Southwest Airlines Community

If she is not a A-list member she would get a boarding pass based on when she checks in. You as a companion of a non-A-list primary flyer, that's a good question 🤔 ... View more

I feel your pain relative to purchasing EBCI. My opinion of EBCI? Is that EBCI is the single greatest profit center Southwest ever created. It is not a good value for almost any passenger purchasing it, unless you want the only thing it guarantees, that your boarding position will be secured prior to the 24 hour check in time and you will not get a lower position if you check in later. That being said, a Business Select Seat is NOT a bargaining chip for Family Boarding. If a SWA gate agent makes a deal with you, unfortunately you are part of the problem with the Southwest boarding process not part of the solution, because you are not following the Southwest Boarding Policy and you are literally Slighting(cutting in front of) every passenger from position B-1 back to the C boarding positions on your Boarding Pass. What ever you decide I do wish you Safe travels   ... View more

I believe that will be a problem checking the case due to the lithium batteries? Best to contact SWA in advance and get guidance(and document who gives you the guidance) before you show up at the airport for travel. Safe Travels ... View more

A good rule of thumb is to keep an eye on both your Rapid rewards acct. and your SW Chase  acct. Throughout the year there are often promotions that allow for extra points to be earned that you just need to register for. They all add up Safe Travels     ... View more

Stealing is stealing, and breaking into liquor cabinets is destruction of property. Who would ever think a "little" crime is okay?? ... View more

For better or worse, Southwest is trying to turn planes as quickly and efficiently as possible. Having a Q&A session with every person requesting to preboard slows this process down. That being said: It is legal to require a preboarder to provide 1 of the listed reasons per the DOT preboarding rule and guidance memos to preboard: "The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) pre-boarding rule, which is found under 14 CFR 382.93. It instructs airlines: “As a carrier, you must offer preboarding to passengers with a disability who self-identify at the gate as  needing time or assistance to board, stow accessibility equip or be seated.” The US DOT also goes on to state in an additional guidance memo dated May 29, 2013 & issued June 29 2013, "For a passenger to be entitled to preboarding, that passenger must self-identify at the gate as being a person with a disability that  needs to preboard for one of the above-listed reasons.”   It's right there in the guidance memo, Southwest gate agents could ask for the "reason" a preboarder requires to preboard, but the ensuing converation would only delay overall boarding and ultimately turning the plane. Safe travels     ... View more

Flightaware is my go to as well, it provides realtime comfort of mind on the planned plane's arrival or delay etc.. You can even follow Elon Musk's plane if you want 😉 ... View more

Sorry to hear about your experience, definitely stinks. I've watched my soft sided luggage become soaked in rainstorms more than once from the window of the plane, or knowing it was pouring rain when we landed I've collected my bags at baggage claim soaked through and through. I don't know there's much to do? I do know I would never place electronics in checked baggage, (if for no other reason the batteries are likely lithium and by rule prohibited by most every airline from being in a chacked bag. They ask on check in and I believe you agree when you buy your ticket to comply with this rule.) I wish you good luck with your claim on damages to the clothes and books. Doubt you will get any traction on electronics that should not have been in the checked bag to start with. Safe Travels  ... View more

To Confirm A-Listers get the same "upgrade" message on checking in now ... View more

Curious why sue a non-profit organization, (the AARP is a 501.(c)(4))? ... View more

As noted, the connection between SWA and Budget is really just a conduit not a partnership. From an advice point of view, Deal directly with the rental company, you can direct them to deposit points in your airline of choice's frequent flyer account, so there is almost ZERO benefit to reserving through an airline's website. When you make a rental reservation through the airline's portal you are basically one step above a "Priceline" or "Expedia." customer, (which are the lowest tier on the totem pole). When you set up frequent user account with a rental car company you receive in most cases better rates, better service at the counter or avoiding the counter entirely, more likely hood of a free upgrade, and just plain better service. Why is this? All the rental companies I deal with require me to have my drivers license on file, my cc on file, etc.. This means I walk(or ride the shuttle) to the car and go, no 30 minute line waiting behind the Priceline customer.   Safe travels ... View more

Curious what Kiosk you are referring to and at which Airport? At BWI, Southwest requires an in person document check before issuing a boarding pass even though you've checked in to the flight the day before. Then they stamp the paper Boarding Pass, "Docs Okay." Have they automated the system at other international departure points to avoid this manual "check-in"? ... View more

