Business Select drink vouchers?

[Berlin77]

Here is an update to an old post.  Mine is slightly different in nature, therefore I've started a new thread.  I will preface you with the fact I've lost count on how many times this has happened to me, which means lots.

What can be done about having a "drink coupon" for each connecting flight for,that flight only, and service was discontinued, or not started at all due to turbulence?   Once you land that voucher is now useless.   Yes, I had the luck of my connecting flight not getting service due to the same issue on the same day, so on this trip, I actually had two useless drink vouchers/coupons.  

Now I would agree, we are talking about something very minimal in value, and I would agree.  But maybe have an option for an extended voucher on another flight you would get from the ticket counter as you exit.  I'm assuming they would know there was no service with the quick call of the phone.  

Now in the case of not wanting an alcohol drink, the option of requesting a "sealed" beverage to take with you or to consume on the plane in addition to your normal drink? 

Or as has been suggested, access to wifi in trade for the drink voucher.   This is the one I would actually prefer.  

[chgoflyer · Accepted solution]

At the moment, as you must be aware, drink service is limited to water only. Which makes your suggestion somewhat moot for the time being.

Business Select drink coupons are good for the day of travel, not limited to a specific flight, fyi.

By law, alcohol served to you onboard cannot be taken off the plane for consumption later.

This is primarily a customer-to-customer forum. Consider making your suggestion for a wifi-coupon substitute directly to Southwest:

Submitting a Suggestion and/or Complaint 

[Jc1234567890]

hi business select 

Drink coupons

Please chime in if you think it would be amazing for Southwest to offer points as an option for the thousands of non-drinkers I am a sober alcoholic and merely toss the coupons away thank you Southwest community

[dfwskier]

Good idea.

I'd suggest that you make it directly to SW customer relations.

https://community.southwest.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Contact-Customer-Relations/ta-p/108355

[jksobonya]

If you fly Business Select, I don't think you get a free drink for each leg of your flight. What if you had 2 different stops? Would that mean you would get 3 free drinks? I don't think that's how it works - you get 1 drink for the entirety of your one-way trip. If all of your flights did not have drink service (pre-COVID), well, I would consider that unfortunate.

Despite that, I do think it's a fair question where if you don't get to use it for whatever reason, what happens? It sounds like nothing happens, and the free drink is forfeited. It would maybe be nice if the free drink could still be valid for X amount of time. Maybe something for the higher ups to consider as a future enhancement/perk of a Business Select fare. 

--Jessica

[gsking]

I would think Wi-fi would be a better option than drinks in MANY situations, especially now.

1.  Business Select it seems to make MORE sense than alcohol.  Go figure.  Flying for business?  Here, get tipsy.

2.  You can use it if you're under 21

3.  We could get rid of all those expiring tickets, and SWA reduces the future cost burden of redeeming those tickets for alcohol.

4.  Is the profit margin on wi-fi and its consumption really so much higher than drinks that offering it as a perk instead of drinks make them lose money?

I don't pay for wi-fi.  $8 isn't worth it to me on a 45 minute flight.  But I'd gladly get it instead of a drink.

[SWFlyer007]

@gsking Yep, I've been all about the exchange of wifi over a drink, and yes, I'm a drinker and love the latest IPA they had on their menu.   But if you gave me the option, I'd take the free wifi and buy myself that refreshing drink.  Wish we had the choice.  

[chgoflyer]

As we've discussed previously, the the issue with expanding wifi access is due to current bandwidth limitations and/or costs associated with increasing that capability. More people using the internet connection = slower speeds for everyone, and addressing that with system upgrades (or even just purchasing additional satellite bandwidth) costs significant money. My understanding is that Southwest has a schedule for planned upgrades, but I'm not sure if that's still planned or even a priority these days, with the current operating losses piling up.

[gsking]

That might make sense regarding the drink coupons, but I doubt there are enough BS people on any one flight to significantly impact service.   

In fact, I'm positive there's always a lot fewer than 15 on every flight I've been on.

And if we're talking solely about a temporary change during Covid (ie. internet vs. drinks), the flights are already running at less capacity.

Alas, unless there were a way to assign free vouchers for access, it's a moot point anyways.    I'm just glad I'm ALP.