Earlier this year Southwest announced that companion passes would be extended by six months & A-list by 12 months. Last Wednesday (sorry I missed this) Southwest announced that all drink coupons that are set to expire throughout 2020 will now expire December 31st, 2020.
Hat tip to changmander
Thank the lord. Mine were set to expire in August and I need them for October for a business trip so I can be really buzzed while I sit through a painful 7 hour presentation and do nothing.
Thanks! Was literally wondering about this earlier today.
FYI, you can buy and sell these SWA drink vouchers on eBay for $3-$4 a piece.
The last time I used 1 voucher for a beer, the SWA flight attendant gave me 2 beers and didn’t want/ask for the voucher.
Are they even serving “drinks”? I know with Delta, even in First, they just hand you a baggie with a small bottled water, Biscoff, napkin, and that’s it for the flight.
No, and the linked post says as much. It is odd to publish a new expiration date without any expectation of when drinks will be reintroduced.
I think it is totally appropriate and not odd. Folks are wondering if their expired coupons will still be valid in the future. Nobody knows WHEN they will start serving yet, so that part can not be given.
What if they don’t bring drink service back until say May 2021 — what good does publishing a Dec 2020 expiration date today do? I don’t understand the demand for half-certainty.
It should tell you that THEY know about when they’re planning to bring back beverage service, even if they haven’t announced it yet. COVID fear reduces by the day, so it could be soon.
That would probably lead to another extension.
I’ll be honest… the last 5 or so times I’ve used a drink coupon I’ve handed them to the flight attendant’s upside down… 95% of the time they don’t really care to look at the date since they are busy with shit.
What’s the secret to acquiring drink coupons? Neither my wife nor I have ever gotten one. I mean, I’m not complaining much… we haven’t paid money for a flight in four years sooooo…. yeah lol. Also, I’d say we get charged for in-flight drinks less than half the time. It just depends on the flight attendant I suppose.
When signed in to your rapid rewards account, there is a drink coupon setting under My Preferences -> My Travel -> Click the button at the top right that says “Extras”. Click the Edit button under free drink coupons to make sure your setting is set to receive them.
I think in general you need at least 10 1-way flights in a given calendar year in order for them to send them to you – though there are other means of getting them like if you sign up for their credit cards, fly business select, etc.
I believe they also have to be paid flights.
> we haven’t paid money for a flight in four years
That’s why: for each 10 revenue one-way flights, you get four drink tickets. But if you fly dozens of time on points only, you’ll never receive them.
This could have been a coincidence, but the first time I received drink tickets was around the time the woman died getting sucked out of the plane window on a Southwest flight. The second time was right after a flight I was on was delayed severely for no apparent reason (it looked like it was Southwest fault). One way to get the coupons is to be inconveienced.