I never tried this since I abhor EBC, but maybe try to cancel the reservation and rebook the same flight with the travel funds? Save the extra balance of the EBC for application to your next flight?  Not sure this will work since I've haven't paid for EBC, but worth a try if you get stone walled on a straight up refund. Safe travels ... View more

For vacations I fly on points to Aruba. My direct flight from BWI, when I booked it, equated to about $400.00 per person just 2 weeks ago. Now I bought that tkt. the day they opened sales last summer.  As with almost any fare the closer you book to the planned travel date the higher the fare. Why are there fewer direct flights from BWI to AUA?  Good Question. Both our outbound and return flights were 100% full, not a single empty seat. Safe Travels  ... View more

You would definitely want to have this confirmed in writing by a Southwest representative prior to purchasing a ticket.  I would also have documentation and correspondence from the Gov't of Jamaica, not just a birth certificate. Since SWA typically requires passengers flying internationally to obtain a paper boarding pass on arrival at the departing airport, this is the stage where a valid passport must be presented, and the boarding pass gets stamped "DOCS OKAY." If you show up with expired travel documents and without some written confirmation from Southwest and the Gov't of your home country you would be setting yourself up for a world of pain and delay. Even then, plan on extra time to obtain the boarding pass because the agent will likely need to get a supervisor involved before issuing a boarding pass.    Good luck and safe travels. ... View more

Humorous observation on our return flight from Aruba on Saturday, the way customs works there, I believe, makes it a hassle for the average person working the "pre-board" system. So miraculously, most everyone walks through the Aruba and then US Customs sections. I believe this is probably because most travelers are hesitant to lie when in a foreign country.  The humorous part of this was watching two folks, (man & wife?) search for 2 wheel chairs in the gate area after they cleared customs, they walked around briskly and searched until they found 2 wheelchairs, then pushed the chairs to the gate, had a conversation with the gate agent then proceeded to sit in the front of the area in their wheel chairs. There was another women with a folded up (collapsed) cane, that also claimed her need to pre-board, but managed to stand there for 30 minutes without using the collapsed cane behind the the 2 wheel chair bound pre-boarders. there also about 3 other elderly ladies who pre-boarded but that was it for preboarding.  No twenty plus pre-boarders with multiple family members supporting them.       ... View more

I too was just short of the threshold for A-List preferred in 2022, (2 legs or a few thousand points) I just checked and my account now says I have Preferred status thru 2023.  A very much appreciated gesture on SWA's part.  ... View more

Thanks for sharing, whether it was a requirement or a personal gesture, the individual's tone of his apology sounds like it was sincere from your perception which is what really counts. Once again thanks for sharing   ... View more

SWA has no where to run and hide on this service failure. Sure the weather was the catalyst, the weather exposed their antiquated software issues and understaffing in some areas.  After that initial 2 days, it is all on their own processes. The best thing SWA could do would be to OWN the failure, create an action plan and timeline to fix it, and then execute the plan.  ... View more

I would not count on it, but given the complete service meltdown over the last several days that is the company's responsibility, maybe SWA will think a some good PR like taking care of loyal customers is a good idea?    ... View more

 "These problems can be avoided if SWA implements and enforces a policy of strictly limiting the number of exit row seats that Group A passengers can "reserve" for others." The existing SWA policy is open seating, there are NO reserved seats or reserving seat for others under this existing policy. Unsure how there is a solution to a problem that does not really exist from the airline's prospective? Are many passengers rude and do many passengers act entitled? Yes indeed, but that is different from Airline policy.  Safe Travels ... View more

Agreed on arriving at the airport as if the flight will depart on time regardless of any notification you receive on a "delayed" flight. Unless your flight is cancelled and you are rebooked on another flight #, always I mean always assume the delay may be solved and the original departure time restored. I've sat in more than a few airports and experienced this personally. I have seen planes replaced, crews replaced, and weather change thus resulting in an on time departure. Safe travels  ... View more

I am sorry to hear about your frustration. That being said Early Bird Check-in is probably one of SWA's biggest money makers that costs the airline nothing and delivers almost zero value to the customer. The SWA employee who thought the concept up was a business genius. Again sorry for your frustration and I hope you have safe travels ... View more

Hmm... there's a big difference between misleading and misunderstanding. Safe Travels ... View more

Try signing into your RR account on a browser rather than the app, go to my account, my promotions, and there will be a link to register, (or it will say "registered" if one of your earlier attempts was successful before it crashed.) Safe Travels ... View more

If you're an AVIS member and designate airline points rather than Avis points I believe it is 600 Rapid Rewards points on SW per rental regardless of the spend with Avis, usually takes about a week or less to drop into the RR account. ... View more