Southwest Airlines Community

Even without the sign up points the Priority card pays for itself if you fly at least once per year due to the $75 flight credit and the 7,500 anniversary points credit. The reimbursement for 4 Upgraded Boardings and anything else is gravy. ... View more

Thank you for the link, this is super helpful!!!! Never knew this even existed.   Now I can see who connects to who and figure the rest out from there, thank you!!!!!! ... View more

@SWDigits wrote: @Eborden12 wrote: So......I recently tried to use funds from a cancelled, non-refundable ticket. The original purchase date was September 7, 2018. I tried to book and use the $121 for a flight on September 12, 2019. I tried this on May 12, 2019! The agent told my I couldn’t use those funds to book my flight......is that fair? I’m pretty upset by these policies. Yes I know that there are “no cancellation fees” on SW, but I’m poised to lose $121. That to me is my cancellation fee! Two thoughts from a fellow Southwest customer:   As @franktravel mentioned you need to complete your travel within one year of the original ticketing date.  Are you able to travel a week earlier? "...is that fair?" <---- in my personal *opinion* yes, I think the Southwest policy for Wanna Get Away fares is fair.  Why?  Because they let you change on a non-refundable ticket without assessing a change fee.  And it's part of the reason I do business with Southwest. Adding to what SWDigits said, pretty much every airline handles this inthe same way: you MUST complete travel by one year from the date of purchase. The difference is that SW let's you use the full value of your travel funds while other airlines charge a fee (somewhere around $200) for the privilege of using your travel funds. ... View more

@DancingDavidE wrote: @chgoflyer wrote: My assumption would be that the priority given to EBCI boarding position would be the same as it is whenever any flight change is made (regardless of who made it -- Southwest or the passenger).   Agreed!   @chgoflyer wrote: My assumption would be that the priority given to EBCI boarding position would be the same as it is whenever any flight change is made (regardless of who made it -- Southwest or the passenger).   EBCI positions are initially assigned based on the time stamp of EBCI purchase. However, if you change your itinerary to a different flight, the "time stamp" becomes the time that you made the change to the new flight. (Essentially, when you "bought" that new flight, not when you bought the first one associated with those funds.)   I don't think I had ever seen this written although it makes sense to me. I've only ever seen in writing "time of purchase" which didn't include a footnote about flight changes.    This is how I think it would actually work though.       I don't think it's ever been publicly acknowledged by Southwest. But from discussion elsewhere along with my personal experience I believe that is how it works.   Example: I had an itinerary with EBCI attached that I changed multiple times over several months, finally booking the flight that was ultimately taken, and at that time also booking a friend on the same flight, also with EBCI. Despite my EBCI being purchased months in advance, our positions were sequential.     ... View more

@DancingDavidE wrote: Many of us had already interpreted the previous wording of "an adult..." that if two adults were traveling with a child then they were both an adult...   So the new example defintely locks down the interpretation of "an adult..." traveling with a child (regardless of number of other adults traveling with the same child to now be restricted to two adults.   I think additional clarification would be that adult status is confirmed by having an adult ticket, as opposed to age where according to other common definitions a ten year old wouldn't be an adult, but it seems Southwest would consider them to be in the two adult count.   In practice, we and many others were always allowed to board with two adults and one baby. I'm confident that internal training on the matter supported it. The issue was gate agents using discretion to allow three (or more?) adults in some cases but not others, or perception of being prohibited even if the internal guidance was clear.      I think your post highlights the confusion caused by the vagueness of the policy, both then and now.   Not everyone would interpret "an adult" to mean "two adults." Despite your experience, this specifically was often a cause of frustration and complaint from other customers, who encountered a gate agent enforcing the policy as written. In fact, the couple involved in the incident which eventually led to the policy change were told at one point that only one adult could board with the children. (While possibly due to a personal bias regarding the same-sex couple, the agent had the policy wording to back them up.)   I, of course, have no idea what any internal guidance on the policy might have been.   Discretion can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing.     ... View more

