Taking advantage of my parents who do not speak english

[Jsy347]

I AM REALLY FURIOUS.

I have been using Southwest for all my flights and we’ve made sure my parents are also using them too. My fiance and I are having our parents meet for the first time in Hawaii and they were flying from LA and Korea to meet in Oahu. We prebooked all itinerary (rental car, dinner, other activities) based on our flight landing.

Now my parents do not speak English well and they had a 7:10am flight. So what did they do? Get to the airport at 3am with my brother who DOES speak English. He let the ticket people know that my parents do not speak English and need special assistance. Keep in mind that I also booked the flight for them and CHECKED them in at 2:30pm the day before (within 24hr). My brother even asked if they could get preboarding because they are travelling for the first time and my mom is really afraid of heights.

Now fastforward my parents get to the gate and they said because we didnt “check in” early enough, PLUS BECAUSE THE FLIGHT IS OVERBOOKED, now they cant get on the flight they came 4 hrs early for. Now instead of arriving at Oahu at 11:10am like they were supposed to and paid to do so, they now have to figure out baggage claim (2 sets of golf club bag and checked bag sent away in Oahu with the earlier flight who knows what will happen to lost baggage), take a flight to MAUI and take another flight to Oahu that will arrive at 5pm.

I had a fancy dinner reservation for Christmas but now I just have a cancellation fee for our rental car, dinner cancellation, and a tour cancellation.

From what I heard, my parents told me they made them quickly sign some sort of paper before they got on the overlay flight or said they werent getting on that either. How is this not a threat to two vulnerable individuals who literally just did what they were supposed to?

I’m also at the airport right now and the only reply I am getting is there is no more customer service line and I just have to send an email that will respond back in 10 days. 

[TheMiddleSeat]

If check-in began at 730am and they checked in at 230pm it certainly is possible they were they last people to check-in, thus were chosen for the involuntary bump. While getting to the airport early is a good idea during the busy travel season, arrival time at the airport has nothing to do with choosing who gets bumped. It's an unfortunate situation, but I suspect you are incorrectly trying to connect the bump with some sort of discrimination.

--TheMiddleSeat

[Jsy347]

Does this mean that if I had checked them in earlier on the app this wouldve not happened? Is this always the case? I have never had a problem with check ins before and I want to know for future flights 

[Jsy347]

Also, I have time difference so it wouldve been 11:30am for PST 

[dfwskier]

Sorry to hear that your parents and you have to endure this.

In the event of need  to deny boarding, the Southwest rule is to ALWAYS pick the last people to check in.

SInce Southwest NEVER sells more seats than the plane holds (hasn't in 4-5 years), then the over book is due to something else. For example, if there were heavy winds that would have prevented a full plane from making the flight  all the way to Hawaii, then SW would have had to get weight off the plane - fewer people and or less cargo. Lighter planes have more range than heavier planes. Thus people could have been  bumped.

Also, check in time TIME ZONE of the city the plane will depart from needs to be taken into account. when checking in  If  the plane is leaving from from New York, then use eastern time zone - from Chicago - central time zone, etc.

[Jsy347]

But my parents were C 24. Then does that mean all the ones above them 26-50 were also cancelled? From my understanding (because I didnt get to talk to them directly yet only through my brother) they were the ones only cancelled. 

[dfwskier]

I was speculating on one possible reason the situation could have occurred. There are others.

Anyway they were likely booked on a 737 - Max8 which seats 175 people. It is possible the airline planned on sending the plane out weight restricted and never sold all of the available seats., and then discovered a need to remove even more weight thus affecting your parents.

So your parents would have been in boarding position. 144  (60A+60B+24c). It seems extreme to me that they plane would go out weight restricted with 30 plus open seats, but I am not familiar enough with Southwest's Hawaii operations to know if that is likely.. 

Sorry I can't be more helpful