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Service cancelled what happens to drink coupon

abbeynormal
Explorer B

I've been flying SWA for almost 47 years, and I've seen lots of changes - most of them good.  Often get "canceled" service on short flights (more than 176 miles) due to weather.   So what happens to my business select drink coupon?  The reason I saw "canceled due to weather" is in multiple instances, there wasn't any weather, and it appears that the service was "canceled" either because the captain or crew didn't want to perform in-flight service.  The other item I noticed about this is that it appears to happen when the crew is not Texas (Dallas or Houston) based.  Why can't I use my coupon on another flight since it was "canceled" at the discretion of SWA? In theory, they could cancel every in-flight service and never serve.  There has to be a solution 

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Service cancelled what happens to drink coupon

SoCalFlyer97
Frequent Flyer A

Hola-

 

I'm a frequent traveler aboard short-haul flights including the SAN-LAS route and usually there's a significant chance that a possible bumpy ride will end up scrapping the in-flight snack/drink amenities. The keyword is possible. If questionable weather or possible air turbulence is reported to the Flight Captain, they will then make the call on whether the Flight Attendants can serve or to remain seated. This is similar to the fasten seatbelt light being left on during cruising.

 

More often than not on short-hauls, the Captain will feel that the seatbelt light needs to remain on during the flight through the cruise altitude even though there may be limited or no actual bumps. It's possible that a bumpy ride was reported but there have been times that the real bumps never actually showed up. However if the weather or wind conditions reported to the cockpit is questionable, then safety comes first. The captain would decide to leave the seatbelt light on and may direct the Flight Attendants to remain seated. I don't think lack of service is done willfully. Trust me, I've been on flights where the Flight Attendants were asked to remain seated but the actual bumpiness of the ride was less bumpy than riding on a train but the injury risk would be too high to just "go for it" unlike walking through a moving train car. Best to play it safe and don't mess with the weather.

 

If you have a drink coupon that went unused due to an airline-initiated action, it doesn't hurt to give Southwest Customer Service an email or DM via Twitter/X to describe the situation and see if its value can be applied toward a future flight. 

 

https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us

 

Re: Service cancelled what happens to drink coupon

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@abbeynormal wrote:

I've been flying SWA for almost 47 years, and I've seen lots of changes - most of them good.  Often get "canceled" service on short flights (more than 176 miles) due to weather.   So what happens to my business select drink coupon?  The reason I saw "canceled due to weather" is in multiple instances, there wasn't any weather, and it appears that the service was "canceled" either because the captain or crew didn't want to perform in-flight service.  The other item I noticed about this is that it appears to happen when the crew is not Texas (Dallas or Houston) based.  Why can't I use my coupon on another flight since it was "canceled" at the discretion of SWA? In theory, they could cancel every in-flight service and never serve.  There has to be a solution 


Take a screenshot of it and ask nicely on your next flight.

 

You won't be able to get your old boarding pass if your next flight is several days later so you'd need to take a picture of it in case the FA asked to see it.

 

So no guarantee on this but I've had it accepted many times this way during the paper boarding pass times. We'll have to see how it evolves with electronic passes and tickets.

 

 

 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.