Southwest Airlines Community

Really depends on how your bank processes the transaction and what they do in an overdraft situation. It has nothing to do with the vendor or company you are buying from.    --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

I’m in a similar situation. Does this still hold true? ... View more

I lived in the Birmingham AL area for 20 years.  I know the airport and it is well run.  I am going to guess that you arrived at the "tiny" airport in a nick of time rather than the standard two hours before flight time.   If this is true, you had a compressed schedule which is why the bags didn't make it on the first flight and had to wait for the next flight.   Please confirm your arrival time at the airport versus the flight departure time. ... View more

Flying is so so safe. Companies know 1 crash and company ends ... View more

The rule is vague.  If you sell your seats on the plane, and you come along with a child under 13 and there are no seats "together", the what do you do?   If you are an airline with assigned seats, you are not going to move a passenger that is already paid for a seat.  If you are Southwest, you are not going to run around asking people who have already occupied a seat to move.  So, either the child sits by him/her self or you tell the purchaser that no seats are available that are "together".     The DOT needs to earn their salary and give a specific recipe for how this is accomplished.  Such crap is like the EPA saying that airlines should do their very best to not produce any hydrocarbons or oxides of nitrogen during flight. ... View more

You can’t take alcoholic drinks on a plane, either (to my knowledge). You can take sealed mini bottles under 3.4oz, but that’s it. In most places you cannot walk around with open alcoholic beverages.   — Jessica ... View more

I 100% agree!   Family boarding is between A and B.   B ppl are early birds who paid.  So what do we get?  The privilege to sit with a kid who didnt pay extra?  ... View more

@DoubleK wrote: The person who responded gave me a different number to call which led me to the SWABIZ team, which is where they notified me that the money that was collected by Southwest from my credit card in 2020 was refunded to a corporate credit card 2 1/2 years later.  This doesn't make any sense at all.    --Jessica ... View more

My travel experiences are the opposite.  When you mention "departure time", are you noting the time that the plane leaves the gate?   The flights that I have flown nearly always arrive early so I cannot share your perceptions. ... View more

My suggestion is to always follow the original flight schedule unless the flight is cancelled or you rebook.   Since you were notified of the delayed flight, I am assuming that you have the Southwest APP and I'd encourage you to look at the APP and follow the flight schedule.  Additionally, you should reasonably expect that the flight might not be delayed as far as it was originally thought.     This is a no-win situation for Southwest.  Your suggestion is that once the flight is delayed under no circumstances whatsoever will the flight departure EVER be moved up would dismay others who are sitting there waiting.     My suggestion is to follow the advice above. ... View more

From where I was standing, most of the "rude" behavior is initiated by the passenger.  Something doesn't go right and automatically the gate agent becomes the focal point of the attack.   I have found SW employees to be very helpful, cheerful and much better than the rest. ... View more

@liz22 wrote: Hello!   We are coming back to the US from our honeymoon in Punta Cana and checked bags. However, it is not a direct flight and we have a short layover before  we reach our final destination. We are extremely confused, as some sites are saying that we will have to go through customs, claim our baggage, then recheck our bags, and go back through security again to do this! We won’t be able to make our connection flight if this is the case! Will they be transferred to our final destination? We are freaking out, as no customer service is available online at the moment and we can’t take calls in another country! The flight from BWI to STL will have domestic passengers, so obviously you have to go through customs first before you can mingle with the rest of the airport passengers.   BWI has a modern international terminal so most likely you'll have an opportunity to clear customs and drop you luggage on a dedicated check-in station and you may not have to go through security again, or if you do it won't literally be back to the front door for you there will be a dedicated facility to get you back into the airport.   Unfortunately the pre-clearance facility still isn't operational at Punta Cana so you won't have that option to go through the process before departure.             ... View more

Sounds like a poor experience with booking.com who handles the hotels for Southwest. I second the suggestion to go through your credit card company to protest the charge. That's usually a very easy way to get these things handled.   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

Just to add on to what's said - once you arrive at the airport, print your boarding pass, and assuming you indicated a need for special assistance (wheelchair), you will see it pop up on your boarding pass. If you want someone to push the chair for your mom, you can go to the "Mobility Assistance Area" near the check-in counter, show them your boarding pass, and a wheelchair pusher will meet you and take you to the gate. If you would rather push the chair for your mom, you can do that, too.* You can also preboard.   *You're free to push the chair around the airport, but when it comes time to board your flight, a Southwest representative will have to push the wheelchair down the jetbridge for you (just out of caution since the jetbridge acts like a ramp). ... View more

