Man comes up with clever hack to cancel a woman’s southwest trip from Dallas. Then used her flight credit to fly himself to Orlando: ‘What’s going on’
Was it really that easy?
Booking a family trip is expensive enough without having to pay for the same flights twice. One woman claims that is exactly what happened after her Southwest reservation was canceled without her permission. Somehow, the money from those tickets allegedly ended up paying for someone else to travel.
The situation gets stranger because the traveler claims her family never canceled their plans in the first place. Unexpected changes to an airline reservation can be difficult enough to untangle. Having the credit disappear before you can use it is a much bigger problem.
In a TikTok video, user @papilove13 claims someone gained access to her Southwest booking, canceled flights for her family of four, and transferred the resulting flight credit. She alleges the person later used that money for a flight from Dallas to Orlando on August 26. Her video has attracted more than 6,800 views.
The trouble didn’t end there
According to the TikToker, she discovered the problem after her family’s original tickets had been canceled. Since they still needed to travel, she claims she had to purchase their flights again with her own money. That left her paying twice while trying to figure out what had happened to the value of the first booking.
The woman alleges that the person responsible transferred the flight credit into his own name before using it to travel. She identified him in her video, though there is currently no independent confirmation that the individual accessed her account or used her credit. It is also unclear how the alleged unauthorized access occurred.
Her frustration grew when she contacted Southwest for a refund. However, her attempt to resolve the issue with the airline reportedly went nowhere, as she was told the credit had already been used and there was nothing left to reimburse her.
“The money’s already gone. He’s already used it, he’s already flown,” she recalled being told. She is now demanding that Southwest refund what she originally paid, arguing that she should not be responsible for credit allegedly taken without her authorization.
She speculated that the person may have known someone working for Southwest or that a security issue could have exposed customer information. However, she did not provide evidence supporting either possibility. There is currently no indication that Southwest has confirmed an employee was involved or that a data breach caused the alleged incident.
The woman also questioned how someone could allegedly get into customer accounts and transfer flight credits so easily. “You guys need to figure out what’s going on,” she told Southwest, while calling on the airline to add two-factor authentication to prevent it from happening to others.
Viewers had plenty of suggestions for what she should do next. “And this is why tickets should NOT be transferable to any other person! No exceptions,” one person wrote. Another claimed, “My husband had his SW account hacked and they used his points to purchase. Ticket, then.”
Others encouraged her to pursue the matter outside the airline. “I hope you are disputing w/ your bank/CC company too,” one commenter wrote, while someone else suggested, “Submit a complaint with your state AG.” Another simply urged, “2 Factor Authentication.”
Not everyone agreed that Southwest should automatically be blamed. One viewer questioned the woman’s assumptions, writing, “how is that SWA fault? all ur statements are assumptions. I feel for you, getting hacked its awful. But do a police report, advise your bank/CC company etc.”
Still, the TikToker has no intention of quietly dropping the issue. She promised to continue posting videos until the money is returned. For her, the request is straightforward: she paid for her family’s flights, claims someone else ended up traveling with the resulting credit, and wants Southwest to give her the money back.
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