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Cancelled flight

Dgamlem02
Explorer C

On 10-18-2022 I had two flights with SW.  I was heading to my daughter's graduation in Phoenix. My first flight from WA state to Las Vegas arrived on time with no issues.  I was changing planes to continue my travels. I get to Las Vegas and get a notification after I landed that my flight is delayed.  Okay, still okay, I'll make her graduation ceremony with the half hour delay.  Then and hour later at the time we were originally supposed to be in the air (1pm) without warning you all cancel my 2nd flight and moved me to a later one, which would put me in AFTER my daughter's graduation   I went to the SW counter at the gate and no other flights were available. Also no refund offered and NO Help finding a flight on another carrier.  I'm calling my husband while running through the airport to get to another carriers counter in hopes I can get a flight out in time as he found the last flight out of Las Vegas that would get me there but it was leaving in 45 minutes...   By the way the Las Vegas airport is huge! By this time since you all waited until the last possible minute I could not even get a rental car to drive the 5 hours to Phoenix because it would have put me into Phoenix again AFTER my daughter's graduation.  My husband was able to find a flight on Spirit Airlines and THEIR CS agent was able to book me on the last flight out of Las Vegas ( leaving in 45 minutes by this time... at 2pm) before boarding started,  this flight would get me to my daughter's graduation on time.  This was an unexpected added expense that was not needed by us but was incurred because SW has lost its ability to service clients.  I have flown almost exclusively with SW since the 70's (from a child to adult).  I am a seasoned traveler. SW has always taken care of passengers until now.  And I am seeing more and more complaints.  I have a flight home and I am stressed now hoping I make it home on the same day so I can get to work the next morning, but I have no faith in SW any more and will be looking at other carries in the future when I have to fly again.  What has angered me the most is the last minute cancellation without warning that there was even the possibility and no reason for the cancellation. No offer to refund knowing the situation which I explained to the agent. And no help to get me to my destination on time with another carrier like you all used to do years ago.  I have flown enough to know what was done in the past and the fact that SW has now become the same as everyone else is sad.  No customer service, no care, and nothing special anymore. If your staff are stretched that thin then reduce the number of flights STOP cancelling flights that may have people connecting to their final destination which includes special event they my miss or be forced to spend money they don't really have to get to.  We did not have the extra funds but it was an important day...  We will figure it out  I truly hope SW you go back to being customer focused and not corporate focused, you had something good for a long time, to bad it's gone now.

8 REPLIES 8

Re: Cancelled flight

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Since this is a customer to customer forum you may want to contact Southwest directly. Use the contact us link at the bottom of this page and send a message. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancelled flight

floridaguy
Aviator C

You are going to have to go back and review the terms of use and/or contract with Southwest.  They likely cover all of this including no accommodation for cancelled flight.

 

Back in the good ole days, airlines put you up for the night, etc. but with competition and a consumer DEMAND for lower fares, something had to go.

 

Would you have been willing to pay an extra $40 for your ticket to have a guaranteed accommodation?  

Re: Cancelled flight

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Coverage of hotels and food depends on the reason for the delay. As the OP did not provide or receive a reason no additional commentary about what should have been provided by Southwest can be made. Some credit cards offer trip delay insurance that may cover costs associated with hotels or transportation to the destination via an alternative method, but again, that coverage often depends on the reason for the delay. If I were the OP this is an area that I would be looking into, first determining what, if any, coverage my credit card offers me and getting more information about the reason for the delay from Southwest.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancelled flight

dfwskier
Aviator A
Solution

@Dgamlem02 wrote:

Sorry to hear this happenedto you. I'm glad you were able to get a flight on Spirit.


On 10-18-2022 I had two flights with SW.  I was heading to my daughter's graduation in Phoenix. My first flight from WA state to Las Vegas arrived on time with no issues.  I was changing planes to continue my travels. I get to Las Vegas and get a notification after I landed that my flight is delayed.  Okay, still okay, I'll make her graduation ceremony with the half hour delay.  Then and hour later at the time we were originally supposed to be in the air (1pm) without warning you all cancel my 2nd flight and moved me to a later one, which would put me in AFTER my daughter's graduation I went to the SW counter at the gate and no other flights were available.

