Southwest Airlines Community

Sorry to hear you had problems, but I can't imagine flying the same day as an important event with a hard deadline like a cruise ship departure. It would be kind of like flying to attend a wedding on the same day, I know if I cared about being there for the ceremony I would fly a day in advance. Personally, I have an important business meeting on Thursday this week, could I fly on Thursday morning and get there? Yes. Am I? No. Why? because the meeting is important so I am traveling Wednesday afternoon to insure I am on time. I do wish you safe travels in the future.    ... View more

I feel your pain, and ultimately you're right, enforcement of the company's current in place policy would solve so much of this "madness." In the attendant's defense, confronting this abuse slows down the boarding process and since we live in the "I am entitled" world we do live in, could also escalate into a verbal/physical altercation with the preboarder's "support staff". In short, the SWA attendant is pursuing the path of least resistance to get boarding completed. Take a few deep breaths and enjoy your flight  Safe travels ... View more

One thing I learned a long time ago, asking nicely with a smile yields a more positive result. Second, asking someone to  "please help me" goes a long way getting to getting what you want as well. Third, and most importantly thanking someone for their help typically closes the loop. As you and others have noted the Southwest policy is a bit vague about the number of NPE's allowed. I do see references to "Family members," but even this is vague. Citing "Chapter and Verse" to the gate agent unfortunately may have contributed to escalating the situation. Arguments in airports with airport and airline personnel don't typically yield positive results.    Have I ever had to secure a pass, yep. It was right after 9/11. I had to retrieve a elderly family member who had broken their leg in a foreign country and had been flown back without a cast. I used "please" "thank you" and "help me" a lot to get to the gate, kindness went a long way to achieving my goal. Additionally, FWIW, i did not try and take my fiancé with me to the gate to retrieve the injured passenger. Safe travels       ... View more

Check you promotion details. Historically, Points/Flights reset to zero on January 1st every year, hence the reason some folks will make a push late in December to make a couple cheap short hop flights to keep their CP or A status. (In fact my account is usually in limbo on the website the 1st week in January while they reset everything.)  Like I mentioned above check the fine print in your challenge/promotion Safe travels  ... View more

Southwest does not over sell flights but does change plane types, although SWA flies all Boeing 737's they also fly different series' of the 737. 737-700 series has 143 seats(for sure) while a 737-800 series has 175 seats(I believe.) If the physical plane changes from an 800 series to a 700 series they will be short seats and this can be perceived as over selling, since a sold out plane will be short seats. Today's issues with seats can be correlated to what I would call a "hangover" from 737-800Max problems which delayed delivery of many planes and has forced SWA to keep older 700 series planes on routes planned for 800 series planes as well. Safe travels  ... View more

That would be a disappointing reduction in the limited loyalty benefits SWA offers us A-listers.  Let's hope that the gate agent was mistaken ... View more

DancingDaveE is spot on with his advice. It's exactly how I book my trips in the new year prior to earning my CP. (If flight is sold out when you can switch to the Companion Pass from a points reservation for your 2nd, I would recommend a call to Southwest directly to insure you don't "lose" the seat. Assuming you are an A-lister the phone wait is usually pretty short) Safe Travels ... View more

Easy trip out of Midway this morning, busy at regular TSA, (15 minutes maybe?), TSA-pre line was maybe 3 minutes. It was early, 05:00, so everything food wise was just starting to open, long lines at the Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, nothing too long elsewhere. My flight was packed, not an empty seat, the jump seaters actually had to ride the jump seats.   Safe Travels ... View more

As long as you are on the same plane/flight# you are good with one EBC per flyer was always my experience in the past. (My opinion on EBC is not a positive one for the customer but it remains a pure stoke of genius to generate extra revenue for the Southwest employee who thought it up!) As far as the credit it should show up on the following Chase statement, but read the small print from Chase, that's where the actual details are. Safe Travels ... View more

When in Chicago, I usually fly out Friday morning early, it's usually pretty busy to check a bag, I drop mine at the A-list line so it's easy for me, without that option you may want to curb check and tip the sky cap, pre-print your boarding pass or have it on the SWA App and go directly to the TSA lines, (if your folks have TSA Pre than plan about 5 minutes, without that could be 20-30 minutes in line easy. I'll be at Midway this Friday morning and report back.... Safe travels. ... View more

May be I was too vague in my original post , my trip is for pleasure in January, the week after this new ticket window opened up, to the Caribbean, for a Saturday to Saturday vacation. For work purposes, I agree, the sweet spot is about 4 to 6 weeks out, but in this case I am going to bet the fares won't being dropping unless another "shutdown" happens. Why? The hotels on this island are mostly booked up at this point and the rates have escalated based on the availability/occupancy for that week in January. All those folks are flying there.   BTW, for this particular itinerary as of this morning the Wanna Get Away and Plus fares are now gone and there only 3 Business Select Fares left on the outbound flight. Oh, and the point total for the roundtrip is 71,629.  Your mileage may vary Safe travels ... View more

