will be the key to profitability.

While I do think there are some areas where Southwest needed to evolve (like introducing premium seating options), I really don’t understand the extreme to which this is being taken.

I get the desire for ancillary revenue and finding ways to generate easy cash, but without the ability to establish a revenue premium in domestic economy, I’m not sure how that’s supposed to result in industry leading profitability, especially when Southwest doesn’t have first class or long haul aircraft, which are the areas where carriers like Delta and United are generating much of their revenue…

Bottom line

For tickets issued as of May 28, 2025, Southwest Airlines flight credits will once again expire. They’ll expire after 12 months for most fares, while they’ll expire after six months for the carrier’s new basic economy fares. Since 2022, Southwest has been leading the industry by having flight credits not expire, and now that’s being reversed.

I can’t say I’m surprised, given the extreme to which the company is going, though of course this is incredibly disappointing.

What do you make of Southwest flight credits expiring once again?