Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

AustinRiley
Explorer A

Apparently I need to clarify - I am not blaming Southwest for the MAX-8 situation or Covid-19.  Obviously those were out of their control.  I was voicing my frustration with how they have handled the impacts of those situations with customers, and the fact that I share the opinion of many, which is that the airline is not as good in a lot of respects than it was before the AirTran acquisition many years ago, they take customer loyalty for granted and their customer service was extremely better five years ago than it is now.

 

And for those people who think I am being irrational, again, please help me understand why I should be okay being changed to an itinerary where I would have to fly to one airport in Washington DC and then somehow (I don't know - bus, train, Uber?) get over to Baltimore Airport to catch a connecting flight.  That is a ridiculous way to treat a one-time customer, let alone a loyal A-List Preferred customer.  And even the Southwest employee on the phone who took care of the situation was at a total loss as to how that itinerary could have possibly been booked and was extremely apologetic.   She had no suggestions as to how I was to get from Washington DC to Baltimore.   And again, this exact itinerary change happened on two separate occasions and could not be rectified on-line.  When I tried on-line (as often happens), I got a screen that said I had to call, so ultimately it took over an hour with wait time.

 

As noted yesterday this is just one example of a litany of bad experiences I have incurred going back to summer of 2019.   For the prior 18 years before that, I was one of Southwest biggest fans.

 

Perhaps my experiences are on the extreme end of bad luck, but they are real and in many people's opinion, uncalled for.   For people to suggest I am being irrational or a "know it all" is ridiculous. 

 

Apparently you have had much better luck than I have had with them lately.   I hope it continues.

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

gsking
Aviator C

Austin,

 

I hear what you are saying.  I agree their fairly automated and (usually) painless system has some bugs, and some kinks that you have experienced.

 

For one, yes...the ability for them to instantly notify you that a flight is moved by 10 minutes, but fail to let you know of a cancellation, is a bit absurd.  Plus, once it's cancelled, it'll still show up on the app for a while, buttttt....once you click on it and find it's cancelled, you can't get the record locator.  Very frustrating.  (I love to throw rocks at software programmers...they have it easy in my opinion. Grrr.)

 

But I think your rerouting issue is an artifact of their attempt to be flexible.  Airports are located in geographical groups...including the three in DC (Dulles/BWI/DCA).  So the good news is (these days) we can reroute our itineraries to any airport that works in the area.  The bad news is...their computer will try to do it for you. 

 

So, worst case, you have to call and manually cancel or perform other gymnastics with an overworked phone operator.  I've had to do this a few times in the last weeks, and somehow I got straight through to a pleasant CSR and solved my problem quickly.  I can't imagine any other airline being as painless.

 

Now, we get all these extra consolations for being RR that will extend through 2021 and beyond.  Not only does it reward us for being loyal, but it helps them keep cash in their pocket to weather this storm...without so much "help" (ahem) from the government.

 

Maybe your other experiences were under different circumstances, but I think you just got an odd delay on hold.  Not sure how I didn't...I chocked it up to being Preferred and going to the head of the line.  

 

I sympathize with the hassles going on now, and yeah, I check my account way too often.  I have rolled travel funds forward to keep contingency flights on the books.  I have to now add two flights to get to Hawaii out of OAK since SJC was cancelled...but only one way.  Annoying?  A bit.  But I think of it is more of a puzzle...one that both saves me money and keeps it with SWA.


Good luck!

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

dfwskier
Aviator A

@AustinRiley wrote:

 

 

And for those people who think I am being irrational, again, please help me understand why I should be okay being changed to an itinerary where I would have to fly to one airport in Washington DC and then somehow (I don't know - bus, train, Uber?) get over to Baltimore Airport to catch a connecting flight.  That is a ridiculous way to treat a one-time customer, let alone a loyal A-List Preferred customer. 


As I said multiple times yesterday, if the airline books you into an itinerary you don't like, Southwest gives you  recourse: THE AIRLINE LETS PASSENGERS CHANGE THE ITINERARY OR GET A REFUND,.

 

It's not particularly honest or rational to continue to ignore that fact.

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

AustinRiley
Explorer A

Sorry dfwskier,  you are the one ignoring facts.  You are expecting people to tolerate ridiculousness.  I've got a bunch of private messages and many people all over the country I know following this thread that make me very comfortable that your mindset, as well as Mr. MiddleSeat's, are absurd!   