Why not just check the back and be done with it? ... View more

I have to recommend that when traveling during the Holiday season, as it is called, allow extra time for your airport experience.   Two hours from airport arrival to flight departure works in most cases, but consider that there is a 1/2 hour before the flight departs where boarding begins.  Now, you are down to 90 minutes.   Consider the 1/2 hour that you might spend at baggage check in, the 1/2 hour to get through TSA, the 1/4 hour that you spend from the TSA area to travel to the gates via the train at MCO and you have just 15 minutes to spare.  Anything that goes wrong deducts from your margin until you have missed the flight.   While I do regret hearing your story, I would not even attempt to travel through MCO this time of year with a two hour window.  Sorry for the experience. ... View more

I had a bad experience booking with Southwest Vacations and ended up getting about $450 back as compensation.   Make no mistake, this company is not Southwest but I wrote to Southwest's CEO several times and finally got results.   Never will I book with them again, even if they pay me for the vacation.  You can do better booking things on your own. ... View more

I also accumulated lot of them during Covid times but as travel was at halt, I haven't got to use them. Now I am also gonna enjoy those discount funds. Cheers ... View more

Haha, Count me in too buddy. i hope u don't mind sharing. Sharing is caring. Thanks in advance ... View more

Flying out of MSY into LGB or LAX. I haven't decided yet but most likely Long Beach, CA. ... View more

The Air tran 2 seats aisle were nice ... View more

Thanks! ... View more

@floridaguy wrote: The number of grand pianos, riding mowers, outdoor sheds, compact cars and the like that people try to bring on the plane is a serious issue. lol   Seriously though, they do enforce it ... most of the time.   On one of my flights home yesterday a larger woman took the middle seat, shoved a bag barely underneath the seat, and also had a huge throw blanket (still in its packaging, you know the ones) AND a purse.    I sat on the aisle, and it was the first time I realized that the aisle seat on a MAX 8 doesn't have nearly enough room underneath the aisle seat as the middle and window seats do. It's literally 1/2 the size. I had a carry on and also a backpack and both would not fit under the seat in front of me. So I put the backpack underneath the center seat (both would have easily fit underneath the center seat with room to spare), and then this woman comes along with her carryon bag and her giant blanket and purse. Her larger carryon bag barely fit underneath the middle seat (along with my backpack) and the blanket was literally not underneath the seat at all. It was on the floor.    I was CONVINCED that the flight attendants would say something - but they did not.    Our flight was also running over an hour late, so that might have factored in as well.   I remember in the past if my carryon underneath the seat was sticking out *just a little bit* they used to say something. I've learned to bring smaller carryons to compensate.    (I like having items underneath the seat vs above because it's easier to handle.)    --Jessica ... View more

I agree that Southwest needs to get it together and once a gate is assigned, they need to show the FORMER travel destination and route you to the new gate, not just switch destinations.   All of these airports are different and the "announcement" cannot always be heard just outside of the immediate gate area.   for that reason, I suggest you download the Southwest App which will alert you to gate changes.  I would write to the Southwest CEO and demand a full credit for the cost of the flight.   That is their mess to manage, not yours. ... View more

Please don't try to figure out what the employer thought about it. A successful person once told me there was no point in worrying about what you had already done. As a self-taught hairdresser, I gave amazing haircuts and hair coloring, but I had no education in this area. On the one hand, I understand salon business owners who refuse to hire untrained employees. On the other hand, I have met brilliant stylists who do not even have high school graduation certificates. I didn't leave my dream because of these thoughts but decided to study at the nwcollege.edu beauty school. I'm sure you have every chance of getting this job. ... View more

Thanks - I appreciate the help.  I will follow your suggestion. ... View more

Thanks for sharing your experience here.  We live in a free society and you are welcome to post your experience on this board.   Again, thanks for sharing.     ...over the ocean blue... ... View more

We're still a couple of weeks away from our flight but now with some solid knowledge I'm sure it will go well. Thank you to everyone for your help. ... View more

@john098 wrote: I forgot to check in at the 24 hour mark. I also do not travel often so keep that in mind! I have a four hour and three hour long flight tomorrow. I'm in C14 and B54. Is it worth the $100 bucks to upgrade to A or will I be able to get a 'good enough' seat for those flights? I am flying solo. Thanks for your input! You are probably already flying today with those two long flights but if not, if you opt for taking what comes and you are looking at middle seats or trying to sniff out that last aisle seat you may want to look for a comfy middle seat and just take it or maybe you'll be lucky and see two people that are probably traveling together but sitting in aisle/window seats hoping for an empty middle.   *The last time this came up for me some guys were trying to punk their boss who was sitting further back and tipped me off that him and his wife were traveling together sitting aisle window but when I rolled up and asked for the middle they didn't want to sit together and I got the middle. 😂         ... View more

In another post, someone got really upset about preboarding.  The discussion turned very toxic and I reported the hostility.   Southwest came and closed the subject.   I really do not get all of the hostility on this board.  Just because someone preboards? ... View more