I did not know that Southwest even accepted Paypal? ... View more

With that many points and CP status, I assume you are an A-List Member. Call the dedicated phone line for A-list members, I usually get a representative on the line almost immediately and they are very helpful. Best of luck on resolving your issue  ... View more

I see the luggage is Briggs and Riley. They say they have a life time guarantee, I say its time to have that company put their money where their mouth and replace your bag.  Best of luck and safe travels! ... View more

Wow, I've learned something, thanks for sharing. As an A'-lister I've done the standby flight change multiple times over the years but was unaware I could make a no charge change. The standby thing only works for me when I do not check bags and about 75% of the time I have to check bags to accommodate PPE for work so a no charge same day change would be a win for me.  ... View more

This is a guess, but the non-sequential boarding may have to do with an algorithm relative to the number of flights you and your other passenger have taken, your individual rapid rewards account number, or the lack of your other passenger even having a RR account (maybe?) and/or your A-list, A-List Preferred status or lack there of. I have shared my opinion about EB check in other threads, the Southwest employee that thought this cash grab up was a genius, but it is a bad financial deal for any passenger. (Buying the Anytime Fare to gain the option of refundability is great move if you travel infrequently, but not for the EB Check in.) Safe travels   ... View more

I haven't noticed any increase in flights with no wi-fi service, but the service has been and continues to be sketchy and sporadic. Something that is new is emailed surveys asking about the quality of the wi-fi service after most every flight. ... View more

Unfortunately I do not believe there are any direct commercial flights on any airline between Phoenix and PBI. As far as the quickest path I would suggest flying through Atlanta on what ever airline you choose. As others have suggested Fort Lauderdale is a much bigger airport and does offer non-stops from Phoenix, but as a fairly frequent traveler to South Florida I understand there is a big difference between Fort Lauderdale and and PBI especially if "family" is picking you up at the airport, assuming they can pick you up at the Fort Lauderdale airport is just plain rude, (my 2 cents). Safe Travels       ... View more

Just a thought, if she can't get it now I would ship it direct to your daughter with insurance and tracking via 2-3 day carrier of your choice. Sounds like she needs it now. I would have more anxiety about packing it and having TSA inspect it (possibly contaminating opening packages, etc..., or even worse having it stolen since it is valuable at this point.) My 2 cents your mileage may vary ... View more

Unfortunately your initial itinerary ends in Chicago, so no you will need to collect and check your bags to Norfolk. You could ask in Hawaii but I doubt the Southwest baggage system could handle it. (Southwest's lack of "redeye" flights is always a challenge when flying east )  Safe travels ... View more

First, Sorry for your loss. Let me preface what I say next with the statement that I am not a fan of EB check-in and would never recommend it for purchase by any passenger.  Unfortunately for you, SWA does not mislead passengers about Early Bird Check-In. They don't promise nor imply that EB purchasers will receive A boarding, only that the EB purchaser's boarding position will be pre-determined prior to the the 24 hour check-in marker. EB check-in is a bad deal for the consumer every time in my opinion.  There is really only 1 way to insure you will board in the A group, Buy a Business Select Fare. This puts you somewhere from A1 to A15. Banking on being able to purchase "upgraded boarding" at the gate or check-in the day of your flight is a complete crap shoot dependent upon there not being 15 Business Select ticket holders and/or other passengers who bought the upgraded boarding before you.  In the end this really comes down to reading before you click to make a purchase and not making assumptions. Safe travels in the future and again sorry for your loss. ... View more

I am sorry to hear you missed the event you wanted to attend, that is very frustrating I am sure. I noticed you departed from Pensacola, FL. Southwest does not have many flights from this airport nor did your final destination Cleveland, OH. I would recommend you take this in consideration for future reservations and choose an airline with more options or drive to a bigger airport. With only 7 direct flights in/out of Pensacola chances are the SWA crew wasn't late to arrive that morning but that they were just finished their required FAA/DOT off duty rest period from their inbound flight the previous evening.   Just several months ago my flight out of Pensacola to BWI was cancelled and I was rebooked the following morning @06:00 on most likely the same flight number you were on to Nashville but connecting to BWI. I passed on this option because given the limited choices in Nashville and booked a flight on Delta connecting in Atlanta to BWI basically insuring me of options once I landed in Atlanta to get back home.   One other thing- Flying the same day as an event you "must" attend is a recipe for disaster in today's world on any airline.  The worst excuse I could ever give a business partner or my family is that I cannot make it because I cut it too close schedule wise.     BTW- As noted by others this a customer to customer forum, that you initiated a post on, and then received responses to your post. "The move on" comment you shared provides insight to me as to why you may have had a bad experience if this is how you interacted with the gate agent. Safe travels  ... View more

They always feel narrower, just because there's no aisle or window to lean toward, 😜 ... View more