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Changed my itinerary without consent and now costs more!

SaraJohnB
Explorer C

I recently had a confusing and frustrating experience with a flight reservation and want to be absolutely certain that I have a complete understanding of what occurred.

 

In 2020 we had flights from Sacramento to Hawaii for our family of 5. Due to COVID the trip was postponed until July 2021. I received an email that our once direct flights from OGG to Sacramento had been changed by Southwest and now we would have a 8 hour flight home with a stopover in LAX. I checked online and was able to change the tickets back, but it cost $235 more PER ticket to make the change.  Since it was 11pm at night and I just needed to make sure we could get on the direct flight home I paid more and made the change.

 

A couple of days later, on July 7th, I spoke with a Southwest agent (to follow up on the costs)  and was told that had I made that change over the phone that we would NOT have incurred the difference in the price. 

 

I feel extremely frustrated that I spent an extra $1,000 unnecessarily simply because I made the change online and not by calling an agent. And again-our original tickets, which were direct flights, were changed by Southwest to include a layover in Los Angeles--we did not initiate the change.

 

Is this company policy? We had the tickets we wanted, Southwest rebooked us on a flight with a layover, and in order to return back to the direct flight it would cost $1,000 online but $0 if I called an agent?

 

I was told that there was no way to recoup the money.

 

My husband and I recently moved our business credit card to Chase Bank solely to take advantage of the Southwest travel card. We are reconsidering whether we want to commit to flying Southwest as a primary airline if these inconsistent policies are something we must expect.  We charge between $6000 and $10,000  per month on our business card. 

 

If you could kindly explain why our flight was changed and 11 other members of the same flights (our extended family) were not and why we charged but others in the same boat (according to the Southwest discussion forum) were not.  

 

I'm very disappointed.  We always book Southwest due to the ease of booking as well as the fun and happy faced flight attendants.  Now I'm not so sure.... 

 

I am expecting some solution from your team. 

 

 

6 REPLIES 6

Re: Changed my itinerary without consent and now costs more!

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Yes, you qualified for a free change.  Contact Customer Relations to discuss reimbursement for the additional costs you incurred.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Changed my itinerary without consent and now costs more!

SaraJohnB
Explorer C

Strange as the customer service person I spoke with said that if I had called originally there wouldn't be an extra cost but since I did it online they would charge me the price difference.  What does their policy state?

 

Re: Changed my itinerary without consent and now costs more!

dfwskier
Aviator A

@SaraJohnB wrote:

Strange as the customer service person I spoke with said that if I had called originally there wouldn't be an extra cost but since I did it online they would charge me the price difference.  What does their policy state?

 


If you are entitled to a free change (you apparently were) it makes no difference how you change it: phone, web or cell app. They should all yield a free change.

 

Edit add: I guess I didn't answer your question.  Policy is that if the airline cancels your flight (even if it then rebooks you),  you are entitled to one free change to ANY flight that has available seats (regardless of cost) between the same two cities as on the flight that was cancelled.

Re: Changed my itinerary without consent and now costs more!

SaraJohnB
Explorer C

here's hoping! Thanks! 

Re: Changed my itinerary without consent and now costs more!

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

BTW, this is a customer to customer forum.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Changed my itinerary without consent and now costs more!

jksobonya
Aviator A

@SaraJohnB wrote:

I recently had a confusing and frustrating experience with a flight reservation and want to be absolutely certain that I have a complete understanding of what occurred.

 

In 2020 we had flights from Sacramento to Hawaii for our family of 5. Due to COVID the trip was postponed until July 2021. I received an email that our once direct flights from OGG to Sacramento had been changed by Southwest and now we would have a 8 hour flight home with a stopover in LAX. I checked online and was able to change the tickets back, but it cost $235 more PER ticket to make the change.  Since it was 11pm at night and I just needed to make sure we could get on the direct flight home I paid more and made the change.

 

A couple of days later, on July 7th, I spoke with a Southwest agent (to follow up on the costs)  and was told that had I made that change over the phone that we would NOT have incurred the difference in the price. 

 

Is this company policy? We had the tickets we wanted, Southwest rebooked us on a flight with a layover, and in order to return back to the direct flight it would cost $1,000 online but $0 if I called an agent?

 

I was told that there was no way to recoup the money.

 

If you could kindly explain why our flight was changed and 11 other members of the same flights (our extended family) were not and why we charged but others in the same boat (according to the Southwest discussion forum) were not.  


I want to respond to the red highlighted text I made above. When Southwest changes your flight, they send you an e-mail about the change (which you received) and if you are unhappy with the change you are able to rebook your flight to a new flight free of charge ***but*** you have to make the change within 72 hours of e-mail receipt. Did you make the change within 72 hours? If you waited longer than 72 hours, you would have had to pay the difference in fare.

 

--Jessica