Reservation change due to Flight Delay

[rlw120653]

Hello all – a hypothetical question.  Going  from San Jose to Pittsburgh on August 15 with a 45 minute stopover in Denver.  If flight leaving San Jose is delayed by thirty to sixty minutes, then chances are flight from Denver will be missed. If I notice upon arriving at San Jose airport that flight will be delayed, will Southwest change my flight at no additional charge to say a flight the next day from San Jose? And would I be reimbursed for the hotel charge that evening?  I am thinking this would be better than staying in Denver so I would still have my checked bag with me. Thanks.

[TheMiddleSeat]

If it appears you will miss your connection then yes, Southwest will do their best to reschedule or reroute you so you do not get stuck at the connection point.  Being the last flight of the day, it is also possible the Denver flight could be held.  I've had several late night flights held waiting for connecting passengers.  It is very unlikely a hotel would be paid for.  Reasons for the delay would factor into that decision and it's probably only going to happen if you were stranded in the connection city, not the originating city.

--TheMiddleSeat

[rlw120653]

Thanks for your input.

[bec102896]

So i had a similar experience just a couple weeks a go. I was going from Lubbock to Houston with a layover in DAL the LBB flight had a maintenance issue so they offered to rebook me to fly out of LBB the next day or go to DAL and they would issue me the hotel voucher and LUV voucher for inconvenience i said I’ll try for DAL in hopes they would hold the flight for me i didn’t end up making the flight so i went to my hotel and continued my journey the next day. 

went in to my decision to go to DAL was more flight options for the next day since LBB has only a couple flights a day 

in your case San Jose has lots of flights so you could stay over an extra night but you might have more flights from DEN so I’d look at your options for the next day before deciding to stay in SJC or go to DEN they might be able to reroute you as well same day 

now hotel will depend on why your flight is late if it’s weather in DEN you would be on your own if it’s a broken plane then yes you should be able to get a hotel. You would have to go to the airport to see if they would offer you a hotel as phone agents can’t issue you a hotel 

[rlw120653]

Thanks for your input.

If they gave me the option (and a delay was not a weather issue), I think I would opt to just stay put in San Jose with a hotel voucher.  I just am thinking my checked bag will get lost in the massive network. I would rather have it with me.

Like you said if it is weather caused, I am on my own. Probably would still stay in San Jose.

Flights the next day are about the same from either, so now big deal there.

And a friend will be with me, so there could be some cost sharing.

[DancingDavidE]

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@rlw120653 wrote:

Thanks for your input.

If they gave me the option (and a delay was not a weather issue), I think I would opt to just stay put in San Jose with a hotel voucher.  I just am thinking my checked bag will get lost in the massive network. I would rather have it with me.

Like you said if it is weather caused, I am on my own. Probably would still stay in San Jose.

Flights the next day are about the same from either, so now big deal there.

And a friend will be with me, so there could be some cost sharing.

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I hope you aren't having a big angst over it, the majority of flights go more or less on time. Even with up to 15 to 20 minute delay you'll still make your flight to PIT although you may not have time for a "pitstop" in DEN. Even though the C Concourse is very long in DEN you can still walk from end to end in fifteen minutes and that would be worst case gate assignments. Southwest might hold this flight for you if it was close as well and you needed 5-10 minutes.

If you were A-list this would be a minor problem as there is a good chance that you make your flight, but would be after the A-boarding. But the overwhelming statistics are that you'll make this flight as planned.

When the day of the flight comes you can check the weather then, use one of the flight tracking apps to see where your plane is coming from and if its on-time for that route, same thing for the DEN-PIT leg which could also be delayed if there is widespread thunderstorms that day or something disruptive.

[rlw120653]

Thanks for your thoughts. We will see how it all works out.

[DancingDavidE]

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@rlw120653 wrote:

Hello all – a hypothetical question.  Going  from San Jose to Pittsburgh on August 15 with a 45 minute stopover in Denver.  If flight leaving San Jose is delayed by thirty to sixty minutes, then chances are flight from Denver will be missed. If I notice upon arriving at San Jose airport that flight will be delayed, will Southwest change my flight at no additional charge to say a flight the next day from San Jose? And would I be reimbursed for the hotel charge that evening?  I am thinking this would be better than staying in Denver so I would still have my checked bag with me. Thanks.

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If you live in San Jose then they would change the flight for you and then you'd go home overnight. In order to really have a shot at an alternative route you'd need to be prepared to catch the noon flight to DEN that would give you more time. For whatever reason that isn't offered as a valid connection on the way to PIT but if you are available to leave earlier maybe reach out that you are concerned about the layover and see if your first flight can be changed to leave on the earlier direct flight to DEN and then have a long layover there. (There's plenty to eat and walk around in DEN.)

I'm not sure how it will work out price-wise but you could book yourself as a multi-city route as well if you won't be checking luggage, or try to check it through to PIT but there might be some restrictions on that, it wounds like people get to do it sometimes.