Southwest has made it easy to use travel credits. Will other carriers follow?

But as the pandemic ramps up travel, some airlines are starting to offer passengers something they’ve been missing for years: flexibility. It started by eliminating those hefty fees to change a non-refundable ticket. And last week, Southwest Airlines Co.

It went a step further by eliminating expiration dates on travel credits.

“These two items are a very, very positive paradigm shift for the traveler,” said Steve Glenn, founder and chairman of Active Travel in Lincoln, Neb.

Airlines are not giving away the store. If travelers with a non-refundable ticket cancel their flight, regardless of the reason, they are still not eligible for a refund. (Passengers are refunded if the airline cancels the flight.) And the major airlines’ basic economy tickets, those tickets that are unlocked when you search for frequent flights, are still loaded with restrictions that limit flexibility.

Southwest, the nation’s largest domestic passenger carrier and a leader in customer-friendly policies, has upped the ante because of lessons learned during the pandemic.

The Dallas-based airline calls it Credit Travel Fund. These are typically one year from the date the original ticket was purchased. But Southwest and others have repeatedly extended the validity of these funds to give passengers more time to use the credits during the pandemic.

Southwest’s Covid credit waiver expires in early September. Instead of simply re-extending like other major airlines, including Delta Air Lines Inc.

American Airlines Group Inc.

and United Airlines Holdings Inc.

They worked this year, Southwest decided to make the policy change permanent. From now on, there is no expiry date for the travel credit that passengers get when they cancel a flight. It was the first airline to do so.

The change will apply to expiring outbreak credits as well as all new ticket purchases. Make sure you cancel the flight at least 10 minutes before departure or no credit will be given. (Not valid for expired credits or LUV vouchers when things go wrong on a Southwest flight. The latter must still be used within one year of issuance.)

Southwest executives say several factors came into play. The bottom line: With canceled plans and the uncertainty created by Covid, travelers want flexibility more than ever. At the airline’s quarterly earnings conference last Thursday, the day the new policy was announced, the word flexibility came up seven times.

“Our customers are telling us that peace of mind around the ability to change is really important,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said on the call.

After that it’s a matter of closed phone lines. Travel credit inquiries are the “number one call driver” for Southwest’s customer relations department, Southwest Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Watson said on the call.

No expiration date means no calls asking for soon-to-expire or soon-to-be-expired credits and related issues. For years, Southwest has allowed passengers with expired credits to be reinstated for a $100 fee.

Mr. Watson said the $100 fee should be a one-time exemption rather than a policy, noting that the airline has previously offered free credit to some customers.

Southwest has financial incentives behind the new policy, of course. As with no-change fees and a bag-free flight policy, look for Southwest to issue non-stop tickets regularly.

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“Because of this policy change, we’re not only retaining customers, we’re winning new customers,” Mr. Jordan said.

No airline has immediately matched Southwest’s expiration-date policy. That is in contrast to a quick matchup of rivals when United announced in August 2020 that changes to domestic tickets would end. American, Delta and others have quickly dropped change fees that started at $200 a ticket and often eliminate the cost of cheaper tickets.

William Magee, a former editor of Consumer Reports and a consumer advocate who is now a senior fellow at the American Economic Freedom Project, a proactive policy group in aviation, praised Southwest’s move but said it would be better for travelers if another major airline took off.

“I don’t think the big three are going to look at the Southwest and say, ‘We have to match that,'” he said. “Southwest does a lot of good things for consumers that others can’t match. Look at bags.

Then again, Southwest never charges change fees and no major airlines do now.-at least For regular economy tickets.

Representatives for American, Delta and United said they had no comment on Southwest’s action. Each of the extended ticket expiration dates indicated their current policy.

In January, Delta extended the expiration date of travel credits for late 2024 flights to late 2023.

The headline on the ad had a familiar F-word: “Unparalleled Travel Flexibility.

Write to Dawn Gilbertson at dawn.gilbertson@wsj.com