@SWDigits wrote: From a mathematical perspective the easiest benefit to quantify is the bump in the earning bonus from 25% to 100% on your qualifying flights. There is also theoretical quantifiable benefit to the "Free inflight WiFi" if it worked as advertised. Other quick thoughts. I think it's implied that you are considering other carriers, so it really depends on schedule convenience, your experience with Southwest versus the experience you'd get elsewhere, pricing, etc. The free wifi was hard for me to put a number on - it would be convenient to have free access on multiple devices - but in the meantime I have many flights where I never buy it at all, or if I do for business travel then I would reimburse it anyway so it isn't an out of pocket reduction but it is still good to save the clients $8.   Side note suggestion - what if we could buy wifi in advance with our ticket for easier reimbursement purposes...   Anyway, back to the topic, I had a scenario two years ago where I was in range of preferred, but would have had to take some discretionary flights on my own to reach the higher level. I penciled it out at $0.02/point + wifi balanced against the out of pocket, and ended up not going after it.   However since I do fly Southwest whenever possible, I certainly would go for it on trips that I was going to take anyway - it's a bit academic as I don't shop the other guys very often anyway, or at least I rarely did when I had companion pass. Even now I'm in a mode where I want to get companion pass back, so unless the cost was far out of proportion I'd take the Southwest flight anyway.   My tip would be when you are getting close to consider taking a flight that you would otherwise make as WGA and upgrade it to BS to get the 12x points by incurring the additional incremental cost. The out of pocket to buy one or two BS fares at the end on your own will be much higher than incrementally upgrading a few flights that you'd be partially reimbursed for.   Or if you are able to reimburse a BS flight, then take one but it doesn't fit my usual guidelines to do that unless it was last minute travel and that's all that was available.         ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: @dcbeltran    if your companion has points you could use those as well to buy your ticket then add the companion.    Hope this helps! Blake  ^ ^ ^ ^ this ^ ^ ^ ^ is the beautiful part of the Rapid Rewards program and the Companion Pass. Points can be used to book travel for anyone, to include the Companion Pass holder, who can then add their companion to the reservation. ... View more

@SWDigits wrote: @Sonokeena wrote: The women then called the fight attendant who justified her actions saying it was allowed to hold seats. It's also strange that the person saving the seat sat in the middle and saved the window seat rather than sitting in the window and saving the middle seat.  Strange because I think most people, like you, would go for an open window seat before going for an open middle seat. @Sonokeena"obey flight crew instructions" supersedes all other policy in this regard. But be aware that a different crew might not give the same interpretation.   @SWDigitsexactly! This person wasn't playing the game correctly by sitting in the middle unless they were actually trying to save both seats, which we're digging the hole deeper if so.   I suspect that many more experienced Southwest travelers would also see this person sitting in the middle and go "harumph" and just keep moving back as a telltale sign of seat saving that they would be back in the open range area and sitting in a middle seat. Something is up, any normal person (excepting @TheMiddleSeat)would be in the window or aisle in that situation.       ... View more

I did this back in September (I think... It's been a problem for a while, but I do have a previous post) and all I got was a canned response from Customer Service.    From the frequency of complaints about wifi on this board, I don't think they really care all that much -- or at least not enough to do anything about it. 😞 ... View more

Hi @alessandrodicio,   Thanks for your interest in a career at Southwest Airlines! At this time, to apply to a Southwest First Officer position you must possess a USA DOT/FAA Airline Transport Pilot Certificate that displays the following: "Airplane Multiengine Land" Category and Class Ratings "English Proficient" limitation Best of luck in your Career!   ... View more

@Sticks11 wrote: Well it was a big fat no... A little frustrated that whoever is running their Twitter page would give me hope of a better outcome. Oh well, I guess I know better than to book so early next time.... Thanks everyone! I don't know if this is helpful or not - but you seemed happy to have something locked in at the given price at the time. So I'd look at the travel funds for the adults as a bonus, and the funds for the kids as unfortunately likely to be lost unless something comes up.   Agreed that you can't mess with the mouse trips!        ... View more

