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My gate changed without notice

Grandmeze4
Explorer C

My flight was scheduled to leave from gate A16. I arrived 2 hours prior to my boarding time. When I noticed that a different location was on my gate I ask where was my flight leaving from and it had changed to gate A9. So, I ran to that gate but unfortunately,  the door had already closed and I was not allowed to board. I was told that my name had been call several times. I am not sure why I didn't hear it because I heard all of the other names called.   In order for something like this not to happen again, each gate A16 and A9 should have announced the change! I was trying to  get home to seeing a dying family member but that didn't happen and I missed saying goodbye.  I make it my business to travel Southwest but after this incident I will look for a different airline that will be more supportive. 

9 REPLIES 9

Re: My gate changed without notice

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Surely announcements were made if the gate actually changed, signs at the gate would have indicated flights other than what you expected, and if you were looking around you would have noticed you were not at the proper gate. Perhaps it would have been pretty easy to realize when boarding should have started, but didn't?

 

You're welcome to submit your comments directly to Southwest if you want, but you gotta take some personal responsibility for this one.

Use the contact us link at the bottom of this page and send a message if you must.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: My gate changed without notice

Dlo
Explorer C

You must currently work at Southwest or be a former employee because there’s no reason to s*ck off an airline company as hard as you are right now. Couple of questions for you, were you there with this person? I know you stated what they “USUALLY” do but can you confirm with certainty what happened in this case? I doubt it. I just experienced the exact same thing here at BWI (Baltimore) and they changed to the gate right across the aisle from me. I was here an hr before my flight was set to board and I somehow missed the “announcement” of the change in gate. I’ve experienced many gate changes with no problem but I somehow missed the noticed this time.. Maybe next time don’t comment at all because you have no clue what’s going on in these individual circumstances. 

Re: My gate changed without notice

dfwskier
Aviator A

@Dlo wrote:

You must currently work at Southwest or be a former employee because there’s no reason to s*ck off an airline company as hard as you are right now.  


It is not clear who your comment is addressed to.

 

That being said, I hear gate change announcements all the time. Did that happen in your case? There is no way of knowing.

 

I have missed gate change announcements in the past and when the plane was not boarding when it should have been boarding, I checked on the situation and moved to the correct gate.

 

The one time I didn't do that was in St Louis last year. Didn't hear the announcement. Didn't check on my own, but did hear the airline page me by name to tell me that I needed to get to gate XX for my flight. I got an aisle seat near the back of the bus.

Re: My gate changed without notice

jksobonya
Aviator A

No way! I am sorry you missed your flight because the gate changed. Normally they make plenty of announcements and if you look up your flight on the monitors you should also have seen the change? Even your mobile boarding pass should have updated with the new gate number. 

 

--Jessica

Re: My gate changed without notice

parpitt1
Frequent Flyer A

Although you haven't said it was at BWI, I will say I have had similar poor communication at BWI, fortunately we did not miss our flight but the problem was more of an airport responsibility issue with poor technology for communication than it was a Southwest issue. The SWA personnel were frustrated by the lack of functionality of "overhead announcements"  

 

Sorry to hear about you troubles

Re: My gate changed without notice

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

I recommend "App in the Air" as a free tool you can use that will send you notifications to your phone about gate changes among many other features.

 

Once I was tracking my parents and saw the gate change, texted them, and they had no idea...they made it! (That flight was on the other guys, but still.)

 

But to the original point - they surely did make an announcement, the one you didn't hear would have been when all the other people on that flight got up and headed down the concourse.

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: My gate changed without notice

Dlo
Explorer C

I literally just had the same experience at BWI (Baltimore). No notice at all. Literally sitting across from the gate they changed it to and missed my flight. I’m fuming right now. I’ve experienced many gate changes and received notice with no problem. Coincidentally app logged me out at the same time. 

Re: My gate changed without notice

Dlo
Explorer C

I literally just had the same experience at BWI (Baltimore). No notice at all. Literally sitting across from the gate they changed it to and missed my flight. I’m fuming right now. I’ve experienced many gate changes and received notice with no problem. Coincidentally app logged me out at the same time. 

Re: My gate changed without notice

floridaguy
Aviator C

I agree that Southwest needs to get it together and once a gate is assigned, they need to show the FORMER travel destination and route you to the new gate, not just switch destinations.

 

All of these airports are different and the "announcement" cannot always be heard just outside of the immediate gate area.

 

for that reason, I suggest you download the Southwest App which will alert you to gate changes.  I would write to the Southwest CEO and demand a full credit for the cost of the flight.

 

That is their mess to manage, not yours.