 

All airlines delay and cancel flights. Most of the time they do not provide notice because something unplanned happened. When that happens, the airline puts you on the next available flight. It tries. But if there is no flight that is convenient for you, then there is no flight that is convenient for you. The airline cannot snap it's fingers and conjure up a new plane. 

 

 Also no refund offered and NO Help finding a flight on another carrier. 

 

Southwest did not offer a refund because it was trying to put you on a Southwest flight to your destination. To get refunds passengers have to ask for refunds 

 

Finding another flight on another carrier is called interlining. Airlines do not interline with Southwest - or Spirit or Frontier and Alegiant. So Southwest had no way to pt you on s flight on another carrier. If you had started on Spirit, and Spirit had been the airline to cancel your flight, then Spirit would not have been able to put you on another carrier either.

 

  This was an unexpected added expense that was not needed by us but was incurred because SW has lost its ability to service clients. 

 

As I said earlier, all airlines cancel flights and then try their best to accommodate their passengers. Sometimes their best is simply not good enough

 

    I have a flight home and I am stressed now hoping I make it home on the same day so I can get to work the next morning, but I have no faith in SW any more and will be looking at other carries in the future when I have to fly again.

 

Were you on a round trip ticket?  Did you cancel the flight Southwest tried to rebook  you on? If yes to the first and no to the second, you might not have a flight home. Southwest cancels return trips when passengers "no show" for the first flight..That's what Southwest might have thought if you simply "no showed" for the flight Southwest wanted to out you in. You really should check.

 

 

   . And no help to get me to my destination on time with another carrier like you all used to do years ago. 

 

I have flown Southwest since March, 1978 , and I do not recall a time in those 46+ years

Southwest having the ability to put passengers on another airline.    I suspect you are thinking of another airline.

 

I have flown enough to know what was done in the past and the fact that SW has now become the same as everyone else is sad.  No customer service, no care, and nothing special anymore. If your staff are stretched that thin then reduce the number of flights STOP cancelling flights that may have people connecting to their final destination which includes special event they my miss or be forced to spend money they don't really have to get to.  We did not have the extra funds but it was an important day...  We will figure it out  I truly hope SW you go back to being customer focused and not corporate focused, you had something good for a long time, to bad it's gone now.

 

 

As said earlier in the thread, you probably should complain directly to Southwest.

 

Finally, my personal rule of thumb is that if I 

absolutely positively have to be some place  important, then I fly in the day before. Airlines delay/cancel  thousands of flights a day. One could be mine. trying to get in early at least lets me have time to develop alternatives when things head south

Re: Cancelled flight

rich1954
Adventurer A

Happened to me early this year and when I got home, I wrote Southwest a very polite letter stating what happened and they gave me and my wife both $250 vouchers. The 1-day delay did not bother us as we got to stay another day on vacation.

Re: Cancelled flight

bec102896
Aviator A

They offered me the 3:55pm flight after this flight was canceled  but I was able to find a non stop to AUS so the cancellation worked in my favor instead of a layover and only arrived 2 hours late yes it was last minute but things happen (crews time out, planes break) 

 

Personally if I have an event I need to attend I arrive a day early because of situation like yesterday no sense in rushing because even if the flight was delayed 3 hours you would probably miss the graduation by the time you get off the plane and to your actual event  

 

did they give you the voucher at the gate/ticket counter? You could reach out by clicking on contact us at the bottom of the page to request the voucher if you didn’t get one at the gate (I got one) 

Re: Cancelled flight

jksobonya
Aviator A

Rule #1 when flying for an important event: NEVER fly the day of. ALWAYS fly the day before. Delays and cancellations happen, and you don't want to miss your event.

 

--Jessica

Re: Cancelled flight

floridaguy
Aviator C

That's what I always told my business peers.  For any meeting, I flew in the night before.  PERIOD

 

I have watched people stroll in after lunch many, many times when the meeting started at 8:00 AM.  You basically wasted your time if you missed more than half of the day.

 

Getting people to change is like getting a mountain to speak.  

 

Everyone knows best and everyone is the expert, especially here on this board.