Adding my personal opinion and experiences to what @SWDigits  said, I always have the best service when I reach out to SWA on Twitter. My questions are answered and handled within minutes. Hope your issue was addressed and resolved @iosman    ... View more

...and here is the source reference, it's in text on the "Check Flight Schedules" page:   https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/index.html ... View more

@APATNAUDE wrote: I will do that for sure by getting the box this evening that I saved from when she first got it, and will update the claim and post. Now if the tablet is in a full enclosed case similar to an otter box... will they remove it to view the serial number? I saw the positive outcomes from others whom have left items on the plane and have gotten them back, so I am trying to stay positive and really hope someone comes forward, or it gets found. Thank you! I think they would open it if it was preliminarily a match. The serial number seems to be a defninitive method of matching property to its owner.    If the tablet is connected and you have ability to ping it such as FindMyiPhone that seems to also help in some cases.   If you search the community I had previously posted a number you can call there as well during daytime hours only.   ... View more

Great; thank you SWDigits!! @SWDigits wrote: Any Rapid Rewards user can transfer points to another user though the cost to do so almost never makes sense.  I personally wouldn't do it.   Rapid Rewards members are able to redeem points to buy a ticket for anyone and that is the recommended approach.  I take this approach.   The source of the points earned (business credit card, personal credit card, completed travel, dining, etc.) and the relationship of who you are using your points for (an employee, an authorized user, a relative in a far flung location, your neighbor, etc.) don't have any impact on the first two statements above.   ... View more

@Lmkel68 wrote: The only issue I had was a B40 person boarding in front of mein my A40 spot. I think they should make sure people board where they are supposed to board @TheMiddleSeat wrote: @Lmkel68 buying it as early as possible before your flight does help, but I'm curious what you weren't pleased with? High A and single digit B boarding positions aren't too shabby, especially if it's a heavy business traveler (A-List) route. Impossible to say what you would have received without EBCI but for not having to remember to check-in exactly 24 hours prior, those boarding positions seem pretty good to me.   --TheMiddleSeat   Feel free to point it out if you see someone obviously not following the program, in some cases these may be simply unaware and then the gate agent will either catch them or not.   Othertimes it may be someone deliberately trying to sneak on, and again either caught or not but if you point it out maybe they'll give up the attempt.    A third case might be that they asked for some special dispensation to board with someone else which may be given sometimes, i.e. their spouse was right in front or something.    Anyway - it doesn't have to be confrontational, just ask the person what their position is as you are trying to decide if you are in front or in back of them, just the facts. If they say "B40" then maybe they just need help getting to the right spot. Either way it would be behind you and the next person behind you can have the same negotiation if necessary.       ... View more

FYI: The easiest way to get current flight info is to just type "WN" (the code for Southwest) and your flight number into Google (example, "WN 3265"). Within the first few links will be FlightAware and Flight Tracker. ... View more

@ctosteve I'm thinking out loud here.  You may have better luck on a third party site like LinkedIn.  I did a search (this link has my search terms using the DuckDuckGo search engine) and within a few clicks found at least two folks at Southwest involved in veteran recruiting.   You may also want to check to see if any of your military veteran contacts already work at Southwest (I'm a Navy veteran and, off the top of my head, know two veterans with whom I served...I'm guessing I could find more if I looked).  If so it may be better to start the conversation with those you know and they could help guide you.  If not then you could also use LinkedIn to find another veteran at Southwest with jobs of interest and try connecting with them.   Good luck! ... View more

@SWDigits wrote: @emcadam2 a resource for you this morning if you're interested.  You can check the real-time status of your friend's flight from ATL to BWI using Flight Aware here.  It looks like the plane for her flight is almost to Atlanta (click on the link at the top of the page that states, "Where is my plane now?") that's cool, thank you! I'll share that with her as well. I'll watch her flight while I wait here in buffalo haha ... View more