 

And you have yet to answer my question - why is it irrational for a person to be even a smidge frustrated by an automatic rebooking of an itinerary that again, had me flying to Washington DC at one airport, but my connecting flight was at another airport in Baltimore 37 miles away.  And I found out about this only by looking at my Rapid Rewards account.  There was no e-mail from Southwest.  Yeah, I know I change it, but to even get to that point is ridiculous.  What if I were not a Rapid Rewards member and had to find out about this when I showed up at the airport.   And the website would not allow me to re-book on-line.  That whole situation is RIDICULOUS, regardless of a pandemic! And this exact situation happened to two different itineraries.   

 

In addition, I have been re-booked automatically on other absurd itineraries about a dozen times in the last year by that wonderful software that is accurate 99.9%+ of the time per you.  But according to you, eh, I should just accept it because, poor Southwest, which made $2.3 Billion in net income last year, has to deal with their MAX-8's being grounded.

 

Let's be a little realistic here dude.  I know you love Southwest, but give me a break.   If you would concede even a small portion of my gripes as legitimate, people outside of your circle of supporters in this community might actually take you seriously.   But no, in typical Southwest fashion, you carry that "Southwest does no wrong" attitude.   I will give you this - you are earning the perks they give you.  Does your "Top Contributor" status exempt you from itineraries where you have to find your own way between two airports that are across town from each other to catch a connecting flight?  If so, maybe I'll try out for that! 

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

AustinRiley
Explorer A

Oh, and as I previously noted, the Southwest employee I eventually talked to who rectified that Washington DC/Baltimore fiasco of a situation even acknowledged it was absurd!!!   And she is on their payroll!!   So, the company you love so much is acknowledging the ridiculousness.   You can do it too dfwskier, it's okay!  Or will you lose a perk?

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Complaints noted and disagreed with. Have a nice day. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

AustinRiley
Explorer A

So, you are disagreeing with the Southwest employee I talked to on the phone as referenced in my last post?  Or are you questioning my honesty like dfwskier?

 

You guys are a great source of entertainment.

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

dfwskier
Aviator A

@AustinRiley wrote:

So, you are disagreeing with the Southwest employee I talked to on the phone as referenced in my last post?  Or are you questioning my honesty like dfwskier?

 

You guys are a great source of entertainment.


Your bitterness is eating you alive..

 

You have recourse to change your itinerary. Use it or not - it's your choice.

 

I'm done talking with you.

Re: Sad to see how badly Southwest has declined!

AustinRiley
Explorer A

You are so wrong it is ridiculous.   You do not even know me and you take the liberty of making personal attacks on me on a public forum.  Bitterness is not in my make-up over issues like this.  Life is too short and there are much bigger & meaningful issues in this world.  But sometimes issues need to be exposed and vented about on principle.  I am a middle aged man, and this is the first time I ever posted on a blog, forum, or whatever you call this thing,  because after 12 months of sub-par service I thought this was a good outlet and resource - not a place where criticisms of Southwest are mocked and not taken seriously by people who represent the airline and get perks from them for doing it.

 

I will continue to fly SWA as they usually get me to where I need to go and the RR program, Companion Pass and other perks are usually very good.   They have had a rough last 12 months and they are putting too much of their burdens on their customers.   I have plenty of reliable friends and contacts (including Travel agents) who share this opinion.  It is shameful that you and your friend Middle Seat do not even budge and admit the validity of any of my complaints and the many others I see have been posted.

 

The two of you obviously enjoy taking personal shots at loyal Southwest customers.  This is pretty pathetic since you are compensated representatives of the airline - albeit in perks - you are compensated!   So, you are obviously not motivated to show objectivity.

 

And again, you avoid the issue - you refuse to acknowledge that some of these replacement itineraries are so ludicrous that they should never even be options compared to what is available.  You defend the wonderful computer algorithm and hide behind "you can change it".   Yeah, but a valued customer should not have to be put in a position that they are stuck with such a ludicrous itinerary that they have no choice but to change it.  That is the point.   Particularly since the change cannot be made easily and quickly as you suggest.

 

So answer me this - same question as I have for Middle Seat - are you in disagreement with the Southwest employee I referenced?   She was clearly on my side on the issue I helped with, acknowledged the issue was absurd and offered a full cash refund even though it was a Wanna Get Away fare.

 

And one other question - what is the basis for questioning my honesty?   If you have any way of suggesting that I prove some of the stuff I am posting about is true, I welcome your input and will post such evidence if possible.

 

Have a wonderful day dfwskier.